Courtyard House: Become Stronger Through Blind Dates

Yi Zhonghai felt a tightness in his chest: "When did I ever tell you to spread rumors?"

"I'm just telling you that Zhu Zi is going on a blind date today, to warn you to be careful and not to mess with him!"

Yan Bugui sneered, "Master Yi, who would believe that? Ruihua is just a woman. Would she dare to do something so offensive if she didn't have your instructions, Yi Zhonghai?"

"Exactly!" Yang Ruihua said, hands on her hips, seeing her husband's support. "If you hadn't come early this morning to tip me off, how would I have known that Sha Zhu was going on a blind date today? How would I have known where the He family lived?"

"Yi Zhonghai, you want to distance yourself now? Too late!"

Yi Zhonghai was rendered speechless by the couple's coordinated attack.

He did indeed intend to use someone else to do his dirty work, but the knife was too dull. Not only did he fail to kill anyone, he ended up cutting his own hand instead.

"Alright, alright." Yi Zhonghai knew that arguing with these two was pointless now. "This isn't the time to talk about this. You should go to the backyard and call Lao Liu over to my house to discuss a plan. We can't let this kid lead us by the nose."

Yan Bugui suddenly asked, "Old Yi, did you find anyone else?"

Yi Zhonghai was taken aback upon hearing this, and Jia Dongxu's face flashed through his mind instantly.

He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Impossible, I already told you."

But as soon as he said it, he started to feel uneasy.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai hesitate, Yang Ruihua immediately feigned indifference, saying, "Anyway, I've already apologized. It must have been someone else you hired who angered Sha Zhu. I heard that when Sha Zhu came back this afternoon, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot. It's definitely not just our family!"

Yan Bugui immediately chimed in, "That's right, this has nothing to do with our family. Who knows how many people you've told this to?"

"Maybe Sha Zhu discovered what others were doing, which is why he threatened to ruin all the weddings in the entire courtyard!"

Yi Zhonghai was so angry at the two men's dismissive attitude that his head was throbbing. He interrupted, "Alright, the most important thing now is to keep Sha Zhu calm! Lao Yan, go and call Lao Liu now. I'll be waiting for you at home."

"This matter needs to be resolved as soon as possible, otherwise, if it really escalates, our compound's reputation will be ruined!"

Yan Bugui reluctantly nodded and said, "Alright, I'll go right now."

With that, he put on his cotton-padded coat, pushed open the door, and went out.

Yi Zhonghai glanced at Yang Ruihua, snorted coldly, and turned to leave.

Instead of going home, he headed straight for the Jia family's house in the central courtyard.

Inside the Jia family's house, Jia Dongxu was sitting happily on the kang (a heated brick bed), thinking about proposing marriage in a few days.

Just then, the door creaked open.

Jia Dongxu looked up and saw Yi Zhonghai. He quickly got off the kang (a heated brick bed): "Master, what brings you here? Please sit down!"

Yi Zhonghai didn't sit down. He stared at Jia Dongxu and asked in a deep voice, "Dongxu, I'm asking you, did you hire someone to spread rumors about Sha Zhu?"

Jia Dongxu's smile instantly froze...

He opened his mouth, his eyes darting around, and stammered, "Master...Master, how...how did you know...?"

Yi Zhonghai's heart sank, and he angrily said, "Nonsense! Who told you to do this?"

Startled by his master's shout, Jia Dongxu shrank back and whispered, "I... I just can't stand Sha Zhu's smug attitude. What right does he have to go on blind dates? His father doesn't want him anymore, and he still wants to get married?"

"Besides," Jia Dongxu said, increasingly convinced of his own righteousness, "he hit me that day, and he hit my mother too. I... I can't swallow this!"

"You think you can do this just because you can't swallow your anger?" Yi Zhonghai's fingers trembled with rage. "Do you know that Sha Zhu has declared he's going to ruin everyone's weddings in the entire hospital!"

"If the people in the compound find out you did it, what do you think they'll do to you?"

Only then did Jia Dongxu realize the seriousness of the situation, his face turning deathly pale: "Master...Master, I...I didn't know it would turn out like this...I just asked Xiao Laizi at the alley entrance to say a few words near the He family's house..."

"Little Rascal?" Yi Zhonghai frowned. "That good-for-nothing who idles around all day?"

"Yes...yes..." Jia Dongxu's voice trailed off, "I gave him five thousand yuan to spread rumors about Sha Zhu near the He family's place...I thought...I thought we'd get away with it..."

"You think? You think what?!" Yi Zhonghai cursed. "Yang Ruihua was caught red-handed by Sha Zhu for spreading rumors, and now Sha Zhu is convinced that everyone in our compound conspired to frame him, and he's going to fight us all to the death!"

Jia Dongxu panicked completely: "Then...what should I do? Master, you have to save me!"

Yi Zhonghai was both angry and helpless looking at his apprentice's cowardly appearance.

"Go find that scoundrel right now and make him stop!"

"Then, you stay home quietly and don't mess with Sha Zhu these next few days, understand?"

"I heard you, I heard you!" Jia Dongxu nodded repeatedly, hurriedly putting on his shoes. "I'm going to find Xiao Laizi right now!"

With that, he went out to look for someone.

Yi Zhonghai watched Jia Dongxu's retreating figure and let out a long sigh.

He turned and walked out of the Jia family's house. Just as he returned to his own doorstep, he saw Yan Bugui leading Liu Haizhong over.

Upon seeing Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong hurriedly asked, "Old Yi, what exactly happened?"

Yi Zhonghai didn't answer directly, but instead pushed open his door: "Let's talk inside."

The three entered the house, and Yi Zhonghai's wife poured him some water before discreetly retreating to the inner room.

"Old Yi, you have to make a decision!" Liu Haizhong said urgently as soon as he sat down. "My Guangqi is still young, but if the reputation of the compound is ruined, it will be affected too..."

Yan Bugui chimed in, "Old Yi, you started this, you have to take responsibility!"

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand with a grim expression: "Alright, the most important thing now is to figure out how to calm Sha Zhu down. I know this kid; he responds better to gentle persuasion than force. We need to use a softer approach."

"Soft?" Liu Haizhong asked疑惑地, "How so?"

"Apologize..." Yi Zhonghai slowly uttered two words.

Yan Bugui asked, "Who will apologize?"

Yi Zhonghai thought for a moment and said, "How about this, the three of us, as the most prestigious people in the hospital, go together to apologize to Sha Zhu."

"Besides, isn't he going on blind dates? Let's get everyone in the department involved and introduce him to potential partners!"

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong exchanged a glance and both thought the idea was feasible.

"But," Yan Bugui frowned, "with Sha Zhu's appearance... it might be hard to find someone suitable."

"We have to find someone, even if it's hard!" Yi Zhonghai said decisively. "As long as he's busy with blind dates, he won't have time to argue with us."

The three discussed the details for a while, when they suddenly heard a strange noise coming from outside.

"Whoosh...whoosh...whoosh..."

The sound was rhythmic and particularly jarring in the quiet winter night.

The three exchanged glances, each seeing confusion in the other's eyes.

Yi Zhonghai got up, walked to the window, and lifted a corner of the curtain to look outside.

Upon seeing this, he froze completely.

At the entrance of He Yuzhu's house, He Yuzhu was sitting and slowly sharpening a kitchen knife on a whetstone.

"Whoosh...whoosh...whoosh..."

That wasn't all; there was an axe at his feet.

The axe blade gleamed coldly in the moonlight, clearly having been sharpened to near perfection.

He Yuzhu was very focused on sharpening the knife. He would occasionally stop to test the sharpness of the blade with his finger, then scoop up a ladle of water and pour it onto the whetstone before continuing to sharpen.

His movements were not fast, even slow, but it was precisely this slowness that exuded an indescribable sense of oppression.