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

Xiao Xi peeked out while holding a bowl.

Lin Yurou suddenly broke free and ran out with a flushed face.

Li Weidong squatted down and smiled at Xiao Xi who was approaching: "Sister is a little dizzy, let me take a look at her."

"Oh, then I won't let her tell stories tonight, and I'll let her go to bed early."

Xiao Xi stuffed a piece of melon into her mouth and mumbled, "I'll go help her with the work."

"No need, I've already healed her."

Li Weidong quickly stopped her. Asking her for help would only cause trouble.

He Yushui's voice came from outside. Xiaoxi, carrying a melon, went out to greet her: "Sister Yushui is back!"

Li Weidong shook his head and continued writing.

At six o'clock, the aroma of braised pork and freshly made pancakes filled the courtyard. This time, I didn't hear Bang Geng howling; he's probably used to being a nuisance.

"Dong-ge, dinner's ready!"

Lin Yurou stood at the door, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him, filled with tenderness and undisguised joy.

"They're here."

Li Weidong closed the pen cap.

On the small dining table were plates, flatbreads, and four bowls of rice porridge. There was also a plate of hot and sour shredded potatoes, a large bowl of chopped pig's head meat, and a plate of stir-fried pork intestines with green peppers.

Only Li Weidong and Xiao Xi started eating the stir-fried green peppers and large intestines.

Xiao Xi clumsily picked up a piece of large intestine with her chopsticks, stuffed it into a pancake, and rolled it up. After taking a bite, her big eyes curved into crescent moons with joy.

"Xiao Xi, go brush your teeth right after you finish eating."

Lin Yurou gave a brief instruction.

"Delicious! It doesn't smell bad at all."

Xiao Xi's mouth was stuffed full, her cheeks bulging.

Li Weidong ate quickly, finishing his bowl of porridge in five minutes. Just as he stood up, Xu Damao's voice came from outside.

"Chief Engineer Li, is Chief Engineer Li here?"

Xu Damao shouted.

Li Weidong came out of the house: "I'm here, are you here for a medical appointment?"

Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e stood in the courtyard; Lou Xiao'e looked a little nervous.

The eight-immortal table and long bench in Li Weidong's house were placed under the paulownia tree, and the renovation workers had used them at noon but had not yet taken them away.

"Please sit down."

Li Weidong sat down first.

Lou Xiao'e sat down next to him, while Xu Damao stood to the side.

"Right hand."

Li Weidong said it crisply and decisively.

"Hey, aren't you studying Western medicine?"

Xu Damao was a little surprised to see him preparing to take his pulse.

A crowd of onlookers had gathered nearby.

"What do you know? Western medicine is called modern medicine, but our ancestors passed it down for thousands of years... Do you know that drinking too much alcohol can cause blackouts?"

Li Weidong looked disdainful.

He originally wanted to criticize Western medicine more and promote the reputation of traditional Chinese medicine, but when he thought about the big events that would happen in a few years, he decisively shut his mouth.

"Xu Damao, shut up!"

Lou Xiao'e glared at him, then placed her wrist on the table; her skin was as white as snow.

Lou Xiao'e comes from a good family, so her natural beauty is impeccable.

Just as Li Weidong was about to take the pulse, he heard Sha Zhu roar, like a pig being slaughtered.

"Xu Damao, you fucking screwed me over!"

Sha Zhu rushed over, followed by Yan Bugui and Yi Zhonghai.

"Pillar, calm down!"

Yi Zhonghai shouted from behind, "Don't do it! Whatever you do, don't do it!"

Sha Zhu charged forward, dragging an iron shovel in his hand, which startled Xu Damao so much that he quickly hid behind Li Weidong.

"Silly Zhu, what do you want to do?"

Li Weidong spoke in a flat tone.

This sentence made Sha Zhu stop a few meters away.

Li Weidong was secretly pleased to see that the three old geezers had arrived, along with a group of onlookers. He was just thinking about how to instigate a fight between Xu Damao and Sha Zhu, and also drag Yi Zhonghai into it, but he didn't expect them to deliver themselves to his doorstep.

"Xu Damao, you tricked me!"

Sha Zhu gritted his teeth, "My two months' salary plus fifty yuan is all gone! I'm going to kill you today!"

"Snapped!"

Li Weidong slammed his hand on the table. "Shazhu, what are you doing?"

"Let's put everything out in the open!"

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui felt aggrieved. They felt that they were the ones who should be sitting there slamming their fists on the table.

How did it become Li Weidong's turn? When did he come under his jurisdiction?

Sha Zhu was so angry his face contorted. He slammed his hand on the table: "He's the one who reported me! I was cornered by the security guards at the factory gate! Just for a piece of meat, they docked two months' wages and fined me fifty yuan!"

He felt increasingly frustrated. He knew he had no hope of bringing anything back in the future; those damn security guards were definitely keeping a close eye on him.

"Xu Damao reported it? What evidence do you have?"

Li Weidong asked slowly.

"Evidence? What evidence do we need! Only this bastard would do something so despicable! We're neighbors, is it really necessary?"

Sha Zhu cursed through gritted teeth.

Yi Zhonghai chimed in, "That's right! We're neighbors, can't we resolve our conflicts in the yard? Why do we have to take them all the way to the factory?"

Li Weidong sneered and retorted directly, "Resolve it in the courtyard? Let Yi Zhonghai keep trying to smooth things over? How many times has Sha Zhu beaten people? Every time he's been arrested, and what was the result?"

"You, Yi Zhonghai, are really something! You can turn a big problem into a small one and a small one into nothing! Something that could lead to a prison sentence, you just wiped it off with a 'courtyard rule'! You three are really capable, setting up your own court and trying to act like local tyrants?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui all changed their expressions. Who could bear such a label being placed on them?

Yi Zhonghai quickly waved his hand: "No, no, no, that's not what I meant! We were just trying to maintain harmony among neighbors!"

"Harmonious?"

Li Weidong's voice grew even colder: "Just because we're on good terms, does that mean we should let Sha Zhu beat us up for nothing? And then we're left with nothing? Why should we? Just because of your old face, Yi Zhonghai?"

Yi Zhonghai was choked so badly that his face turned ashen, and his lips trembled as he was unable to speak.

The neighbors who were watching from the sidelines understood more and more as they listened:

"Yeah, those three are just mediators, why should we listen to them in everything?"

"Exactly! We're the ones who suffer a loss, while they're the ones who benefit."

"We can't listen to Yi Zhonghai's nonsense anymore."

"Exactly! They handle everything in the courtyard. Do they really think they're officials?"

"They even tried to kick us out of the compound last time; looking back, it's ridiculous!"

The commotion grew louder and louder, and they weren't afraid of those beasts hearing it at all.

Li Weidong glanced around and sneered, "Yi Zhonghai, did you hear that? Everyone's awake. You still think you can control everything?"

He comes from the future, and he can explain profound truths too clearly; he speaks only of political correctness.

Sha Zhu tried to steer the conversation back on track: "We're talking about Xu Damao reporting me! You—"

"What are you yelling about?"

Li Weidong interrupted him directly, "Even if Xu Damao really did it, you still want revenge? What's wrong with fighting against bad people and bad deeds? You, a bad element, want retaliation? Do you even respect factory rules and leaders? Is there no law anymore?"

Silly Zhu was stunned by his scolding, and opened his mouth, "Uh, this..."

Li Weidong's face was cold, and his voice was very low: "You used everything you saved from everyone's meager resources to feed that widow? You think you did a good job?"

Sha Zhu shuddered, and the scene at the factory gate immediately flashed into his mind—a large piece of pig's head meat was found in his lunchbox, and the eyes of the surrounding coworkers looked like they could devour him alive.

"If Xu Damao were standing right in front of you, would he dare lay a finger on you?"

Li Weidong's voice suddenly rose, "If he dares to touch you, I'll send him straight to jail."

Xu Damao, as if he'd been given a shot of adrenaline, leaped up to Sha Zhu in two strides: "Sha Zhu, why don't you do it! You punched me this morning, try hitting me again if you dare!"

"I……"

Sha Zhu clenched his fists tightly, but he didn't dare to smash them down.

"Pooh!"

Xu Damao spat and retreated triumphantly to Lou Xiao'e's side.

"What are you so smug about!"

Sha Zhu, never one to mince words, went straight to the point: "You're just a spineless rooster, you'll never have any offspring!"

"You fucking idiot Zhu, you're talking nonsense! So what if I don't have kids? You can't even get a wife!"

Xu Damao was quick-witted and immediately retorted.

"Shut up, all of you!"

Li Weidong shouted, and the two men immediately quieted down.

He placed his fingers on Lou Xiao'e's wrist and only let go after half a minute.

"How is it? Is there any hope for my wife?"

Xu Damao was so anxious he was jumping up and down.

"Save? Save what?"

Li Weidong frowned.

Lou Xiao'e's face turned pale instantly: "There's no other way?"

Xu Damao's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Who says there's no way?"

Li Weidong waved his hand, "Sister E is not sick at all. She's just a little weak. She can get better by moving around more."

"That's not right!"

Xu Damao's eyes widened in disbelief. "No illness? If you're not sick, why can't you have children? Why don't you get checked with Western medicine? Your traditional Chinese medicine might not be..."

"Shut up."

Li Weidong's face darkened. "Sit down, I'll take your pulse."

"Me? I'm not sick!"

Xu Damao shook his head like a rattle drum.

Having a child is a matter for two people.

Li Weidong said in a calm tone, "The land is fine, then we need to check if the seeds are any good. This is a new society, don't push everything onto women."

"Xu Damao, hurry up!"

Lou Xiao'e shoved Xu Damao onto the stool. He wasn't very strong, about the same strength as Lou Xiao'e.

"Left hand! Men left, women right, don't you understand?"

Li Weidong rolled his eyes at him, annoyed.

"Tsk tsk, I told you, it's Xu Damao's problem, you're just an old castrated rooster."

Sha Zhu grinned gloatingly, his face full of satisfaction—if Lou Xiao'e was alright, then it must be Xu Damao's fault!

Na Yumei quietly moved closer to Yi Zhonghai: "How about I let him take a look at me too?"

"What are you looking at?"

Yi Zhonghai shook his head. "Even if it's cured, can you still have children? You can't, can you?"

Na Yumei's face darkened. Yes, her menstrual cycle had stopped, so how could she have children?

Lou Xiao'e wiped away her tears, her voice still trembling: "You could tell, so why did you insist on waiting until tomorrow to go to the hospital?"

Li Weidong tidied up the things on the table but didn't reply.

Xu Damao's face was pale, and his mind was a complete mess. He stared at Li Weidong, his teeth grinding together.

Sha Zhu stood at the door, his mouth stretched wide like a gourd, yelling at Xu Damao, "Did you hear that? The doctor said you're crazy! All that medicine your wife drank was for nothing!"

Xu Damao turned around and glared at him: "Shut up!"

Sha Zhu laughed even louder: "What's the use of me keeping quiet? Tomorrow everyone in the factory will know that you, Xu Damao, are just an empty shell!"

Yi Zhonghai walked out with a sullen face and heavy steps.

As he walked, he pondered—that kid Li Weidong is going to be a problem sooner or later. He needs to regain his authority before Li Weidong gets a foothold.

People's hearts have fallen apart. If we don't clean things up soon, even with Sha Zhu holding things together, he won't be able to control this compound.

Without respect, what's the point of living?

The people in the courtyard dispersed in twos and threes.