I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

Upon receiving confirmation from Zhou Weiguo, Jia Zhangshi moved with astonishing speed, grabbing all the large black coins on the stone table in one go and holding them tightly in her hand, as if afraid they would be snatched away.

She ignored Jia Dongxu on the ground, squatted down beside him, and started counting the bills one by one, muttering to herself, "One, two, three..."

Just then, footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate, and the two policemen walked in one after the other, with Liu Haizhong, who was clutching his shoulder, in the middle.

Liu Haizhong's face was pale, and he kept gasping for breath as he walked, clearly in considerable pain.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhou Weiguo cleared his throat, took a step forward, and raised his voice, saying, "Everyone, please be quiet! Today, I'd like to ask all of you neighbors to be my witnesses!"

The murmurs in the courtyard instantly subsided, and everyone's eyes were focused on Zhou Weiguo.

Zhou Weiguo waved the document in his hand and continued, "As you all know, Jia Dongxu threatened me first and even attacked me. Everything I did was a reasonable and legal act of self-defense! To put it bluntly, in that situation, even if I had accidentally killed him, I wouldn't have had to bear any responsibility!"

He paused, his tone softening slightly: "But as a cadre, I know that one cannot condemn a person outright. So I gritted my teeth and took out a huge sum of 300 yuan to compensate the Jia family. This is the settlement agreement we signed, which bears the signatures and fingerprints of Jia Dongxu and his mother."

"Since everyone is here today, please bear witness. From this day forward, Jia Dongxu's injuries, or any other problems that may arise in the future, will have absolutely nothing to do with me, Zhou!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of agreement and praise rang out in the courtyard.

"Chief Engineer Zhou is truly magnanimous! It was clearly self-defense, yet he's willing to pay compensation. That's incredibly generous of him!"

"Exactly! Anyone else would be at risk of being threatened and attacked like that, and wouldn't care if the other person lived or died. Chief Engineer Zhou truly lives up to his reputation as a leader; he has a lot to do!"

"We witnessed it all! If the Jia family dares to cause trouble again, we'll be the first to stand in their way!"

Many people crowded around to flatter Zhou Weiguo, praising him to the skies.

Even the two police officers stepped forward, glanced at the document, and nodded to Zhou Weiguo: "Chief Engineer Zhou, rest assured, we have seen everything that happened today, and we will help witness it. If the Jia family dares to go back on their word or cause trouble in the future, we will definitely deal with them according to the law."

Just as everyone was fawning over Zhou Weiguo, creating an atmosphere of "harmony," someone suddenly pointed at Jia Dongxu and shouted, "Jia Dongxu! He's foaming at the mouth! Jia Dongxu is foaming at the mouth!"

The shout was like a pebble thrown into boiling water, instantly shattering the lively atmosphere in the courtyard.

As Jia Zhangshi was squatting on the ground counting money over and over, she almost dropped the banknotes in her hand when she heard this. She shuddered violently, and the greed on her face was instantly replaced by fear.

She didn't even bother counting the money; she scrambled to her feet and ran towards Jia Dongxu, calling out urgently, "Dongxu! My son! What's wrong?"

Upon closer inspection, Jia Dongxu indeed had white foam at the corner of his mouth, his eyes were tightly closed, his face was as pale as paper, and his breathing had become very weak. The humming sounds he had been making earlier had completely stopped.

Jia Zhangshi was so frightened that she was completely panicked.

She instinctively stuffed the large black bag she was carrying into her inner pocket, pulled her clothes tighter to conceal the money, and turned to the onlookers, yelling, "You shameless bastards! Don't you have eyes? My Dongxu is in this state, what are you all standing around for? Hurry up and help him, get him to the hospital! Are you all just standing here watching? Have you no conscience?"

She stood with her hands on her hips, spitting everywhere, and hurled extremely offensive insults, as if it were a grave sin for everyone not to help.

But after hearing this, the crowd not only didn't move, but instead showed displeasure, and their previous fear of her had long since vanished.

Everyone now understands that Jia Zhangshi is just a paper tiger. Her act of killing people is just a show to scare people. When things really get serious, all she can do is throw a tantrum and curse.

"Oh, so you're already giving orders? Jia Zhangshi, do you think things are still the same as before?"

Someone in the crowd immediately stood up and confronted her, their tone full of sarcasm, "You two used to have an old man protecting you, spoiling you rotten. Now that old man can't even protect himself, and you and Jia Dongxu aren't even official residents of our compound. How dare you stand here and point fingers?"

Another middle-aged woman chimed in, her voice clear and bright: "Exactly! Your Jia Dongxu has been lying on the ground for almost half an hour, and all you've done is try to extort money from Chief Engineer Zhou. When have you ever given your good son a second glance? Now that he's dying, you finally think of asking us for help? Where were you all this time? Shameless!"

"You still have the nerve to scold us? If you hadn't been chasing Liu Haizhong, would you have accidentally stepped on him? In the end, it's all your own fault!" Someone continued, each sentence hitting Jia Zhangshi's sore spot.

Madam Jia, her face turning pale and then red with anger, trembled with rage. She bared her teeth and brandished her claws, retorting, "You heartless bastards! My Dongxu is almost dead, and you're still spouting nonsense! Be careful you don't suffer retribution! I'm telling you, anyone who doesn't help today, I curse your sons to be born without mothers!"

Zhou Weiguo leaned against the gate of his own courtyard, arms crossed, and said with a half-smile, "Jia Zhangshi, I advise you not to waste your time cursing here. If you don't take your Dongxu to the hospital soon, maybe we'll be having a feast tomorrow, and your 300 yuan will just be enough for funeral expenses."

These words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly sobering up the unruly Jia Zhangshi.

Seeing Jia Dongxu growing weaker and weaker, she panicked even more and forgot about arguing with the others. Her eyes darted around and landed on the two guards standing behind Zhou Weiguo. She forced a fawning smile and was about to ask Zhou Weiguo for help, wanting the guards to take them to the hospital.

But Zhou Weiguo seemed to have read her mind beforehand. Before she could speak, he raised his hand to interrupt her, his tone cold: "Don't mess with them. These two are here to protect my personal safety, not to be your laborers. Your own son, figure it out yourself."

Jia Zhangshi's smile froze on her face, and she swallowed back her plea for help. Seeing Zhou Weiguo's unyielding attitude, she stamped her feet in frustration. The surrounding neighbors watched the spectacle with their arms crossed, no one willing to lend a hand.

Finally, the two policemen, unable to bear it any longer, exchanged a grim glance and reluctantly stepped forward, lifting Jia Dongxu up from either side and carrying him out of the courtyard. Jia Zhangshi followed behind, still cursing as she went, but her voice grew fainter and fainter.

As Jia Dongxu and Jia Zhangshi disappeared completely outside the courtyard gate, the courtyard fell silent once again.

Everyone wore strange expressions, and then they all turned their gazes to Liu Haizhong, who was standing to the side, clutching his shoulder and looking completely bewildered.

P.S.: Please urge me to update more and give me good reviews. Thank you!