Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

After hearing Jia Dongxu's words, everyone in the courtyard turned their attention to Yi Zhonghai, or rather, to the cloth bag he was carrying.

Many people secretly cursed Yi Zhonghai as a fool. They thought, "If it were them, they would have kept it a secret and never told anyone."

You, on the other hand, paraded around with evidence all the time. Now look what happened, you have to spit it all out.

Without saying a word, Jia Dongxu's mother, Zhang Xiaohua, stepped forward, snatched the cloth bag from Yi Zhonghai's hand, and examined it over and over.

Seeing that the inside was empty, he frowned and said to Yi Zhonghai:

"Old Yi, where's the silver dollar?"

Yi Zhonghai, unable to express his grievances, said, "Sister-in-law, what kind of silver dollars are you talking about?"

Zhang Xiaohua was a little angry when she heard this, thinking to herself: "Old Yi, you're still pretending. You even steal money from your own child. No wonder you can't have children."

But in the end, Zhang Xiaohua didn't get angry. She had a man, and she wanted to save face for Lao Jia, so she softened her expression and said:

"Thirteen silver dollars in that cloth bag, all the money Dongxu saved up from childhood to adulthood."

"Old Yi, look how heartbroken my Dongxu is. Please, just take it out and stop hiding it. I'll cook a couple of dishes tonight, and you and my husband Lao Jia can have a little chat."

Zhang Xiaohua didn't make a scene. Her words were met with nods of approval from the neighbors, who thought she was straightforward and honest. Even Li Jiuzhou, who was watching the commotion, praised Zhang Xiaohua.

Zhang Xiaohua, who has a happy family, is quite particular about her conduct.

Seeing that his neighbors were all staring at him, as if they wouldn't let Jia Dongxu off the hook until he returned the missing silver dollars, Yi Zhong closed his eyes, took a deep breath, clasped his hands in a fist salute to the surrounding neighbors, and then slowly began to speak:

"Old Jia, sister-in-law, and all the neighbors in the courtyard, you all know what kind of person I, Lao Yi, am."

"Putting the facts aside, do I look like someone who's short of those 13 dollars?"

"That's not lacking," Xu Fugui from the backyard said, speaking up for Yi Zhong.

The neighbors all agreed after hearing this.

Yi Zhonghai was a mid-level fitter at the steel rolling mill, earning at least 15 silver dollars a month, possibly even 20. He certainly didn't need Jia Dongxu's 13 silver dollars.

Yi Zhonghai nodded to Xu Fugui with a grateful look.

Xu Fugui nodded in response. Regardless of Yi Zhonghai's character, given the current situation, he believed that Yi Zhonghai wouldn't lie. After being neighbors for so many years, who doesn't know who?

At this moment, a slightly hoarse voice rang out: "Old Yi, you said that putting aside the facts, you don't lack these 13 silver dollars, but then again, who would be stupid enough to not take free money?"

The speaker was He Daqing. He had only chimed in out of boredom and had no intention of offending Yi Zhonghai.

The neighbors all nodded in agreement. "That's right," they said. "Only a fool wouldn't take free money."

Yi Zhonghai's expression remained unchanged, but in his heart he was cursing He Daqing to the bone. "You damn lousy cook, you servant! Just you wait, I'll make you pay for this sooner or later!"

Yi Zhonghai chuckled and said, "Old He, I really didn't mean it. I was in a hurry to go to jail, and I found the cloth bag in my sister-in-law's hand at the corner of the toilet."

"But it was completely empty inside. I was wondering who was so wasteful as to throw away such a nice cloth bag."

"If there were money inside, I wouldn't be stupid enough to keep it in my hand; I would have put it in my pocket long ago."

"I even went to stop Lao Jia from hitting Dongxu. That doesn't make sense. I'm not that stupid, am I?"

"Why don't you search me? I don't have anywhere to hide the money right now."

Everyone in the courtyard believed Yi Zhonghai's reasonable and well-founded explanation.

As for a body search, that's absolutely out of the question; doing that would be utterly humiliating for Yi Zhong.

This is utterly disrespectful!

Old Jia believed it; Old Yi was his good brother and would never do such a thing.

Even if he found his son's money, he would still give it to him, simply because the two families had a good relationship.

Zhang Xiaohua believed it too. She knew Yi Zhonghai's character well; he was simply "benevolent and righteous!"

"I misunderstood you, Lao Yi. How about this, come over to my place tonight for a couple of drinks, I'll cook some dishes," Zhang Xiaohua said.

Before Yi Zhonghai could respond, Jia Dongxu started wailing in grief again:

"My money, this is my life's work, sob sob..."

Jia Dongxu's wailing made the neighbors in the courtyard feel their hearts bleed; if they had lost so much money, they would have wailed too.

If I don't yell a couple of times, I probably won't be able to sleep for half a month.

Thirteen silver dollars! That spendthrift Jia Dongxu...

Old Jia and Zhang Xiaohua were heartbroken and could hardly breathe as they listened to their son's wailing.

With so much money, how long could we eat meat like that? This son is such a spendthrift!

The more the couple thought about it, the more their hands itched, and they couldn't resist the urge to go up and beat their son.

Just as they were about to make their move, Yi Zhonghai stopped them.

He whispered words of comfort: "Old Jia, sister-in-law, money is just an external thing. If you lose it, you lose it. You can't take it with you when you die."

"Besides, I watched Dongxu grow up. He's a filial son, and I've always thought he was a good person."

"As you both know, Dongxu has never made any mistakes since he was a child. He has been disciplined and that's enough. Besides, he's all grown up now. He'll be getting married in a couple of years. Let's save him some face and not leave him with any heartache."

The first two sentences from Yi Zhonghai made Old Jia and his wife curse inwardly. "Damn it, it's not your money that's being lost, of course you're saying that."

And do you think I wouldn't know whether my son is capable or not, whether he is filial or not?

You don't have a son, so what do you know?

But the couple took the last sentence to heart.

They had all seen how heartbroken their son was when he lost his money.

Thinking about it now, I feel a little sorry for myself, especially since I just got a good beating.

The son is indeed grown up, and beating him again would be going too far. If he holds a grudge against the couple later, they'll be in big trouble.

Old Jia let out a long sigh of relief:

"Thanks, Lao Yi."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand: "It's alright, what's the relationship between our two families? Let's not talk about this."

Old Jia nodded to Yi Zhonghai, then said to Jia Dongxu, who was squatting on the ground with a mournful face:

"Dongxu, get up. It's okay if you lost it. Dad will give you some more pocket money. You can save it up slowly later."

"But remember this lesson, and don't rush around like that next time you go out."

Jia Dongxu looked up at his father and silently nodded:

"I understand, Dad. I won't do it again."

"Okay, let's go home..."

Then Old Jia cupped his hands in greeting to his neighbors in the courtyard:

"I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself in front of everyone."

The neighbors responded one after another after hearing this:

"Brother Jia, it's no big deal. It's just a few silver dollars."

"Exactly, it's only 13 silver dollars..."

"Ha ha ha ha..."

Everyone laughed, and just when the neighbors thought the farce was about to end, a voice rang out:

"Uncle Yi only found a cloth bag. Could it be that Brother Dongxu walked too fast and scattered the money?"

"What if it's still on the road and no one has picked it up? Is it too late to go now?"

The people reacted with varying expressions upon hearing this.

Upon hearing this voice, Xu Damao's expression changed, and he blurted out to his father, Old Xu:

"Dad, I'm going for a walk."

After saying that, he ran out of the courtyard gate, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Soon people realized what was happening and made excuses to leave the courtyard.

"Um, my wife is giving birth, I have to go see her, excuse me."

"Hey, my wife just gave birth too, Lao Zhou, wait for me..."

In no time, everyone had run away, and Li Jiuzhou's second brother grabbed He Yuzhu and rushed out as well.

Who cares about the consequences? Even finding a silver dollar is a win.

Old Jia and his family of three also rushed out of the courtyard house; this was their family's money.

The items on the road are all unclaimed; whoever finds them keeps them.

Yi Zhonghai naturally had no interest in this, and looked at Li Jiuzhou, who was standing still, and laughed:

"Why don't you go to Kyushu?"

Li Jiuzhou smiled and spread his hands:

"Uncle Yi, I don't believe I have that kind of luck. Almost everyone in the courtyard has left, how could it be my turn?"

"Hehe, you little rascal..." Yi Zhonghai laughed as well.

"Why aren't you going, old lady?" Li Jiuzhou joked with the deaf old lady.

The deaf old woman smiled and said, "You grandson, you're up to no good. Do you think I, with my physique, can outmaneuver them?"

"Haha, that's true..."