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

He stepped forward to block Qin Huairu and her son, adopting a protective stance, and shouted loudly:

"So many of you, what kind of skill is it to bully orphans and widows? If you've got the guts, come at me!"

As he spoke, he actually took out some money and returned the New Year's money to everyone on behalf of Bang Geng.

Yi Zhonghai watched coldly, his lips twitching slightly.

Where would Sha Zhu have any extra money? This was clearly borrowed from him before, saying he was short of money for the New Year.

Who would have thought that the so-called "usefulness" would be...

So that's how it is.

Seeing everyone take their money back and leave, Sha Zhu still acted as if nothing had happened, saying, "Just consider it a big red envelope for Bang Geng."

When he said this to Qin Huairu, there was a hint of smugness in his expression, as if he wanted to win her favor.

After the money was returned, Qin Huairu didn't even say thank you. Her expression was as if Sha Zhu owed the Jia family a debt, and that doing so was only natural.

She was crying her heart out just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye, she stopped crying, her change of expression was astonishing.

"Bang Geng, how's your hand now?"

Sha Zhu then pretended to be concerned and stepped forward to ask.

To everyone's surprise, Madam Jia pushed him away, her eyes filled with disgust as she glared at him.

"My child is none of your business."

She showed no gratitude for Sha Zhu's earlier help, and instead glared at him fiercely.

Even Qin Huairu quietly took two steps back, distancing herself from Sha Zhu.

"Stay away from bangers from now on, don't lead the kids astray."

Xu Damao's sarcastic remark immediately drew laughter from the entire audience.

Everyone couldn't help but chuckle, but their eyes were all fixed on Hao Jianguo, their hearts filled with confusion—how exactly that scene had happened was truly baffling.

Hao Jianguo looked down at the limp, mud-like Sha Zhu and said in a flat tone, "Sha Zhu, have you lost your mind? You want to make a move on the first day of the Lunar New Year? Do you want to stay in jail for a few more days?"

"Publicly-funded meals"

The three words were like a needle, making Sha Zhu tremble all over.

He struggled to get up, but he couldn't muster any strength in his limbs, and he couldn't even muster the strength to talk back.

Qin Huairu was furious, but seeing that Sha Zhu was unreliable, she had no choice but to step forward herself: "Hao Jianguo, you are too hard-hearted."

I know you've always held a grudge against the Jia family, and I admit that. I'm the one who has wronged you.

"If you have any grievances, just take them out on me. Why make things difficult for Bang Geng? He's still just a child!"

Before she could finish speaking, two lines of tears slid down her cheeks, and a look of sorrow instantly filled her eyes.

—This acting is quite convincing.

At this moment, Jia Zhangshi rushed over, and upon seeing her beloved grandson's condition, she went berserk, screaming at the top of her lungs, "You, Hao Jianguo, how dare you hurt my grandson! Pay up! This isn't over until you pay up!"

This old woman must be desperate for money; she didn't even look at her grandson's injuries, and all she talked about was "money."

word.

Hao Jianguo almost burst out laughing at the way these people were behaving.

He scoffed, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the courtyard: "What, is there no reasonable person in this courtyard?"

My gaze shifted and landed on Grandpa Yi.

Yi Zhonghai's spirits lifted, and he thought to himself, "No matter how arrogant Hao Jianguo is, when it comes to reasoning, won't he still have to rely on me to uphold justice? Maybe I can use this opportunity to salvage some of my dignity as a big shot."

He straightened his collar, about to speak, but Hao Jianguo had already turned his gaze to Uncle Er, Liu Haizhong: "Uncle Er, you're in charge of the compound, you should at least give me some feedback, right?"

This blatant disregard left Yi Zhonghai stunned on the spot.

He quickly realized that Hao Jianguo was clearly playing a trick on him.

Thinking of the anticipation he had felt just moments before, Yi Zhonghai felt his face burning.

Liu Haizhong was secretly pleased, thinking that Hao Jianguo was trying to curry favor with him and that he could take the opportunity to put Yi Zhonghai in his place. Why not? He immediately put his hands behind his back, adopted an official air, and nodded: "Of course."

"Jianguo, you said, 'I will never let anyone suffer injustice.'"

Hao Jianguo knew exactly what these people were thinking. "I was just sleeping and didn't do anything."

Now you're all talking about what's wrong with me? Qin Huairu, do you even understand how your own son got caught? If you don't, why are you babbling to me like that?

Liu Haizhong cleared his throat and immediately took over the conversation: "That's right, we need to sort things out first."

"Hey, tell me what exactly happened?"

The peony could only howl in pain and couldn't utter a single word.

Liu Haizhong frowned and turned to Huaihua: "Huaihua, you are an honest child and never lie."

Tell me, what exactly happened to my brother?

Huaihua is still young, and being asked such a question and being stared at by so many people, it's no wonder she's nervous.

She hesitated for a while before speaking softly, "My brother took us to visit relatives and ask for lucky money... but the door was blocked from the inside, and we couldn't open it no matter how hard we tried."

There was no other way, so the older brother tried to climb in through the window...

Upon hearing this, everyone in the courtyard suddenly understood.

After all, most people had been visited by these three little guys that morning and had given them lucky money.

Upon hearing the reason, the already resentful neighbors began to criticize.

"Hmph, you managed to steal three dollars from me first thing in the morning..."

Someone muttered under their breath.

"They even have to beg for a dollar or two. Are they trying to become beggars? Don't the adults in their families know how to discipline them?"

"Listen to what kind of talk is this? Failing to break down the door, he climbed in through the window? Would a decent kid do something like that?"

Amidst the surrounding accusations, Jia Zhangshi ignored them, instead glaring at the onlookers with a fierce expression, as if the fault lay not with her grandson, but with these busybodies.

"Stop spouting nonsense! My Banggeng has always been sensible."

Hao Jianguo, it's one thing to not give out New Year's money, but why put mousetraps on the windowsill to harm people?

Having experienced the frustration of the past few days, Jia Zhangshi's temperament became increasingly erratic.

At this point, they're no longer willing to reason; they just spout arrogant and unreasonable arguments.

Hao Jianguo shook his head upon hearing this.

"It's my own house, I can put whatever I want in it, who are you to tell me what to do? Jia Zhangshi, you're meddling too much."

Besides, did I beg him to climb through the window? If he hadn't, would he have gotten his foot caught?

"Everyone in the neighborhood knows I've been burgled before. Putting up traps to deter thieves isn't unreasonable, is it?"

That "thief"

The words were like needles, pricking Jia Zhangshi until her face turned blue.

She knew perfectly well that Hao Jianguo's words were clearly aimed at her back.

"Jia Zhangshi, you know very well what you've done."

"It's not like you haven't tried to steal from me before. Is it wrong for me to be wary of your family's dishonest dealings?"

Hao Jianguo spoke bluntly, comparing the Jia family to a den of thieves, showing no mercy to this shrew.

Yan Jiecheng immediately stood up to voice his support:

"That's right! If Bang Geng hadn't climbed through the window, none of this would have happened. He has only himself to blame."

"If you ask me, getting your hand pinched is the least of your worries; this kind of person deserves what they got."

"I bet asking for New Year's money is just a pretense; you really want to steal things, don't you? Everyone go home and check if anything is missing."

Liu Guangfu and the others also joined in the commotion.

One sarcastic remark after another was like an invisible slap across Jia Zhangshi's face, and her complexion gradually turned pale.

Liu Haizhong walked out unhurriedly, his hands behind his back.

"Everyone, please be quiet."

The matter is crystal clear; this is Bang Geng's own fault.

Children are too young to understand, so adults should teach them to distinguish right from wrong.

Now that things have turned out this way, they have no one to blame but themselves.

Seeing that they were about to incur public wrath, the Jia family's momentum immediately diminished.

Qin Huairu was still hugging the stick, wiping away tears with her head down, looking extremely aggrieved.

Previously, Hao Jianguo had not completely exhausted Sha Zhu, but only told him to be temporarily limp for a moment.

By this time, Sha Zhu had recovered and struggled to get up from the ground, but his legs were still trembling slightly.

Upon seeing Qin Huairu's expression, Sha Zhu immediately felt sorry for her.

"Bullshit! What do you mean by 'blaming others'? Liu Haizhong, I bet you're in cahoots with Hao Jianguo!"

Sha Zhu couldn't stand seeing Qin Huairu suffer, so he immediately started yelling and cursing.

"I don't care about anything else, all I know is that the pheasant was injured by your mousetrap! If someone gets hurt, you have to pay compensation, that's only fair!"

Jia Zhangshi, who had been deflated, perked up immediately when she saw Sha Zhu jump out to support her, and joined in the clamor for Hao Jianguo to pay her compensation.

"Make me pay up? Silly Zhu, I've noticed you're always extra interested in anything involving sticks."

Could it be true, as everyone's saying, that Bang Geng is your biological son? Otherwise, why can't he even understand human speech and is just spouting nonsense here?

"The principles I just mentioned are understood by anyone with common sense."

"You're making a scene here; there's probably something fishy going on behind your back."

Hao Jianguo threw out a sarcastic remark with a cold laugh.

Xu Damao's eyes lit up and he immediately chimed in to support him.

"Heh, it seems plausible to me. Maybe Banggeng really is the son of Shazhu and Qin Huairu. Otherwise, I always felt there was something silly about that kid's eyes—no wonder Jia Dongxu was muttering about whether Banggeng was his biological son the other day. Turns out, it was you, Shazhu, who played the good guy behind the scenes!"

As soon as he said that, the onlookers burst into laughter.

Since the fire won't burn them, who wouldn't be happy to add fuel to the fire?

"Nonsense...nonsense!"

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu was so angry that his forehead throbbed and his whole body trembled.

If he weren't still weak and powerless, he would have punched Xu Damao in the face long ago.

Xu Damao grinned, as if to say, "What can you do to me?"

With a cheeky grin, he said, "I'm talking nonsense? Then why are you so eager to protect him? He's not your son, why are you making such a fuss?"

Startled by Xu Damao's retort, Sha Zhu opened his mouth, but the words stuck in his throat, and he didn't know how to retort for a moment.

"Wait, there's one more thing we need to figure out."

At this moment, Hao Jianguo suddenly interrupted.

"How old are Bang Geng and the others? How could a few kids come up with such a tricky idea as going door-to-door asking for New Year's money? I suspect someone's pulling the strings behind this—Sha Zhu, is that you?"

Hao Jianguo's gaze shifted and fixed directly on Sha Zhu's face.

Sha Zhu's face instantly darkened.

His name is Sha Zhu, but he's not really stupid.

The current situation is clear: the issue of asking for New Year's money has already angered the public, and people originally tolerated it because the child was young.

But if he were to admit now that it was his idea, wouldn't he be drowned in the spittle of the neighbors?

Sha Zhu immediately shook his head, glared at Hao Jianguo, and shouted, "Stop making baseless accusations! This has nothing to do with me!"

Hao Jianguo ignored him and turned to look at Banggeng, who was shrinking his neck beside him.

"Hey, don't play dumb."

This matter could be a big deal or a small deal; to put it seriously, it could be considered coercion and extortion.

If it really escalates to the police station, you should know how the police will handle it.

Xu Damao and his gang chimed in, eager to vent the anger they had been holding in that morning.

"Hey, are you guys asking for New Year's money? Every word you say is threatening. Who wants to hear bad luck on the first day of the Lunar New Year? If we call the police, you guys will be in serious trouble."

"You want to try going to a juvenile detention center?"

If it were just Hao Jianguo talking, Bang Geng might have been able to hold on, but with everyone around him talking and scaring him like that, he was still just a kid, and he immediately cowered and shrank back.

"It's not my fault... It was all Uncle Sha's doing! Go find him, don't come looking for me!"

Bang Geng, that slippery fellow, always sidles up to Sha Zhu when there's something to gain, but the moment he hears he's going to juvenile detention, he's so scared he immediately sells him out.

"Fine! So it turns out the source is you!"

"You silly Zhu, you're really something! You can't even keep quiet on New Year's Day, always causing trouble, and now you're even using the kids!"

"Pah! What a scoundrel!"

In no time, everyone who had ever been asked for New Year's money started pointing at him and cursing.

"I...I..."

Sha Zhu was speechless—mainly because the punchline came out too quickly, and even if he had a lot of arguments to say, he didn't have time to get them out.

"No wonder, you learn from those you associate with. Such underhanded tactics, ha!"

Hao Jianguo sneered and glanced at Yi Zhonghai beside him.

Yi Zhonghai's face darkened, and a nameless anger suddenly surged within him.

"Uncle, I wasn't talking about you, why are you in such a hurry?"

Hao Jianguo chuckled softly, and before Yi Zhonghai could speak, he shut him down with a single sentence.

Xu Damao and his group had no intention of giving up and swarmed around Qin Huairu.

"Give me my money back!"

"Yes! You tricked and threatened them out of their New Year's money. Now that the mastermind has been caught, the money must be returned! Otherwise, this isn't over!"

The surrounding noise grew louder and louder, and Qin Huairu's cries became increasingly mournful.