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

After leaving the police station, Zhou Weiguo walked straight towards the courtyard house.

As soon as I turned into the alley, I saw Director Wang talking quietly with an elderly deaf woman and another woman at the gate of the courtyard.

A moment later, Director Wang turned and left in a hurry, his face grim.

He cautiously scanned his surroundings, and after confirming that no one was around, he decisively used his invisibility skill.

In an instant, he vanished without a trace, silently following behind the deaf old woman and the middle-aged woman, straining his ears to hear what was going on.

Sure enough, after walking only a few steps, the middle-aged woman looked nervous and asked in a low voice, "Grandma, do you think Zhou Weiguo will really let Lao Yi go?"

The deaf old woman frowned, her tone full of hesitation: "It's hard to say. Zhou Weiguo is a very shrewd kid; he probably already guessed that I asked Yang Weimin to deal with Shazhu."

I was afraid he'd keep harping on Xiao Yi; the charges he leveled against him were too serious. I still can't understand why Yang Weimin fired Sha Zhu so directly. I didn't even mention Zhou Weiguo; I just asked him to scare Zhu Zi a little. How did things escalate like this? This time, I've completely offended that Zhou Weiguo kid."

Upon hearing this, the older woman panicked and cried out, "Grandma, please don't scare me! How long will Lao Yi be sentenced to? It can't really be..." As she spoke, she began to sob softly.

The deaf old woman hurriedly looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping before she whispered a scolding: "What's the use of crying? It's come to this. I'll go talk to Zhou Weiguo again tonight. If he's willing to reconcile, I'll swallow my pride and beg Yang Weimin to reinstate Sha Zhu's job, and I'll even pay him more compensation. But if he still won't let go of Xiao Yi, then don't blame me for being impolite."

Zhou Weiguo, who was hiding to the side, wondered to himself what gave this old woman such confidence. She certainly had a big mouth. But after following her all the way to the Yi family's door, he didn't hear any more useful information and had no choice but to turn back.

Back home, Zhou Weiguo grew increasingly angry: "I haven't even laid a hand on you, and you're already plotting against me again?"

Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he slapped his forehead: "That's right! If I can't convict you, I can still trick you!"

After saying that, he strode to the Yi family's house, and without even knocking, he pushed the door open and entered.

Inside the house, the deaf old woman and the middle-aged woman sat facing each other with solemn expressions. When Zhou Weiguo suddenly appeared, they were both astonished.

Zhou Weiguo got straight to the point: "I can agree to what Director Wang just told me, but I have two conditions."

Upon hearing this, the deaf old woman looked surprised, while the middle-aged woman looked delighted.

Zhou Weiguo, with a serious expression, said slowly and deliberately, "First, compensate He Yuzhu and He Yushui 3000 yuan; second, Yi Zhonghai must apologize to He Yuzhu publicly at a hospital-wide meeting. If you agree to these two conditions, I'll give Director Wang face. If you try to bargain, I'll leave immediately."

That's right, he just wanted to take this opportunity to extort money. Since you've schemed against me, don't blame me for scheming against you.

Just as the older woman was about to speak, she was grabbed by the deaf old woman, whose face was ashen. The old woman coldly ordered, "Cuilan, go get the money."

"But ma'am... my family doesn't have that much money." The old woman looked timidly at Zhou Weiguo.

The deaf old woman then realized that in her haste she had forgotten about this.

Fortunately, I had Yi Zhonghai exchange some yellow croakers a while ago, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to scrape together this money. "Cuilan, come to my house to get it, you know where it is."

Zhou Weiguo was secretly shocked. He hadn't expected the deaf old woman to trust Yi Zhonghai and his wife so much, even telling them where she hid her money. It seemed their relationship was indeed extraordinary.

The older woman said no more and hurried out.

After a long while, she returned carrying a cloth bag and handed it to Zhou Weiguo.

Zhou Weiguo carefully counted the items in front of the two women, and then had them write down a document of voluntary donation.

Seeing that Zhou Weiguo had put away the money and documents, the deaf old woman hurriedly said, "Weiguo, now that we've reached an agreement, shall we go to the police station and pick up Lao Yi?"

Zhou Weiguo was in a great mood and waved his hand, saying, "I don't need to go, you can go by yourselves. I've already spoken to Director Li, just go find him. Oh, and remember to make sure Lao Yi goes to work tomorrow."

Two hours later.

Inside the deaf old woman's house, the atmosphere in the back room was so oppressive it was almost frozen.

Yi Zhonghai, the deaf old woman, and the middle-aged woman sat blankly at the old table and chairs, their faces gloomy, none of them speaking to break the dead silence.

Yi Zhonghai broke the silence first, his voice filled with disbelief: "Grandma, do you mean that Zhou Weiguo did nothing, and you gave him all the three thousand yuan I just scraped together?" His tone was sharp, carrying obvious questioning and dissatisfaction.

The deaf old woman frowned, her face full of displeasure: "Xiao Yi, it's already a miracle that you came out unharmed. Money is just an external thing; there's no need to value it so much."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Yi Zhonghai stood up abruptly, his face full of anger. "This is fraud! He's practically handing me his dirty laundry! I'm not only going to make him pay back that three thousand yuan, but also my house, and the money he took last time—not a penny less! Otherwise, I'll definitely send him to eat peanuts!"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged woman's expression instantly turned tense, and she stammered, "Old Yi, I... I signed the documents for him."

Yi Zhonghai froze, his eyes widening as he stared intently at the middle-aged woman, his voice rising: "What good is signing a document??? Did you sign a voluntary gift document for him?"

The middle-aged woman lowered her head, nodded slightly, and dared not look at Yi Zhonghai's angry eyes again.

Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he trembled all over, and subconsciously raised his hand, as if he wanted to teach the old lady a lesson.

"Xiao Yi, what do you want to do?"

The deaf old woman shouted angrily, "Not only did Cuilan sign, but I signed too! Are you going to hit me too? We did all this to save you! What's wrong with you?"

Yi Zhonghai slumped back into his chair, his face full of bitterness: "Grandma, I'm just unwilling to accept this. I spent half a month running around, bringing all the gold and silver in the house to get it back. Are we just going to let that little beast get it so easily?"

Hearing this, the deaf old woman felt a pang of sorrow in her heart. After a long silence, she finally spoke: "Why worry about temporary success or failure? We'll get back what Zhou Weiguo took, with interest, sooner or later. Besides, he didn't win completely; at least he lost his job as Zhuzi. Tomorrow I'll go find Yang Weimin and sue Zhou Weiguo for stealing state property!"

"Grandma, why?" Yi Zhonghai stood up abruptly, his face full of shock. "We can't give up on Zhuzi! As long as we find a way to get rid of Zhou Weiguo, Zhuzi will definitely take care of us and cook for us in our old age."

The deaf old woman sighed, her face full of helplessness: "I'm puzzled too. I only asked Xiao Yang to give him a warning, but Jia Dongxu just came back and said Zhu Zi was fired. And now the whole factory knows. Do you think I should help Zhu Zi or not?"

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