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

The large head looked rather comical, but Liu Haizhong thought it was a lucky sign. No one in his family had such a large head, but the thought of his brother-in-law having the same head made him feel better.

The saying "a nephew resembles his uncle" is true.

The two argued fiercely, spitting as they spoke, completely ignoring Liu Guangtian and Yan Jiefang standing to the side.

Xu Damao also came out of the house to watch the commotion, his eyes wide open, wishing the two families would fight.

Seeing Li Weidong approaching, Xu Damao hurriedly went over to him.

"Weidong, are you here to get a house? I think they should discuss it among themselves!"

As he spoke, he winked at Li Weidong, the meaning of which was clear: let them fight it out, it's better if they do.

"Liu Guangtian lives in the south room, and Yan Jiefang lives in the north room."

Li Weidong snorted coldly.

Xu Damao looked regretful; he hadn't gotten to see the good show and felt it was a real shame.

"Why should I?!"

Yan Bugui and Yan Jiecheng started shouting at the same time. In their eyes, the house should belong to Yan Jiecheng. Yan Jiecheng was even counting on this house to win Yu Li back and get married here.

Yan Jiecheng's mind was filled with Yu Li's beautiful face, and he couldn't help but feel a strong urge to seduce her.

"I've already got the house, so my conditions aren't too bad, are they?"

He muttered to himself, "The only problem is that I haven't gotten a job yet. If only I could get one too..."

He was just having his fun when Li Weidong suddenly spoke up: "These houses were allocated to the workers in my factory. What are you two doing getting involved?"

"Yan Bugui, and you, Yan Jiecheng, who do you think you are?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui and Yan Jiecheng were stunned. Yan Bugui's old face turned bright red, filled with both shame and anger.

Liu Guangqi was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Haha, this house is mine! When Xiao Juan finds out, she'll definitely agree to marry me right away!"

Yan Jiecheng added sourly, "Fine, I'll take one room if I have to."

Liu Guangtian immediately exploded: "Liu Guangqi, what do you mean? This house is mine, what's it to you?!"

"How dare you speak to me like that?"

Liu Guangqi's eyes widened, and he turned to shout at Liu Haizhong, "Dad, look! Look closely! Liu Guangtian is plotting a rebellion!"

Liu Haizhong's temper flared up: "Liu Guangtian, you fucking rebel! Once the house is allocated to you, it belongs to the Liu family, and I get to decide how it's divided! You little brat!"

Liu Guangtian wasn't intimidated at all: "If I'm a brat, then what are you?"

A crowd had already gathered in the courtyard, craning their necks to watch the spectacle.

Liu Haizhong trembled with anger: "You, you...you dare to talk back to me?"

He could hardly believe his ears—Liu Guangtian was clearly pointing his finger at him and calling him an old bastard.

Liu Guangtian said unhurriedly, "I'm just reminding you to be careful when you scold your own son, lest you get yourself involved."

"You think you're all grown up now, huh?"

Liu Haizhong gritted his teeth, "I'm too lazy to waste my breath on you right now. Just give the house to your older brother; he needs it for his wedding. Also, you have to hand over all your salary to me, or else—"

"What else can we do? This is a new society now. It's only natural that we spend the money we earn ourselves."

"I'll fucking beat you to death!"

Liu Haizhong yanked out his belt. "Now you're telling me I should earn my own money and spend it myself? Why didn't you say that back then?"

Liu Guangtian had been quite defiant just moments before, but the moment he saw the belt, he immediately lost his nerve and turned to run away.

Li Weidong calmly said, "Liu Guangtian, let him hit you. If he gets injured, call the police immediately, and I'll give him a disciplinary warning from the factory."

Liu Haizhong held the belt, frozen in mid-air, and didn't bring it down for a long time.

Yi Zhonghai, standing to the side, couldn't hold back any longer and said, "There are no bad parents in the world, only unreasonable children. What's wrong with a father hitting his son a few times?"

Li Weidong sneered: "There are no bad parents in the world, only ignorant children—you, Yi Zhonghai, said that, didn't you? Who do you think you are?"

"You're acting more arrogant than a landlord, expecting someone to treat your words like imperial edicts?"

"Someone like you wants to be a mediator? You probably haven't even read the law!"

Yi Zhonghai was stunned for a moment: "What does this have to do with the law? It's a family matter..."

Li Weidong sneered: "You dare say that to the neighborhood committee? I guarantee you'll be packing your bags and leaving the next day."

"I think it's necessary to make a suggestion to the higher-ups that mediators should also study the law, otherwise they'll just make a fool of themselves."

"What era are we living in? Still trying to fool people with that old almanac? Who buys that stuff anymore!"

Yi Zhonghai was speechless, his face turning red.

Liu Guangtian straightened his back: "No one can touch what's mine."

"You...you're not eating tonight!"

Liu Haizhong jumped up and cursed.

"Okay."

Liu Guangtian didn't care. "Give me my ration book. I'll go to the neighborhood office tomorrow and register my own household."

"Separate the family? Dream on!"

Liu Haizhong felt a tightness in his chest from anger, "You unfilial son..."

"Stop."

Li Weidong raised his hand to interrupt, "Whether someone is filial or not is not for you to decide. What, are you still trying to pull that 'personal dependency' thing? Does your son have to be your slave?"

"You're trying to regress, to make everyone suffer twice over..."

Liu Haizhong's face turned pale instantly; no matter how big his head was, it couldn't withstand the weight of that hat.

"No...that's not true!"

He hurriedly waved his hand, "I just want my family to live a good life."

"Aren't you sharing the same hospital now?"

Li Weidong snorted, "Liu Guangtian is over eighteen and wants to register his own household. No one has the right to stop him."

With a livid face, Liu Haizhong turned and went into the house.

"Dad, what about the house?"

Liu Guangqi caught up with him, "I need a place to stay for my wedding, right?"

"Let Liu Guangfu move in and squeeze in with you, then you'll have a room!"

Liu Haizhong gave a casual reply.

Yan Bugui clicked his tongue in disapproval: "Old Liu, beating his child like he's an enemy, that's no good. My family is different."

"Jiefang, let your brother use that room for his wedding first, and you can use it later..."

"On what grounds?"

Yan Jiefang said coldly, "Why should I make room for you?"

Yan Bugui thought his son would be easy to control, but he was unexpectedly humiliated on the spot.

"Your brother is getting married, and he'll wait until you get married. Dad will figure something out later."

He quickly tried to fix it.

Yan Jiefang chuckled and said loudly, "Alright, I'll work at home for three to five years first, save enough money, and then we'll talk about getting married. Dad, you're so shrewd, I need to learn from you."

"Why should I give my own house to Yan Jiecheng when I'm not living in it? Do you expect me to give you a room in the future? I'm not that stupid."

As he spoke, he unscrewed the wire on the door and peered into the room.

The room was only about 30 square meters, furnished with a wooden table, a bed, and four broken stools—it was incredibly shabby. A layer of dust covered the table and floor, making it look filthy.

But in Yan Jiefang's eyes, this place was his territory. Liu Guangtian had already gone inside and started cleaning with his sleeves rolled up.

Yan Jiecheng was so angry his eyes were almost bloodshot. He gritted his teeth and asked Yan Bugui, "Dad, are you going to do anything about this? If I do this, will Yu Li still be able to reconcile with me?"

Yan Bugui, feeling embarrassed, coughed and said, "Then let Yan Jiekuang move in and squeeze in with you. It's safer for you to have a room by yourself."

Their family lived in the two front rooms, each just over twenty square meters. Yan Bugui and his wife Yang Yuhua shared one room, while their three sons squeezed into the other. Their youngest daughter, Yan Jiedi, was in an even worse situation, huddled alone in a small shed built under the eaves.

Yan Jiecheng was still unconvinced: "But that house isn't as big as this one."

Yan Bugui's temper flared: "If you want a bigger place, go get one yourself! If you're so capable, be like Li Weidong. He has so many houses; that's real ability."

"What's so great about him? His dad was a martyr. You'd be so much better off as a martyr."

Yan Jiecheng curled his lip.

Yan Bugui was so angry he almost fainted: "You bastard, you wish I were dead, don't you?!"

Yan Jiecheng quickly stepped back, afraid of being slapped.

At this moment, Sha Zhu walked to Li Weidong's door and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Yu Shui, come out for a moment, I have something to tell you."

He Yushui was blanching rabbit and pheasant meat in the kitchen when she heard Sha Zhu calling her. She frowned and came out of the house.

She knew in her heart that Sha Zhu would never think of his younger sister unless he had something to do.

"What's up?"

He Yushui's tone was indifferent.

Sha Zhu forced a smile and said ingratiatingly, "You see, you don't live at home anymore, and you usually stay in the dormitory when you go to school, so the house is just sitting empty anyway. Why don't we let Bang Geng move in?"

"Let the stick stop? By what right?"

He Yushui remained calm; she was fifteen years old, not a child.

Sha Zhu frowned: "Their house is so small, it's ridiculous that a grown man like me is crammed together. What's wrong with neighbors helping each other out?"

He Yushui calmly replied, "The Wang family in the front yard has seven people crammed into one room. Why don't you go and help them?"

Sha Zhu was taken aback, but forced himself to say, "That's from the front yard, it has nothing to do with us."

He Yushui sneered, her tone laced with venom: "It has nothing to do with me? Qin Huairu has something to do with you, right? So you'd disregard your own sister's life or death for her sake?"

"How many coins did you give me when I was in school? Have you forgotten how I went hungry all day during summer vacation? You gave all the things you brought back to Qin Huairu."

"Now you're even planning to give her my place? Who does she think she is to you?"

Sha Zhu's face turned pale, and he panicked. A large crowd of onlookers quickly gathered around.

That's how people in the courtyard are; if there's any excitement, they all gather around, like a courtyard-wide meeting.

"I was just helping my neighbor, why are you making such a fuss? I'm supporting you..."

Sha Zhu got angry, his face turned red and his neck bulged.

"You're supporting me? Say that again?"

He Yushui got angry and became like a fried chili pepper.

"The house is mine, and you're not living there now. What's wrong with me lending it to someone who needs it?"

Sha Zhu was stubborn and thought he was absolutely right.

"Your house? Ha, that belongs to He Daqing!"

He Yushui gritted her teeth in anger, "Giving you a large room is already being polite enough. Now you want to take it all?"

"How about we go to the street and explain things clearly? Or the police station would be fine too."

Sha Zhu was speechless, and when he turned his head, he saw that all the onlookers were giving him mocking looks. He couldn't hold back his anger any longer.

"I'm going to smash the door down right now, let's see what you can do about it!"

Sha Zhu roared out.

"Not good, I'm calling the police right away."

He Yushui spoke in a calm tone.

Qin Huairu ran over from a distance at this moment, and seeing that things were about to escalate, she quickly appeared. She wanted to team up with Sha Zhu to deal with He Yushui and get the house.