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

Chapter 5 Getting the Money Back

When he said goodbye to the rain, He Yuzhu did not look back.

He was afraid that if he turned back, he wouldn't be able to leave. Yu Shui stood at the door of the White Widow's house, tears streaming down his face, calling out, "Brother, come and pick me up soon."

He Yuzhu gritted his teeth and walked forward, his steps getting longer and longer, until he almost ran out of the alley.

He only calmed down after boarding the train, sat down by the window, and closed his eyes to search for the regulations in his mind.

The certificate issued by the Baoding Military Control Commission is in the space. It is a testimony written by He Daqing himself, in black and white, with his fingerprint on it.

It also has the red seal of the Baoding Military Control Commission. If we take this back, we can first bring Yi Zhonghai into the Military Control Commission. He's an ordinary person with no descendants, and he definitely can't withstand the interrogation.

The question is, how do you use it?

If I take this to the military control commission to file a complaint, Yi Zhonghai will get at least one or two years in prison. If this heir goes to jail, won't that delay my chance to get revenge?

Let's expose it in the courtyard. In front of everyone in the courtyard, let everyone know what kind of person Yi Juehu is. Where will he put his old face then? Let's have some fun first.

Finally, knock him out with a stick at night, then put him in your spatial storage and tidy him up.

As He Yuzhu pondered, a fierce glint appeared in his eyes.

It was already 8 p.m. when they arrived in Beijing. He Yuzhu got off the train and jogged back to the courtyard house.

The door lock was intact; it hadn't been pried open. It's unbelievable that Jia Zhangshi never laid a hand on it in her entire life.

He Yuzhu went into the house, took out a copper basin, and started banging it.

"Come out, everyone! Come out! What's on your mind?"

The sound of the copper basin was loud, and his shouts were equally loud. One by one, the lights in the courtyard were turned on, and someone opened the door, cursing and swearing.

Jia Zhangshi and her son stood at the door. Yan Bugui, wearing a cotton-padded coat, came from the front yard. Liu Haizhong looked displeased and carried a lantern. Several other families from the front and back yards also arrived.

Yi Zhonghai was the last to come out, with a smile on his face, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Pillar's back? Did you find your dad?"

He Yuzhu ignored him and, seeing that almost everyone had arrived, stood in the middle of the courtyard.

"Yi Zhonghai, when He Daqing left, he left you two hundred yuan and a substitute worker certificate. Take them out now."

Yi Zhonghai's smile froze for a moment, but quickly returned to normal.

"Zhu Zi, what are you saying? Your father didn't leave anything behind when he passed away. I said that in front of everyone the other day."

"Your word doesn't count." He Yuzhu pulled out the certificate and held it up. "This is a certificate issued by the Baoding Military Control Commission, written by He Daqing himself, with his fingerprint on it. It's in black and white, you can't deny it."

Everyone in the courtyard turned their attention to the piece of paper. Yan Bugui leaned closer to look, and He Yuzhu handed it to him.

"Teacher Yan, you're educated, read it to everyone."

Yan Bugui took it, and Liu Haizhong held a lamp to light his way.

"Certificate. I, He Daqing, a cook at the Lou's Steel Plant in Beijing, entrusted two hundred yuan and a substitute work certificate from the Lou's Steel Plant to my neighbor Yi Zhonghai for safekeeping before leaving Beijing in November 1951. The above is true, and I am willing to bear legal responsibility. Baoding Military Control Commission, November 1951."

After the reading was finished, the courtyard quieted down for a moment, then a buzzing sound began.

Yi Zhonghai's face turned pale and then green, his lips trembled, and he wanted to say something but couldn't.

He Yuzhu took the certificate back from Yan Bugui and put it in his pocket.

"Yi Zhonghai, what else do you have to say?"

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and forced himself to say, "This is fake. Your father didn't leave me anything. You forged the Military Control Commission's certificate; you're breaking the law."

He Yuzhu smiled.

He turned and walked out, taking large strides.

Yi Zhonghai panicked and chased after him, grabbing his arm.

"Pillar, where are you going?"

"Go to the Military Control Commission. Didn't you say you were lying? I'll get the people from the Military Control Commission here, and you'll be going to jail. At least three years."

Yi Zhonghai's hands were trembling, and he wouldn't let go.

He Yuzhu turned around and looked at Yi Zhonghai.

"Let go."

"Pillar, let's talk this out..."

He Yuzhu didn't waste any more words. He flipped his left hand, grabbed Yi Zhonghai's wrist, and threw out his right fist, smashing it into Yi Zhonghai's chest.

Yi Zhonghai grunted, took two steps back, tripped, and fell backward to the ground. He Yuzhu followed up, not giving him a chance to get up, and punched him in the face, knocking out several of Yi Zhonghai's teeth, who cried out in pain.

He Yuzhu mounted him and started hitting him relentlessly, without holding back at all. Yi Zhonghai screamed like a pig being slaughtered.

No one in the courtyard dared to come up and pull him away. Yan Bugui took several steps back, and Liu Haizhong also shrank his neck.

He Yuzhu threw more than twenty punches before being pulled away by Jia Dongxu and several other people in the courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai lay on the ground, trembling all over, his face indistinguishable between blood and tears.

"The money was in my cabinet... the substitute worker certificate... I sold it..."

He Yuzhu squatted down and grabbed him by the collar.

"Sold? Sold to whom?"

"I sold it...I sold it to Wang the Cripple...he gave me three hundred..."

He Yuzhu slapped him across the face.

"That's my stuff. You swallowed my money and sold my stuff. You're really something, aren't you?"

He stood up and clapped his hands.

"Give me eight hundred yuan. Two hundred yuan is the principal, making a total of one thousand. Not a penny less."

Yi Zhonghai lay on the ground, panting for a long time, his voice trembling.

"A thousand is too much... I can't afford it..."

"Can't produce it?" He Yuzhu turned and left. "Then I'll go to the Military Control Commission to ask for it."

"No, no, no!" Yi Zhonghai crawled after him, grabbing his trouser leg. "I'll give it to you! I'll give it to you!"

He got up and limped into the house. After a while, he came out holding a wad of money, his hands trembling like a leaf, and handed it to He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu took it, counted it in front of everyone in the hospital, and put it in his pocket.

The way people in the courtyard looked at Yi Zhonghai changed. This man who had pretended to be a good person in the courtyard for over ten years turned out to be a scoundrel who embezzled people's money.

Yi Zhonghai stood in the middle of the courtyard, his face swollen like a pig's head, his clothes covered in dirt, and he kept his head down, not daring to look at anyone.

He Yuzhu scanned the people in the courtyard and said loudly, "You all saw that, right? This is the good man you all trusted. He Daqing trusted him, gave him money and things, and asked him to take care of us siblings. And what did he do? He embezzled the money, sold the things, and even said in front of everyone that he didn't keep anything for himself. You still dare to trust someone like that?"

No one spoke. Yan Bugui glanced sideways at Yi Zhonghai. Liu Haizhong held a lantern in his hand, his eyes fixed on the sky.

He Yuzhu turned around and went back into the house.

The crowd dispersed. Some people glanced at Yi Zhonghai as they left, their eyes looking at him as if he were something dirty.

Xu Damao came over. He had been standing under the corridor watching the commotion from beginning to end, and now he ran over with a grin.

"Silly Zhu, you found your father? Where's Yushui?"

He Yuzhu stopped and turned to look at Xu Damao.

In my past life, it was this person who collected his body and cried when he was left with only half a face after being eaten by wild dogs.

"I'll let you off the first time." He Yuzhu pointed at his nose, "If you call me 'Silly Zhu' again, I'll beat you up like Yi Zhonghai."

Xu Damao's smile faded for a moment, then he forced it back on.

"Alright, alright, Pillar. Is that enough, Pillar? Where's Rainwater? Where is she?"

"Baoding. He Daqing will take care of me. I'll live alone from now on."

Before Xu Damao could ask anything else, He Yuzhu had already gone inside and closed the door.

At night, He Yuzhu lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), closed his eyes, and began to use his spatial awareness.

Everything is crystal clear within 30 meters.

The Yi family's house was on the east side. Tan Xiulan applied medicine to Yi Zhonghai's wound without making a sound. Yi Zhonghai lay there, occasionally groaning softly.

He Yuzhu waited.

He waited for Yi Zhonghai to get up and go to the toilet.

Most of the night had passed.

Yi Zhonghai got up, took out the chamber pot from under the bed, urinated in it, and lay down again.

Damn it, that was a miscalculation.

I'll take the chamber pot away tomorrow night. Let's see if you come out then.