Courtyard House: In this life, I have a new home!

Yi Zhonghai, Yan Bugui, and Liu Haizhong were all there. Sha Zhu and Jia Dongxu were also standing there. Behind them followed a group of people of all ages.

"Will you get compensation?"

Li Weidong sneered, "Jia Zhangshi, have you eaten too much shit?"

Hearing the commotion, Huaihua and Xiaodang quietly slipped into the bedroom.

Upon hearing the word "shit," Jia Zhangshi...

He immediately vomited.

She only came to her senses after vomiting. Remembering what she had done, she raised her hand and slapped Qin Huairu.

Then he sat down on the ground and started howling at the top of his lungs.

"Old Jia! Open your eyes! Someone is bullying us, a widow and her child! Take this vicious woman away! She actually... she actually..."

Banggeng woke up now.

The taste in my mouth was so strong that I rushed to the water tank by the door, scooped up a ladle of water, and drank it down.

An older woman named Yu Mei couldn't stand it anymore.

"Jia Zhangshi, your daughter-in-law was saving you! How can you be so ungrateful?"

Qin Huairu was stunned by the slap, and only now did tears fall.

"Mom, you've been poisoned! You'll die if you don't do that!"

"Take me to the hospital! You're trying to save money by making me eat shit?"

Jia Zhangshi roared with all her might.

"I have no money, not a single penny. It will be too late by the time Dongxu comes back!"

Qin Huairu cried out in grievance, "I can't handle you either, all the strong men have gone to work."

Just then, Jia Dongxu and his colleagues returned from get off work.

Upon hearing this, everyone was in an uproar.

"What? Such a thing exists? Go find Li Weidong!"

Yi Zhonghai was furious: "He doesn't even spare children!"

Banggeng squatted there, rinsing his mouth incessantly, which pained Yi Zhonghai to no end. His temper flared, and without even asking where the poisonous mushroom had come from, he led his men straight over.

At this moment, Jia Zhangshi was lying on the ground, dry heaving, practically crippled. Yi Zhonghai quickly stepped forward, gritting his teeth and shouting, "Li Weidong, how dare you! Today I'll make you pay, you little beast—"

"Slap! Slap!"

Two slaps landed hard on Yi Zhonghai's face, making a crisp sound.

"You old bastard!"

After slapping him, Li Weidong stared coldly at him. "What the hell? Which of your dog eyes saw that? What poison did I use? Where's the evidence?"

"You...you dare hit me?"

Yi Zhonghai covered his face, his expression full of disbelief.

"Yeah, so what if I beat you up, you old bastard?"

Li Weidong wasn't afraid at all. "You try to pin this on me the moment you open your mouth, I'll be lenient by hitting you!"

"You...you...Silly Zhu!"

Yi Zhonghai finally came to his senses, his face burning with rage. He immediately called out to his most capable man—Sha Zhu.

Yi Zhonghai hadn't been beaten in years. As a foreman in the factory and a big shot in the neighborhood, everyone treated him with utmost respect. Now, however, he'd been slapped twice by a young man. He felt Li Weidong deserved to be struck by lightning.

Sha Zhu's face was full of anger, but he didn't move an inch. He just stood there and forced an awkward smile at Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai was stunned for a moment before he realized that Sha Zhu was no match for Li Weidong.

Liu Haizhong saw his chance. He quickly stepped forward: "Li Weidong, no matter what, you can't hit someone! Our compound won't tolerate someone like you; we have to kick you out!"

Liu Haizhong had always coveted Li Weidong's house, but he hadn't succeeded before. Now the idea had resurfaced.

"Who do you think you are, you old codger?"

Li Weidong scoffed, "You really think you're an official? You're just a worker, barely literate, what are you pretending to be so important about!"

"You want to kick me out? Who do you think you are? Even the neighborhood committee doesn't have that authority!"

Liu Haizhong's face turned bright red as he realized that his status as the second uncle meant nothing in front of Li Weidong.

"How am I uneducated? I have a primary school education..."

Liu Haizhong muttered to himself, suddenly remembering that his original plan was to please Li Weidong, but now he wanted to show off as soon as something happened, and he completely forgot about it.

"High school? Are you kidding me?"

Li Weidong scoffed.

Yi Zhonghai completely lost it at this point: "Call the police! Zhu Zi, go call the police!"

"Yes, call the police! Make him pay me back!"

Jia Zhangshi rolled around on the ground.

"Tsk, you call the police the moment you get the short end of the stick?"

Li Weidong's tone was full of sarcasm, "Didn't we used to say that everything would be resolved in the hospital? If you don't report it, I have to. Yan Bugui knows exactly what happened."

Yi Zhonghai then suppressed his anger and turned to look at Yan Bugui.

"I know nothing, I really know nothing." Yan Bugui's voice trembled.

Then let me tell you. Around noon, the bonito I picked was stolen. I specifically went to the central courtyard and shouted that this stuff shouldn't be touched if it wasn't cooked properly. Li Weidong's tone was icy cold.

And what happened? People still got poisoned. Yi Zhonghai, you immediately accused me of poisoning; that's slander.

A cold sweat broke out on Yi Zhonghai's forehead. He realized he had been tricked by Jia Zhangshi. What angered him even more was that she had come to cause trouble without even understanding the whole story.

Well...you can't force people to eat that...Wow!

Jia Zhangshi squatted on the ground, dry heaving, her stomach churning violently, but she couldn't vomit anything.

"I'll tell you to go to the hospital for a stomach pump, or induce vomiting yourself." Li Weidong's voice was indifferent. "Who taught you to feed people that stuff?"

The book says that you should use "golden juice" to induce vomiting... Yan Bugui became more and more guilty as he spoke.

Seeing the pot about to fall on his head, and thinking of Jia Zhangshi's fierce nature, Yan Bugui's legs were trembling.

"Just use soapy water to induce vomiting!" Li Weidong sneered. Only you could come up with an idea like feeding someone excrement.

He didn't want to miss this opportunity to sow discord. It would be more interesting to see these beasts tearing each other apart.

Yan Bugui! Pay up! One hundred yuan!

Jia Zhangshi's voice carried a knife-like edge.

"Are you crazy? I'm saving you!" Yan Bugui jumped up in fright.

"Wait, we'll settle your score later." Li Weidong's voice turned stern. "Now, let's talk about who stole my 'Seeing Hand Blue' (a type of herb)."

"It's just a kid being greedy and taking some lousy mushrooms. Is it really that big of a deal? You only make three hundred yuan a month!" Sha Zhu said, his teeth grinding together.

I have to grit my teeth, they're almost burning from the soreness.

"No matter how high my income is, that's no excuse for being robbed." Li Weidong's tone was icy. "As a cook, you should know that the Bok choy is transported from Yunnan. I won't mention the cost, but that kid stole almost two pounds. You'll have to pay him ten yuan."

Jia Zhangshi's eyes widened like saucers, and then she burst into tears—"Heavens above! Is there no justice? We're already in this state, and you still want…"

"Shut up! You don't want to pay? Then I'll call the police." Li Weidong interrupted her.

"Um, let me say a few words. It's best for the compound to handle matters there..." Yi Zhonghai said, forcing himself to speak, his face stinging from the beating he'd just received.

Yi Zhonghai, don't you think your words are as meaningless as farting? Li Weidong gave him a cold glance.

Jia Zhangshi rolled around on the ground like a spinning top, howling and spinning all over the place.

Yi Zhonghai stammered, "This...this..."

Li Weidong sneered, "Fine, let's settle this in front of the whole hospital. My 'spotted blue dog' is two pounds short, so that's ten yuan. Steal one, pay three times the price, so you need to come up with thirty yuan. If you can't come up with that, I'll send this brat straight to the juvenile detention center."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi threw an even fiercer tantrum. "Old Jia... open your eyes and look! Is there no law anymore! Ouch... it hurts so much!"

She suddenly jumped up with a scream, as if stung by a scorpion, and reached down to touch her buttocks.

"Ouch! What's that stabbing me! Qin Huairu, where have you been? Come and see!"

Qin Huairu, who was holding onto the stick, had no choice but to let go and run over. Looking down, she was stunned.

"Mom, they're two bamboo splinters. I'll give them to you, just bear with it."

The two bamboo splinters were as thin as embroidery needles, and they were stuck straight into Jia Zhangshi's buttocks.

Li Weidong stood to the side and coldly added, "The ground is covered with bamboo splinters. Be careful when you pull them out; if you break them in the middle, it'll be a real problem, and you'll have to go to the hospital for surgery."

Mrs. Jia was so frightened her face turned pale: "Stop pulling it out! Take me to the hospital! Let the doctor handle it!"

Before she could finish speaking, she felt a sharp pain in her buttocks. Qin Huairu had already swiftly pulled out the two thorns.

"Mom, it's okay, he was just trying to scare you."

Qin Huairu quickly said, "Look, it's all over now, nothing's wrong."

Li Weidong watched this unfold and clicked his tongue inwardly. This Qin Huairu was truly ruthless; she didn't even care about her mother-in-law's life just to save a few dollars on medical expenses.

He was obviously the one who tampered with those two bamboo splinters. He used his mental power to stand the bamboo splinters upright on the ground, and they stuck right into Jia Zhangshi's buttocks.

"Are you trying to kill me?!"

Jia Zhangshi raised her hand and slapped Qin Huairu.

Qin Huairu was stunned by the beating, tears streaming down her face. Sha Zhu stood beside her, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his heart aching for her.

Li Weidong spoke again: "If you want to fight, go home and fight. Pay up first, or I won't be polite."

Yi Zhonghai cleared his throat and said in a haughty tone, "Weidong, you earn three hundred yuan a month, so let's forget about this thirty yuan. Dongxu doesn't earn that much in a month either."

Li Weidong scoffed, "Yi Zhonghai, you're so generous. Why don't you pay for their family's expenses?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi rolled away like a ball. Qin Huairu followed behind, holding onto the stick, and glanced back at Yi Zhonghai before leaving.

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and said to Jia Dongxu, "Go back and eat something first, you have to work overtime tonight. I'll pay for the medical expenses, your family has it tough too."

Jia Dongxu's face was frighteningly dark. He responded and turned to leave.

As he walked away, a hint of coldness flashed in Yi Zhonghai's eyes.

When Jia Dongxu returned home, his face was still droopy, and he looked like he had crawled out of a coffin.

He pondered that Qin Huairu was introduced to him by his master, Yi Zhonghai. So Yi Zhonghai must have known Qin Huairu first. Perhaps there really was something shady going on between them.

But he knew this matter couldn't be made public; he had to investigate it secretly. If he found something incriminating, he would kill Yi Zhonghai immediately.

"Old man, if you don't hand over your entire pension, I'm not a Jia!"

Jia Dongxu gritted his teeth and muttered to himself.

Jia Zhangshi lay on the bed groaning and moaning, looking like a fat pig.

Qin Huairu carefully prepared food for Jia Dongxu.

Bang Geng was so frightened by Jia Dongxu's sinister gaze that he shrank into the corner and dared not breathe.

Yi Zhonghai turned to Li Weidong and asked, "Weidong, how come your two jin of mushrooms are only worth ten yuan?"

"The 'Jianshouqing' variety is only found in Yunnan Province. It's worthless there, but it's still fresh when it's transported here, so it's worth this price. If you think it's too expensive, go get some yourself; I'll buy it for five yuan a pound."

Li Weidong said.

Having no other choice, Yi Zhonghai took out three ten-yuan bills and gave them to Li Weidong.