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

If those two methods don't work, he has one last resort—the deaf old woman. Let the old woman go out and throw a tantrum, threaten suicide, and that should be enough to calm things down.

Even more disgusting is that a deaf old woman can smash your windows and block your doorway, forcing you to submit.

With these three tricks, Yi Zhonghai managed to crack all the tough nuts in the yard.

But now that the deaf old woman and Sha Zhu are practically useless, Yi Zhonghai is at a loss.

Qin Huairu was seething with anger. That silly Zhu was alright at first, so why did he start getting entangled with Xu Damao? He should be pressing Li Weidong for the house!

"Stop arguing, everyone. It's all because of my family. Our whole family is crammed into this tiny place."

As Qin Huairu spoke, tears began to fall from her eyes.

Li Weidong was amazed. Qin Huairu's acting skills were far superior to those of those popular celebrities who could only cry with eye drops.

Being able to cry on cue and control it so easily is a skill that not everyone possesses.

Then look at those female celebrities, their faces are so stiff, like plastic surgery templates, all they can do is stare. Compared to Qin Huairu's vivid expressions, they are worlds apart.

Li Weidong shook his head with a sneer: "You acted so well, Qin Huairu. Your tears come so easily, and you can control your expression faster than an actor. It's a waste that you're not making movies."

The people in the courtyard didn't quite understand what "Oscar" meant.

"Little Golden Man"

But everyone understood what Li Weidong meant—he was saying that Qin Huairu was acting.

How could Jia Zhangshi tolerate this? She immediately started wailing, "Old Jia, open your eyes and see! Dongxu, come back and see! Someone is bullying you—"

Before he could finish speaking, something strange happened.

Jia Zhangshi was sewing shoe soles with an awl in her hand, a large needle stuck in the sole, threaded with thin hemp rope. Suddenly, the needle flew up on its own, piercing directly into her upper lip and emerging from her lower lip, sewing her mouth shut with the hemp rope.

The rope was still dangling outside, and the needle had pierced both lips, drawing blood.

Madam Jia cried out in pain.

He made two noises, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

Banggeng clapped and laughed, "Grandma's so silly, why did she sew her mouth shut?"

The others also found it strange. When they saw where the needle had been inserted, they all assumed that Jia Zhangshi had accidentally made the mistake herself.

Only Yan Bugui felt a chill down his spine.

He had just seen it clearly—the needle flew up by itself.

Thinking back to the strange things that happened while fishing a couple of days ago, Yan Bugui stood in the crowd and felt a chill run down his spine.

Qin Huairu, no longer bothering to argue with Li Weidong, turned around and called out, "Zhu Zi! Zhu Zi!"

Sha Zhu was secretly delighted.

Sister Qin calls him whenever she needs something. What does that mean? It means he's important to Sister Qin.

He understood Qin Huairu's meaning and strode forward: "That's easy, just cut the rope and pull it out, we don't even need to go to the hospital."

As he spoke, Sha Zhu picked up the scissors, snipped off the thread, and pulled the hemp rope outwards.

"Aww—"

Jia Zhangshi let out a bloodcurdling scream, like a pig being slaughtered.

She was awakened by the pain. As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Sha Zhu holding up a hemp rope, showing off his success to Qin Huairu.

"Sister Qin, look how simple it is... Why did you hit me?"

Before Sha Zhu could finish speaking, Jia Zhangshi raised her hand and slapped him across the face.

Her mouth was in excruciating pain, and she knew it was Sha Zhu who had helped her, but her hand moved faster than her brain, and she slapped him across the face.

Sha Zhu instinctively clenched his fist.

"Pillar!"

Qin Huairu quickly grabbed his arm.

If this punch lands, it might send Jia Zhangshi to her death, but if it leaves her half-dead, wouldn't that just drag her down with it?

If we're talking about taking down Jia Zhangshi with one punch, Sha Zhu would be in trouble, but Li Weidong would be a sure thing.

Jia Zhangshi was startled by Sha Zhu's posture, but when she saw the look of enjoyment on Sha Zhu's face after Qin Huairu hugged him, she immediately became tough again.

"You idiot Zhu, you even take advantage of my daughter-in-law!"

Jia Zhangshi raised her hand to slap him again.

Li Weidong glanced coldly at everyone present, then turned and left.

"That's all for now, nothing more to say!"

Yi Zhonghai quickly waved his hand, trying to end this farce.

But Sha Zhu wasn't about to give up. He grabbed Li Weidong's sleeve: "Chief Engineer Li, you're a high-ranking official, can't you show some magnanimity? You know Qin Huairu's family situation, what's wrong with giving her a room to help her?"

Li Weidong stopped and turned around: "Just because I'm a cadre, does that mean I have to give up my house?"

His tone was as cold as ice shards in the dead of winter.

"I'm not the only manager in that factory, why don't you go and ask everyone for it? Sha Zhu, there's something wrong with your thinking. I earned this house myself, and you think you can just take it away with a single sentence? So you're saying I work so hard just so others can take advantage of me?"

Yi Zhonghai quickly smoothed things over: "Zhuzi didn't mean that... he just wanted to help each other out among neighbors."

"Sponsor?"

Li Weidong snorted, "You all have your eyes on what other people have in their pockets, scheming about this and that all day long. It would be better to live your own lives well than to spend that time doing anything else."

After saying that, he left without looking back.

Xu Damao pulled Lou Xiao'e along and quickly followed behind.

The courtyard was suddenly mostly empty.

Qin Huairu's eyes darted around, and she leaned closer to Sha Zhu: "Zhu Zi, isn't your sister's room empty?"

"yes."

Sha Zhu nodded.

"How about we borrow your sticks to hold it in place?"

Qin Huairu's voice was soft and gentle, "You know, as the children grow up, it's not good for them to always be crammed into one room."

Without a second thought, Sha Zhu patted his chest and said, "Okay! That brat isn't coming back to stay anyway, I'll go get the key from her right now."

Qin Huairu's lips curled up.

She was making a quick calculation in her mind: He Yushui had just graduated from junior high school and still had three years of high school to go. Once she got married, wouldn't the house naturally belong to Banggeng? Then she could have Shazhu switch places with Banggeng and let Shazhu live in the side room.

"Zhu Zi, go talk to Yu Shui properly, don't start a fight. I won't allow it if she makes you unhappy."

Qin Huairu pretended to be worried.

"Don't worry, Sister Qin. You care about me so much; you're truly the best woman in the world."

Sha Zhu felt a warm glow in his heart, and was incredibly moved.

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong stood to the side, shaking their heads as they watched the scene unfold.

Sha Zhu is usually very clever when he's fighting with others, but when he's in front of Qin Huairu, he's like a three-year-old child, easily manipulated.

"It's true that everything has its counter."

Yan Bugui sighed, turned to his son and shouted, "Jiefang, hurry up and go look at the house."

Liu Haizhong wasn't about to be outdone: "Guangtian, don't just stand there, keep a close eye on the house."

Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiefang exchanged a glance, both of them knowing perfectly well that their father would definitely force them to give up the house to their eldest son.

But the two clenched their fists and gritted their teeth. No matter what, they couldn't let go of this house, no matter what.

As soon as Li Weidong arrived at his doorstep, he saw Xiaoxi standing on tiptoe waiting for him on the steps.

"Brother! Brother! Where's your bicycle?"

Xiao Xi shouted at the top of her lungs.

"The bike's at the factory. I'll ride it back tomorrow."

Li Weidong grinned.

"Yeah, bro, you caught a rabbit. I hope it's alive."

Xiao Xi's face was full of regret, "I could only keep it as a pet."

"Okay, I'll get you a few live ones tomorrow."

Li Weidong rubbed Xiaoxi's head and took out a fist-sized pear from his yellow canvas satchel.

"pear!"

Xiao Xi's eyes lit up, and she reached out to take it, her eyes crinkling with a smile as she stared at Li Weidong's bag.

Just now, when Li Weidong reached for the pears, his bag was flat and empty. But as soon as he put his hand in, the bag immediately bulged out and was stuffed full of pears.

"Mmm, wash it clean and eat it yourself."

Li Weidong stepped into the main room and placed his satchel on the table.

"No, no, brother, you have to peel it off."

Xiao Xi held up a pear, her face serious. "My sister said girls shouldn't eat like that."

Li Weidong smiled as he peeled the pear, leaving a whole strip of peel on the table, unbroken.

"Bro, you're amazing!"

Xiao Xi's eyes widened.

After saying that, Xiaoxi reached out, grabbed the pear peel, and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Xiao Xi, what are you doing?"

Li Weidong was stunned.

"Eat it, the skin is so sweet!"

Xiao Xi said proudly, "Uncle Xu used to give me pear peels to eat. You weren't home then."

Li Weidong gritted his teeth so hard they almost broke: "Xiaoxi, don't eat the peel. Once you've peeled it, don't eat it. Here, eat the pear. I'll buy you whatever you want to eat in the future."

Xiao Xi took the peeled pear and reluctantly threw away the peel.

"Brother, you take a bite first."

Xiao Xi held the pear to Li Weidong's mouth.

"My brother doesn't like pears."

Li Weidong smiled.

"Yeah, I love drinking!"

Xiao Xi said proudly in her childish voice, "Then I'll take it and let my sister and Yu Shui take a bite first."

Seeing Xiao Xi heading to find Lin Yurou and He Yushui, Li Weidong called out, "Xiao Xi, don't call Xu Damao 'Uncle' anymore. He doesn't deserve it! Just call him Xu Damao."

"Why? Okay."

Xiao Xi ran out with the pear in her arms. He Yushui and Lin Yurou were busy in the kitchen, having just skinned the rabbit and cleaned the pheasant feathers.

Li Weidong cursed Xu Damao in his heart, calling him a complete bastard.

Xu Damao's family isn't so poor they can't afford to eat. What's wrong with giving Xiaoxi a pear? Instead, he threw the pear peels that someone else had cut off to the child.

Just imagining the scene made Li Weidong furious: Xiao Xi's stomach was rumbling, and she was staring longingly at the pear in Xu Damao's hand, her mouth practically watering.

And what happened? Xu Damao handed over the peeled skin.

Xiao Xi actually ate it happily.

Li Weidong grew increasingly furious. He hated Xu Damao for being a scoundrel, and he hated those old foxes Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui.

If it weren't for their scheming, Xiaoxi wouldn't have had to suffer like this.

He sneered inwardly: Xu Damao, I'll ruin your family first, then we'll talk about other things.

Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e have been married for over a year but still don't have children. It's not something to rush, but Xu Damao is starting to have doubts, feeling that there might be something wrong with his wife.

Even though Li Weidong hadn't studied medicine, he knew the problem lay with Xu Damao. Before he transmigrated, he had watched that TV series countless times and knew the plot by heart.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside.

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong arrived at the backyard one after the other and stopped in front of the two houses south of Xu Damao's house.

Yan Bugui quickly took the south-facing room because it was next to the edge and there was an open space next to it where he could build a small hut.

"How did it become yours? It hasn't been divided yet! This room is definitely mine."

Liu Guangqi shook his big head, looking unconvinced.