Courtyard House: After disbanding the Elderly Care Gang, I went to the countryside to cultivate immo

After seeing Sha Zhu off, Lin Shengli cleared away the dishes and sat down at the table to ponder.

He's done everything he could; the rest is up to Sha Zhu.

If Sha Zhu could heed this advice and break free from Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai's schemes, his fate would be completely changed.

As for Qin Huairu and the Jia family... Bang Geng has been gone for five years. The Jia family, without their most troublesome member, might be more well-behaved. But given the personalities of Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, they probably won't let it go so easily.

"Never mind, I'm leaving anyway." Lin Shengli shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

The next morning, Lin Shengli had just gotten up when he heard a heated argument coming from the Intermediate People's Court.

He scanned the area with his divine sense and discovered that it was Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai arguing.

At Yi Zhonghai's house, Sha Zhu stood blocking the doorway, his face ashen.

"Sir, I've come today for one thing: the child support my father sent to me and Yushui. Shouldn't you give us an explanation?"

Yi Zhonghai's expression changed: "Zhu Zi, what are you talking about child support? I don't understand."

"Don't you understand?" Sha Zhu sneered. "Then let me explain clearly. After my father ran away, didn't he send child support to me and Yu Shui every month until we came of age? Did that money pass through your hands?"

Yi Zhonghai's face darkened further: "Zhu Zi, who told you this nonsense? There's absolutely no such thing!"

"That's not true?" Sha Zhu's eyes were red. "Uncle, do you want me to go to the post office to check? I've been thinking about how you've treated me these past few years, which is why I haven't taken this to the authorities. If you really don't want to admit it, then I don't mind going to the post office."

Yi Zhonghai's forehead was sweating: "Zhu Zi, let me explain. I'm keeping this money for you."

"Storing it?" Sha Zhu interrupted him. "You've been storing it for so many years, how come you've never mentioned it? When Yu Shui and I were starving, why didn't you say you had money? When Yu Shui couldn't afford her tuition, why didn't you say you had money?"

"I... I was thinking of giving it to you after you got married," Yi Zhonghai stammered.

"Wait until I get married?" Sha Zhu scoffed. "I'm in my thirties now, and Yu Shui is already married. Are you planning to burn money for us after we die?"

Yi Zhonghai was speechless.

A crowd had already gathered outside the door. An elderly woman, an older man, an older man, and other neighbors from the courtyard all heard the commotion.

"Uncle, I never expected you to be this kind of person," Liu Haizhong shook his head. "Withholding orphans' child support payments is really unethical."

"Exactly." Uncle Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses. "Zhu Zi and his sister had such a hard life back then, and you... sigh!"

Yi Zhonghai's face flushed red and then turned pale. He knew that he could no longer keep this a secret.

"Zhu Zi, the money, I'll give you the money," Yi Zhonghai said through gritted teeth.

Soon, he took out a small box from the house and handed it to Sha Zhu, saying, "This is the money your father sent to you. I haven't spent a penny of it. He sent a total of 1400 yuan until Yu Shui Cheng. It's all here. Count it."

"Enough nonsense!" Sha Zhu waved his hand. "Fourteen hundred yuan? Not a penny less? You think giving me back this money is enough?"

Yi Zhonghai glared angrily: "Then what else do you want?"

"Five thousand, or we'll go to the police station and see how the police decide!"

"Five thousand?!" Yi Zhonghai nearly jumped up. "Where would you get that much? You're trying to kill me!"

"Too much?" Sha Zhu sneered. "Then let's go to the neighborhood committee, to the police station, and let the leaders judge this! Withholding orphan care fees—what kind of behavior is that? Isn't that enough to get you a few years in jail?"

Yi Zhonghai was completely deflated.

He knew that if this matter really escalated, his reputation would be completely ruined for life.

Moreover, in this day and age, such matters can be considered a big deal or a small deal, and if we really investigate, he is indeed in the wrong.

"Fine, I'll give it to you!" Yi Zhonghai slumped down, "But five thousand is too much, I can't come up with that much right now."

"Three days. I'll give you three days. If I don't see the money by then, I'll go to the police station and the neighborhood committee." Sha Zhu crossed his arms.

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, three days it is. I'll give you the money then."

"Grandpa, from now on, we'll go our separate ways. You go your way, and I'll go mine. Goodbye!"

After saying that, he turned around and left, returning to his home and slamming the door shut.

The neighbors watching the commotion outside looked at each other in disbelief. No one had expected things to develop this way. Yi Zhonghai had always been a highly respected figure in the courtyard, and no one had imagined that he would do such a thing behind the scenes.

"Disperse, disperse, everyone disperse." An older woman, her face grim, shooed the crowd away.

Lin Shengli watched all this from inside the house, a slight smile playing on his lips. Sha Zhu had handled things brilliantly, decisively and efficiently, leaving Yi Zhonghai no room for maneuver.

"With this, Yi Zhonghai's retirement plan has completely failed," Lin Shengli thought. "Without Sha Zhu as his 'retirement candidate,' let's see what he does in the future."

The matter between Sha Zhu and the Yi family naturally sparked discussion among the people in the courtyard.

Although Yi Zhonghai often appeared sanctimonious, not everyone in the compound was a fool. People like Yan Bugui had long seen through Yi Zhonghai's schemes.

In the backyard of Xu Damao's house, Xu Damao was quite satisfied with the gossip he had heard this morning, but he was also very curious about who had leaked this information to Sha Zhu.

"Jingru, how do you think Shazhu knew that Yi Zhonghai had embezzled their child support payments? Your sister probably knows about this, but she would never tell Shazhu."

Upon hearing Xu Damao's words, Qin Jingru asked in surprise, "You mean my sister knows about this too?"

"She definitely knows that your cousin is very cunning. She's just waiting for Sha Zhu to pull in her and give her all the money. I guarantee that the money Yi Zhonghai embezzled would have all gone to your sister if it weren't for what happened today."

Qin Jingru gave her a look that said, "You city people are so cunning, I want to go back to the countryside." "They're so heartless! They're just blatantly scamming idiots!"

Xu Damao laughed smugly, "Isn't that how we fooled that big idiot, Sha Zhu? That idiot still thinks Yi Zhonghai is his father. Now he knows what kind of father he really is!"

Qin Jingru shook her head and asked, "Then do you want to hold a meeting to criticize Yi Zhonghai?"

Xu Damao gave a disdainful look and scoffed, "I'm the deputy director now. How can a deputy director have time to waste on a lowly worker like Yi Zhonghai? If Yi Zhonghai doesn't have Sha Zhu to back him up in the future, I wonder if your sister will still take care of him in his old age."

At Liu Haizhong's home, he was in an exceptionally good mood today. Although he had joined forces with Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui after being ousted by Xu Damao, as long as Yi Zhonghai was in trouble, his influence in the trio would definitely rise sharply.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile smugly, and even made an exception to allow Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu to each have a piece of scrambled eggs.

Lin Shengli didn't care about the people in the courtyard. He told Sha Zhu about Yi Zhonghai's matter partly out of gratitude, and partly out of revenge against the Jia family. If Sha Zhu didn't break with Yi Zhonghai, even if Sha Zhu broke with Qin Huairu later, with Yi Zhonghai mediating, Sha Zhu might soften his heart and let the Jia family taste the benefits again. Lin Shengli wanted to eliminate this possibility at its root.