The entire courtyard is full of villains

Where some are happy, others are sad.

Zhang Erhe's house was filled with warmth and coziness, but the scene in the backyard, in Old Mrs. Long's room, was quite different.

Tan Saihua, with red and swollen eyes, was complaining to Grandma Long.

Yesterday, as soon as Yi Laonian arrived, he chased her to the backyard. Today, Yi Zhonghai finally managed to buy some meat through connections. As usual, she cooked it and served a bowl to Old Lady Long first, but Yi Laonian snatched it away and slapped her in the process!

In the east wing, Old Master Yi, with a stern face, was lecturing Yi Zhonghai.

"Ergouzi, your wife is a real piece of work! As soon as you go to work, she's at home giving me attitude and acting all grumpy. And then, the meat you painstakingly bought tonight—she actually served a bowl to a stranger first! What kind of life is this in the village these days? She's still siding with outsiders! So much meat, and she gave it all to some complete stranger, an old woman—what's she thinking?!"

Yi Zhonghai looked troubled: "Second Uncle, that old lady... she has been kind to me."

"What favor?!" Old Man Yi's eyes widened.

Yi Zhonghai opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything—he couldn't very well say that he agreed to take care of Old Lady Long in her old age because he wanted her future inheritance and support in the nursing home.

"What's the point of keeping a woman like that around? Listen to me, give her a divorce and kick her out right now!"

"Second Uncle, things are different now. Writing a letter of divorce won't work; we need to get a formal divorce..."

"So what if she gets a divorce? She can't have a son, which is one of the 'seven grounds for divorce.' Writing a letter of divorce is already letting her off easy! Even if we take it to the leader in charge of marriage, we'll still have a point—we can't let our Yi family line die out because of her, can we? If you can't bring yourself to do it, I'll talk to her later! Let this barren hen get out of our Yi family as soon as possible!"

"Alright, alright, Second Uncle, please stop making things worse. I have my own plans for this matter."

After finishing his sentence, Yi Zhonghai walked out of the house with his head down.

"Er Gouzi! You'd better pay attention to this!" Old Yi called out from behind.

"I understand..." Yi Zhonghai said without turning his head.

Once he was out of sight, Old Man Yi quickly waved to his wife, calling out, "Old woman, come here! This scoundrel may have offended us, but the meat didn't—come and eat some meat!"

The elderly couple gathered around the table, grabbed the steamed buns made from the two-grain dough and the plate of stir-fried shredded pork, and began to devour them. In no time, the basket of buns, the plate of meat, and even the chili peppers were all gone.

His wife licked her lips: "Honey, life in the city is so much better... I wish we could stay in the city forever."

Old Man Yi, savoring the aroma of the meat in his mouth, squinted and said, "Don't worry. With my good brother's help, I'm sure Er Gouzi's fortune is going to be ours! He killed our kid back then, so it's only right that he takes care of us in our old age!"

"Yes!" His wife nodded emphatically.

“Starting tomorrow, you’ll continue to harass that Er Gouzi’s wife. Harass her relentlessly until she leaves. Once she’s gone, you’ll take over the cooking, and we’ll slowly take everything from this family… little by little, and bring it all into our hands.”

"Understood, sir."

In the backyard, in Old Lady Long's house.

Tan Saihua wiped away her tears, her voice choked with sobs: "Grandma, why is my life so miserable..."

Grandma Long rarely showed a hint of softness, and sighed, "Saihua, remember this, it's all fate... it's our fate as women."

"Ta-da!"

There was a knock on the door. Tan Saihua quickly wiped her face, and Old Lady Long asked, "Who is it?"

"It's me, the old lady." It was Yi Zhonghai's voice.

Grandma Long looked at Tan Saihua with a troubled expression, but Tan Saihua turned her face away in a huff.

"...Come in."

Yi Zhonghai pushed open the door and came in: "Old lady..."

“Zhonghai,” Old Mrs. Long spoke first, “why have you never mentioned that there was such a pair of lively characters back in your hometown?”

“Sigh, old lady,” Yi Zhonghai said with a distressed expression, “After I ran away from home that year, I never dared to go back. Later, I managed to gain a foothold in Fengtian and made a special trip back, but before I even reached the village entrance, I heard that… the Japanese had massacred the village there. I was so scared that I didn’t dare to go in, thinking that my hometown was completely deserted. After that, I came to Beijing with Saihua and never contacted her again… I really don’t know anything!”

"So what do you plan to do now? Provide for their old age?"

"No, no!" Yi Zhonghai hurriedly explained, "Grandma, I promised to take care of you in your old age back then—Saihua and I will never change our promise to you."

Grandma Long was somewhat satisfied with the answer, but then frowned: "But you can't just ignore them. If you really do, your reputation will be ruined..."

Yi Zhonghai was also perplexed: "Grandma, how exactly did they find their way to Beijing?"

"How else can we find it?" Old Mrs. Long squinted. "It must have been brought by Zhang Erhe."

"Zhang Erhe? He doesn't even know where my hometown is..."

"Hmph, what do you think? If he wants to investigate someone, his old connections in the black market make it easy for him to get some information. Besides, his father might have known where you came from back then. He'll keep a record in mind, and if he asks around there—he'll hit the bullseye, won't he?"

Yi Zhonghai now understood: when he was being investigated recently, that bastard Zhang Erhe probably took the opportunity to find out his background, and it was probably then that he brought his second uncle and aunt over.

He was absolutely right. Since he reported Zhang Erhe last time, Zhang Erhe had been itching for revenge, but Yi Zhonghai had been hiding well and hadn't found an opportunity. So, he decided to go all in and sent people to Yi Zhonghai's hometown to dig up old grievances—unexpectedly, Yi Zhonghai's second uncle and aunt were still alive.

You always spout off about how "there are no bad elders, only bad children"? Fine, I'll personally bring your second uncle and aunt here and see what you do then. If they treat you any differently, I'll completely ruin your reputation, Yi Zhonghai!

Yi Zhonghai grew increasingly frightened, his voice trembling, "Grandma, what... what should we do?"

Grandma Long was also at a loss:

"Zhonghai, I've already said it—this is an open conspiracy. An open conspiracy... there's no solution!"

P.S. Today is the Winter Solstice, which is as important as the Lunar New Year. I wish all my friends in the North can enjoy dumplings, and all my friends in the South can enjoy glutinous rice balls!

Chapter 156 Zhang Erhe, You'll Die a Foul Death

Early in the morning, Yi Zhonghai was asleep on a makeshift bed on the floor in the main room when he was startled awake by a loud shout from Yi Laonian. He quickly put on his clothes and got up.

"Second Uncle, what's wrong?"

"Er Gouzi, it's already broad daylight, why haven't you made breakfast yet? Are you trying to starve your second uncle and aunt to death?" Old Man Yi stood at the door, shouting loudly.

"No, no, Second Uncle, I didn't sleep well last night and got up late. Please wait a moment, I'll do it right away."

Yi Zhonghai jumped out of bed, washed his hands, brushed his teeth, and hurriedly started a fire to cook. Unfortunately, he had been used to being waited on by Tan Saihua over the years, and he was practically useless at cooking. After working for half a day, he couldn't even knead the dough for cornbread properly. Helpless, he gritted his teeth, went out, and bought three fried dough sticks.

As they ate their fried dough sticks, Old Yi smacked his lips and said, "Er Gouzi, you're really something! Life in Beijing is really not bad!"

Yi Zhonghai's heart pounded: "Second Uncle, I don't eat this every day... It's just that Saihua was keeping Old Madam Long company in the backyard yesterday, so I..."

"Bang!" Old Man Yi slammed his chopsticks on the table. "She serves Old Lady Long? This is outrageous! She's a woman who married into the Yi family, and she can't even serve her in-laws—didn't your second aunt take care of you when you were little? The kindness of raising you is greater than the kindness of giving birth! You don't let her serve your second aunt, but instead let her serve some unrelated old woman?"

"Second Uncle, that's not what I meant... It's just that there wasn't enough room at home, so I had her go to the backyard..."

"Don't you have two rooms? Why don't you clean up the next room and move in with your wife?"

Yi Zhonghai was dumbfounded—shouldn't the place have been prepared for the elderly couple to live in? How did it turn into him moving out?

But now that things had come to this, how could he dare to refute? Last night, Old Lady Long had said that he absolutely couldn't afford to be branded as "disrespectful to elders," otherwise who would listen to him in the courtyard? Zhang Erhe had brought Yi Laonian here, clearly intending to ruin his reputation. Yi Zhonghai had to uphold the "filial son" label no matter what.

"...Alright, Second Uncle, I'll leave work early today and bring a few apprentices over to tidy up. Once it's done, I'll move in tonight."

"That's fine then." Old Man Yi nodded, then asked, "What about lunch?"

"At noon... I'll have Saihua come over and make you some cornbread and stir-fried dishes."

"Alright, Second Uncle isn't picky, cornbread it is."

Before going to work, Yi Zhonghai rushed to the backyard and pleaded with Tan Saihua, who reluctantly agreed to come and make cornbread for lunch. However, at noon, Yi Laonian's wife launched into a tirade of harsh words, causing Tan Saihua to run away in tears. Yi Laonian gave his wife a thumbs-up, and the old lady turned and took the basin, starting to make cornbread herself.

That evening, Yi Zhonghai brought two young apprentices from the workshop back to help tidy up the house. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they saw Old Man Yi standing there listlessly.

"Er Gouzi!"

"Hey, Uncle..." Yi Zhonghai leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Uncle, there are so many people here, please don't call me by my nickname, okay? Just call me 'Zhonghai'."

"Okay, I got it." Old Yi nodded listlessly, then turned around and raised his voice, "Er Gouzi! Your wife is really something else! Today, when I was making cornbread, your second aunt thought she was wasting it, and after saying a few words, she turned her face and left! Your second aunt had to force herself to cook for me despite feeling uncomfortable! What kind of wife did you marry? You should just divorce her!"

Yi Zhonghai slapped his forehead upon hearing this—were his second uncle and aunt incompatible with Tan Saihua? They had already fought several times in just two days.

Just as he was worrying, Zhang Erhe pushed his bicycle into the yard. Yi Laonian's eyes lit up, and he quickly went over to him:

"Good brother! This...this is a rickshaw, isn't it?"

"Yeah, brother, you've never ridden one of these before?"

"When have I ever ridden one? I've never even touched one before!" Old Man Yi looked on with envy.

“Hey, these things aren’t worth much anymore,” Zhang Erhe said, glancing at Yi Zhonghai. “Yi Zhonghai—pfft, Er Gouzi is a senior craftsman now, he must have some money. You can ask Er Gouzi to buy you one as a gift, and then you can ride it around the alleys, and if people ask, you can say, ‘My nephew is so filial!’”

He walked over and patted Yi Zhonghai on the shoulder: "Er Gouzi, don't you think so?"

Yi Zhonghai's veins were bulging. Zhang Erhe took a step back.

"What's wrong, Er Gouzi? You look like you're about to hit your uncle? Come on, stick your head out and I'll give you a good whack!"

Yi Zhonghai really wanted to punch her, but remembering what Old Lady Long had said, he could only suppress his anger:

"Second Uncle Erhe, how could I possibly hit you..."

Zhang Erhe cursed inwardly: This bastard is really good at being flexible!

"Alright, alright, since you're such a filial son, then remember this—buy your uncle a bicycle later!"

Yi Zhonghai's face stiffened: "Uncle Erhe, I'm not like you... I've been in the workshop for so many years and I've never been allocated a ticket, so I'm afraid I can't buy this bicycle."

"I thought it was something serious!" Zhang Erhe patted him on the shoulder, making him stumble. "What a coincidence! Your Uncle Erhe helped the factory get some things a while ago, and Deputy Factory Director Li rewarded me with a bicycle voucher! Since you want it, I won't take more—80 yuan, take the voucher, and just bring my old brother a bicycle later!"

Yi Zhonghai was speechless.

Zhang Erhe gave Yi Laonian a wink. Yi Laonian immediately turned hostile:

"Yi Zhonghai! Oh, Er Gouzi! I raised you with great difficulty until you were a teenager, and now you won't even give me a bicycle as a token of my respect? My good brother has already said he'd get you tickets, and you're still making excuses! Are you not planning to show me any respect?!"

Seeing the growing crowd in the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to swallow his anger and resentment.

"...Second Uncle, I...I was so excited I lost my mind! Buy! Buy! Uncle Erhe, please wait a moment, I'll go get the money right away!"

"Good!" Zhang Erhe shouted into the house, "Guan Xue! Guan Xue!"

Zhang Jiao poked her head out from the doorway: "What's wrong, Dad?"

"My dear, go tell your mother to bring over our bicycle ticket and give it to your Brother Yi."

"Dad, who is Brother Yi?"

“It’s you, Brother Yi!” Zhang Erhe pointed at Yi Zhonghai.

Zhang Jiao glanced at Yi Zhonghai, whose face was full of wrinkles, and frowned slightly:

"Dad, this Brother Yi is so old, why do I have to call him 'brother'?"

Someone in the courtyard burst out laughing, followed by a low murmur of chuckles that rippled across the room. Yi Zhonghai stood there, his face alternating between red and white, wishing he could disappear into the ground.

Zhang Erhe glared at his daughter, but couldn't hide the smile on his lips: "Why are you asking so many questions, you little kid?"