Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

Xu Damao didn't even turn his head; just by the volume of the voice, he knew that Sha Zhu was right behind him.

Years of hard-earned instinct kicked in, and Xu Damao shrank back, his legs moving first.

Before he could even dart out, he was grabbed by the back of his collar.

Fortunately, this was a factory area with many eyes watching, so Sha Zhu didn't swing his big hand at him like he would in the yard.

Sha Zhu twisted him halfway around, pulling him face to face, his neck stiff, head tilted to the side, and he spat out through gritted teeth, "Xu Damao, you neighbor, what have I done to offend you lately? You've been talking about me behind my back again, smearing my name."

Back then, Xu Damao's skin hadn't yet developed the thickness it would later become, and when someone exposed him on the spot, he was speechless.

Sha Zhu ignored him and turned to the stunned propaganda department clerk beside him, saying, "Comrade, don't listen to this kid's nonsense. I can't swallow this insult today. Here's what we'll do: if it's convenient for you, take me to your house. I'll cook whatever you have on hand tonight, and you can try it for yourself. See if I only know a few dishes. After you've tasted it, you can decide whether you want to treat me or not."

The clerk thought about it and realized that this method would work. It seemed that the two had a grudge against each other, so Xu Damao's words would have to be taken with a grain of salt.

Everyone says that it's better to try it yourself than to listen to others. You can't have a factory cook at home every day, so you can't lose out either way.

Having thought it through, the clerk nodded to Sha Zhu: "Okay, then I'll leave dinner tonight to you, Master He. I'll wait for you at the factory gate after get off work, don't be late."

"That's great, comrade, see you there!" Sha Zhu said, shoving Xu Damao aside. "I'll settle the score with you later."

Sha Zhu showed off his skills at the clerk's house and got the job of organizing the banquet.

That evening, he waited outside Xu Damao's house again.

He knew that Xu Damao was showing a movie today and would be back late, and that he would definitely be at the Zhongyuan Courtyard as soon as he got home.

When Xu Damao returned after showing the movie, Sha Zhu rushed up to him in one stride.

And then it evolved into what Gao Jianguo is seeing now.

The people in the courtyard stood there listening for most of the day, and finally understood the whole story. They started criticizing Xu Damao for being unfair.

"Xu Damao, you really handled this situation badly."

"Exactly, cutting off someone's livelihood is no better than killing their parents."

"His mother died young, and his father is nowhere to be found. The way you're treating him is utterly wicked; nothing could be more despicable."

"Yes, yes, yes, you've hit the nail on the head, sister."

Sha Zhu was completely confused, wondering to himself, "Big sister, whose side are you on?"

Xu Damao was filled with grievances: "Shazhu, you're no better than me. You ruined my marriage. How much better are you than me? Don't be fooled by him, neighbors. There's a real scoundrel behind Shazhu."

Sha Zhu really didn't understand how he had ruined his chances of finding a partner: "Wait, explain yourself, how did I ruin your chances of finding a partner?"

Xu Damao, like a rabbit whose tail had been stepped on, yelled, "Silly Zhu, don't play dumb! When Lou Xiao'e came to our compound, didn't you say bad things about me to her? You ruined my good time!"

Gao Jianguo chuckled inwardly. He had to admit that Xu Damao's ability to read other people's minds was quite impressive, but he had chosen the wrong person.

No, I didn't gossip about you. Even Lou Xiao'e didn't mention to me who her mother wanted to introduce to her. She didn't even consider you a potential partner.

This time, Sha Zhu was completely bewildered: "Who? Who is Lou Xiao'e? I've never seen her before. What does she look like? Tell me, I'll try my best to remember!"

Xu Damao: "How would I know what it looks like? I've never even seen a photo of my face."

Sha Zhu laughed: "Xu Damao, so this is all a drama you made up in your head? You don't even know what the person looks like, what kind of marriage is that? I'll say it again, I don't know this Lou Xiao'e you're talking about. If you want to daydream, go ahead and do it yourself, don't try to throw filth at me."

The neighbors laughed when they heard this. "You're trying to frame someone with something that's not even close to happening."

At that moment, Yi Zhonghai was working overtime in the research group with his apprentice Jia Dongxu and was not in the institute. Only Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui were there.

Liu Haizhong finally saw an opportunity to make a decision and stepped forward: "What's all this fuss about? Xu Damao, you're ruining the reputation of our neighbors at the factory. You're wrong to do this."

Liu Haizhong, not being a seasoned manager, suddenly ran out of words after a few sentences, stammering, "And, and, oh right, they also cut off people's livelihoods, which is extremely malicious and reflects incredibly backward thinking."

Xu Damao was a little intimidated by Yi Zhonghai, but not afraid of Liu Haizhong: "Second Uncle, stop with the high-sounding talk. I'm just giving the comrades in the factory some advice and helping them out. Did anyone see what Sha Zhu said just now? Everyone was listening. He was the one who slandered me in front of everyone, not me slandering him in front of the comrades."

Liu Haizhong was momentarily speechless at Xu Damao's "shameless people are afraid of ghosts" act. Upon reflection, it was indeed true. Sha Zhu said that Xu Damao had slandered him in front of his colleagues at the factory, but there was really no one else to testify, so he couldn't open his mouth for a moment.

Yan Bugui finally chimed in: "How about we make Xu Damao compensate Shazhu with some money? He's already said bad things and done the deed..."

Liu Haizhong turned his head and said, "Money, money, money, Lao Yan, can't you just stop thinking about money all the time? Stop scheming! Xu Damao, apologize to Shazhu. Shazhu, stop dragging this out. In the end, we still paid for the banquet, didn't we? That's it, everyone, stop crowding, let's go."

Liu Haizhong regretted that this wasn't a general meeting of the entire college, so he couldn't forcefully shout "Meeting adjourned." However, he also knew that his words wouldn't carry much weight. After shouting "Meeting adjourned," he didn't even check if everyone had left. He picked up his mug of broken tea and left.

Xu Damao didn't listen to him, and neither did Sha Zhu. The two exchanged a glance, spat in unison, and went their separate ways.

Looking at Xu Damao's face, which revealed a hint of vindictiveness, Gao Jianguo began to ponder.

On Thursday afternoon, Gao Jianguo was in his office. He actually had a lot of work to do, but he wasn't doing anything. To others, he was leaning back in his chair, lost in thought. To put it more bluntly, he was thinking about something.

The reason Gao Jianguo was stunned was nothing other than that he was staring at something on the system's list of extractable items, something he hadn't expected.

This item comes from a boutique that was struck by lightning along with him; such shops are not uncommon around universities.

The store sells small gifts that friends, relatives, and couples exchange. These kinds of things are not very useful to Gao Jianguo now. Besides, they need to be localized and adapted to suit different eras after being extracted, so they are not surprising under normal circumstances. In the few months since he got the system, he has not paid much attention to the things that the boutique sells.

However, Gao Jianguo's university in his previous life was an electronics school, full of cute and adorable science and engineering students, so strange and bizarre cult goods would suddenly appear in the gift shops around the university.

Right now, in front of Gao Jianguo is this kind of cult-like thing, with a rather ordinary name—a crystal epoxy resin ornament, which he uses as a decoration on his desk or bookshelf.

The name sounds ordinary, and the appearance is also ordinary at first glance. Several things are sealed inside the transparent epoxy resin.

Those were several ceramic pieces inlaid with gold metal.