Courtyard House: Become Stronger Through Blind Dates

He Yuzhu returned to No. 95 Nanluoguxiang, where Yan Bugui's house was locked.

He stood at the entrance of the Yan family's house and sneered.

Now you're scared? Too late!

He strode across the front yard and into the middle yard.

It was almost noon, and the area around the pond was at its liveliest.

Several women were there washing clothes, picking vegetables, rinsing rice, chatting and laughing.

He Yuzhu walked straight over and stopped amidst the surprised gazes of the crowd.

He cleared his throat and said, "Aunties, I have a few words to say today. Please pass them on to your families when you get home."

The laughter and chatter by the pool abruptly stopped, and everyone looked at He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu glanced at everyone and said, "Starting tomorrow, every single person in our compound who is of marriageable age should stop thinking about getting married."

"If I find out anyone is going on a blind date or has an event going on, I'll have someone spread rumors about them near the woman's house. None of you will have a good time!"

These words left everyone bewildered, with no idea what this silly Zhu was up to this time.

Aunt Qian was the first to realize that her son, Qian Daniu, had been keeping a close eye on him lately, and it would be terrible if things were ruined.

"Zhu Zi, what... what happened to you? Aunt Qian's family didn't offend you, did they?"

He Yuzhu shook his head, a hint of helplessness on his face, and said, "Aunt Qian, this has nothing to do with you personally."

"But there's nothing I can do. Today I went on a blind date, and someone went to the vicinity of the woman's house to spread rumors about me. I still don't know which despicable person did it."

"Since they want to play dirty tricks on me, then I'll play along to the end. If they won't let He Yuzhu have an easy time, then no one in this compound will have an easy time either!"

At this point, He Yuzhu took out a thick wad of cash from his pocket and patted it in his palm.

"No matter how much money I spend, I'll ruin all your good plans."

"Trying to play dirty with me? Fine, I'll play along to the end and see who can't keep up the game first!"

After saying that, he put the money back in his pocket, turned around and left, ignoring Aunt Qian's shouts and other people's comments behind him.

"Pillar, Pillar, wait a minute! Explain yourself!"

Aunt Qian hurriedly chased after her, but He Yuzhu had already slammed his door shut.

The Intermediate People's Court erupted in chaos...

"What's that idiot Zhu up to now?"

"Who was so foolish as to provoke Zhu Zi? Now look what's happened, the whole compound is in trouble!"

"My second son is also going on a blind date at the end of the year, what if this gets ruined..."

Aunt Qian, enraged, shouted at those around her, "Which scoundrel did this? Huh? You had the guts to mess with Zhu Zi, but you didn't have the guts to step forward?"

"Let me tell you, if my son Da Niu's reputation is ruined because of some shady characters in the compound, he won't be able to get married—"

She paused, then her voice suddenly rose: "Then I'll join forces with Zhu Zi to cause trouble, and nobody will have a good time!"

Upon hearing this, those who had originally planned to watch the spectacle were no longer satisfied.

"Sister-in-law Qian, what do you mean by that? We didn't do it!"

"Exactly! Whoever caused the trouble should be held accountable. Why should we be dragged into it?"

"Whose fault is it that your 'Big Bull' can't get married? Blame the person who messed with Zhu Zi!"

Aunt Qian retorted, "I don't care who did it, as long as it ruins my Da Niu's wedding, I'll make a scene with Zhu Zi!"

"None of you will succeed. If you want to cause trouble, we'll all cause trouble together. Then none of you will have a good reputation in the future!"

For a time, the Intermediate Court was in an uproar.

Some accused Aunt Qian of being unreasonable, some cursed the person who secretly caused the trouble as being immoral, and others worried that their children's marriages would be affected...

He Yuzhu leaned against the door, listening to the arguing outside, a cold smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

Aunt Qian was clever; she quickly grasped his intentions and even knew how to leverage his strength.

That's good. He doesn't need to do anything himself; the other people in the compound will put the pressure on those who caused trouble.

The reason he didn't just send Yang Ruihua to the police station was because he wanted to use this incident to cause another stir!

You guys like bad reputations, right? Come on, once my reputation is ruined, none of you will have a good time!

As evening approached, the shouts of workers leaving the steel rolling mill echoed in the distance.

People gradually returned to the compound, and as soon as they entered, they heard about what had happened that afternoon.

"What?! Stupid Pillar's going to ruin everyone's weddings?"

"Which bastard went and provoked him? He brought this on himself and dragged us down with him!"

"If this isn't handled properly, our compound's reputation will be ruined. Who would dare marry their daughter into this family in the future?"

The front yard, the middle yard, and the back yard—every household was talking about this.

Families with children of school age are extremely anxious.

As soon as Liu Haizhong entered the front yard carrying his lunchbox, he was surrounded by several neighbors.

"Old Liu, you have to do something about this! If Sha Zhu causes trouble, how will we face anyone in this compound?"

"Exactly, my second daughter is going on a blind date at the end of the year, if this happens..."

Liu Haizhong frowned and said, "Me? How can I manage? Who can control Sha Zhu in his current state?"

"We have to think of something, we can't just let him keep making a scene like this, can we?"

In the backyard of the Xu family, Xu Fugui had just entered the house when he heard Xu Damao tell him about this matter.

His face darkened. "Do you know who did it?" he asked.

Xu Damao said gloatingly, "Someone went to inquire and found out that Yang Ruihua from the front yard went to the vicinity of a girl's house to spread rumors, and was caught red-handed by Shazhu."

Xu Fugui thought for a moment and said, "Don't mess with Sha Zhu anymore. That kid doesn't seem stupid at all!"

Yi Zhonghai was in a good mood today, but as soon as he returned to the compound, he heard about what had happened that afternoon.

The smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a gloomy expression.

He put down his lunchbox and went straight to Yan Bugui's house in the front yard.

"Knock knock knock!"

The knocking was urgent and loud.

After a long while, the door opened a crack, revealing Yan Bugui's ugly face.

"Old Yi? Is something the matter?" Yan Bugui asked.

Yi Zhonghai pushed the door open, slipped inside, and slammed the door shut behind him.

Inside the room, Yang Ruihua was huddled in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), her face deathly pale.

"Old Yan!" Yi Zhonghai lowered his voice, but couldn't hide the anger in his tone, "How could you be so careless in your work?!"

Yan Bugui was taken aback by his sudden accusation, then quickly became angry: "Yi Zhonghai, what do you mean by that? Didn't you come to my house this morning to ask me to ruin Sha Zhu's blind date?"

"Now that things have been exposed, what do you mean by coming here to accuse our family?"

Yi Zhonghai choked on his words, unable to catch his breath: "I...when did I ask you to ruin Sha Zhu's blind date? I was just telling you..."

"You told us!" Yang Ruihua jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and shrieked, "If you hadn't come early this morning to tell us that Shazhu was going on a blind date, how would we have known?"