Chapter 68: Yi Zhonghai Is Arrested

"My own son?" He Yuzhu sneered, his grip tightening, "If you truly treated me like a son, you should have told me where my father went! Everyone in the courtyard only knows my father left, but only you know why he left!"

Hearing the commotion, the people in the courtyard ran out of their rooms to watch; Yan Bugui, Xu Fugui, and Liu Haizhong all stared at this scene in dumbstruck silence.

"What is going on here? Has Shazhu gone mad?" Yan Bugui asked in shock.

Liu Haizhong rubbed his hands together with schadenfreude: "Now Yi Zhonghai has finally met his retribution. He usually acts so sanctimonious, who knows what wicked things he's done behind our backs!"

He Yuzhu's blows became increasingly ruthless; Yi Zhonghai was already beaten black and blue, yet he still stubbornly refused to admit it:

"I've been wronged... He Daqing left on his own... it has nothing to do with me..."

"You still dare to mention my father's name!" He Yuzhu roared, raising the rolling pin high, "If you don't tell the truth, I'll beat you to death today!"

Seeing that He Yuzhu truly had the intent to kill, Yi Zhonghai finally panicked: "Don't... don't hit me... I... I did say a few words to Long Laotai, but I didn't force him to leave..."

Hearing this, the murderous intent in He Yuzhu's eyes grew even stronger: "It really was you! And Long Laotai too!"

Having said this, He Yuzhu dropped the half-dead Yi Zhonghai and turned to rush toward Long Laotai's room, cursing as he went:

"You are all more insidious than the last, playing deaf and dumb for so many years; today I must make you speak!"

The Siheyuan was in total chaos; He Yushui followed behind, crying, while Li Mingyuan wore a look of amusement.

Hearing the commotion outside, Long Laotai had already hidden under the bed. He Yuzhu charged into the room, flipped over the bed, and dragged out the trembling old woman.

"Old hag, playing deaf? Today you must explain clearly, what exactly happened to my father!" He Yuzhu roared viciously, the rolling pin in his hand held high.

Long Laotai, who usually played deaf and dumb, now screamed in terror: "Help! Shazhu is going to beat someone to death!"

"Speak! What happened to my father? What scheme did you and Yi Zhonghai set up?" He Yuzhu was trembling with rage, and the rolling pin was about to fall.

Several neighbors hurried forward to stop He Yuzhu: "Don't be impulsive, Shazhu, it's not right to hit an old person!"

"Don't any of you stop me!" He Yuzhu struggled, tears already streaming down his face, "All these years I thought I was an orphan, but in fact, my father was driven away by them!"

The Siheyuan completely exploded; some sympathized with He Yuzhu, while others blamed him for laying hands on an elder, and the situation spiraled out of control.

Li Mingyuan stood at the edge of the crowd with a faint, elusive smile on his face and whispered to He Yushui: "Go find the people from the factory's Security Section; the situation has spiraled out of control."

He Yushui nodded, slipped quietly out of the courtyard, and sprinted toward the Rolling Mill.

With the help of others, Yi Zhonghai struggled to get out of the room, his face bruised and purple, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

Although his injuries were not serious, he feigned a dying appearance, drawing sympathy from many.

"This Shazhu is too much. Uncle Yi treats him so well, how could he lay such a heavy hand on him..." some in the courtyard whispered.

Yi Zhonghai scanned the crowd with a resentful gaze, then suddenly spotted the smiling Li Mingyuan in the corner and understood everything in an instant.

"It's you! You incited this!" Yi Zhonghai's expression suddenly changed; he broke free from those supporting him and stumbled toward Li Mingyuan, "You disaster-bringing wretch!"

Li Mingyuan remained motionless, a faint smile still hanging on his face, his eyes full of mockery.

Just as Yi Zhonghai was about to pounce on Li Mingyuan, He Yushui rushed into the courtyard with two burly men from the Security Section.

"Stop!" Li, the captain of the Security Section, shouted, grabbing Yi Zhonghai by the back of his collar and dragging him back.

"What is going on here?" Captain Li looked around and asked sternly.

Li Mingyuan stepped forward with composure: "Captain Li, the situation is this—Yi Zhonghai was disciplined for slacking off at the factory and, harboring a grudge, just tried to harm me, the Chief Engineer. Fortunately, you arrived in time."

"What?" Yi Zhonghai was dumbstruck. Just as he was about to refute, Li Mingyuan continued.

"Not only that, he has been creating conflict in the home of this worker named He Yuzhu, inciting family disputes and seriously disrupting public order." Li Mingyuan looked righteous, but his tone was as cold as ice.

Without a word, the men from the Security Section immediately subdued the still-struggling Yi Zhonghai: "Let's go, come back to the Security Section with us first to explain clearly. Disrupting public order and assaulting a colleague—this is a serious disciplinary violation!"

"I've been wronged! He incited Shazhu to hit me!" Yi Zhonghai struggled wildly, pointing at Li Mingyuan and shouting, but no one paid him any mind.

The two burly men hauled Yi Zhonghai away, leaving the others to look at each other in dismay, unable to believe that the situation had developed so quickly.

"This..." Yan Bugui was dumbstruck, "A moment ago it was Shazhu hitting people, how did it turn into Yi Zhonghai being arrested?"

He Yuzhu had calmed down by now; he wiped away his tears and walked to Li Mingyuan's side: "Uncle Li, thank you. If it weren't for you, I would still be kept in the dark."

"Go on, go back and write a letter to your father to ask clearly about what happened back then." Li Mingyuan patted He Yuzhu on the shoulder and turned to leave the noisy courtyard.

After Yi Zhonghai was taken away, the Siheyuan was in a state of total chaos.

Jia Zhangshi stood at her doorway, hands on her hips, looking like she was enjoying the show, her mouth chattering away like a machine gun.

"What do you call this? Serves him right! Usually acting so sanctimonious, but behind our backs, he's done nothing but filthy things!"

Yan Bugui stood at the corner of the wall with his arms crossed, shaking his head with a self-satisfied air:

"I've long seen that this Yi Zhonghai was no good, acting like a good person all day long; now his true colors have been revealed."

Liu Haizhong hid behind his door, daring only to show half his head, his legs shaking like a sieve.

Yi Zhonghai had already been dealt with by Li Mingyuan; his own fate as an accomplice surely wouldn't be any better.

"Master Liu, why aren't you coming out to join the fun?" Xu Fugui called out sarcastically, causing Liu Haizhong to shrink back even further, wishing he could stuff himself into a mouse hole.

Everyone in the courtyard was discussing this farce, and even Qin Huairu couldn't help but whisper to Er Dama:

"I said that Yi Zhonghai was no good; he was always hypocritical, sending rice and flour to the two He siblings, but that was just because he had a guilty conscience!"

Er Dama nodded repeatedly: "That's right, that's right. It's a pity we always treated him as a good person; at the critical moment, it's still Chief Engineer Li who has the eye for it."

Overnight, the wind changed in the entire Siheyuan, and the once "virtuous and respected" Yi Zhonghai was reduced to a street rat that everyone wanted to beat.

Li Mingyuan closed his door and let out a soft breath.

This Siheyuan farce was nothing more than a small interlude; his goal was far more important than these trivial matters.

The system interface unfolded before his eyes, the parameter list for the rocket launcher flickering with blue light.

Li Mingyuan entered the System Small World.