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

She bit her lip tightly, her face full of resentment. Seeing that Hao Jianguo remained silent, she mistakenly thought that her husband was going to bow down and compromise with the old lady. She felt even more aggrieved and indignant for her husband.

Noticing the urgency in his wife's eyes, Hao Jianguo gave her a reassuring look.

But Yu Li was clearly still angry and wanted to give the deaf old woman another dressing down—who told this old woman to bully her husband? She had to let her know that her man was not someone anyone could mess with.

Yu Li's protectiveness warmed Hao Jianguo's heart.

He felt it was enough that his wife stood up for him like this, so how could he bear to let her continue to stand in front of him?

He should be the one protecting her.

He gently took Yu Li's hand and whispered, "Silly girl, I'm the one who should be standing in front of you. There's no reason for you to always protect me."

"Besides, look at this old lady, she's already being unreasonable."

If you argue with her again, and she happens to fall to the ground and accuses you of bullying an elderly person, it might even involve the police station.

"This kind of person is capable of anything."

"Leave it to me, you just keep an eye on things from the side."

These words brought tears to Yu Li's eyes. She knew that her husband cared about her, and finally nodded gently.

Hao Jianguo stepped forward, walked up to the deaf old woman, and asked bluntly, "Grandma, are you really going to renege on what we agreed on earlier?"

His calm expression was particularly jarring to the deaf old woman, as if he would remain unmoved even if the sky were to fall.

The old woman snorted coldly and yelled, "How dare you talk like that, brat! Even your parents wouldn't dare to be so defiant in front of me! You think you can act tough with me? You're still a long way off!"

"You think I'm defaulting on my debt? Fine, I'll default then, what can you do about it!"

She glared at Hao Jianguo with her neck stiff and her eyes full of provocation.

She still cared about her image when she was making a scene before, but this time she completely abandoned all pretense and was clearly going to throw a tantrum.

There were still some neighbors in the courtyard who hadn't left. They had been waiting to see what was going on, but when they heard the old lady's words, they couldn't help but shake their heads inwardly.

Everyone could see that this old woman had lost all sense of shame, but after all, she was old, and if she really went all out, no one dared to do anything to her.

For a moment, everyone's eyes were on Hao Jianguo, wondering how he would handle the situation.

Most people felt that Hao Jianguo would have to suffer in silence this time.

Hao Jianguo looked at the deaf old woman intently, then suddenly smiled:

"You've thought of everything very thoroughly."

Indeed, there's nothing I can do to you.

"Since we've come this far, there's no point in pressuring you anymore, is there? You always have a way to deal with it—"

"Pretending to be confused, saying you forgot, or that you can't remember what happened last night... these kinds of tricks you can use anytime, right?"

Upon hearing the first half of the sentence, the deaf old woman's face showed a smug expression, thinking that she had gained the upper hand.

But when she heard the second half, her wrinkled face immediately fell.

Hao Jianguo's words were clearly a taunt to her—and these were precisely the despicable methods she had been plotting.

Hao Jianguo calmly gazed at the deaf old woman, his tone even yet each word clear: "The neighbors in the courtyard all witnessed the whole thing. Are you really going to just let it go without giving me a single explanation?"

His words drew nods from the surrounding crowd, who clearly agreed with his statement.

"That's right, we're all watching, you can't pretend you don't know, can you?"

"Madam, everyone's eyes are peeling back; you have to give us an explanation."

Xu Damao and the others immediately joined in the commotion, partly to join in the fun, and partly to take the opportunity to curry favor with Hao Jianguo.

But since the deaf old lady had already swallowed her pride, she didn't care about all the gossip.

As for Hao Jianguo's words, she didn't take them to heart at all—she had originally thought she would hear something impressive, but it turned out to be nothing special.

"Explain?"

The old woman scoffed, her voice shrill, "Why should I give them an explanation? Who do they think they are, to deserve an explanation from me? If we're talking about explanations, my father already did—he was a martyr, he sacrificed himself for his country, that's our family's explanation!"

These words were so arrogant as to be almost barbaric, and they stung the hearts of everyone who heard them.

Many neighbors felt that the old lady's attitude clearly showed that she didn't respect them.

Discontent was quietly surging among the crowd like an undercurrent.

Hao Jianguo, however, remained calm.

He had expected the old lady to throw such a tantrum.

His gaze swept lightly over the wrinkled face, a thought flashing through his mind but never uttered aloud: This old lady always talks about "three generations of loyal martyrs".

They say it all the time, but their actions are clearly a stain on those words.

If her father knew this in the afterlife, he would probably find it difficult to rest in peace.

"Since you insist on being unreasonable,"

Hao Jianguo said no more, only calmly saying, "Then let's have someone who can reason with you come and talk."

The deaf old woman frowned, and before her sneer could fully unfold, a series of hurried footsteps and shouts came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Jianguo, the people have arrived! Director Liu is here!"

Everyone looked over at the sound and saw Liu Haizhong running into the courtyard, panting, followed by Director Liu from the street office.

Everyone immediately realized that, in terms of reasoning, the people from the neighborhood committee were indeed the most suitable.

Liu Haizhong walked quickly to Hao Jianguo, a fawning smile plastered on his face.

Now that Hao Jianguo's status is different, he naturally wants to cultivate more connections.

Besides, he had come to realize these days that if he wanted to overthrow Yi Zhonghai and take the position of the eldest son, he had to get past the old lady first.

Otherwise, every time Yi Zhonghai gets into trouble, she'll interfere, and her plans will never come true.

"Liu Haizhong, what business is it of yours? Who gave you the right to interrupt?"

The old lady's temper flared up the moment she saw Liu Haizhong, and she launched into a tirade of scolding.

Before Liu Haizhong could even speak, he was cut off, his face immediately darkening. "Grandma, what you're saying is unreasonable."

"You insisted on making this bet with Comrade Jianguo, and now that the result is in, you want to renege on it?"

He frowned, his tone filled with suppressed resentment.

He knew perfectly well that if it weren't for that old lady's repeated interventions and protection, Yi Zhonghai's position would have been lost long ago, and he wouldn't have survived to this day.

"A bet? What bet? I'm getting old, my memory isn't good, and sometimes when I'm confused, I don't even know what I've done."

"You didn't take advantage of me while I was out of my mind and tricked me into agreeing to something, did you? I'm warning you, if you dare to do anything wrong, I'm going to the police station to report you!"

As soon as the old lady said these words, almost everyone in the courtyard showed a helpless expression.

No one expected that Hao Jianguo's earlier words would come true—she indeed came up with such a clumsy excuse to evade and shirk responsibility.

She's become increasingly domineering, and she outright denies everything that happened last night.

If anyone dared to say a few words of fairness, she would dismiss it as nonsense and threaten to call the police to arrest them.

In an instant, the way all the neighbors looked at the old lady changed completely.

"Madam, what you're doing is really going too far."

Director Liu then stepped out from the crowd, looking at the deaf old woman with a slight frown.

He had seen everything that had just happened, and the old lady's words and actions were truly beyond his expectations.

Director Liu was truly surprised to find that this elderly man, who was a recipient of the "Five Guarantees" (a government welfare program for the elderly, disabled, and orphans) and whose family had been known for three generations of martyrs, had such despicable character.

Before he arrived, Director Liu had already learned about the incident, and many people in the hospital had explained the situation to him.

He had originally thought that since the old lady was quite old, if she could admit her mistake and accept being educated, the matter might be handled more leniently.

But now it seems that his previous idea was far too naive.

"Grandma, the root of the whole thing is that you are in the wrong."

Sha Zhu's ulterior motives towards Jia Zhangshi were his own fault, yet you repeatedly showed favoritism, and even later inexplicably turned the blame on Comrade Hao Jianguo—who had absolutely nothing to do with the matter, yet you became so aggressive.

"Think back carefully, from beginning to end, wasn't it you who gradually pushed the situation to where it is today?"

"As for Sha Zhu's situation, I specifically asked the doctor who was on duty last night."

The doctor clearly told me that Sha Zhu had a mental problem, which falls under the category of pathology.

According to your previous agreement, ma'am, shouldn't you keep your promise? Besides, you even had a written agreement as proof.

As Director Liu spoke, he walked to Hao Jianguo's side.

He investigated the matter thoroughly and found that Hao Jianguo was completely innocent and had been wronged. Naturally, he couldn't stand by and watch an innocent person suffer.

Upon hearing Director Liu's words, the residents of the compound cheered.

When many people looked at the old lady again, a long-lost look of relief appeared on their faces—now that even the director of the neighborhood committee had stood up to uphold justice, let's see how she can still make excuses.

"Grandma, you are, after all, an elder, and have always been respected in the courtyard."

Now that you've done something like this, aren't you afraid of being gossiped about by the younger generation? Acting like a spoiled brat and throwing a tantrum is simply not how you behave.

"I heard what you just said. You either relied on your age to act superior, brought up the achievements of your ancestors, or simply threw a tantrum and denied everything."

Do you think that because you're older, you can be indifferent to everything? But you need to understand that if this matter really escalates, you'll be the one who ends up embarrassed.

Director Liu's words remained polite, even carrying a hint of persuasion.

In his view, he was simply presenting the facts and reasoning, and did not intentionally oppose the old lady.

The appearance of Director Liu was indeed unexpected for the old lady.

Upon hearing his lecturing tone, the deaf old woman's face turned slightly pale, and her expression became increasingly gloomy.

But she did not back down, and showed no fear even when facing the street officials.

Since the other party said she was taking advantage of her age, then she might as well go all the way!

The deaf old lady immediately spoke up: "Little Liu, in terms of seniority, you are just a child in front of me."

Although I've now become the director of the subdistrict office, they still don't feel I deserve a good scolding.

I've watched you grow up; it would be more like your father speaking to me!

Upon hearing this, Director Liu gave a wry smile and shook his head helplessly: "Grandma, what you're saying..."

These days, you can't just do things based on seniority; you have to be reasonable.

"You can't be so unreasonable."

To his surprise, his kind and gentle persuasion was met with the old lady's increasingly domineering attitude.

Especially when she slammed her cane heavily on the ground and shouted, "I'm being unreasonable, what can you do about it!"

In front of so many people, the old lady showed no respect whatsoever. Despite being clearly in the wrong, she remained arrogant. Director Liu's face finally darkened.

"Madam, you should think this through."

Doing this will first and foremost harm the collective interests of our courtyard house.

In light of your arrogant behavior today, the courtyard's "Outstanding Civilized Courtyard" award for this year, along with all future related honors and subsidies, is hereby revoked.

These words immediately caused an uproar among those around them.

Grandpa San and the others were even more anxious and kept shouting – this honor was not only about face, but also about real benefits.

In the past, everyone competed for this award for those unspoken benefits.

"Director Liu, this isn't fair!"

"Why should our entire hospital bear the blame for the old lady's mistake?"

"Please reconsider!"

Everyone looked at Director Liu, but upon meeting his resolute gaze, they knew there was no turning back.

In an instant, many resentful gazes were fixed on the deaf old woman.

Such is the nature of human nature: when it doesn't concern them, they can simply stand by and watch; but once their own interests are involved, no one can remain calm.

The deaf old lady also looked unwell.

She hadn't expected Director Liu to resort to this tactic.

If that's the case, does she still want to live peacefully in the courtyard house in the future?

Ignoring the chaotic thoughts of the crowd, Director Liu continued, "Madam, don't think this is just a loss to the interests of the entire hospital."

This will have a greater impact on you personally.

"You should know that the subsidies you receive each month are subject to review by the neighborhood committee."

If a person has a stain on their record, no matter how great their ancestors' achievements, their reputation will eventually run out.

The protection left by our parents will eventually run out—you should understand this.

These words were like a needle, piercing the old lady's heart.

She could grit her teeth and ignore the interests of the courtyard house, but when it came to her own interests, she couldn't ignore them.

However, Director Liu had not finished speaking.

Furthermore, the relevant personnel involved should also be investigated and punished.

Especially Yi Zhonghai, who is incapable of distinguishing right from wrong and has no principles, no longer needs to sit in his position as an elder statesman.