Courtyard House: The Frog Boy Brings Back a Genetic Potion at the Start

"Jia Zhangshi came to steal from me, and you're here ruining the scene? Get out of here right now! Anyone who dares to touch anything in this house is an accomplice of that old thief."

When the police arrive, we can take them all to jail at the same time!

Hao Jianguo's resolute rebuke completely shocked Qin Huairu.

Her hand went limp, and the broom thudded.

It fell to the ground.

"I...I..."

This woman, who is usually adept at using tricks and putting on airs, is ultimately just a woman.

Things had escalated to this point, and Hao Jianguo's sharp rebuke left her feeling apprehensive.

However, Hao Jianguo secretly admired her quick thinking ability—he saw her eyes suddenly turn red and look at him with tears in them.

Just then, Yi Zhonghai strolled into the room and frowned slightly upon seeing the scene.

"Hao Jianguo, the matter hasn't been clarified yet, why say such harsh things? Making a mountain out of a molehill is unacceptable."

"What thief nonsense! When has a thief ever been in our yard?"

Yi Zhonghai said with a stern face, "In my opinion, Jia Zhangshi originally came with good intentions to help you tidy up the house, but she just made a mess of it by mistake."

Don't believe everything you hear or listen to idle gossip.

The neighbors who had gathered in the courtyard nodded in agreement, expressing their dissatisfaction with Yi Zhonghai's blatant favoritism.

"Besides, you should consider whether what you're saying is even tenable before you speak."

What kind of relationship did Jia Zhangshi have with me? She couldn't wait for me to die, and now she's saying she'll come and clean up my house—do you even believe that yourself?

As Hao Jianguo spoke, he nudged the broken stool legs on the ground with his toe.

"Please open your eyes and look at the state of this room! You call this cleaning? Even a three-year-old could see she was rummaging through drawers looking for scraps!"

He pointed to the cured meat hanging on the beam, "Does that mean even that piece of meat has to be 'sweeped' into her pocket?"

A burst of laughter immediately erupted from all around.

Yi Zhonghai's face turned pale and then red, the laughter stinging his ears like slaps.

Xu Damao seized the opportunity to squeeze out from the crowd: "Look! I told you, she's clearly here to steal! Clean? Nobody believes that! If she really cleans like that, our yard will be turned into a pile of rubble sooner or later!"

Yan Bugui strolled in with his hands behind his back, first nodding politely to Hao Jianguo—he was hoping to learn some fishing skills from this man, so naturally he had to stand in the right position.

"Stealing is stealing, and a thief is a thief."

"Cleaning" the house while no one's home? What a joke! Ordinary people avoid suspicion like the plague, how could Jia Zhangshi not understand? Has she suddenly changed her ways and wants to be a selfless Good Samaritan?"

He pushed up his glasses and slowly added fuel to the fire: "That kid Banggeng has gone astray, and now I've found the reason—it's because the family's values ​​have gone astray."

"That's right! This matter must be dealt with seriously!"

Liu Haizhong's loud voice then rang out.

This old man was really anxious.

The scene, which should have been set by him first, ended up with him speaking only third, making this official-obsessed man feel like he was being scratched by a cat.

"We will stick to the facts, without any compromise or cover-up!"

As soon as he opened his mouth, he put on the airs of someone giving a report.

As he listened to the conversation between the group, Yi Zhonghai's expression grew increasingly grim.

Seeing that things were not going well, he suddenly changed the subject.

"Sigh... But think about it, the street evaluation for outstanding individuals is just around the corner at the end of the year."

Our department has received awards in recent years; are we really going to ruin our reputation for a single blemish? Who benefits from this?

He sighed heavily, looking worried. "Besides, Madam Jia Zhang was seriously injured this time. She fractured her coccyx and broke her leg. She has already been punished for what she has suffered."

Why keep harping on this?

His demeanor made it seem as if he was acting entirely for the benefit of the entire academy, without a trace of selfishness.

Hao Jianguo was so angry he almost laughed.

"Uncle Yi, what you're saying is getting more and more mysterious."

Did I break her leg? If she hadn't been stealing, would she have fallen like this? To disregard right and wrong for the sake of a promotion—don't you feel guilty saying that? Did you eat all your conscience with your breakfast?

"If the title of 'advanced individual' has to be earned by protecting thieves, then this title is better left unused! If you can't distinguish between what's important and what's not, you should resign now. The replacement should take the seat!"

These words hit the nail on the head, and he was the first to loudly agree.

Yi Zhonghai's face was contorted with rage as Hao Jianguo publicly humiliated him.

But Hao Jianguo had no intention of stopping.

He sneered, "Do you all remember when Master Yi and Madam Jia fell into the latrine? They tried to deny it at the time."

"And now? The thief and the stolen goods are right there, yet Yi Zhonghai is still protecting her without any scruples—I simply don't believe there's nothing going on between them."

As soon as he finished speaking, the courtyard fell silent for a moment, then countless eyes turned to Yi Zhonghai, and whispers and low laughter hummed in the air.

Liu Guangfu and his group winked and pointed, practically trying to make fun of Yi Zhonghai.

"Yes, there's no doubt about it. Otherwise, why would the whole courtyard say that Jia Zhangshi is dishonest? It's such obvious, so why is it that only Master Yi insists on protecting her?"

"Look, even Uncle Yi is asking Qin Huairu to clean up the mess. Isn't that clearly covering for Jia Zhangshi?"

"Uncle Yi, if I may offend you, your favoritism is a bit too much."

"That's...that's utter nonsense!"

Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he trembled all over.

He never expected that Hao Jianguo would once again bring him and Jia Zhangshi together in the conversation.

This was more embarrassing for him than having a bucket of dirty water poured in his face.

Hao Jianguo laughed, "Nonsense? But I heard that you were the first to see Jia Zhangshi injured."

Since you deny what you just said, then forgive my bluntness—I'm starting to suspect that you might be in cahoots with Jia Zhangshi.

"It's possible that the two of them came to my house together to steal things, and now that the matter has been exposed, you're protecting her like this."

Otherwise, this doesn't make sense.

Hao Jianguo sneered inwardly.

Isn't Yi Zhonghai the one who loves to smooth things over and take sides the most?

Then don't blame me for throwing some dust on you too.

Upon hearing this, a collective gasp filled the air.

Yi Zhonghai has always been regarded as a moral exemplar in the courtyard, and many people still have doubts about whether he conspired with Jia Zhangshi to commit theft.

However, following Hao Jianguo's line of thought, it becomes clear that this conjecture is not entirely unreasonable, and may even be quite possible.

For a moment, many eyes turned scrutinizing, and whispers began to point at Yi Zhonghai.

"You...you..."

Yi Zhonghai felt his head was throbbing and couldn't squeeze out a single complete sentence.

He understood that Hao Jianguo's hurtful words were clearly retaliation for his earlier favoritism.

The situation is now far out of his control.

The winds completely turned in Hao Jianguo's favor.

Even though Jia Zhangshi's leg was broken and she was injured, she couldn't gain any sympathy. Instead, the crowd's curses grew even louder.

Yi Zhonghai watched all of this with a livid expression.

He wanted to stop him, but his confidence had already vanished.

More importantly, after all these upheavals, his prestige in the courtyard has diminished considerably.

Many people are no longer willing to buy into his ideas.

"Quiet down, everyone! If this keeps up, our neighborhood will be exposed to the whole neighborhood."

At this moment, supported by an older woman, the deaf old lady slowly walked in, leaning on her cane.

Upon seeing the old lady appear, Yi Zhonghai's tense shoulders and back relaxed slightly.

He thought that given the old lady's status in the courtyard, if she stepped in to mediate, the matter should be able to be suppressed.

The deaf old lady sighed inwardly.

If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu, she really wouldn't want to get involved in the Jia family's mess.

She glanced at Hao Jianguo with a confused look in her eyes and said, "Jianguo, I've heard the gist of what happened."

To be fair, the Jia family was indeed in the wrong this time.

These words immediately threw Qin Huairu, who was standing to the side, into a panic.

I thought the old lady was there to help out, but why did she admit her mistake as soon as she opened her mouth?

Fortunately, the old lady's next words calmed her down.

"But your room is just a bit messy, plus a broken stool."

"Let the Jia family give you some symbolic compensation, and have Qin Huairu clean it up for you, and that will be enough."

"The most important thing right now is our department's evaluation for excellence. We can't let this one incident ruin the reputation of the entire department, can we?"

Losing money?

Hao Jianguo laughed when he heard this.

Does the old lady think he's short of a few coins?

What he wanted was to deal with Jia Zhangshi completely according to the rules, so that he could save himself the trouble and avoid endless entanglements in the future.

"Grandma, I have a question: In our neighborhood, who has the final say, the parents or the law?"

The deaf old lady frowned.

She dared not answer casually: "Of course, we will act in accordance with the law."

Hao Jianguo nodded: "That's good."

This matter should be handled as it is, and no amount of pleading will change anything.

"Compensation? According to the rules, you should pay whatever amount is due. This matter should be decided by the police, not by you, old lady, or Uncle Yi Zhonghai."

"The outstanding titles our college has received over the years are gone this year, but we can try again next year."

But we absolutely cannot let this matter go unpunished today.

If we condone the Jia family this time, and they steal from other families again, who will take responsibility? Grandma, Uncle Yi, can you two guarantee that?"

As soon as Hao Jianguo finished speaking, a chorus of approval immediately rose from the surrounding crowd.

Since this matter concerned the vital interests of each family, and considering the old grievances of the Jia family, everyone became vigilant.

"That's right, it must be handled according to the regulations!"

"The Jia family is nothing but a den of thieves!"

"We can forgo this year's excellence, but we must never let this scourge, Jia Zhangshi, go unpunished."

In an instant, under Hao Jianguo's leadership, the people in the courtyard were filled with indignation.

Those insults directed at the Jia family were like slaps to Qin Huairu's face, turning her ashen.

The deaf old woman's face also darkened.

She hadn't expected Hao Jianguo to be so tough, and more importantly, he was in the right and won the support of the entire hospital.

Even if her ancestor were to step in, she wouldn't be able to control the situation at this moment.

The old lady sighed inwardly, feeling that her prestige had diminished.

"Hao Jianguo, I used to think you were a reasonable person, but now it seems that my grandson's words are true—you are too calculating."

"Don't you understand the principle of 'forgive and forget'?"

Just then, a clear but complaining female voice came from outside the crowd.

He Yushui hurriedly squeezed in.

To Hao Jianguo's dismay, the first thing she said was to speak in support of the Jia family.

He thought to himself, "This girl really lives up to her name; her brain must be full of water."

Her own brother brought the best food to the Jia family every day, but his own sister was starving. An ordinary person would have resented him long ago, but He Yushui was different. Instead, she spoke up for the Jia family.

He Yushui, however, did not notice anything amiss and continued with her muddled logic: "Even if Aunt Jia was wrong, she has already broken her leg and suffered the consequences. Besides, the old lady has already stepped in to mediate. What more do you want? You should know when to stop."

Hao Jianguo was so angry he almost laughed.

Know when to quit while you're ahead? It's as if he got a huge advantage.

His house was robbed, and his house was vandalized, so how come he's the one who's being unreasonable?

Spending too much time with people who can't distinguish right from wrong will inevitably lead you astray.

Hao Jianguo forced himself not to say anything unpleasant.

"He Yushui, I think the word 'stupid' should be placed on your head."

Use your brain! My house was robbed, my house was ruined like this, so how come in your mouths, I'm the one who's in the wrong?

"I'm the one who suffered a loss, so why should I have to forgive them? According to your logic, should I also praise the Jia family for their clever and skillful theft, and welcome them to come again next time? Only then would I be considered magnanimous and have great spirit! What kind of twisted logic is this!"

After being directly refuted by Hao Jianguo, He Yushui and the others lost face.

The way the neighbors looked at them also took on a somewhat subtle tone.

"There's one more thing you shouldn't forget,"

Hao Jianguo's voice deepened, "When Banggeng came back to steal, I made them pay compensation and then generously forgave him."

And what was the result? What did tolerance bring? Unrepentant greed, a second attempt to steal!

"Bang Geng is young and should be forgiven; but what about Jia Zhangshi? Is she considered young? Her body is almost twice or three times your size! This old woman, you expect me to forgive her? According to your logic, we might as well leave the front door wide open and put up a 'Welcome to Steal' sign!"

How could Hao Jianguo let the Jia family off so easily?