Courtyard House: Wudang Disciple Sweeps Through the Compound

"Why do you have to go and cause trouble for Chen Wenqi? I think that kid is actually quite good. He's filial to his mother, knows how to take care of his younger siblings, and is a sensible and good child."

"What do you know, you woman! You're all talk and no action!" Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai was immediately enraged and retorted angrily, "He's just a kid, yet he has no respect for me, an elder in this community, and he speaks so arrogantly and domineeringly."

"If this continues, he'll completely disrupt the rules of our courtyard, and the whole place will be in utter chaos!"

The old woman's face immediately darkened. She lowered her head silently and said in a low voice, "It's all my fault. It's all my fault for not giving you a son or daughter. Otherwise, you wouldn't be worrying so much about your old age and having to deal with all these miscellaneous troubles in the yard."

In fact, the old lady was very clear-headed. She saw everything that was happening in the courtyard. Yi Zhonghai had become obsessed with planning his retirement all these years.

He secretly withheld the three hundred yuan that He Daqing left for Sha Zhu, and also secretly intercepted the ten yuan that He Daqing sent to He Yushui every month. It was through these means that he managed to train Sha Zhu to be obedient, just like a well-behaved dog, who listened to him in every way.

But the older woman was helpless. The family relied entirely on Yi Zhonghai's earnings to survive, and she had no income of her own. So her words carried little weight, and she could only watch silently from the sidelines, unable to do anything.

She always believed that she couldn't have children because she had a gynecological disease in the past. Over the years, she has lived in deep self-blame, always feeling that she owes Yi Zhonghai too much.

Yi Zhonghai ignored the dejected old woman, stood up, and walked straight out to the backyard where the deaf old woman lived.

He gently pushed open the door and saw the deaf old lady sitting upright in the armchair in the courtyard, her eyes slightly closed, seemingly lost in thought.

She only slowly opened her eyes and looked at him calmly when Yi Zhonghai walked up to her.

"Grandma, you must have seen what happened in the yard today, right? That little bastard Chen Wenqi is getting more and more lawless, he doesn't follow any rules at all."

As soon as Yi Zhonghai opened his mouth, his tone was filled with resentment and unwillingness: "If this continues, our courtyard will be turned into complete chaos sooner or later!"

A barely perceptible glint flashed in the deaf old woman's cloudy eyes. She scrutinized Yi Zhonghai for a moment before slowly saying, "Old Yi, how many times have I told you? The Jia family is simply not suitable for you to live out your days in. Why won't you listen?"

"I did see what happened today. That kid from the Chen family is no simpleton. He's meticulous and knows exactly what he's doing."

"As long as you don't provoke them, nothing will go wrong. They are a very simple family; they just want to stay home and live their own peaceful lives. They have no desire to get involved in the disputes in the neighborhood."

"In the end, it's because you have too much of a desire for control, always wanting to hold everything in the yard in your own hands."

The deaf old woman paused, then continued, "Treat that silly boy, Zhu, well. He's the one most suitable to take care of you in your old age and see you off in your final days. How can you still not see that?"

In fact, the deaf old lady had been secretly observing the Chen family's every move these past few days. She felt that Chen Wenqi was unfathomable and that no one could see through his true nature.

Therefore, she did not intend to make a move against the Chen family without being absolutely certain of success, lest she suffer a loss instead and bring trouble upon herself.

There has always been a major disagreement between the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai on the crucial issue of elderly care.

Yi Zhonghai stubbornly insisted on choosing the Jia family, but the deaf old lady took a liking to Sha Zhu at first sight. She felt that Sha Zhu was an upright person. Although he was a bit straightforward, he was loyal and righteous. She believed that as long as he was well won over, he would definitely do his best to take care of Yi Zhonghai in his old age.

In fact, given the deaf old lady's shrewdness and experience, how could she not see that Yi Zhonghai probably had ulterior motives?

With Yi Zhonghai's keen eye, he should have been able to see through Jia Dongxu and his mother, Jia Zhangshi's, selfish and greedy nature; they were definitely not reliable people to entrust with one's old age.

But the deaf old lady had no intention of delving into Yi Zhonghai's calculations. She only knew one thing: sooner or later, Yi Zhonghai would realize what a terrible mistake it was to choose Jia Dongxu.

Yi Zhonghai was clearly extremely dissatisfied with the deaf old lady's impartial words, and his face became increasingly gloomy and frightening.

He then added, "That little bastard is a troublemaker. Today he managed to send Dongxu to the police station, who knows what he might do next?"

"Grandma, we can't let him continue to act so recklessly. We must find a way to drive the Chen family out of this yard!"

The deaf old woman sighed softly and said slowly, "Don't forget, the Chen family are the families of martyrs. What right do you have to drive them away? Besides, they live in their own private house, and the deed is in their own hands. You have absolutely no reason to make them move out."

"Alright, since you've already made up your mind, go ahead and do whatever you want. I'll just remind you one thing: make sure you clean up the mess before and after. Don't end up getting yourself into trouble instead of getting things done, ending up losing more than you gain."

The deaf old lady's words were quite clear: Yi Zhonghai originally wanted to pull her to his side, tie her to his side, and work together to deal with the Chen family.

But the shrewd deaf old lady had already seen through her intentions, which is why she said those words, clearly indicating that she would not interfere in the matter.

However, Yi Zhonghai didn't say anything more. He had already made up his mind that no matter what, he would not let Chen Wenqi get away with it and would make him pay a heavy price for what he had done today.

After dinner, Chen Wenqi and his family suddenly remembered the envelope they had brought back from the police station during the day, so they opened it and checked what was inside.

The envelope contained a 100-yuan bonus, as well as various vouchers and certificates that were useful on a daily basis.

To Chen Wenqi's surprise, there was also a bicycle voucher tucked inside the envelope—with this voucher, he would no longer have to painstakingly save up industrial coupons, making it much easier to buy a bicycle.

"Mom, how many industrial vouchers have we saved up now?" Chen Wenqi asked his mother, Zhou Shuqin, as he held the bicycle voucher in his hand.

"We've saved quite a few industrial vouchers at home. Every month after I get my salary, I make sure to set aside some, just in case we need them for big purchases later," Zhou Shuqin answered her son, then couldn't help but ask, "Why are you asking this? Are you planning to buy something?"

"I want to buy two bicycles. Now that I have this bicycle ticket, all I need are industrial vouchers and money," Chen Wenqi explained with a smile, waving the ticket in his hand.

"I've already saved up twenty industrial vouchers. If you give me another thirty, that'll be enough to buy two bicycles."

"I've earned a few hundred yuan from fishing these past few days, enough to buy two cars. You can ride one to work, which will make things much more convenient, and you won't have to walk so hard anymore."

"I'll be in my final year of junior high next semester. Once I get into a vocational high school, I'll need a bicycle to get to school, which will make getting around much easier."

"Mom, there's no need to buy a bicycle. My workplace isn't far from home, it's only a ten-minute walk, so I don't need a car at all," Zhou Shuqin quickly waved her hand and said. "One bicycle is enough for us. You can save the rest of the money; we'll have plenty of expenses for the family in the future."

"Let's buy two cars. That way, if you want to go home for lunch or if there's an emergency at home that you need to rush back to, it will be more convenient, and you won't have to rush around."

Chen Wenqi insisted on his idea and said again,

"Besides, I can earn money now, so it's only natural for me to buy you things. It's nothing at all."

"Alright then, Mom will listen to you. We'll buy two cars then." Seeing her son's resolute attitude, Zhou Shuqin stopped insisting on her own opinion. However, she asked worriedly, "But do you really have enough money? If not, Mom has some saved up here. You can use it first."

"That's enough, don't worry." Chen Wenqi grinned and said, "I have more than four hundred yuan on me now, plus the one hundred yuan reward from the police station today, so I have more than five hundred yuan in total."

"I've already found out that a cheap men's 28-inch bicycle costs about 170 yuan, and a women's bicycle costs about 180 yuan."

The two bikes together cost only about 350 yuan. 500 yuan is enough to buy both, and you'll even have some left over.

Chen Wenqi carefully calculated the costs for his mother.

"Ah? You've made so much money fishing these past few days?" Although Zhou Shuqin knew her son had been making money fishing recently, she never expected him to earn so much, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Don't underestimate fishing. Take the fish we had for dinner tonight, for example. It's considered small in the river," Chen Wenqi explained with a smile. "I've figured out a bait recipe myself. With this bait, you can almost always catch a fish, so you can make money faster."

Hearing her son say this, Zhou Shuqin felt that her son was becoming more and more capable. But then she thought that her son had always been excellent since he was a child, with good grades and was sensible and filial. No matter how capable he became, he was still her own son, and she couldn't help but feel more and more gratified.

"Alright then, since you've already made all the arrangements, let's go pick out bicycles together this weekend," Zhou Shuqin agreed readily with a smile.