Courtyard House: My System - Artificial Human

"Who's bullying whom? Look how badly she beat my son and me..."

"Shut up! I didn't tell you to speak!" Jia Zhangshi wanted to speak with facts, but Chen Liang shouted again and grabbed Jia Dongxu's arm.

"I didn't do anything inappropriate! Really! You can ask anyone else if you don't believe me. I only said two words to her!"

Jia Dongxu panicked instantly, swinging his arms to dodge, but was still caught red-handed. He hunched over in pain, looking around with pleading eyes.

"Teacher Yan! Uncle Yan! You were just here, please say something for me! I only said a couple of words to her, I didn't do anything inappropriate!"

"I...I didn't notice." Yan Bugui hadn't expected that watching the commotion would lead to him getting involved, and he quickly shrank back, not wanting to get into any trouble.

"Speak up if you want to! A grown man watching a young girl being bullied and not saying a word, and you call yourself a teacher?" Chen Liang sneered, his contempt growing even stronger upon hearing that he was a teacher.

Everyone in the neighborhood knows what kind of person Tian Zao is.

She hates evil and is fiercely opposed to it, but she won't hit someone for no reason.

They wouldn't have acted if they hadn't been forced into a corner.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Yan Bugui wanted to shrink back, filled with regret. He shouldn't have stood in this courtyard today.

They all wanted him to speak, but how could he say anything? The neighbors... wouldn't the Jia family hate him to death in the future?

Seeing that he was still hesitating, Lin Weidong stepped forward, handed him a cigarette, and lit it.

"Teacher Yan, don't be nervous! Just tell the truth. You don't need to be afraid. Although you didn't stand up when this woman was bullied, it's just a moral issue. The police won't do anything to you."

Lin Weidong paused, then changed the subject with a low, melancholic tone.

"However... if you refuse to cooperate or lie, that would be harboring a criminal, which is illegal. Forget about keeping your teaching job; you'd end up in jail!"

"Ah!?" Yan Bugui dropped the cigarette he had just taken a puff of, and his legs were trembling.

But at this moment, he couldn't care less about picking it up. He didn't even care to distinguish whether Lin Weidong's words were true or false. Hearing him say it was so serious, Yan Bugui quickly raised his hand high.

"I'll talk! I'll talk, officers! I saw Jia Dongxu deliberately try to talk to this woman! When she ignored him, he grabbed her!"

Yan Bugui finished speaking in one breath, swallowed hard, and looked away, not daring to look at Jia's mother and son. But he saw Lin Weidong bend down to pick up the cigarette from the ground, blow on it, and hand it to him.

Yan Bugui took it with trembling hands, and when he looked up and met Lin Weidong's smiling and satisfied gaze, a glimmer of light suddenly flashed in his mind.

Oops! I almost forgot, this policeman is looking for Lin Weidong, and this girl is looking for this policeman, so they must know each other.

Realizing this, Yan Bugui raised his hand again and quickly added.

"And another thing! I heard Jia Dongxu ask a woman if she had a boyfriend! But the woman clearly wasn't interested in him, so he got angry and started grabbing her clothes, refusing to let it go. That's called... that's called..."

"Forcing a woman's will," Lin Weidong whispered a reminder to him.

Yan Bugui took a deep drag on his cigarette.

"What he did was coerce a woman's will! It's worse than indecent assault!"

His words shocked everyone present, and the onlookers looked at Yan Bugui with astonishment.

What grudge could you possibly have to torment someone to death?

Yi Zhonghai, who had been holding back for a while, finally found a way to retort seriously.

"Old Yan! It's not that serious! Don't talk nonsense and cause misunderstandings for the police! Yes, everyone knows that Jia Zhangshi and your wife had a fight the day before yesterday, but nothing happened, right? Everyone in the same courtyard has had arguments. Just tell the truth, why are you deliberately trying to cause trouble?"

All eyes turned to Yi Zhonghai, some nodding and some shaking their heads as they began to discuss the matter.

Among those involved, Jia Zhangshi had tears in her eyes and felt that Yi Zhonghai was shining.

Jia Dongxu, who had just been terrified, perked up and realized for the first time that Yi Zhonghai... no, Uncle Yi was actually so righteous!

Surrounded by admiring and impressed gazes, Yi Zhonghai felt a surge of pride. He smiled and said...

"And then there's Dongxu, we've practically watched him grow up in this neighborhood. Everyone knows what kind of person he is, right? He gets all upset and cries after his mother scolds him a couple of times. Tell me, how could a kid like that have the guts to act like a hooligan? Officer, I think there's definitely a misunderstanding here! Besides, both mother and son were beaten so badly, they've learned their lesson, haven't they? He definitely won't talk to women so rashly again. How about we make Dongxu pay for that woman's coat?"

"Yes, yes, yes! Uncle Yi is right. I really didn't mean it. I just wanted to get to know her. I definitely didn't do anything inappropriate. I know I was wrong and I won't be reckless again. I'm willing to pay for the clothes!"

"Ha! Fine, since you're so good at talking, then you should come to the police station too, let's go!" Chen Liang sneered, twisting Jia Dongxu's arm with one hand and pushing him forward, while grabbing Jia Zhangshi's cotton-padded coat with the other, and at the same time summoning Yi Zhonghai.

However, at this moment, Jia Dongxu seemed to have had his meridians opened by Yi Zhonghai, and he shouted loudly.

"I didn't do anything indecent! You did it on purpose! You knew that woman, you were deliberately trying to mess with me! I won't accept this!"

The crowd erupted in a flurry of discussion, with some testifying that they had seen Tian Zao come in looking for someone.

"Quiet!" Chen Liang's face darkened, and he made up his mind to give Jia Dongxu a good talking-to.

"I do know them, and I never said I didn't, but precisely because I know them, I can't stand by and watch this child be bullied by you! I'm asking you, did you fight? Did you tear their clothes? Did you harass them? Don't you know what you did? Even if you don't know, someone saw it! And you say I'm targeting you? Let me tell you, I'm targeting scum like you! Trash! Get out of here!"

The crowd started talking again, saying that what the police officer said was true!

Yan Bugui witnessed Jia Dongxu harassing a female comrade, and when Jia Zhangshi rushed up to beat someone, they came over to watch the spectacle.

She watched helplessly as her neighbors pointed and whispered about her, looking at her son with disdain.

Madam Jia realized it was all over! Everything was finished!

Overwhelmed with grief, she grabbed Chen Liang's leg and sat on the ground, wailing and crying, while slapping her own thigh with her other hand in rhythm.

"Oh, Old Jia! Come quick! Your son's being kidnapped! Your Jia family line is ending! Old Jia, you're leaving us, a widow and her orphan, to be bullied! Old Jia, ahh ...

Lin Weidong's serious expression almost crumbled as he looked over in disbelief. "Now that things are settled, why are you summoning Lao Jia?"

"Mother! Waaaaah..."

Jia Dongxu had seen his mother call out for his father before, but he had never been so heartbroken as he was today. Tears streamed down his face as he regretted his past actions.