Chapter 93: Beating Yi Dama and the Deaf Old Lady

"Giving you face?" He Yuzhu sneered, "Slap, slap~" two sounds, gave the Deaf Old Lady two big slaps, directly

Then, He Yuzhu grabbed the Deaf Old Lady by her hair and, ignoring her shrill screams, dragged her all the way from the room out into the courtyard.

Everyone in the Siheyuan was stunned by He Yuzhu's ruthlessness.

Although the Deaf Old Lady's status as a Five-Guarantee Household had been revoked by the Street Office a few days ago, she had reigned supreme in the Siheyuan for years and held great intimidating power; no one expected her to be dragged out of her room today like a dead dog by He Yuzhu.

This massive contrast left everyone dumbfounded.

"Shazhu, how dare you treat the Old Lady like this? She is the Old Ancestor of our courtyard," Yi Dama said urgently.

"Your Old Ancestor is your grandfather!" He Yuzhu kicked Yi Dama in the head, knocking her to the ground.

"You all don't know yet, do you? Yi Zhonghai has been taken away by the district. Do you know why Yi Zhonghai was arrested?"

"After my father He Daqing left, he sent money every month for Yushui and me to use as living expenses. I never expected this black-hearted Yi Zhonghai to actually embezzle our living expenses."

"You all remember how miserable Yushui and I were during those years. This beast Yi Zhonghai not only withheld our living expenses but also sold the job position my father left for me."

"And it doesn't end there. Back then, with my skills, I could have easily become a cook upon entering the Rolling Mill. Yet, this beast Yi Zhonghai colluded with the former Canteen Director Ma Da to force me to work as an apprentice. There is a gap between an apprentice's salary and a cook's salary, and the difference in my wages was also embezzled by Yi Zhonghai."

"Tell me, everyone, isn't this beast Yi Zhonghai lower than a pig or a dog?"

"Yi Zhonghai is a beast, and I didn't expect his wife to be a beast too. What she did looked like she was begging me, but in reality, she was putting me on the spot to deliberately ruin my reputation."

"And this Deaf Old Lady—this was clearly a plan they both conspired on, all to make me notorious, keep me a bachelor for life, and make me a 'dead end' without descendants. They are 'dead ends,' so they want everyone else to be 'dead ends' too. If I don't hit her, who should I hit?"

"And 'Old Ancestor'? The New World has been established for so many years, where would an 'Old Ancestor' come from?"

"Since everyone is here, I will tell you all clearly: I am determined to see Yi Zhonghai die. This isn't just as simple as Yi Zhonghai cheating me; this is a life-or-death battle."

"Yi Zhonghai has been pushing the 'Will of the Courtyard,' using the banner of 'respecting the elderly' to try to control the Siheyuan and turn it into his own personal fiefdom where everyone must listen to him. Once someone doesn't listen, he labels them as disrespectful to the elderly, selfish, and so on, ruining their reputation, and he even uses all sorts of sinister methods to deal with them."

"As a member of the New World, I do not want to abide by Yi Zhonghai's 'Will of the Courtyard'."

"This has created an irreconcilable conflict with Yi Zhonghai. Everyone must be vigilant!"

"Therefore, everyone must keep your eyes open and never be used by people with ulterior motives," He Yuzhu said, his body suddenly straightening up, looking as righteous as a character in a model opera, speaking with stern justice.

As soon as He Yuzhu finished speaking, expressions of despair appeared on the faces of Yi Dama and the Deaf Old Lady.

Before the Deaf Old Lady could even speak, Xu Damao delivered a heavy kick, knocking the Deaf Old Lady, who had just climbed up, back to the ground, and roared sternly: "Beat this villain who opposes the elderly to death!"

Xu Damao had to undergo significant psychological preparation to kick the Deaf Old Lady. Xu Damao had always been a target of the Deaf Old Lady's bullying; she was the one who came up with the ideas—and Yi Zhonghai the one who executed them—to call Xu Damao a born bad seed, claim he slept with widows in every village while showing movies in the countryside, and smear his reputation.

In normal times, Xu Damao would have swallowed this insult. But now, it was the critical moment of Xu Damao marrying Lou Xiaoe. Xu's parents were about to discuss the marriage with the Lou family when the matter of Yi Zhonghai's little booklet became known to Lou Bancheng and his wife.

Lou Bancheng and his wife were badly frightened—not by the content of Yi Zhonghai's booklet itself, but by what lay behind it: it meant someone was secretly watching the Siheyuan.

The person in the shadows was also very clever, acting with ruthless and decisive cruelty. They had subtly transcended the realm of mere petty cleverness and were evolving toward wisdom. Lou Bancheng did not want his daughter to marry into such a Siheyuan; what if the person in the shadows set their sights on Lou Xiaoe?

Lou Bancheng began sending people to secretly investigate everyone in the Siheyuan. This investigation was no small matter, and the vicious stories about Xu Damao being a born bad seed and sleeping with widows in every village during his trips to the countryside were exposed.

Lou's mother was extremely dissatisfied with Xu Damao at the time and threatened to break off the engagement.

Even with his own considerations, Lou's father could not let his daughter marry such a person. Lou's father wanted to find someone capable of protecting Lou Xiaoe.

Lou's father understood that given Lou Xiaoe's background, she could not marry a leader, which meant he could only choose from the ranks of workers, but honest workers could not protect Lou Xiaoe.

It just so happened that Xu's father used to show movies for the Lou family, and Xu's mother was a servant for the Xu family, so Lou's father took a liking to Xu Damao, believing that since he knew Xu Damao's roots and he had a bit of petty cleverness, he would surely be able to protect Lou Xiaoe.

However, no matter how much Lou's father liked Xu Damao, he could not let his daughter marry such a person.

Thus, the Lou family directly broke off the engagement.

He Yuzhu could be considered to have indirectly changed Lou Xiaoe's fate.

How could Xu Damao not hate the Deaf Old Lady after learning of this? With hatred surging, Xu Damao no longer cared about the Deaf Old Lady's past intimidating power and kicked her directly.

When Xu Damao delivered this kick, he didn't forget to frame the Deaf Old Lady, pinning the label of "opposing the elderly" on her, immediately leading the situation into uncontrollable territory.

When everyone saw that Xu Damao had made a move—no, used his foot—everyone else followed suit. If they didn't act, given Xu Damao's character, he would spread the word about what happened here, and they would inevitably be labeled as having an "unfirm stance."

Once such a label was pinned on you, it meant your personal future was completely finished, and you might even be fired for a minor mistake.

Job positions at the Rolling Mill were so important and so many people were eyeing them; let alone if you made a mistake, even if you didn't, there were plenty of ways to prove you had one. Once fired, with no income at home, you wouldn't be far from a broken home and death.

Everyone didn't want to fall into such a situation, so they all joined in to show their stance.

At first, everyone was just going through the motions, acting very lightly. Gradually, everyone got fired up, because everyone had been bullied by the Deaf Old Lady before, and their blows became heavier and heavier.

Especially Xu Damao; not only did his blows become heavier, but he also hopped around like a macaque, constantly fanning the flames with a voice like a braying donkey.

Xu Damao was quite nervous at first; after all, the Deaf Old Lady's intimidating power was too great. However, He Yuzhu had set an example for him.

Xu Damao thought to himself: "If Shazhu can kick the Deaf Old Lady, why can't I?"

Xu Damao was scared after kicking the Deaf Old Lady and instinctively wanted to run. However, he didn't expect that as soon as he moved, everyone else would follow suit and beat the Deaf Old Lady and Yi Dama, and the harder they beat, the more force they used.

"Anyway, the law doesn't punish the masses; it's better to hit her than not. If it's really investigated later, it can be pushed onto Shazhu." After Xu Damao figured this out, his blows—or more accurately, his kicks—became even more ruthless.

However, Xu Damao discovered that he had misjudged the situation; the one hitting the hardest wasn't him, but Er Dama.

(End of this chapter)