I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 43 Cold Light

"Is the rainwater here? I'll get the brazier."

"Oh, Dongjin's here, let me get it for you."

"The brazier is hot, be careful not to burn yourself, I can do it myself."

He Yushui was young and unaware of some of the traditions in Beijing. It was customary for criminals to step over a fire pit when they returned home to remove bad luck. It was Qin Huairu who reminded her and had Jia Dongjin bring the fire pit.

Ancient people regarded fire as the most yang substance, possessing the ability to dispel evil spirits and purify impurities, thus having a purifying effect. This also contains practical health wisdom; in an era lacking modern medical knowledge, stepping over a fire pit may have indirectly served to sterilize through high temperatures and reduce the spread of infectious diseases, which is not entirely without merit.

No one wants to be attacked from all sides. Thinking of the original drama, Jia Dongjin was very willing to shake hands and make peace with He Yuzhu.

Making peace is easy, but you need to pay attention to the methods and approaches.

The idea is to make as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible, and to reluctantly give everyone in the compound a 20 yuan welfare payment.

Afterwards, Jia Zhangshi agreed, and she happily received a huge compensation of 500 yuan, ignoring the mere 20 yuan.

These days, neighborly relations are extremely important; they can even affect a cadre's promotion.

Everyone has weaknesses, and families with children need to be especially careful.

Otherwise, you could suffer in silence at any time, leaving you with no way to express your grievances.

The He and Jia families live too close together; they should at least avoid becoming enemies, especially someone like He Yuzhu, who is easily manipulated.

Jia Dongjin also heard He Yushui's words. He held the brazier and said to He Yuzhu with a smile, "Silly Zhu, you're also living alone in such a big main house. Aunt Wang's family of five is crammed into one room. How about we buy your house for 300 yuan, or you can stay here for five years?"

The door to the He family's house was not closed. Aunt Wang was in the middle courtyard collecting two yuan in compensation when she heard this. Her eyes lit up and she immediately teased Sha Zhu, saying, "Auntie won't take advantage of you. Your house is the main house, the best and biggest house in our courtyard. I'll give you 400 yuan, and we'll go sign the transfer agreement today."

Since Aunt Wang had spoken up for the Jia family, Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongjin categorized her as an ally and gave her a subsidy of 2 yuan, while other households received 1 yuan. This severely provoked Aunt Wang's supportive behavior, which led to the aforementioned remarks.

"400 yuan?! That's my family's private savings, Aunt Wang, you're dreaming." As soon as He Yuzhu said this, he realized that he had indeed made a fool of himself, and that the Yan family was indeed trying to extort money from him.

He Yushui, the younger sister, is right. What does it have to do with Lao Yan's family lacking a house?

From another perspective, if Yan Fugui's family dared to force the He family to lend or buy a house, He Yuzhu, as the martial arts master of the courtyard, would beat Yan Fugui to a pulp, and then the Yan family would dare to bully Jia Dongjin.

"It's fine if you don't want to sell. Aunt Wang's family is in financial difficulty. She can stay for three years. That shouldn't be a problem."

Jia Dongjin continued to deliver the finishing blow to Sha Zhu.

Seeing He Yuzhu's indignant expression, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Why are you unwilling to lend it? It seems you're not blind, but someone has deliberately blinded you."

He Yuzhu: "..."

He Yuzhu suffered a great loss this time. He ignored Jia Dongjin and kept trying to reassure himself, "I'm a good person, but I'm prone to making mistakes sometimes. The old man is also a good person. It's all a misunderstanding."

In the backyard, Xu Fugui looked at He Yuzhu with disdain. He glanced at He Yuzhu, then pulled his son back to the Xu family home. "Da Mao, I don't need to give He Daqing any face anymore. From now on, you should stay away from Sha Zhu. He's a complete idiot, the kind of person who gets sold out and still counts the money for others."

"Dad, what about Jia Dongjin?"

"Jia Dongjin is no pushover either. We should avoid dealing with him in the future. Don't be fooled by the Jia family's pitiful crying; I find it all very fake. I'm sure some people in the courtyard have seen through it. But this has nothing to do with our family."

"Dad, Liu Hai got all the benefits. He just picked up the easy way out. Why don't you become the manager too?"

"What a load of crap! All he does is scheme over trivial matters. I don't care. A man should aim for great things. If Jia Dongjin was faking it, then he did a great job. Look at Yan Fugui, all those years of painstaking scheming, and now he's lost big time, all gone to the Jia family, maybe even a huge chunk of his wealth. It's all for nothing, serves him right!"

The conversation at the He family's door completely unveiled the truth behind the dispute over the house, exposing the ugly side of the Yan family.

Everyone likes free money. Second Auntie was now the only auntie in the courtyard, and she felt a sense of pride. She glanced at Liu Daneng in the crowd and shouted, "Thank you, sister-in-law. You're so generous, willing to compensate the people in the courtyard for their losses. Unlike some people, who shamelessly line up to receive money, aren't they afraid of choking on their own?"

Liu Haizhong, a man of integrity, coughed lightly with his large belly to stop his wife from making unnecessary noise and offending people. However, he also gave Liu Daneng a deep look, revealing his disdain.

Liu Daneng lived in the front yard, and his son Erdan was Yan Fugui's student and belonged to Yan Fugui's inner circle. Liu Haizhong didn't mind embarrassing Liu Daneng in public.

In front of everyone, Liu Daneng from the front yard was so ashamed he wanted to disappear. He turned around and went back to his own home, too embarrassed to accept the 1 yuan compensation.

The Xu father and son mingled happily in the crowd. After receiving the money, Xu Fugui handed it directly to his son, Xu Damao, and told him to buy pig's head meat so they could have some drinks that evening.

"Da Mao, here's a dollar from the auntie. Could you please buy me a serving of braised pig's head? My son Dong Jin was injured and needs something good to eat."

Jia Zhangshi sneered and spent the one yuan she had prepared to give to Liu Daneng. One yuan was not a small amount of money; it could buy a pound of pig's head meat, which was just enough to nourish Hao Er'er. Qin Huairu was in confinement after childbirth and also needed to supplement her nutrition. Why should she give it to that despicable Liu Daneng?

In the east wing of the central courtyard, Yi Zhonghai sat blankly on a stool, his eyes vacant, seemingly oblivious to the harsh laughter outside the door. His mind was churning, "Who am I? Where am I? How did this happen to me?"

Gao Cuilan brought over hot water and said with a pained expression, "Zhonghai, take a shower first, then get a good night's sleep. It's all over now, and there's plenty of time ahead."

After washing up, Yi Zhonghai went to bed without eating.

He's been in a daze these past few days. He always handled things this way in the past, always keeping everything under control.

Why did it have to come to this? Why did it have to come to this? Why did it have to come to this?

Yi Zhonghai pondered the events in his mind, replaying the proceedings of the conference repeatedly like a revolving lantern.

Just as his wife Gao Cuilan had feared, a major incident indeed occurred.

In the latter half of the meeting, Jia Dongjin refused to budge, Yan Fugui became agitated, then Yan Jiefang hit Jia Dongjin, and after entanglement with Yan Jiecheng, Jia Dongjin ran to the backyard. He Yuzhu did not stop him, and Jia Dongjin climbed over the wall out of the courtyard and went directly to report to the police.

"It's the Yan family! The Yan family had malicious intentions, deliberately using harsh conditions to trigger this series of events. The Yan family overlooked the escape route in the backyard, convinced that Jia Dongjin would escape through the front gate, so they specifically arranged for the Third Aunt to lock the gate. The Yan family is so vicious; they planned to escalate the situation from the beginning. For the sake of the house, the Yan family isn't afraid of this old man at all, nor are they afraid of damaging Jia Dongjin!"

Yi Zhonghai suddenly sat up on the kang (a heated brick bed), his eyes wide open, his face trembling, and his teeth grinding together.

He harbored deep hatred for the Yan family, whose years of painstaking efforts had been utterly destroyed by their malicious schemes.

Because of his high salary, Yi Zhonghai didn't care about the 200 yuan compensation or the demotion, since he could be promoted back next year anyway.

He values ​​the position of the eldest son of the family in the courtyard house more, as it not only gives him control over the courtyard house but also provides him with the thrill of manipulating people's hearts.

This feeling of absolute power captivated Yi Zhonghai, but unfortunately, as a worker, he never had the opportunity to take over the mantle of power.

The higher his skill level as a fitter, the less likely he was to become a cadre. The steel rolling mill would never allow a senior technician to become a workshop director; that would be too wasteful of his skills. Otherwise, Guo Da Piezi would have no place in the industry.

Yi Zhonghai continued to ponder, and soon discovered another suspicious point.

After being struck on the head by Yan Jiefang, Jia Dongjin was determined to leave without hesitation, and his actions were swift and decisive.

He unleashed his full power and ran straight towards the backyard path, catching Yan Jiecheng and Sha Zhu off guard, which is why they couldn't stop him.

"Jia Dongjin did it on purpose. He had bad intentions. When he ran away, he deliberately shouted and yelled, saying something about telling Jia Zhangshi to guard the door with a knife, and later he even shouted for help. Jia Dongjin really wanted to make a big scene. Yes, only by making a big scene could he get the police involved. What a vicious bastard!"

Yi Zhonghai gasped again, and only then did he truly realize what was happening.

His recklessness gave the Yan and Jia families an opportunity to escalate the situation, and they did so without hesitation.

The so-called powerful old man was just a figurehead in the eyes of both families. They would pretend to be respectful when needed, but as long as the benefits were sufficient, they would not hesitate to discard this old man.

"Money can corrupt people's hearts. For a mere two rooms in the back building, that greedy dog ​​Yan family has been thoroughly outmaneuvered by Jia Dongjin. The Yan family will never let this go easily. I'm sure I still have a chance to turn things around. When that time comes..."

Yi Zhonghai's eyes flashed with a chilling light.