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

Jia Dongxu jumped up as well: "Stop talking nonsense! What business is it of yours what our family's affairs are? Don't spread rumors, or I'll call the police and have you arrested!"

Li Jianguo, who was listening nearby, couldn't help but chuckle.

Call the police? That's a phrase we use quite fluently these days.

He Daqing watched them jump up and down, and laughed even louder.

"You guys are really stupid. No wonder Yi Zhonghai looks down on you."

He stepped on Yi Zhonghai and kicked him forward, saying, "Go ahead and ask him if you dare!"

Yi Zhonghai lay on the ground, his face covered in blood, looking utterly disheveled.

"Yi Zhonghai, tell him I'm right, aren't I?" He Daqing squatted down. "Back then, you wrote to me saying you'd found a woman in the countryside, wasn't that Qin Huairu? Maybe one of her three children is yours?"

Yi Zhonghai's expression grew increasingly grim.

"Don't say anymore..." His voice trembled.

An older woman suddenly rushed up and tried to hit He Daqing.

"Get out of here!"

Yi Zhonghai looked up at her and cursed, "You bitch, you have no right to tell me what to do."

Jia Zhangshi stood there, her lips trembling, "This is impossible..."

But when she said this, her confidence was clearly waning.

"Qin Huairu was introduced to you by Yi Zhonghai," He Daqing said slowly. "The two of them had been together since the countryside, you just didn't know. Yi Zhonghai was a high-ranking worker, a real catch in the countryside. If she hadn't been with him, would Qin Huairu have become a city dweller? Yi Zhonghai was already married then, but he couldn't bear to part with such a delicate woman, so he introduced her to your son and even arranged a job for her."

He looked at Jia Dongxu with a pitiful expression in his eyes.

"He's been good to your Jia family, hasn't he? That's because he still hopes you'll take care of him in his old age. But you're not good enough for him, otherwise he wouldn't have set his sights on my son."

Jia Dongxu's face was contorted.

He grabbed a kitchen knife from the side and threw it at Yi Zhonghai.

"Yi Zhonghai, you old bastard—I'll kill you today!"

The people around scattered with a whoosh.

Yi Zhonghai tried to dodge, but He Daqing stepped on him, and it took him a long time to get up.

The knife struck his shoulder.

"Aww—"

Blood spurted out and splattered all over the ground.

An older woman standing nearby saw the blood, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed to the ground.

"Murder!"

"Help!"

The courtyard was in complete chaos.

Jia Dongxu himself was also frightened. He didn't expect to actually hit someone, and his hands were shaking violently, but he stood there, not knowing what to do.

The deaf old woman stood up, leaning on her cane, and roared, "All of you, stop it right now!"

That shout actually stunned everyone.

"Let's check his wound first," the deaf old woman said.

Someone went over to take a look and saw that Yi Zhonghai was still breathing, his face was frighteningly pale, but he was still alive.

The deaf old woman breathed a sigh of relief. Then she looked up, looked around, and finally her gaze fell on Li Jianguo.

He sat on the steps, holding a bowl of wine, with a plate of peanuts in front of him.

"Li Jianguo!" The deaf old woman's voice was shrill like a knife, "How could you be so vicious!"

Li Jianguo raised his eyelids and glanced at her.

"Hey, you deaf old lady!" Xu Damao jumped out first. "Who are you cursing? What did Director Li do to you? What does their fight have to do with Director Li?"

"Hmph!" the deaf old woman sneered. "Xu Damao, who do you think you're clinging to? Li Jianguo is a real devil!"

She turned to the others, her voice rising: "You've all been fooled by Li Jianguo! This whole thing was his doing! He knew about this banquet from the very beginning! You've all been deceived!"

The courtyard fell silent.

Everyone was looking at Li Jianguo.

He Daqing, Yi Zhonghai, the Jia family, and the neighbors who were watching the commotion all stared at him.

Some of those eyes held hatred, some doubt, and some fear.

Li Jianguo put down his wine bowl and patted the peanut skins off his hands.

"Deaf old lady," he said, "you're really good at talking nonsense. Is it really necessary to keep throwing dirty water on me like this?"

He stood up and took two steps forward.

"You say I did it, where's the evidence?"

The deaf old woman opened her mouth.

"We haven't even verified your identity as a recipient of the 'Five Guarantees' yet," Li Jianguo said. "If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll send you to jail."

The deaf old woman's face turned a deep liver color.

She opened her mouth, then closed it again.

Then, leaning on her cane, she took a few steps back and hid in the crowd.

He Daqing and Yi Zhonghai looked at each other, then at the Jia family.

The air was still for a few seconds.

Then Jia Dongxu started yelling again.

"Yi Zhonghai, you beast! I've treated you like a mentor and a father all these years, and you fucking do this kind of thing!"

He lunged at Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai dodged, clutching his bleeding shoulder, but he was not to be outdone.

"You fucking don't acknowledge me as your master? I should thank you! With a coward like you, if it weren't for me, would you have had a good life in the factory?"

He avoided Jia Dongxu and turned to He Daqing.

"He Daqing, you fucking go to hell! What kind of brother are you?"

He used his uninjured hand to grab the bloodstained kitchen knife from the ground.

"You took so much money from me, and you still have the nerve to come and settle accounts with me?" He Daqing stepped forward. "Your wife isn't even worth that much money, and you still dare to try and kill me!"

The three of them started fighting again.

The courtyard was in complete chaos.

The table was overturned, the stool flew away, and the bowls and chopsticks were broken all over the floor.

In the end, all three of them were too exhausted to fight and lay on the ground panting.

After finishing the last sip of wine in his bowl, Li Jianguo stood up, dusted himself off, and went back to his room to sleep.

The next morning, bloodstains were still visible in the yard.

Li Jianguo got up and made breakfast, frying two eggs, the aroma wafting everywhere.

As he ate, he mentally checked in, as usual.

"Food, cloth coupons, snacks, fruit..."

More supplies.

He chewed on his eggs, not paying any attention. Anyway, one person couldn't possibly use that many; he could just store them in the system.

After finishing breakfast, he went to work.

As soon as I stepped out of the courtyard gate, I ran into Xu Damao.

Xu Damao was radiant and walked with a brisk pace.

"Good morning, Director Li!" He leaned closer. "Did you see what happened yesterday? What that old man and his family did was hilarious! I still laugh when I think about it. How could they be so despicable?"

Li Jianguo glanced at him.

"Alright, go to work. You can know a person's face but not their heart; who knows what kind of person they are behind your back?"

"That's true." Xu Damao chuckled and followed behind him.

Behind them, the Jia family's window was slightly ajar.

Jia Dongxu stood by the window, watching Li Jianguo's back.

Those eyes were so sinister they could drip water.

"Li Jianguo." He gritted his teeth, forcing the words out, "I don't believe you have no weaknesses. Sooner or later—I'll have someone kill you."

Not many people believed what the deaf old woman said yesterday.

But he believed.

He believes that all of this was caused by Li Jianguo. It is he who has brought him to this state.

and so--

He was determined to find someone to kill Li Jianguo.

When He Daqing came out of the police station, it was already dark.

He stood at the doorway, smoking a cigarette. His hands trembled so badly that it took him three or four matches to light it. The old man at the gate glanced at him, said nothing, and then pulled his head back inside.