Chapter 349: The Thief's Name

Jia Zhangshi dragged her body, which felt as if it were falling apart, back to the Siheyuan. No sooner had she stepped through the main gate than she was spotted by Yang Ruihua, who was tidying up Chinese cabbage in the courtyard.

"Zhang Xiaohua, didn't you go to work at the Jiedao Factory? What time is it now? Why have you snuck back?" Yang Ruihua straightened her back and asked casually.

Jia Zhangshi was nursing a belly full of pent-up rage with nowhere to vent. Upon hearing this, she lashed out immediately: "None of your damn business! Don't be a busybody!"

Yang Ruihua was stunned by the scolding, then she too grew angry: "Hey! You, are you a mad dog? Biting everyone you see! You ungrateful wretch!"

Jia Zhangshi couldn't be bothered to deal with her anymore; with a dark face, she charged straight toward the Zhongyuan.

Seeing the He Family's door tightly shut, she recalled what He Yuzhu had done to her at the factory. Rage instantly surged to her head, and she raised her fists to pound the door desperately with a "thud, thud, thud," shaking the door frame until it rattled.

Inside the room, Shen Guizhi was talking with Chen Daya and Ma Yan.

They had come over to retrieve the tableware used to deliver meals yesterday.

Hearing the desperate pounding on the door, Shen Guizhi felt a start and hurriedly got up to open it.

The moment the door was pulled open a crack, Jia Zhangshi charged in like a mad bull. Without a word, she reached out and grabbed Shen Guizhi's hair tightly, cursing with foul language.

Shen Guizhi's life had improved over these years, and her body had become much sturdier. Feeling the sharp pain in her scalp, she was both shocked and furious; she grabbed Jia Zhangshi by the throat and shoved her hard against the door frame.

"You're crazy! Let go!" Shen Guizhi shouted loudly.

Ma Yan, standing to the side, had long held a deep grudge against Jia Zhangshi. Seeing Shen Guizhi being bullied, she immediately grew anxious, stepped forward, and kicked Jia Zhangshi hard in the stomach!

Almost simultaneously, Chen Daya was quick-eyed and nimble-handed, chopping her palm down on the joint of the arm Jia Zhangshi was using to grab people.

"Ouch—!" Jia Zhangshi let out a miserable shriek. After taking a kick to the stomach and having her arm go numb, her hand, which had been clutching the hair, loosened involuntarily. "They're killing me! Murder!"

Ma Yan's anger had not yet subsided, and she followed up with another kick to her stomach.

Jia Zhangshi could no longer stand and fell to the ground with a "thump."

She immediately curled up, clutching her stomach and wailing loudly.

Ma Yan wanted to step forward again, but was held back by Shen Guizhi.

Jia Zhangshi looked up and saw Chen Daya and Ma Yan both staring at her with cold faces. Suddenly losing the confidence to continue the fight, she turned to patting the ground and began to howl in a drawn-out tone: "The He Family are all bandits... Lao Jia, come up here and take them all away... There's no justice left, they're bullying people to death!"

The commotion here had long since alerted the entire courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai's wife, Yang Ruihua, Liu Haizhong's wife, as well as the mothers of Xiaomi, Dahua, and Xiaoqi... all ran out from their own rooms and gathered in the Zhongyuan to see what was going on.

As soon as Jia Zhangshi saw the crowd, she rolled and crawled to the middle of the courtyard, sat down on her bottom, and began to throw a tantrum. With snot and tears, she wailed: "Neighbors, come and see! Judge this for me! The He Family's boy ran to the Jiedao Factory to frame me and caused me to lose my job! I came back to reason with his mother, but this stinking bitch attacked me as soon as she saw me! She even found helpers to beat me together! Lao Jia! Come up here and see! They're bullying people..."

She cried with dramatic cadence, as if she had suffered a great injustice.

Chen Daya said to the crowd: "Aunts and ladies, she is talking nonsense! It was this Jia Zhangshi who suddenly barged into the He Family's home and, without a word, pounced on us to pull hair and hit people..."

Ma Yan also testified: "My Siqiang and I came over to get the tableware, and this old woman acted like she was crazy. She rushed in and pulled my Auntie He's hair. We couldn't just stand by and watch, could we?"

"Everyone look, this is what Jia Zhangshi scratched on me." As Shen Guizhi spoke, she turned down the collar of her shirt to reveal her neck.

On her skin, several bright red fingernail scratches were clearly visible, and in some places, the skin had already been broken.

The women watching looked at the wounds on Shen Guizhi's neck, then at Jia Zhangshi, who was sitting on the ground throwing a tantrum but was neatly dressed with only slightly messy hair. The scales in their hearts immediately tipped toward Shen Guizhi, and whispers of gossip began to rise.

Just then, He Yuzhu hurried into the courtyard from outside. Seeing at a glance that his mother Shen Guizhi's hair was disheveled, her collar torn open, and her neck marked with glaring bloody streaks, his brain went "buzz," and his rage surged to his head.

He looked at Jia Zhangshi with eyes like knives and said loudly: "Does everyone not know yet? Why did this old woman act like a madman and come to my house to commit violence today? At the Street Factory, she stole the Workshop Director's pocket watch and also stole the ancestral Hetian jade bracelet from Sister Liu Mei's family! She was caught on the spot, red-handed, and the factory has already fired her!"

"You're full of it! That was you deliberately framing me, putting the things on me!" Jia Zhangshi screamed in a hoarse voice, trying to confuse the issue.

He Yuzhu sneered: "Jia Zhangshi, the Lianfang Team has already determined your case, and you're still running back here to spout nonsense? Do you want me to go and invite Director Wang over right now to announce the results to everyone again?"

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Xia happened to walk in from outside the courtyard.

Seeing the chaotic scene before her and hearing Jia Zhangshi still twisting the truth, she too became angry. She finally understood why He Yuzhu had repeatedly been at odds with this old woman; she was a person who bullied the weak and feared the strong, and was completely unreasonable.

"I can testify," Wang Xia walked forward, her voice clear and forceful, "Jia Zhangshi was indeed fired by the factory because of theft, with conclusive evidence. It just so happens that we will hold a full courtyard meeting tonight to discuss Jia Zhangshi's issues!"

Once Wang Xia said this, it effectively settled the matter once and for all.

The courtyard suddenly "buzzed" with even louder discussion.

Xiaomi's mother crossed her arms and said sharply: "Director Wang, you are right. The atmosphere in our courtyard really needs to be straightened out! A few days ago, a piece of cured meat we hung up suddenly disappeared! Now that I think about it, it might have been swiped by someone with sticky fingers!"

Beside her, Dahua's mother immediately chimed in, her voice even louder: "Isn't that the truth! My family pickled fifty salted duck eggs in a jar, but when I took them out to count, there were only thirty-two left! I thought I had miscounted, but now that I think about it, it must have ended up in a thief's belly!"

Liu Haizhong's wife also squeezed forward, looking indignant: "And my family! We bought a bundle of fresh green onions and left them under the window outside the door. We hadn't even eaten them a few times, and in less than two days, they were all gone! Not a single one left! I thought it was strange at the time, but now I've finally found the root of the problem!"

"Exactly, exactly..."

"Who knows what else she's stolen..."

"No wonder her eyes are always shifty..."

"Alright, let's discuss these specific matters at the full courtyard meeting tonight. Everyone disperse for now, go cook your meals!" Wang Xia raised her voice to maintain order.

The crowd gradually dispersed. He Yuzhu helped his mother back into the room, took out some medicine, and carefully applied it to the scratches on her neck.

"Mother, I'm sorry. I let you suffer this unprovoked disaster and endure hardship because of me." Looking at those bloody streaks, He Yuzhu felt both guilty and furious.

Shen Guizhi sighed and asked in a low voice: "When Zhao Yingzi came to find you last night, was it for this?"

"Yes." He Yuzhu nodded, his hand movements gentle. "This Jia Zhangshi cannot be allowed to stay in the courtyard anymore. She's been making up lies about me and Zhao Yingzi everywhere, telling them so convincingly. If this continues, my reputation will be ruined."

"Jia Zhangshi has truly become a scourge of this courtyard!" Shen Guizhi said.

By evening, the people who had been at work or school returned to the courtyard one after another.

Jia Zhangshi called Jia Dongxu into her room in the Houyuan and whispered tearfully: "Dongxu! You must stand up for your mother and avenge this! That god-forsaken little bastard He Yuzhu, he stuffed other people's things into my pocket. Now the whole factory and the whole courtyard say I'm a thief!"

Jia Dongxu's face was livid, and he said sullenly: "Mother, I was wondering why everyone looked at me strangely as soon as I entered the courtyard, avoiding me... Why did you have to go and provoke that He Yuzhu?"

"Where did I provoke him?" Jia Zhangshi raised her voice, then quickly lowered it again. "It was him who deliberately bullied me!"

At this moment, Zhao Yingzi also came over. Seeing the mother and son in the room, she asked: "Mother, our family isn't short of money now, why... why did you have to take other people's things?"

Jia Zhangshi immediately acted as if her tail had been stepped on, pointing at Zhao Yingzi and cursing: "You little harlot! Even you believe those ghost stories? I am absolutely not that kind of person! It was all He Yuzhu, he set a trap to frame me!"

"Mother, then why... why did he have to be at odds with you?"

Only then did Jia Zhangshi remember the rumors she had been spreading everywhere in the alleys and by the water taps these past few days. Her heart skipped a beat, and she said with some discouragement: "This little bastard is truly vengeful."

Jia Dongxu sensed something was wrong and pressed: "Mother, how did you offend him?"

Zhao Yingzi raised her eyes and said coldly: "These past few days, she has been telling everyone she meets outside that I have... an affair with He Yuzhu."

"What?!" Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu trembled all over with rage, "Mother! Have you gone senile? Why go and provoke that jinx? He is the type who would truly dare to pull a trigger and kill someone!"

Jia Zhangshi was left speechless by her son's roar, her face flushing red and then turning pale; she opened her mouth but could not spit out a single word.

Just at this moment, the sound of Yan Jiecheng banging on a broken iron basin and shouting at the top of his lungs came from the courtyard, moving from afar to near, breaking the deathly silence inside the room: "Meet—ing—time! Meet—ing—time! Every household, the heads of the family, the ones in charge, come to the Zhongyuan immediately for a meeting—!"