Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

The large bulletin board at the entrance of Nanluoguxiang Hutong is usually just used to post notices and proposals from the neighborhood committee.

This afternoon, the place was surrounded by layers upon layers of people, making it impossible to get through.

A notice bearing the bright red seal of the Security Department of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill was prominently displayed in the center.

The bolded and blacked-out "Notice of Dismissal and Demotion for Serious Violation of Discipline" at the top was so offensive it hurt my eyes.

"Everyone, take a look! That old bastard Yi Zhonghai has embezzled the living expenses He Daqing sent to his two children!"

Aunt Zhang, who lived at the entrance of the alley, pointed at the notice and spoke in a shrill voice that could penetrate the roof.

"Over a thousand yuan! Over a thousand yuan! How heartless can someone be!"

"You can never truly know a person's heart just by looking at their face. He always put on such a respectable act in the courtyard, but it turns out he's a thief!"

"Pah! An eighth-grade worker, huh? And this old man from the compound? He disgusts me!"

The surrounding neighbors chimed in, spittle flying everywhere, their emotions running high.

In those times of scarcity, embezzling the food allowance for orphans and widows was a grave taboo that incurred the wrath of the public.

On the outskirts of the crowd, Yi Zhonghai was wearing his old work clothes, the ones from which his manager's armband had just been removed.

He hunched over, like a rat crossing the street, head down, trying to sneak into the courtyard house amidst the chaos.

Unfortunately, his old face is too distinctive.

"Hey! Isn't that Yi Zhonghai?"

Someone shouted out.

In an instant, hundreds of eyes filled with disdain, anger, and disgust fixed on Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai stopped in his tracks, his old face instantly turning a deep purplish-red, like a pig's liver.

He wished he could disappear into a crack in the ground, but with nowhere to retreat, he could only grit his teeth, endure those piercing gazes, and hurry into the courtyard.

As soon as I stepped into the Intermediate People's Court.

"Yi Zhonghai! Give me back the money my father sent back!"

A scream filled with endless grief, indignation, and grievance rang out in the central courtyard.

He Yushui stood in front of Sha Zhu's door, her eyes red and swollen like peaches, her hair disheveled, and she tightly clutched the document in her hand in which the factory director ordered Yi Zhonghai to return the money.

Upon hearing the sound, the neighbors who had just followed from the alley entrance to see what was going on instantly surrounded the courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat.

He thought it was bad enough that he lost face at the factory, but he didn't expect this girl to make a scene in front of the whole compound.

"Rain, you...you hear what an old man has to say..."

Yi Zhonghai forced out a smile that looked worse than a grimace, trying to soothe the person in his usual elder's tone.

"That money, the old man is saving it for you, afraid you'll spend it recklessly..."

"You're talking nonsense! Are you still trying to lie to me even now?!"

He Yushui interrupted him mercilessly, tears streaming down her face like beads from a broken string.

She stepped forward, pointing at Yi Zhonghai's hypocritical face, her voice trembling with extreme anger.

"Saving it? You probably pocketed it!"

"When I was in junior high, I was so hungry that my stomach was practically sticking to my back. I ate leftovers that my idiot brother brought back from the cafeteria every day!"

"Once I was so hungry I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went to your house to borrow half a pound of cornmeal. What did you and that old lady say to me?"

He Yushui took a deep breath, as if she wanted to pour out all the grievances she had suffered over the years.

"Tell me, why do girls need to eat so much? As long as they don't starve, that's fine!"

"He even said my brother is a cook, so I won't go hungry, and that I should learn to be sensible and understand the difficulties adults face!"

"You take the fifteen yuan my dad sends back every month and live a life of luxury, while I starve. You even give my brother political lectures every day, telling him to go and help the Jia family!"

This accusation was filled with anguish and tears.

Everyone in the hospital felt their scalp tingle.

Everyone then realized what was going on.

No wonder Yi Zhonghai always favored the Jia family and tried his best to matchmake Sha Zhu and Qin Huairu.

That old fox is playing a very long game!

"You're just trying to drive me away!"

He Yushui wiped away her tears, her eyes becoming incredibly sharp, piercing straight to Yi Zhonghai's vitals.

"You want me to get married quickly so my brother can become a bloodsucker for you, Yi Zhonghai, and the Jia family!"

"When you get old, I'll make my brother work like an old ox, devoted to taking care of you until the end!"

"Yi Zhonghai, you are too ruthless!"

boom--!

These words, like sharp knives, completely tore away the facade of "moral saint" that Yi Zhonghai had painstakingly cultivated for decades.

His dark, selfish, and malicious schemes were laid bare in the sunlight.

"This...this is just too inhuman!"

"People who scheme against their own siblings for their own retirement deserve to go to the deepest hell!"

The neighbors were furious.

Those who had once listened to Yi Zhonghai and even fawned over him now felt a deep sense of fear and disgust.

Yi Zhonghai trembled all over, his vision blurring from these words.

He wanted to explain, but when he opened his mouth, he found that all his excuses seemed so pale and powerless.

"I...I didn't...I really did it for Zhuzi's own good..."

He was still trying to struggle, still wanting to retain the last shred of dignity.

"Pooh!"

Suddenly, the timid and fearful aunt, who never easily offended anyone, rushed out from the crowd.

She spat fiercely at Yi Zhonghai's feet.

"Shameless! A beast in human skin!"

"You used to lecture my husband Yan every day about morality, but I think you're worse than an animal!"

With the three women taking the lead, the crowd completely spiraled out of control.

Angry neighbors spat at Yi Zhonghai, and some even picked up rotten vegetable leaves from the ground and threw them at him.

"Get out of this courtyard! We don't have a thief like you in our compound!"

"Down with the hypocrite!"

Faced with public outrage.

Yi Zhonghai finally broke down.

His old face was contorted with extreme shame and humiliation.

He covered his face with his hands, like a stray dog.

Amidst the scorn and rotten vegetable leaves, he stumbled back to his room.

"Bang!"

The wooden door was slammed shut.

Immediately afterwards, the sound of a door bolt being firmly locked inside came from inside.

Yi Zhonghai leaned against the door and slid down to sit on the floor.

He could hear the deafening shouts of abuse outside.

I know that in this lifetime, I'll be in this courtyard house, in this Nanluoguxiang.

I can never lift my head again.

His reputation, his retirement plans, everything about him.

Everything vanished with this letter of denunciation.

forecourt.

Zhang Huaimin stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the threshold of his east wing room.

He watched everything that happened in the Intermediate People's Court with a cold eye.

A barely perceptible sneer curled at the corner of his lips.

A gentle breeze blew by, lifting the corner of his clothes.

he knows.

With Banggeng sent to a juvenile detention center, the Jia family became disabled, and Xu Damao was kicked out of the house.

Now, even Yi Zhonghai, the biggest "protector" and mastermind behind the scenes, has been completely disgraced.

This is the first major cleaning of the courtyard house.

It was a perfect ending.