Courtyard House: A Veteran Returns Home and Becomes a Father

Outside the door stood a plump woman who looked to be in her fifties.

Seeing Su Mo turn around and look at her, she lifted her foot to walk inside.

"Hey, who are you?" Su Mo knew, of course, that the fat woman was Jia Zhangshi, but he couldn't let her into his courtyard like that.

Su Mo immediately ran to the door, stood sideways, and blocked the gate completely.

Unable to get in, Jia Zhangshi looked up, glaring fiercely at Su Mo with her triangular eyes. "Who are you? Who gave you the right to point and gesture here! This house was ours first, you get out here right now!"

Su Mo felt there was something wrong with his ears. Su Mo knew that Jia Zhangshi was shameless, but he didn't expect her to be this shameless.

Just because you saw something first, does that mean I have to give it to you?

Are you perhaps a little out of your mind?

"Stop trying to provoke me!" Su Mo raised his hand to scare the fat woman who was making a move to rush inside again. "If you dare to rush in again, do you believe I'll slap you across the face? You not only look like a wild boar, but your movements are even more like one."

Given Su Mo's temper, if Jia Zhangshi dared to cause trouble, Su Mo would definitely dare to hit her.

Jia Zhangshi clearly did not know that the pale-faced, sickly-looking man in military uniform in front of her was the Su family boy who had made her and Old Jia parade through the streets five years ago.

Old Jia was also humiliated after being paraded through the streets. He was worried all day long and was absent-minded when working. While helping to unload steel, he was distracted and was crushed to death by falling steel.

Upon seeing Su Mo's stance, Jia Zhangshi immediately sat down on the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing, "This is outrageous! How dare they bully an old woman! Old Jia, why did you leave us, leaving us orphans and widows to be bullied..."

Su Mo had originally planned to reason with her and uphold the image of a soldier, but seeing Jia Zhangshi's attitude, he rolled his eyes and said, "You old lunatic, don't try to cause trouble for me. I'm not buying it."

"What you've got your eye on is yours. Why don't you just say you've got your eye on the palace? See if the country will grant it to you then. Get out of here right now, or I'll really slap you."

Master Lei, standing nearby, chimed in, "I've really seen something amazing today. There's someone like you in this No. 95 courtyard! Let's get going, before my boss loses his temper."

At this time, none of the men in the courtyard had finished work yet. As for Yan Bugui, he didn't have class today, so he just signed in and then left. The other women held a grudge against Jia Zhangshi because each family had been fined when Jia Zhangshi went to the Su family to propose marriage five years ago, so none of them came out to help.

Seeing that no one was there to defend her and that Su Mo wasn't buying her act, Jia Zhangshi became enraged and jumped up, pointing at Su Mo's nose and yelling, "You...you little beast, you childless bastard..."

Snapped!

A clear slap.

Jia Zhangshi was stunned by the slap; one side of her chubby face swelled up even more, and her triangular eyes were filled with disbelief and horror.

This was only because Su Mo held back; if he had slapped her with all his might, Jia Zhangshi would have been able to go and see her beloved old Jia.

"You...you dare hit me, you little brat..."

Snapped!

Another slap, but this time it hit the other side of the face.

Now it's symmetrical.

Su Mo was quite satisfied. He had regretted slapping her once earlier, wondering why he had only slapped her once. Fortunately, Jia Zhangshi gave him a chance to slap her again. Otherwise, seeing one side bigger than the other would have made his obsessive-compulsive disorder uncomfortable.

Madam Jia realized that this young man in front of her didn't take her seriously at all.

Jia Zhangshi was a shrew, but not a fool.

Looking up at Su Mo, she saw his cold gaze and contemptuous expression, and she couldn't help but tremble.

"You...just you wait!"

Madam Jia was terrified. The murderous aura emanating from Su Mo was too frightening. She didn't dare to linger for a moment and immediately turned and ran away.

"You old hag, if you dare come again, I'll beat you every time I see you!" Su Mo cursed at Jia Zhangshi's back.

Su Mo thought that in the future, not only would he be in this courtyard, but also his wife and children. If these beasts dared to provoke his family, beating them would be too lenient.

"Pah, what a piece of junk!" Su Mo cursed.

Looking at the scene before him, Master Lei couldn't help but complain, "Boss, what is this thing? You'd better be careful living here from now on."

Su Mo snorted coldly, "If you have nothing to do, you'd better not mess with me, or who knows who'll be embarrassed later."

After Su Mo finished speaking, he and Master Lei started clearing the weeds in the yard.

With a pig's head on her head, Jia Zhangshi ran back to the Jia family.

At this moment, Qin Huairu was playing with a stick on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Before his death, Lao Jia gave his last words:

First, we need to get Jia Dongxu married and have children as soon as possible to ensure the Jia family has an heir. Second, we must never provoke the Su family again.

The first thing Jia Zhangshi accomplished quickly. After Old Jia died, she soon found a matchmaker to help Jia Dongxu find a wife from Qin Family Village in Changping—Qin Huairu. The two soon had a child, and the first one was a boy, the one who is now in Qin Huairu's arms.

However, Jia Zhangshi is still unaware that she has already violated the second of Old Jia's dying wishes.

Qin Huairu saw her mother-in-law enter the house with a pig's head on her head, and she could tell at a glance that her mother-in-law had been beaten up.

Her own mother-in-law controlled the family's money and was extremely stingy. The family was always hungry, and sometimes she would secretly go out to eat a nice meal. She thought she didn't know, but in those days, most families didn't eat meat more than a few times a year, so she was particularly sensitive to the smell of meat. Every time Jia Zhangshi came back from sneaking a meal, she could smell it, but she couldn't say anything because her mother-in-law was now in charge of the family.

She secretly told Jia Dongxu several times at night, but Jia Dongxu didn't believe her because he was very filial, to the point of being blindly obedient. Each time, the matter was dropped.

Qin Huai was secretly pleased; finally, someone could manage her mother-in-law. However, she still had to maintain appearances. "Mom, what happened? Who hit you?"

Madam Jia covered her face and said irritably, "The east wing that our family had our eye on had someone move in today. I went to ask him to give me the house, but... humph."

Although Qin Huairu knew her mother-in-law deserved it, she still went against her conscience and said, "When Dongxu and Uncle Yi get home from get off work, we'll settle accounts with that person." Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi immediately said, "That's right! Let's have a meeting tonight. This matter deserves at least 100 yuan in compensation, no, 500 yuan, or it's not over."

When Qin Huai heard her mother-in-law say this, she had no choice but to reply perfunctorily, "Alright, tonight we'll have Uncle Yi uphold justice for us."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi was overjoyed. Her daughter-in-law was so supportive. Thinking of the 500 yuan, she burst into laughter.

With a smile, the joy she had felt from the 500 yuan vanished instantly, replaced by a burning pain on her face from the two slaps Su Mo had just given her.

Madam Jia immediately stopped laughing and hurriedly said to Qin Huairu, "Quickly go and get me a hot towel so I can apply it properly. It hurts so much!"

Although Qin Huairu was unwilling, she still went to prepare hot towels for her mother-in-law.

That afternoon, Jia Zhangshi would laugh heartily at the thought of getting 500 yuan, and then scream in pain. These two sounds alternated throughout the afternoon in the Jia family.