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

But fate played a cruel trick on him, and he turned back from the crossroads to the underworld.

"Dongxu, are you... feeling alright? Is anything bothering you?"

As Jia Zhangshi asked in a trembling voice, she saw that her son's face was gradually regaining color and his breathing was much more stable. The heavy weight in her heart finally lifted a little.

Jia Dongxu took a slow breath and said in a low voice, "Mom, my chest still feels a little tight, but otherwise... it's nothing."

He vaguely knew what he had gone through; that brush with death still haunted him like a nightmare.

Just then, Qin Huairu suddenly let out a short scream, and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

She knew perfectly well that once Jia Dongxu regained consciousness, he would likely discover what she had done.

The thought that she would probably have to spend the rest of her days behind bars broke her last shred of support.

The silly pillar standing to the side was equally terrified.

He was already feeling guilty, and if he remained silent, he might be able to stay out of it, since he hadn't directly taken any action if things were really investigated.

But the intense fear had gripped his limbs and bones, leaving him with no strength to even stand.

Seeing Qin Huairu collapse to the ground in fright, the figure's first reaction was to turn and run.

Unfortunately, Hao Jianguo was prepared. Before he could take a step, Hao Jianguo swiftly stepped forward and subdued him on the ground.

Meanwhile, He Yushui took advantage of the moment when Hao Jianguo was dealing with Sha Zhu and turned to rush out the door—but the outside was already surrounded by people, so there was no chance for her to escape.

"Trying to escape? He Yushui, you underestimate us."

Xu Damao and several men blocked the entrance, clearly having anticipated her move.

Upon seeing that her escape route was blocked, He Yushui suddenly screamed like a madwoman, even threatening those around her with red eyes that anyone who dared to stop her would face the consequences later that night.

But at this point, her threats sounded utterly ridiculous to Xu Damao and his gang.

"Oh, you've come this far, still putting on airs? When you conspired to harm Jia Dongxu, why didn't you think about today?"

"The police are waiting outside, and you still dare to ask for money? I really don't know who gave you the guts."

As everyone chimed in with their own comments, He Yushui's face gradually lost all color.

She tried to struggle, but Xu Damao and his men rushed at her and quickly pinned her to the ground.

No matter how she kicked, struggled, or twisted, she could no longer break free from the grip of those arms.

"Everyone saw it, right? Sha Zhu and He Yushui reacted so strongly; Jia Dongxu's situation is definitely related to them!"

With a quick glance around his eyes, Liu Haizhong immediately raised his voice.

After saying that, he gave Hao Jianguo a thumbs up and smiled broadly: "If you ask me, our leader Hao has a good eye. He is indeed the first cadre in the institute. He saw through the trick at a glance."

As he flattered Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, not wanting Liu Haizhong to monopolize the opportunity to please him, quickly joined in with his own praise.

Liu Haizhong chuckled, then suddenly turned his gaze to Yi Zhonghai beside him, a hint of ill intent flashing in his eyes.

Yi Zhonghai felt a sudden chill run down his spine when Liu Haizhong stared at him like that—knowing Liu Haizhong as he did, the old man was probably about to throw dirty water on him again.

Sure enough, the one who couldn't stand Yi Zhonghai's continued reign as "Uncle Yi" was the one with the most bangs.

He's in a position where he'll be brought down without hesitation should any opportunity arise.

"Yi Zhonghai, you were so vehemently defending Sha Zhu and the others just now... Could it be that you're in cahoots with them? Or did you already know the truth but were helping to cover it up?"

The bucket of dirty water was poured so forcefully and directly that Yi Zhonghai's face immediately turned ashen.

Although he had expected it, hearing Liu Haizhong question him like that in public still made him feel suffocated with anger, and he wanted nothing more than to give this troublemaker a good scolding.

"Liu Haizhong, you need to have evidence for your words! Why are you accusing me of things without proof? If you're so capable, call the police right now, and we'll go through everything in front of everyone and see if I've done anything wrong!"

Liu Haizhong's words were clearly meant to push him to his death.

Yi Zhonghai knew in his heart that this man was eyeing him, "Uncle Yi."

I've held this position for a long time, but when faced with such a blatant betrayal, I still feel a surge of anger rising to my head.

In his eyes, what Liu Haizhong did was no different from that of a mad dog biting people.

If it weren't for the need to maintain appearances and avoid overreacting, which could give others ammunition against him, Yi Zhonghai would almost have grabbed him by the collar and questioned him.

Even if they don't take action, they can't bear this insult.

Just as Yi Zhonghai was about to speak in his defense, Yan Bugui spoke up first.

"Old Liu is right. Everyone saw it clearly just now. Old Yi, you were risking your life to speak up for Sha Zhu and the others."

"Given how close you and Sha Zhu are, I wouldn't believe they're up to anything behind your back! I think it's probably you, Yi Zhonghai, who's orchestrating this."

Yan Bugui stood with his hands behind his back, adopting the air of an old gentleman, and spoke with an unwavering tone, as if he had already condemned Yi Zhonghai.

These words reached Yi Zhonghai's ears, infuriating him to the point of rage.

He took several deep breaths, but still felt a fire burning in his chest, making his internal organs churn.

In his eyes, the two people in front of him were simply spouting nonsense and making baseless accusations.

"Bullshit! Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, you two despicable bastards, do you have any humanity left? Where's the evidence? You can't produce any evidence and you're just making baseless accusations against us? This matter has absolutely nothing to do with us, yet you keep dumping buckets of filth on our heads! Oh—I get it, could it be that you yourselves have something to hide and are trying to frame us?"

Before Yi Zhonghai could reply, Sha Zhu next to him roared like an enraged lion, his roar making people's ears ring.

Seeing his fierce appearance, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts, fearing that this scoundrel would pounce on them without a second thought.

However, upon further reflection, with Hao Jianguo present, subduing Sha Zhu would be a piece of cake. So the two of them regained their composure and straightened their backs a bit.

No matter how fiercely Sha Zhu curses, in their eyes it's nothing more than a cowardly display of bluster.

Sha Zhu's words served as a reminder to Yi Zhonghai.

Seeing the displeasure on Yan Bugui's and Yi Zhonghai's faces, Yi Zhonghai instead let out a cold laugh.

"Hmph, Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, who are you two putting on this show for? This matter has nothing to do with you, but you two insist on jumping up and down, trying to pin the blame on me before everyone else... This is a bit intriguing."

As Yi Zhonghai spoke, a look of certainty appeared on his face. "Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, could it be that Jia Dongxu's death is really related to you? Is that why you're so eager to push me out as a scapegoat to divert everyone's attention?"

Upon hearing this, even Hao Jianguo, who was standing to the side, raised an eyebrow in slight surprise.

He gave Yi Zhonghai a deep look and sighed inwardly. This old guy truly lived up to his reputation as a notorious old fox in the compound; his ability to stir up trouble was indeed first-rate.

With a single, casual remark, he dragged the two who were originally uninvolved into the mess, thus relieving the pressure on Sha Zhu and the others.

Sure enough, Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong turned pale with anger upon hearing this, and almost jumped up.

Yan Bugui pointed his finger at Yi Zhonghai, his fingertips trembling slightly, clearly furious.

"Yi Zhonghai! You...you're talking utter nonsense, you idiot!"

Yan Bugui's voice changed, "We'll kill Jia Dongxu? What's our motive? Our Jia family has no grudge against him, why would we harm him? As for you, everyone in the courtyard knows you treat Shazhu like your own son, hoping he'll take care of you in your old age! How can you not care about Shazhu's affairs? He wants to marry Qin Huairu now, and Jia Dongxu is in his way. Getting rid of him is the only logical thing to do, isn't it?"

Liu Haizhong immediately chimed in, his eyes filled with resentment as he glared at Yi Zhonghai.

Liu Haizhong was trembling with rage. Pointing at Yi Zhonghai's nose, he cursed, "You, surnamed Yi, are trying to pin this on us? How insidious!"

Yi Zhonghai merely smiled dismissively, his expression full of mockery: "Getting anxious? If you have nothing to hide, why are you jumping up and down like this? Can't you just speak normally?"

Seeing his calm and collected demeanor, and his attempt to turn the tables on him, Liu Haizhong felt blood rush to his head, and his vision blurred.

This person is spouting lies and slandering me, and I'm accused of being guilty after offering a few words of defense? What kind of twisted logic is this!

"You say we have no reason to harm people? Ha, that's a real joke!"

Before he could finish speaking, Yi Zhonghai threw out another sentence, immediately drawing everyone's attention in the courtyard.

At first, when they heard that Liu and Yan were involved in the Jia family murder case, everyone thought it was absurd—who didn't know they had never had any connection with the Jia family? Why would they harm Jia Zhangshi? What would they want? But precisely because of this, people were even more curious: what kind of tricks could Yi Zhonghai come up with?

Yi Zhonghai looked around and saw that everyone was listening intently, and a smug smile crept onto his lips.

He wanted the water to be as muddy as possible.

Besides, Liu Haizhong was right before; he would still have to rely on Sha Zhu for his old age. In any case, he had to cover up this disaster for Sha Zhu right now.

"Your motive—is him!"

As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai raised his hand and pointed directly at Hao Jianguo, who was standing to the side.

The courtyard fell silent for a moment.

A few quick-witted people, like Xu Damao, immediately grasped the meaning behind those words.

"Liu Haizhong, ever since you lost that bet with Hao Jianguo, haven't you been fawning over him all the time? Am I wrong?"

Liu Haizhong's face was a mixture of pale and ashen.

Though the words were harsh, they were true, and each one felt like a needle pricking his eardrums.

"Everyone knows that Jia Dongxu used to have a lot of trouble with Hao Jianguo."

"If you, Liu Haizhong, can eliminate this rival for Hao Jianguo, wouldn't Hao Jianguo look at you differently? Wouldn't that be enough reason for you to take action?"

Liu Haizhong felt a tightness in his chest.

Even though I know it's nonsense, if I think about it along these lines, it actually makes some sense.

He wanted to refute it, but he couldn't produce any solid evidence—he was indeed in his own house when Jia Dongxu had the accident that night, but the only witnesses were his wife and children. How much of the government would believe the words of his closest relatives? Yi Zhonghai was certain of this, which is why he dared to recklessly smear him.

Thinking of this, Liu Haizhong felt a metallic taste in his throat, and almost vomited blood.

Yi Zhonghai gave him a cold glance, then turned his gaze to Yan Bugui: "As for you, Old Yan, do I need to say more? Everyone in the compound sees through your entanglements with Hao Jianguo. Before he even rose to prominence, you were already fawning over him. Now that he's a leader, don't you have to work even harder to curry favor with him? The same logic you used to talk about Liu Haizhong applies to you too!"

Looking at Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui's expressions of suppressed anger and inability to refute, Yi Zhonghai let out a cold laugh and slowly asked, "What, do you two have anything else to say?"

"What, am I wrong? If there's anything I said wrong, you're welcome to point it out. But empty words won't do; you need to provide concrete evidence. Otherwise, all the arguing will just be a waste of breath."

After Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, he deliberately cast a mocking glance at Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui, his expression clearly implying that he was deliberately trying to muddy the waters, but unfortunately, the two of them couldn't produce any evidence to refute him.

"You're talking nonsense! My dad was clearly eating inside when Jia Dongxu died. How could he possibly have harmed someone?"

Yan Jiecheng, being young and impetuous, couldn't help but shout it out on the spot.

Yi Zhonghai simply shook his head dismissively.

This brat dares to yell at him? It's ridiculous.

"Yan Jiecheng, you are Yan Bugui's son, so naturally you will speak on his behalf."

Besides your own family, who else can testify? No one, right?

His tone was calm, but every word he spoke was piercing.

Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui's faces immediately turned purple, like bloated pig livers.

He had so much to say, but couldn't utter a single word.

What's even more frustrating is that they can't even prove their innocence—it's an incredibly humiliating experience.

Hao Jianguo turned his head and gave Yi Zhonghai a deep look.

That old fox is indeed cunning; with just a few words, he completely stirred up the waters in the courtyard.

No wonder Liu Haizhong has fought him for so many years but has never been able to defeat him.

The moment Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, Sha Zhu and He Yushui almost simultaneously grinned and laughed out loud.

Those words were like a bolt from the blue for them.

The tension in their hearts suddenly eased, especially for He Yushui—although she was still being held down on the ground by Liu Guangfu and the others, she was already cursing them out without backing down, looking very arrogant.