Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

In contrast to the tense and orderly preparations for war and famine in the west courtyard, the middle and back courtyards were in complete chaos. The Jia family was still at the center of the storm, and the root cause pointed directly to Yi Zhonghai.

After Jia Dongxu became disabled, he completely collapsed. The once somewhat mama's boy, who was still quite spirited, now sits blankly at his doorstep all day, staring at the sky or at his bandaged, twisted arm. He doesn't cry, doesn't make a fuss, and hardly speaks; it's as if his soul has been lost with that arm to the steel mill's machine tools.

Qin Huairu, her belly growing ever larger, was constantly busy. She had to care for her mentally challenged husband, deal with her capricious mother-in-law, look after her young son, Banggeng, and worry about her soon-to-be-born second child (most likely Xiaodang). Her once somewhat attractive face was now etched with exhaustion and sorrow; she had almost run out of tears. The meager compensation and disability wages from the factory were barely enough to cover Jia Zhangshi's medicine, the baby's food expenses, and the future cost of formula. Looking at Wang Huanbo's "generous" lifestyle in the west wing, and then at her own meager meals, she felt a bitter, indescribable turmoil welling up inside her.

After being forcefully suppressed by Director Wang's "repatriation warning," Jia Zhangshi no longer dared to openly smash Yi Zhonghai's windows, but her deep-seated resentment remained undiminished. She invented a new form of revenge—psychological attack. Whenever Yi Zhonghai left or returned home, she would move a small stool to her doorstep, neither naming him nor shouting insults, but instead beginning her "aria" in a mournful, shrill tone, like an owl wailing at a grave:

"Oh dear... my poor son... so young and already crippled... how will he live from now on..."

"Old Jia...you died young...open your eyes and see...someone is bullying us orphans and widows...may you die a horrible death..."

"God... open your eyes... strike down those heartless, rotten, childless, and extinct lineages..."

The voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough for everyone in the courtyard, especially those around Yi Zhonghai's house, to hear clearly. Every word was like a poisoned needle, piercing Yi Zhonghai's heart. An older woman listened, tears streaming down her face, while Yi Zhonghai's face turned ashen, his blood pressure soared, and every time he went out, it felt like going to his execution.

Yi Zhonghai is truly going mad! The anxiety brought on by the complete collapse of his retirement plan, coupled with Jia Zhangshi's relentless mental torture, has driven him to the brink of insanity. He has pinned all his hopes on one thing—he must have a child of his own!

He was convinced the problem lay with the older woman! So, he began frantically taking her to every hospital in Beijing, seeing both traditional Chinese medicine and Western doctors, trying every folk remedy and secret prescription. One day it was stewed donkey-hide gelatin, the next it was deer placenta extract, and the day after it was some kind of "Goddess of Mercy" incense ash. The older woman was already weak, and this ordeal took its toll, leaving her pale and sallow, but seeing her husband's almost manic gaze, she dared not utter a single complaint.

That wasn't all; in his desperation, Yi Zhonghai started seeking any remedy. He heard from some "master" that he needed to change the feng shui to dispel negative energy. He even wanted to alter the layout of the entire courtyard! First, he thought the jujube tree in front of his house was "obstructing his children's growth" and wanted to cut it down, but the entire courtyard resolutely stopped him on the grounds of "damaging collective property." Later, he felt the rainwater pipes were flowing in the wrong direction, "draining the yang energy," and wanted to change their route, almost getting into a fight with Yan Bugui from the front yard.

The most outrageous thing was that he actually secretly went to find Sha Zhu, and after hesitating for a long time, he blushed and stammered, "Zhu Zi... um... you know a lot of people... do you have... that kind of... formula that can make women get pregnant easily?"

Sha Zhu was pondering a new recipe when he was asked this question and was taken aback. He almost dropped the wok: "Grandpa! Are you alright? I'm a cook! Where am I supposed to find that kind of recipe? Aren't you making things difficult for me? If you really want to... go see a proper doctor!" Sha Zhu thought Yi Zhonghai had gone completely mad. How could the seemingly respectable and rule-abiding old man have become like this? He increasingly felt that Wang Huanbo's warning to "be careful" was the right thing to do.

Yi Zhonghai's eccentric behavior became the talk of the town. Yan Bugui privately told the Third Aunt, "Old Yi has gone mad! He's developed a mental illness from being retired!" Liu Haizhong was even more gloating: "Serves him right! He used to act like a big shot! Now he's dumbfounded, isn't he? I was right to have more children, at least one of them is reliable!" (Completely forgetting that he beat his son every day).

Xu Damao, however, saw it clearly: "Yi Zhonghai is scared by Chief Engineer Wang! Look at Chief Engineer Wang, young and promising, rich and powerful, valued by the country, he won't have to worry about his retirement. What can Yi Zhonghai compare to him? He's in a panic!"

Wang Huanbo observed all of this coldly, his heart unmoved, even feeling a slight urge to laugh. Yi Zhonghai's reaction was a typical stress response after the collapse of "path dependence." He pinned all his hopes on controlling others to provide for him in his old age; once that control was lost, and he lacked other values ​​to support him, how could he not collapse? This kind of "kinship" obtained through calculation and coercion is inherently fragile.

"It seems the layout of this courtyard will have to change again when I return next time I travel through time," Wang Huanbo thought to himself, continuing to check his supplies list. The farce of those beasts was merely a diversion in his time-traveling journey.