The entire courtyard is full of villains

In the hospital, Yan Bugui slowly opened his eyes, and above him was a white ceiling.

Where is this?

He tried to sit up, but found that he had no strength in his body and could only carefully turn his neck.

Is anyone there...? Is anyone there?

Yang Ruihua hadn't slept a wink last night and had cried again at the hospital. She was currently dozing off by the bedside. Yan Bugui called her name twice before she vaguely heard him and quickly rubbed her eyes.

"Old Yan?"

“Ruihua…is that you?” Yan Bugui turned his head with difficulty.

"It's me, Lao Yan! You're awake!"

"Where...am I?"

"At the hospital. You vomited blood and fainted at school yesterday, so the school brought you here."

Yan Bugui blinked, his memory slowly returning—the principal's office…suspension…he coughed up a mouthful of blood…

"The school brought me here? Then... the school paid for my medical expenses too?"

Yang Ruihua was stunned—her husband was truly greedy to the extreme, still thinking about medical expenses at a time like this.

She replied curtly, "Yes, the school paid for it."

"That's good..." Yan Bugui breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "Did I hurt my arm? Or did I hurt myself somewhere? Why can't I move my body?"

"Old Yan..." Yang Ruihua didn't know how to start the conversation.

"Tell me quickly!" Yan Bugui's heart skipped a beat.

"Old Yan, you...you're paralyzed on one side."

"What?!" Yan Bugui's eyes widened in shock. He tried to struggle, but his body felt like it wasn't his own, completely still.

"What nonsense are you talking about! How could I be paralyzed on one side?!"

“The doctor said you have qi and blood attacking your heart… He warned you yesterday not to get emotional, but you were at school again…” Yang Ruihua couldn’t continue.

After a long while, Yan Bugui remained motionless. Yang Ruihua anxiously placed her hand in front of his nose—

"I'm not dead yet!" Yan Bugui replied irritably.

"Oh...that's good."

"Ruihua, the school leaders...didn't they say anything else? They sent me to the hospital, but didn't say what arrangements would be made?"

“They told me,” Yang Ruihua said in a low voice. “The principal said he could let me fill in at the school… but not as a teacher, but as a cleaner, for twenty-two yuan a month. The school will only cover the medical expenses for this time, and after that… they won’t cover it anymore.”

"That won't do!" Yan Bugui said urgently. "As a teacher, I earn 42.5 yuan a month, and with subsidies, I can make over 45! How can you earn that much as a cleaner? Besides, if I retire normally, the school will have to cover most of my hospital bills, and I'll only pay a little myself. If you take my place... what will I do then?"

Yang Ruihua slumped back into his chair: "Old Yan, what if the school really doesn't care anymore... what should we do?"

"I don't care anymore, I'll just..."

Yan Bugui suddenly remembered that he was still carrying a case against him. If the school used this as a pretext to expel him, it would be perfectly reasonable.

He opened his mouth, but the rest of the sentence got stuck in his throat, and he couldn't say it anymore.

The next morning, Principal Cheng visited him at the hospital. Yan Bugui was still unwilling to give up and wanted to try again. Seeing that he was still dragging his feet, Principal Cheng said calmly:

"Teacher Yan, since you disagree with the previous plan, then we will follow the regulations—you will be temporarily suspended from your duties. We'll discuss your reinstatement once the police investigation is complete and you have recovered."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

Yan Bugui was anxious—the principal's departure was simple, but the family's savings had been completely emptied, Yan Jiecheng had gone mad, and the remaining three children were still in school. With no income at all, they would starve to death sooner or later.

When you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head.

"Principal... Principal!" he shouted in a hoarse voice, "I... I agree... I agree to let my wife take over the position."

Principal Cheng heard this as he reached the door, and he breathed a sigh of relief. After all, the school couldn't just watch the Yan family starve to death. Now that Yan Bugui had compromised, things would be much easier.

"That's settled then, Teacher Yan. The school has already paid your medical expenses. Once you're discharged and settled in, have your spouse come to the school to see me, and I'll process her transfer paperwork."

"Thank you for your help, Principal," Yan Bugui said dejectedly.

"It's alright, you should get some rest."

After the principal left, Yan Bugui lay on the bed without saying a word for a long time. Yang Ruihua asked cautiously, "Old Yan, what's wrong?"

“Ruihua,” he said slowly, “once you start working, you’ll have to hand over your monthly salary to me, and I’ll manage it.”

"...Okay, I understand."

"Also, send Jie Cheng away. We can't afford to support an idle person at home these days, so let him do odd jobs."

"Jiecheng?" Yang Ruihua suddenly remembered that she had rushed out of the house yesterday, leaving the mentally impaired Yan Jiecheng alone. She jumped up—

"Why are you so easily startled? What's wrong?" Yan Bugui said with displeasure.

"When I left yesterday, Jie Cheng was still at home... What if he ran away?!"

Yan Bugui was also anxious—his boss still owed him three gold bars! He could be cured of his mental instability, but if he ran away, the gold bars would be completely lost!

"Then why don't you hurry back and go find it?!"

Yang Ruihua rushed home in a panic, panting as she burst into the yard. Seeing the door open, her heart tightened, and she quickly lifted the curtain and went inside.

“Mom…” came Yan Jiefang’s voice from the inner room.

Yang Ruihua was taken aback, and then saw Yan Jiefang come out of the inner room with a resentful look on his face:

"Where did you and Dad go yesterday? You left my older brother alone at home! Luckily, Jie Kuang and Jie Di noticed something was wrong when they came home from school and came to the school to look for me, otherwise my brother would have starved to death yesterday!"

Where is your older brother?

"She's lying inside. She was starving when she came back yesterday, so I fed her some cornmeal porridge last night, and she's still asleep."

"That's good..." Yang Ruihua breathed a sigh of relief. "Jiefang, your mom and dad didn't mean it..."

"What about Jie Kuang and Jie Di?"

“I sent them to school. I… I took leave from school,” Yan Jiefang replied.

“Okay, Jiefang, take your brother with you today and ask the school for two more days—I still need to take care of your dad in the hospital for a few more days.”

"Mom, what's wrong with Dad?"

Yang Ruihua's nose tingled, and she whispered:

"Your dad... is paralyzed on one side."

"What?!" Yan Jiefang was stunned. "My dad... he's paralyzed?"

"Hmm." Yang Ruihua wiped his eyes. "He heard at school yesterday that he had been suspended from his job. He couldn't catch his breath, and his blood rushed to his heart... and he collapsed."

"Then... what do we do now?" Yan Jiefang's voice lowered, his eyes filled with panic. "Dad's paralyzed, my older brother's mentally challenged... is our family... finished?"

Yang Ruihua wiped away her tears: "Jiefang, the school agreed to let me work in the cleaning team as a substitute, and I'll get twenty-two yuan a month. But with the current situation at home... we can no longer afford to send you to middle school. Why don't you talk to the principal and see if you can drop out now? Maybe you can get some of your tuition back?"

"Mom, but I'm only one year away from graduating from junior high!" Yan Jiefang said reluctantly. "If I get my junior high graduation certificate, won't it be easier to find a job? Now that I've dropped out of school, I don't have a diploma, so I can only do manual labor... It would be better to get the graduation certificate and register at the neighborhood office. Maybe I can get a job there."

"What are you thinking?" Yang Ruihua rolled her eyes. "Your brother has been registered for marriage for years, and there's still no sign of him!"

"Well... that's still better than carrying heavy loads," Yan Jiefang replied weakly.

"Alright, I'll go back to the hospital and discuss it with your dad. You should take a couple of days off and take good care of things at home."

"Oh..." Yan Jiefang reluctantly responded, then asked, "Mom, is there really no chance for Dad to recover?"

Yang Ruihua sighed deeply: "I reckon... the chances are too slim."

The room immediately fell silent.

Outside the window, Jia Zhangshi crouched stealthily against the wall, her eyes shining as she listened. Once the noise inside subsided, she quietly got up and tiptoed back to the central courtyard.

This is huge news! Old Yan has been paralyzed! No wonder his door was wide open yesterday... so this is what happened!

She was itching to tell everyone in the courtyard—she had to hurry and spread the news!

Chapter 155 An Unsolvable Open Scheme

The news that "Old Yan is crippled by his stinginess" spread like wildfire throughout the courtyard in just one afternoon. Even Guan Baishi overheard it while washing clothes in the middle courtyard and rushed back to tell Guan Xue.

As soon as Zhang Erhe got home from get off work that evening, Guan Xue pulled him into the inner room and told him what had happened.

"Really?"

“It’s absolutely true! My mother told me when she came back that your cousin moved a stool and sat in the courtyard, practically setting up a stage to tell stories.”

"Good heavens, Yan Bugui is already paralyzed? He's too fragile."

“And another thing,” Guan Xue said in a low voice, “I’ve noticed that Yan Jiecheng across the hall… seems to have gone mad too.”

"Has Yan Jiecheng gone mad?"

"Yes, in the afternoon he sat on a small stool, staring straight at people, men and women alike, and didn't react when people scolded him. Later, Yan Jiefang came out to explain that his brother had been 'out of his mind' these past two days."

"That's great, one's paralyzed and the other's mentally challenged." Zhang Erhe chuckled. "Alright, since their family is already like this, there's no point in making things worse. Let's stop here."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Guan Xue nestled into his arms.

Just then, Zhang Jiao ran in from outside—she had been sent by her grandmother to call her parents for dinner, but she saw her mother snuggling in her father's arms. The little girl's eyes lit up, and she made a face: "Mommy, you're so shameful! You're such a grown-up, yet you still snuggle in Daddy's arms!"

Guan Xue blushed and deliberately put her arm around Jing Erhe's shoulder: "This is my husband! I can crawl in whenever I want!"

Zhang Jiao rushed over and grabbed Zhang Erhe's other hand: "This is my dad!"

This is my man!

"This is my dad!"

Zhang Jiao, though small, was quite clever. Her eyes darted around, and she said, "Daddy, squat down!"

Zhang Erhe chuckled and squatted down. Zhang Jiao smacked him on the cheek, then triumphantly gestured with her chin towards Guan Xue.

"I dare to kiss your husband, but would you dare to call him 'Dad'?"

Guan Xue was speechless for a moment, while Zhang Jiao smiled like a little fox with narrowed eyes.

"Where did you learn that, you little brat!" Guan Xue pretended to pinch her ear, and Zhang Jiao quickly dodged around Zhang Erhe. "Dad, you have to control your wife! She's hitting your daughter!"

The family was laughing and joking around. Guan Baishi, who was outside, heard the commotion inside and couldn't help but smile as well.