Courtyard House: Starting as an eighth-grade worker, with too many wives.

Xu Damao heard that Sha Zhu had foolishly provoked Li Jianguo again.

I was instantly overjoyed.

That silly Zhu Zi, all he does is cause trouble all day long.

They've really messed up this time, haven't they?

That guy's asking for it!

Of course, it wasn't outwardly apparent.

Instead, he pretended to be surprised and spoke with righteous indignation.

"Master Li, Sha Zhu has a problem with his brain."

"Please don't get angry because of him!"

"No, that won't happen."

Li Jianguo smiled.

"But there's no reason to guard against thieves every single day."

"I don't know what kind of person Shazhu is, but I hate it when people are watching me and secretly trying to trip me up."

"So there's something I want to ask you."

Xu Damao is a smart man.

I immediately understood what Li Jianguo meant.

This is to make him an informant.

He not only didn't dislike it, but he also saw it as an opportunity.

He immediately patted his chest and guaranteed it.

"Master Li, I understand without you saying it."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely keep an eye on Sha Zhu for you."

"If he makes any suspicious moves, I'll definitely tell you immediately!"

"it is good."

"You did a great job."

Li Jianguo gave a thumbs up with great satisfaction.

Xu Damao is such a treacherous and despicable person.

If used properly, it's a very useful dog.

For this kind of person, it's enough to keep them interested by giving them small favors from time to time.

"You flatter me, Master Li."

"I'm glad I could help you."

Xu Damao was even happier to receive the praise.

His face was beaming with smiles, and his eyes were squinting into slits.

I traveled back with Li Jianguo.

When we went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things, he would eagerly follow behind and help carry them.

Whatever Li Jianguo bought, he would take it and carry it.

They even offered to help pay for it.

However, Li Jianguo did not agree.

Finally, I bought him a pound of meat to take home.

These small favors are what make things last.

the other side.

The Jia family's situation was bleak and gloomy.

There were no lights on inside.

Feeling drowsy.

The hamster is their family's only lifeline.

They've been taken away, what should we do?

Neither Jia Dongxu nor Qin Huairu went to work today.

The two of them tried to pull some strings to rescue Bang Geng.

If he were really sent to a juvenile detention center, it would be a stain on his record for life.

In the future, forget about finding a wife, no one will even want to hire me.

But they couldn't find anyone after searching around.

The police officers from the local station kicked them out as soon as they heard their names.

They wouldn't even let us in the door.

Jia Zhangshi tried to use the same trick again and went to the police station to make a scene.

She sat down on the ground and let out two howls.

The police aren't like neighbors who would give her face.

Two policemen came over, grabbed her, and dragged her outside.

She was almost arrested.

Jia Zhangshi was quite frightened and eventually returned home dejectedly.

Everyone's off work now.

The Jia family remained inside the house, the atmosphere tense and still.

No one spoke.

Only the flames in the stove crackled.

"You bitch!"

"What's the point of marrying you!"

Having nowhere to vent her anger, Jia Zhangshi took it out on Qin Huairu.

She sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and pointed at Qin Huairu's nose, cursing.

"Our Jia family is truly cursed; how could we have such a scoundrel as you!"

In any case, her daughter-in-law will always be an outsider in her eyes.

He's just an outsider with no skills whatsoever.

She was also bullied by her mother-in-law back then.

It's only right to retaliate now.

They weren't satisfied with just cursing.

He even hit Qin Huairu twice.

A slap landed on his arm, making a loud "slap, slap" sound.

Qin Huairu felt extremely wronged.

It was Grandma's idea to send Banggeng to steal things.

Why should she be blamed in the end?

She wanted to argue.

But in this family, my mother-in-law has always been the one who makes the decisions.

She hesitated to speak.

We can only endure it.

With her head down and biting her lip, tears streamed down her face.

"You've left our Jia family with only this one lifeline!"

Jia Dongxu, that coward, didn't think there was anything wrong with what his mother said.

He even felt that Qin Huairu was useless.

He sat on the bench, legs crossed.

"We can't protect them yet!"

All you do all day is eat!

"I'm a man, and I work outside every day to earn money to support you all."

"Is this the son you're raising?"

"I've had the worst luck to marry you!"

He even hit her while saying that.

He stood up, walked over, and slapped her on the back of the head.

Qin Huairu cried and begged for mercy.

"Stop hitting me..."

"Please, please stop hitting me..."

Jia Zhangshi, who was standing to the side, still felt unsatisfied and encouraged them further.

"right!"

"I think she deserves to be hit!"

The two younger children next to them cried their hearts out as they watched their mother being beaten.

The older child was holding the younger one, huddled in a corner, tears welling up in their eyes.

The house was in complete chaos.

Qin Huairu hid in a corner, feeling wronged, and cried her heart out.

She huddled there, hugging her knees, her shoulders trembling.

after awhile.

Jia Dongxu was probably tired from playing.

They finally stopped.

He sat back down on the bench, panting heavily.

He's also very cunning.

He hit someone but not in the face.

As long as Qin Huairu doesn't do something like lifting her clothes in public, she'll have to swallow this beating in silence.

When Jia Zhangshi saw that her son had stopped hitting her, she realized that he was no longer hitting her.

She got out of bed and walked to Qin Huairu's side.

She looked down at her daughter-in-law, who was squatting in the corner.

He spoke in an exceptionally serious tone.

"When Li Jianguo comes back in a little while, go find him right away."

"I don't care if you beg for forgiveness or whatever, you have to get the letter of understanding, understand?"

"Mom, I..."

Qin Huairu didn't want to go.

She looked up, her face streaked with tears.

She didn't want to look so pathetic in front of Li Jianguo.

Moreover, she didn't think Li Jianguo would actually agree.

"What's wrong?"

"You're unwilling to do anything for your son?"

"Are you even a mother anymore?"

Seeing that she wanted to refuse, Jia Zhangshi was so angry that she wanted to hit her.

She raised her hand, as if to hit him.

After thinking about it, I decided not to take any action.

He pulled Qin Huairu up from the ground.

"What a spineless coward!"

"Go now!"

"I don't care what method you use."

"If we don't get a letter of forgiveness, Bang Geng won't come back, and you don't need to come back either!"

When talking about her eldest grandson, Jia Zhangshi couldn't help but cry again.

She plopped back down on the kang (a heated brick bed), slapping her thigh and crying.

"My poor grandson!"

"If I don't come back this time, my life is over!"

"Everyone who sees this will curse at it!"

"Why is my life so miserable!"

Jia Dongxu watched as his mother cried uncontrollably.

He waited menacingly at Qin Huairu.

"What are you still standing there for?"

"Should I hit you and kick you out?"

Qin Huairu was pushed out again.

She stood at the doorway of the room.

The door slammed shut behind me.

The courtyard was pitch black.

Only the dim light shone from the windows of each house.

She stood there, her eyes red.

Tears clung to my face, and the wind chilled them to the bone.

It felt like I couldn't even cry.

The deaf old lady sat cross-legged on the edge of the bed. The sun outside the window moved from east to west, stretching the shadow of the window frame inch by inch, and then swallowing it back little by little.

She can't get out.

Because of his leg problems, and with no one to carry him, he can only sit there doing nothing.

The thought of it made a fire surge in my chest, burning so intensely it felt like my internal organs were aching. My lips trembled, and the words flowed out like a floodgate opening:

"You little beast, you heartless wretch."

"Why didn't they die in the Northwest? That place is a breeding ground for such scourges."

"God, open your eyes and take this wicked child away..."

She tossed and turned, over and over, grinding away. It felt like her throat was stuffed with a wad of old, oil-soaked cotton, lit but impossible to extinguish, just suffocatingly burning. She didn't feel thirsty or tired, as if these words were a spell, a talisman, and with each recitation, that man surnamed Li would be one step closer to the King of Hell.

---

The front yard was eerily quiet.

At Uncle Liu Haizhong's house, the dining table was set in the center of the main room, with steaming cabbage stew with vermicelli. He held a bowl in his hand, his chopsticks poking at the rice, but he didn't put a bite in his mouth for a long time.

His eyes were fixed on the dish of pickled vegetables on the table—but he couldn't see what was in it at all.

Auntie Erda came out of the kitchen carrying a half-basin of hot water. Seeing his absent-minded appearance, she couldn't help but spit out her tongue:

"You've got some kind of fancy way of eating? Rice grains are practically stuck in your nose and eyes!"

Liu Haizhong snapped out of his daze, tapped his chopsticks on the edge of his bowl, and grinned, a smile that held a profound meaning.

"You mean, that Li Jianguo in the back..."

"What?"

"I'm thinking, maybe we should get to know him better."

The second aunt slammed the basin on the ground, wiped the water droplets off her hands, and frowned:

"Walking around? He's no pushover! Look at him, he's only been here a few days, and Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu, the Jia family, the deaf old lady—who hasn't been dealt with by him? If you go and get involved now, aren't you afraid of getting into trouble?"

Liu Haizhong slammed his bowl on the table, his face twitching.

"What do you know?"

He lowered his voice, glanced towards the window to make sure no one was outside, and then continued:

"It's precisely because he's extraordinary that we need to get involved. He's knowledgeable, an engineer, and so young—look across the entire compound, who else will have that kind of talent in the future?"

The second aunt stopped talking, her eyes darting around as if she were pondering something.

He picked up a piece of cabbage with his chopsticks and chewed it with a crunching sound.

"If we stick to it now, it'll be a godsend. I've disliked that old bastard Yi Zhonghai for a long time, this is perfect."

---

At almost the same time, a commotion also broke out at the dinner table of Uncle Yan Bugui's family.

Yan Bugui took a sip from his small wine cup, smacked his lips, and glanced at his son Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Jiecheng put his chopsticks on the bowl and began to speak:

"Father, we can't afford to offend Li Jianguo."

"Um?"

"Let me tell you, his status is definitely not simple. Look at him, the factory director treats him like a king, and those professors fawn over him—even if we can't get close to him, we absolutely can't act like some big shot and offend him to death."

Yan Bugui put down his wine cup and sighed:

"How could I not understand? The problem is I've already offended them."

"Then you'll have to find a way to make up for it."

Yan Jie leaned forward slightly and said in a low voice:

"This requires thought and consideration."

Yan Bugui nodded, his gaze drifting out the window, towards the backyard, and then to the tightly closed door.

---

Li Jianguo had no idea that before he had even had a meal, he had become the talk of the town for the two families in the front yard.

The flames in the kitchen licked the bottom of the pot, and the steam rose up, enveloping him in a warm, white mist.

The supplies I received from the system check-in were piled up in the corner—rice, flour, eggs, pork, and two cucumbers with blossoms and thorns still attached. In the dead of winter, these things were rarer than gold. The shelves at the supply and marketing cooperative were full of radishes, cabbages, dried beans, and green beans; who had ever seen this before?

He started cooking the rice, heated the iron wok, added lard with a sizzle, and the aroma immediately burst forth. He then beat the eggs and poured them in, the golden egg mixture instantly forming a cloud. Meanwhile, the braised pork belly bubbled and simmered on another burner, the dark brown broth bubbling and the skin trembling slightly.