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

"I knew your thing was faulty a long time ago. It has nothing to do with me, so why should I tell you?"

"Later I thought about it, and that's why I exposed this for Sister E's sake, so she wouldn't have to take the blame for you. I could also get Sha Zhu arrested while I was at it."

"Then I'll persuade Sister E to divorce you and take all the money. That way, for the sake of money, you'll definitely have to forgive Sha Zhu."

"I know that bastard Yi Zhonghai won't pay, so the old lady will have to pay. I specially invited Director Wang to come and have her eligibility for the five guarantees revoked."

"This is enough to keep her up at night with heartache. I also took the opportunity to let Director Wang know about all the scum in the courtyard, and got rid of those three old men's positions."

"That's enough to make those three beasts feel the pinch."

After Li Weidong finished speaking, he raised an eyebrow.

Xu Damao stared at him as if he'd seen a ghost: "You...you actually did something like this to get revenge! I...I..."

"Weidong, for the sake of our old neighbor relationship, please, I beg you, save me!"

Xu Damao was still not giving up and made a move to kneel down.

"Get lost. Even if you kneel here and die, I will not treat you."

Li Weidong snorted coldly, "You think this is the end? You guys wanted to ruin my family back then! I'm just starting out."

"An eye for an eye, that's my rule. My revenge against you has only just begun."

As soon as Xu Damao left, Li Weidong turned around and went straight back into the house.

The shadow at the door stood frozen for a full minute before he was heard gritting his teeth and stamping his feet as he walked away.

Inside the house, Xiao Xi, Xiao Rou, and He Yushui were all waiting at the dining table. The bowls and chopsticks were neatly arranged, but the food hadn't been touched much.

Li Weidong smiled as soon as he entered the door: "Why aren't you eating? Hurry up and start eating."

"Waiting for my brother!"

Xiao Xi wiped the drool from the corner of her mouth, patted the table with her chubby little hand, and said, "Brother, come sit down, dinner's ready!"

"It's so nice to have my brother around; we get delicious food every day."

He Yushui laughed along with her.

Lin Yurou and He Yushui exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with surprise. Neither of them had expected that Li Weidong could have so many complicated thoughts in his mind.

However, on the other hand, given the filth those people had done in the past, they felt it would be unreasonable if Li Weidong didn't take action against them.

"Dong-ge, dinner's ready."

Lin Yurou picked up a piece of meat and put it in her mouth, then turned her head and glared at Xiao Xi, "Eat less, or you'll get as fat as a ball."

"No way!"

Xiao Xi's eyes widened, and she clutched a large goose wing tightly in her hand, refusing to let go. "Xiao Xi is the prettiest!"

"Eating meat doesn't make you gain weight; it's eating rice and wheat flour that makes you gain weight."

Li Weidong casually remarked, "Besides, Xiaoxi is still a child. Her metabolism is fast, and she'll burn off the calories if she jumps around a bit more."

"Brother Dong, what does metabolism mean?"

Lin Yurou tilted her head.

"It's grains like rice and wheat flour."

Li Weidong laughed, "You can't not eat, but eat less, and it's best to eat more meat and vegetables."

When these words were spoken, in the 1960s when resources were scarce, Lin Yurou and He Yushui were completely bewildered, as if they were hearing a foreign language.

He Yushui sighed, "How many times a year can ordinary people like us eat meat? We can't even eat refined rice and flour more than a few times a year. And yet, we're thinking about how not to get fat."

"Just eat yours."

Li Weidong waved his hand at Lin Yurou, "You're the kind of person who can eat whatever you want and not gain weight. Besides, women look better with a little bit of meat on their bones. You could gain another twenty pounds and it would be fine."

Lin Yurou's face immediately turned red.

During this time, she had no worries about food and drink, and life was going smoothly. With Li Weidong by her side, her heart was filled with sweetness.

She ate plenty of meat, but strangely, she didn't gain weight anywhere else, except for her breasts, which swelled up quite a bit—she couldn't fit into her old bra anymore, and she had just sewed two new ones last night.

My buttocks have also become much rounder. Although I can still fit into my old panties, they are too tight and feel uncomfortable.

Xu Damao returned to his room in a daze, plopped down, and looked completely lost, his eyes glazed over, not uttering a single word.

Xu Fugui grew anxious and shook his shoulder forcefully: "Son, say something! What did he say?"

"It's all your fault! It's all your fault!"

Xu Damao suddenly broke down, sobbing uncontrollably, "That's why Li Weidong wouldn't treat me after all the despicable things you did before!"

"Old woman, close the door! Close the door now!"

Xu Fugui shouted.

At the entrance of the courtyard, a group of neighbors had already gathered there, peeking and asking questions.

Tian Guihua rushed forward, slammed the door shut, and spat outside before doing so: "What's so interesting? Get out!"

"Hehe, it's really lively."

Yan Jiefang stood outside, grinning smugly.

"Yeah, how smug can Xu Damao be?"

Liu Guangtian couldn't hide the glee on his face.

Liu Guangfu and Yan Jiekuang stood to the side, their faces beaming with smiles. The four of them crowded outside the door to watch the commotion. Today, Yan Jiefang and Liu Guangtian had chipped in to buy some meat, which was currently stewing in a pot.

Yan Jiekuang and Liu Guangfu's real motive was to get a free meal here.

As for Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui, they had already gone into Yi Zhonghai's room to discuss countermeasures. These three former elders, no matter what, could not lose their status, nor could they allow the people in the courtyard to stop listening to them.

-

"That bastard, why didn't he just die already!"

The words spoken by the deaf old woman were so poisonous they could be extracted.

Right now, she and those three old guys are all holed up in Yi Zhonghai's house. Qin Jingru, who has a forehead mark that reaches the heavens, is cooking in the hallway by the door.

"That bastard, he's fucking ruthless!"

Liu Haizhong joined in, cursing and swearing.

"Alright, Lao Liu, stop nagging."

Yan Bugui felt a bitter taste in his mouth. "In the end, what we did before wasn't honorable either. Now they're retaliating, it's a case of tit for tat."

"What? Are you planning to curry favor with Li Weidong?"

Liu Haizhong's eyes widened.

"Flatter? Flatter my ass. That kid holds grudges to the core."

Yan Bugui said, "I'm just telling the truth."

"Truth? We didn't manage to pull that off! Even if we had, and divided up all the Li family's things, wouldn't we still have to return them when they come back?"

Liu Haizhong became increasingly angry as he spoke.

"Ha, thank goodness we didn't succeed. Otherwise, we'd be the ones in jail."

Yan Bugui sighed.

Of the three, Yan Bugui was the least upset.

He just missed out on a chance to profit. He's thinking of going fishing more often to see if he can make up for the loss.

Yan Bugui had been wanting to get a new bicycle and a new radio. He had worked incredibly hard to save the money. Now that his chance to get something for free was gone, his heart was bleeding.

Fortunately, I just got the ten yuan donation back from Yi Zhonghai.

"That little bastard..."

Yi Zhonghai forced out a few words through gritted teeth, then let out a long sigh, "We can't just let this go. We have to think of a way."

"Zhonghai, isn't your birthday on Sunday?"

The deaf old woman's eyes darted around. "There are still two days left. How about this: you throw a decent birthday banquet and see how many people in the courtyard are willing to come."

"If more than half of the people come, you can stand at the table and say that you care about the whole hospital and let everyone elect you to take charge. That way, the neighborhood committee can't do anything about it."

Liu Haizhong slapped his leg, the sound ringing out: "That's right, as long as everyone nominates me, my position as the second uncle is secure!"

Yi Zhonghai smiled and nodded, "Alright, we'll do as the old lady wishes. As the old saying goes, having an elder in the family is truly invaluable."

He had already started planning in his mind—this had to be a big deal. The dishes had to be substantial and plentiful, to lure everyone in the courtyard over.

Don't accept gifts; let those scheming individuals have a free meal. They're bound to be obliged, so let's get them a few more drinks, and then things will be settled.

As for Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui's idea of ​​hitchhiking to find some wealthy relatives, that's a pipe dream. They paid for it themselves, so why should they get off easy?

With that thought in mind, Yi Zhonghai perked up, but then frowned again: "What if only a few people come? Wouldn't that be awkward?"

"I have many relatives on my side, so getting them to come and lend a hand won't be a problem."

Na Yumei carried in three dishes and placed them on the table. "These people care about face; they won't come empty-handed."

"What we spend, we'll get back at least ten or twenty times."

"Okay, I'll have Lao Yan write the invitations later."

Yi Zhonghai nodded, "They care about their reputation, so let's give them plenty of face."

Yan Bugui rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "That writing fee..."

"One dollar."

Yi Zhonghai glanced at him sideways, "Only twenty invitations, that's quite generous. Use the leftover red paper from writing couplets during the New Year."

"You're an amateur."

Yan Bugui waved his hand, "Proper invitations should be bought ready-made. Pasting red paper on them is worse than not sending any at all."

"Then you go and get it done, and come back and I'll reimburse you for whatever it costs."

Yi Zhonghai's words were frank, clearly giving Yan Bugui an opportunity to make some money, and his intention to win him over was obvious to everyone.

"Okay, I'll go first thing tomorrow morning."

Yan Bugui stared at the dishes on the table, swallowing hard. "How about we have a couple of drinks? I'll go back and get some wine; I have a bottle of local aged liquor that's been stored for several years..."

Liu Haizhong scoffed, "Who would drink your watered-down stuff? I have two bottles of white wine at home, I'll go get them now."

He added, "You go back too and bring over the fish you caught today. Didn't I say there were big crucian carp?"

Yan Bugui chuckled, "The big crucian carp are sold. There are only about twenty small whitebait left."

"I really didn't dilute that earthen liquor with water."

Liu Haizhong's smile became even softer: "Even without diluting it, it's not worth a penny a pound."

"Alright, Lao Yan, go get the little white strips, fry them in oil, and eat them with soy sauce."

Yi Zhonghai spoke.

"Yes, yes, those little white notes are good stuff."

Yan Bugui's mouth was practically watering. "Fried until crispy, and the taste of it with soy sauce, tsk tsk..."

"It's a pity you can't bear to part with the oil."

Liu Haizhong then added sarcastically, "The gas money is more expensive than your IOU."

Yan Bugui, thick-skinned, chuckled and didn't take it seriously at all.

On the table sat a bowl of braised pork, next to a dish of shrimp stew with tofu, and a side of eggplant and potato stew. The aroma filled the room.

Meanwhile, dinner was served at Qin Huairu's house. Several white steamed buns were on the table, which she had brought back from the factory canteen.

"You two little girls can just eat cornbread; I need to eat white flour buns tomorrow morning."