Sha Zhu's Rebirth in the Courtyard: Starting with Hitting Someone in the Head

Chapter 10 The Old Deaf Man Gets Beaten

The old deaf man stood outside the door, patting the door panel.

"Silly Zhuzi, open the door! My dear grandson, open the door quickly and give Grandma some food. Grandma has been starving all day."

He Yuzhu stood inside the door, without moving.

He was still thinking about his past life. Was the old deaf man really doing it for his own good by locking him and Lou Xiao'e in the back room?

At that time, Lou Xiao'e had been married to Xu Damao for several years, and everyone in the courtyard gossiped behind her back that she was a barren hen. How did the old deaf man know that Lou Xiao'e could have children? He only wanted Lou Xiao'e because she was the daughter of a capitalist and had money. He paired him up with Lou Xiao'e to provide her with better conditions in her old age.

It's all a fucking scheme.

Filming is still going on outside. "Grandson, open the door! Grandma just wants to eat."

He Yuzhu's anger surged, and he yanked open the door.

The old deaf woman stood at the door, leaning on a cane, her face etched with wrinkles. When she saw He Yuzhu open the door, a smile spread across her face, and she opened her mouth to speak.

He Yuzhu didn't give her a chance.

"You old bastard, do you even have a grandson? You slept with my grandfather? Is He Daqing your son? If you call me 'Silly Zhuzi' again, I'll knock all your teeth out. You try me!"

His voice was loud enough to be heard in both the front and back yards. Some people had already come out of the house and were standing under the porch watching.

The old deaf woman's smile froze, slowly turning ashen. Her lips trembled, she tapped her cane on the ground twice, and swayed, almost losing her balance.

"You...you dare to insult me? I'm the patriarch of this courtyard, I...I'll beat you to death."

She swung her cane and hit him.

He Yuzhu snatched the cane, grabbed both ends, and slammed it against his leg. With a crack, the cane broke in two. He threw the two pieces of the cane on the ground and slapped himself across the face.

*Snap.* A crisp sound.

The old deaf man's face turned red on one side, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

He Yuzhu was displeased. "You old bastard, how dare you hit your Grandpa Zhu? You're asking for it."

Before she could react, He Yuzhu slapped her again.

*Smack.* Now it's symmetrical; both sides of his face are swollen, and it looks much better.

The old deaf man was so badly beaten that his eyes were wide open, and blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth, but she didn't even wipe it away.

The women in the courtyard all stood in the middle, none of them daring to step forward. Jia Zhangshi stood there, mouth agape, eyes wide like copper bells, completely frozen in place.

The old deaf woman burst into tears, spitting out a mouthful of blood mixed with two large teeth. She collapsed to the ground, slapping her legs and shouting.

"Help! This beast is beating an old woman! He's lawless! He even hits a woman over sixty! Is there no justice left?!"

Several women nearby started talking. Some said, "How could Zhuzi hit an old woman?" Others said, "The old lady is so old." They all talked at once, but no one dared to go over and help her up.

Only Jia Zhangshi remained silent. Her eyes were fixed on He Yuzhu, her heart pounding. This foolish Zhu has gone mad; he even beat up the old deaf man. She couldn't afford to mess with him anymore. When Dongxu came home from get off work, she'd have to have a good talk with him and tell him to stay away from this foolish Zhu.

He Yuzhu shouted loudly, silencing all the murmurs.

"Shut up. Are you all deaf? Didn't you hear her call me 'Silly Pillar'? And she even called herself my grandma. She's childless, does she even have a son? She just said she was the ancestor of this courtyard, didn't you hear that? Just for that sentence, I could beat her up and nothing would happen to me."

He turned to look at the old deaf man sitting on the ground.

"Stop crying, it won't work. If you're so capable, call the military control commission and teach me a lesson. Let me tell you, if I beat you up today, you old bastard, I'll be perfectly fine."

The old deaf woman stopped crying. She raised her head, her eyes filled with hatred. She stood up and walked over to Jia Zhangshi.

"Go, go to the military control commission and call for help."

Jia Zhangshi took a step back, shook her head, and looked away.

"Grandma, I...I have something to do..."

"What do you want?" the old deaf man's voice shrieked. "Are you going or not?"

Jia Zhangshi shrank her neck, didn't say a word, turned around and ran home, closing the door behind her.

The old deaf man was so angry that he trembled all over. He then turned to look at another woman, Aunt Li, who lived in the front yard.

"Go. Go to the military control commission and get me some people."

Aunt Li looked at the old deaf man, then at He Yuzhu, and stood there, not daring to move.

He Yuzhu spoke.

"Aunt Li, go find Officer Wang from the Military Control Commission, the one who used to register the household registrations in the compound. She's an acquaintance of the old deaf man. Tell her to bring someone with her; I won't cooperate if she comes alone. I want to see what she can do to me today."

Aunt Li stood there, stunned, not knowing what to do.

The old deaf man's heart skipped a beat. How did this silly Zhu know that Officer Wang was an acquaintance of hers?

He Yuzhu looked at Aunt Li and smiled.

"Go ahead, Aunt Li. Go and call someone. I'll wait here."

Aunt Li glanced at He Yuzhu's expression, then turned and ran away.

The courtyard fell silent. The old deaf woman stood in the middle of the courtyard, her cheeks swollen high, blood still trickling from the corner of her mouth, looking both pitiful and comical. No one went to help her up, and no one spoke.

He Yuzhu brought out a chair, sat down at his doorstep, crossed his legs, and waited.

About half an hour later, Aunt Li returned. Two people followed her. One was a woman in her thirties, wearing a military control commission uniform, with short, shoulder-length hair, and a brisk walk. Behind her was a young soldier carrying a rifle, his face taut.

As soon as Officer Wang entered the Intermediate Court, she saw the old woman standing there with her swollen face, and her expression immediately changed. She quickly walked over, helped the deaf old woman, and turned to look at He Yuzhu.

"You're the one who hit him? Don't you know how to respect your elders? Where's your father, He Daqing?"

He Yuzhu stood up abruptly.

"Bullshit! You think you can be a military control commission officer? Don't you know Chairman Mao said, 'No investigation, no right to speak'? You haven't even asked what happened, and you're already throwing accusations at me?"

Wang, the clerk, was stunned. This was the first time she had ever been insulted to her face by a young boy. Her face flushed red, and she pointed at He Yuzhu.

"How...how dare you talk to me like that?"

"How did I speak? I'm speaking Mandarin, can't you understand? You come up here and ask about my father, didn't you know he ran away? The whole Nanluoguxiang area knows. How are you managing things? You don't even know this, what are you good for?"

The young soldier next to him took a step forward and reached for his rifle sling. He Yuzhu glanced at him but didn't move.

"What? You want to use a gun? Come on, try using it."

The soldier glanced at Officer Wang.

Officer Wang shook his head, took a deep breath to suppress his anger, and turned to ask the person next to him.

"What's going on? Who's going to speak first?"

No one spoke. She glanced at Aunt Li, whose head was down. She glanced at the door of Jia Zhangshi's house, which was closed. She then glanced at the other women, who all stepped back.

He Yuzhu spoke up.

"I'll tell you. Listen carefully."

He recounted what had happened. The deaf old woman called him "Silly Pillar" and referred to herself as his grandmother. He told her not to call him that, and she swung her cane at him. He broke the cane and slapped her twice.

"That's all. Ask them if that's how it is." He deliberately didn't mention that the old deaf man referred to himself as an ancestor.

He Yuzhu pointed to the group of women. No one nodded, no one shook their head, but no one said no.

Officer Wang frowned and turned to ask the old deaf man.

"Grandma, is he right?"

The old deaf woman opened her mouth as if to say something, but then said nothing. The blood at the corner of her mouth had dried, and her face was swollen like a steamed bun.

Wang looked at her for a while, then turned back to look at He Yuzhu.

"No matter what, you shouldn't have hit her. She's an elderly woman in her sixties, and you're a young man. By hitting her, you've gone from being in the right to being in the wrong."

He Yuzhu smiled.

"Fine. She hit me with her cane, and I took the hit with my head? She called me an idiot, and I listened? Is this how you do your job? And this old deaf man just claimed to be the patriarch of the compound."

Wang, the clerk, was speechless.

He Yuzhu took another step forward.

"Hey Wang, how did you deal with that old deaf man? Was I right to hit him?"

The women in the courtyard were dumbfounded. He Yuzhu was really fierce, daring to scold a government employee.

Officer Wang stood there, his face flushed, stammering, "This...this..."

The old deaf man standing nearby realized that things had escalated to a major point, and she was in the wrong. Officer Wang couldn't protect her.

"Hey Wang, tell me how to deal with that old deaf man? We're on high alert for feudal remnants and reactionary secret societies. He calls himself an ancestor, which is suspicious of him putting on airs like an old patriarch from the old society. What about your class struggle mentality? Are you going to protect feudal remnants?" He Yuzhu forced Wang, the cadre, to make a judgment.

Officer Wang was sweating profusely. The old lady was doomed today; she had to be taken away for education.

She calmed herself down and shouted, "Comrade He Yuzhu, you're absolutely right. We must be wary of feudal remnants." Officer Wang looked around at the people, "Did you all hear the old lady referring to herself as an ancestor just now? Tell the truth, don't lie, or you'll be protecting feudal remnants."

Hearing this, the women dared not remain silent and all spoke up, saying they had heard it. The old lady said it was the matriarch of this courtyard. She also called He Yuzhu "Silly Pillar," her eldest grandson.

"Officer Wang, are the facts clear now? Do you think I was right to hit this old deaf man?" He Yuzhu not only killed him but also tried to destroy his spirit.

Officer Wang could only admit, "You were right to hit her. I didn't investigate properly." He turned to the young soldier and said, "Xiao Zhang, take the old lady away. She called herself an ancestor in public; she needs to receive ideological education to break free from feudalistic thinking. Then release her to make a public apology."

Young soldier Zhang obeyed the order, grabbed the old lady's hand, and put it behind her back.

He Yuzhu spoke again: "Officer Wang, wait a minute. You should apologize to me. You were wrong. Show some Party spirit."

Wang, the clerk, was trembling with anger, but with so many people watching, she could only lower her head. After bowing and apologizing to He Yuzhu, she left with a livid face.

He Yuzhu shouted from behind, "Officer Wang, this matter must be recorded in the old deaf man's household registration file according to regulations. Don't try to get away with it. I will go to the police station to check."

Officer Wang stumbled, and the old deaf woman almost fell as well, but fortunately Xiao Zhang held her down.