Courtyard House: Ten-year-old Master Zhu reorganizes the entire courtyard

Autumn passed and winter came, and the new semester arrived in the blink of an eye. He Yuzhu moved up to the upper grades. Because he had been hiding in the dilapidated temple, he had fallen behind in his studies. Now that he had returned to school, he was more hardworking and more silent than anyone else.

To his classmates, He Yuzhu was a simple, quiet country boy. He arrived at school on time every day, listened attentively in class, and sat in his seat reading after class, never participating in the fights among his classmates.

As a result, he naturally became the perfect target for bullying in the eyes of some people.

A new student named Sun Zhiqiang transferred to the class. He was the son of the deputy director of the puppet police station. Relying on his father's power, he acted arrogantly and domineeringly in the school. He was always accompanied by several sycophantic followers and was known as "Young Master Sun".

On the first day of school, Young Master Sun set his sights on He Yuzhu.

"Hey, you country bumpkin." Sun Zhiqiang kicked He Yuzhu's desk with his foot, his chin held high.

He Yuzhu raised his head, glanced at him, and said nothing.

"What are you looking at?" Young Master Sun was annoyed by his calm gaze. He snatched the newly bought calligraphy brush from the table, weighed it in his hand, and said, "Oh, a wolf hair brush? You poor wretch, do you deserve such a fine brush?"

"Give it back to me." He Yuzhu's voice was completely calm.

"Want it?" Young Master Sun sneered, and in front of the whole class, he used both hands forcefully, and with a "crack," he broke the brand-new calligraphy brush into two pieces.

"Here you go." He threw the broken brush at He Yuzhu's face and left with his followers, laughing loudly.

The classmates watched this scene unfold. Some showed sympathy, but most were gloating and indifferent. No one dared to step forward.

He Yuzhu silently picked up the broken pen from the ground, put it in his schoolbag, and didn't say another word from beginning to end.

His forbearance was seen as cowardice by Young Master Sun.

In the following days, Young Master Sun became even more outrageous. He threw He Yuzhu's homework into a bucket of water, smeared ink all over his stool, and even directed his henchmen to steal the few copper coins He Yuzhu had on his way home from school.

He Yuzhu did not resist, not even once. He simply observed coldly with his dark eyes.

He was observing Sun Zhiqiang's weaknesses.

He found it very quickly.

Sun Zhiqiang had a fatal flaw—showing off. He often boasted to his cronies about how powerful his father was and how many good things his family had. Once, he even secretly brought his father's sidearm—a small Browning pistol—to school and showed it off to his trusted followers.

"See that? Made in Germany! My dad said it can shoot through a cow with one shot!" Sun Zhiqiang hid the gun in his pocket, his face full of pride.

He Yuzhu, who was hiding in the distance, saw all of this clearly.

The opportunity is here.

Two days later, He Yuzhu figured out Sun Zhiqiang's routine. Every day after school, he would go to an arcade near the school to play pinball, usually playing until dark before going home.

That afternoon, He Yuzhu waited for Sun Zhiqiang on his usual route home. It was a narrow alley, rarely frequented by people.

As dusk fell, Sun Zhiqiang hummed a tune and strolled leisurely into the alley.

A dark figure suddenly appeared from around the corner, blocking his path.

"Who?" Sun Zhiqiang was startled, but upon recognizing He Yuzhu, he immediately became arrogant again. "It's you, you country bumpkin? What, you're not convinced and want to fight me one-on-one?"

He Yuzhu didn't say anything, but took out a photo from his pocket and handed it to him.

The photo was taken secretly at the entrance of the arcade. It's a bit blurry, but you can clearly see Sun Zhiqiang pulling out the black Browning pistol from his pocket and showing it off to his henchman.

He Yuzhu used some points accumulated from the system to generate this photo through a simple "snapshot" function. Although the cost was small, the effect was devastating.

Sun Zhiqiang's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead. His father had repeatedly forbidden him from touching a gun, let alone taking it out of the house. If his father found out about this, breaking his legs would be the least of his worries!

"What...what do you want to do?" Sun Zhiqiang's voice began to tremble.

"Give me back my pen." He Yuzhu's voice was low, like the cold wind of a winter night.

"I'll pay for it! I'll buy you a new one tomorrow! No, I'll buy ten!" Sun Zhiqiang said hurriedly.

"I don't want the new one, I just want my old one." He Yuzhu looked at him.

Sun Zhiqiang was stunned; he had long ago thrown that pen away as trash.

"And another thing," He Yuzhu continued, "from now on, we'll keep to ourselves. If you dare to mess with me again, or send your lackeys to mess with me, this photo will end up on your father's desk."

"I won't do it again! I'll never do it again!" Sun Zhiqiang was so scared he was about to cry.

Seeing his expression, He Yuzhu knew that the time was right.

He took back the photo, his tone suddenly softening: "Actually, I didn't want to cause you any trouble."

Sun Zhiqiang looked up at him, puzzled.

"I like making friends." He Yuzhu smiled inappropriately for his age. "I heard your dad is the deputy director of the police station, and he's very well-informed. In the future, if you hear anything interesting while you're eating at home, like where there are checkpoints going to be set up in the city, which area is going to conduct household registration checks, or who has been arrested, you can tell me."

He paused, then took a White Rabbit milk candy from his pocket and handed it over.

"In exchange, I'll keep this photo safe for you. If you get into any more trouble in the future, I might be able to help you. And, you'll get some sweets every now and then."

Sun Zhiqiang looked at the candy that smelled of milk, and then at He Yuzhu's calm face, and felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

This country bumpkin isn't human; he's a devil!

He had no choice.

His hands trembled as he took the candy, as if he were catching a scorching hot iron.

"I...I promise you." Sun Zhiqiang lowered his head, his voice barely audible.

He Yuzhu nodded, turned around, and disappeared into the shadows of the alley.

Sun Zhiqiang collapsed to the ground, taking a long time to come to his senses. He looked at the candy in his hand, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth.

The sugar was sweet, but he tasted an indescribable bitterness and fear.

He Yuzhu, on the other hand, successfully planted the most unexpected and deeply buried mole in this city. A brand new intelligence line from within the high command of the fake police station was thus established.