Siheyuan's Silly Pillar has been replaced by someone else

Back in the courtyard house, Qin Huairu naturally learned about the farce that had just happened.

She put down the meat and went to Yi Zhonghai's room first.

"Uncle, I've bought the meat."

Yi Zhonghai's expression softened when he saw Qin Huairu.

"It's good that you bought it. After you've finished making it, I'll take it to the old lady."

Qin Huairu smiled and said, "I'll go back and do it right away."

Yi Zhonghai nodded and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Qin Huai had no choice but to go home and cook.

The aroma of food was already wafting out of He Yuzhu's house.

With a large family, he didn't need to do many things himself; washing and chopping vegetables were all done by He Yushui and her maids.

He was in charge of cooking the last dish.

The girls haven't been back for a long time and are craving his cooking.

Normally, even if he couldn't eat He Yuzhu's food, Yan Bugui would sit happily at the door, smelling the aroma of food in the yard and munching on cornbread.

This time, he wasn't in the mood.

Yan Bugui disagreed with dividing the family property, so the Yan family's children had to stay with the family and eat at home.

They wouldn't treat themselves badly either, sending the three older women aside and doing it themselves.

The group immediately increased the household ration by half, and the amount of cornbread on the table was double the original amount.

Looking at so many cornbread buns, Yan Bugui's heart ached.

He refused to speak, and the children ignored him.

"Have a meal."

Then the Yan brothers began to eat heartily.

The third aunt took a cornbread for herself and then kicked Yan Bugui under the table, urging him to eat quickly.

The food is already cooked; it would be a waste not to eat it. The children in the family certainly won't leave any cornbread uneaten.

Yan Bugui glared at her fiercely. Seeing how enthusiastically the third aunt was eating, he even suspected that she had deliberately given the key to the food storage to the children.

Despite his suspicions, it didn't stop him from eating.

Eating it will make you break even, not eating it will be a huge loss.

"This isn't how you live. If you keep eating like this, you'll eat your family out of house and home sooner or later."

Yan Jiefang said, "If we don't eat like this, I'll be exhausted. Why should we bear the consequences of your mistakes?"

Yan Jiecheng chimed in, "That's right. If you think we're eating too much, go apologize to Shazhu. If he forgives you and stops making things difficult for us, we won't have to eat like this anymore."

An apology is impossible now.

Yan Bugui also has a sense of shame. If he apologizes to He Yuzhu at this time, what will others think of him?

He Yuzhu had finished cooking when Xu Damao and his wife brought in steamed buns made from two kinds of flour from their home.

"That's really strange. Qin Huairu actually bought meat for the deaf old lady."

"You're not mistaken?" No one believed it.

Everyone has seen how the Jia family treated the deaf old lady during this period.

Giving a deaf old lady a fist-sized steamed bun for a meal is already quite generous.

At noon, Jia Zhangshi only gave the deaf old lady half a cornbread, and the dishes were just vegetable soup.

Xu Damao said, "If you don't believe me, ask Yanzi."

Only then did everyone believe it.

People were speculating about the reasons behind it.

He Yuzhu said, "Stop guessing. It must be that Yi Zhonghai needs something from the deaf old lady. Otherwise, they wouldn't have bought meat for her."

He Yuzhu asked curiously, "That's not right. The deaf old lady has such a domineering personality, why didn't she make a scene?"

Xu Damao said, "What else could it be? That hypocrite Yi Zhonghai doesn't want to take care of her anymore."

I've been keeping track; Yi Zhonghai hasn't visited the deaf old lady for over ten days.

Everyone agreed that Xu Damao's words made sense, but only He Yuzhu knew that it wouldn't be that simple.

The deaf old woman's behavior was definitely calculated.

As for how he planned it, he wasn't quite sure.

Qin Huairu had also prepared the meal and went with Yi Zhonghai to deliver it to the deaf old lady. She did this partly to demonstrate her filial piety—it was her public persona, a tactic she used to navigate the underworld.

On the other hand, it was also to prevent the deaf old lady from talking nonsense and getting eye drops from Yi Zhonghai.

The two of them entered the deaf old lady's house as if they were a married couple.

Qin Huairu guessed that Yi Zhonghai would bring food to the deaf old lady, so she tidied up the old lady's room in advance.

The room didn't have the same strange smell as last time.

Yi Zhonghai looked at Qin Huairu with satisfaction.

Qin Huai could tidy up the house, but he couldn't tidy up the deaf old lady.

Yi Zhonghai ignored her, which made the deaf old lady even more heartbroken.

She knew very well that as her influence diminished, her dutiful godson would no longer pretend.

Yi Zhonghai's initial reluctance quickly vanished. He told himself that he was forced into this situation.

He did it all for retirement.

If He Yuzhu is willing to listen to him, he will definitely take good care of the deaf old lady.

Having mentally prepared himself, Yi Zhonghai finally spoke: "Grandma, I specially asked Huairu to buy some meat to help you recover."

The deaf old lady has given up on Yi Zhonghai; she's just trying to live one day at a time.

She didn't say anything, picked up the food and started eating.

Helpless, Yi Zhonghai continued, "Our courtyard has been in complete chaos lately."

Old Yan's children are constantly arguing with him about separating the family property. He came to me begging to hold a general meeting for the entire family.

I figured things shouldn't get chaotic in the yard, so I agreed.

"Grandma, everyone in the courtyard has been corrupted by Sha Zhu. I'm thinking of asking you to come out and take charge. You should clean up the place properly."

The deaf old lady ate a steamed bun made from two different types of dough before stopping.

"A meeting? Fine, you three old men can organize it. I'm just an old woman that everyone dislikes, so I won't participate."

Yi Zhonghai said, "You can't say that. You're the patriarch of our institute. Who dares to disobey you?"

The deaf old lady chuckled: "Ancestor? Yes, in a few days, I really will become an ancestor."

Qin Huairu's expression changed, and tears welled up in her eyes: "Grandma, I know that I can't take as good a care of you as Auntie did."

But I really have tried my best. I have so many people to take care of, I simply can't manage it all.

Seeing Qin Huairu being wronged, Yi Zhonghai felt sorry for her: "Grandma, please don't be so picky."

I have seen everything Huai Ru has done.

She really did her best. It was all her fault.

As a daughter-in-law, she couldn't really control her sister-in-law.

Please be understanding of her.

The deaf old woman found the two men's performance utterly disgusting.

She didn't want to hear their explanations and asked directly, "What benefits are you going to give me for letting me step forward?"

Qin Huairu immediately shut up, afraid of being taken advantage of.

Yi Zhonghai didn't want to spend the money, so he started making empty promises to the deaf old lady.

“You helped Lao Yan solve his family problem, he will definitely be grateful to you.”

“What use is his gratitude to me? His gratitude isn’t even worth a steamed bun,” the deaf old woman retorted directly.

Yan Bugui is such a stingy person; at most, he'll express a few words of gratitude, which is no different from not being grateful at all.

Yi Zhonghai knew this too, so he had to change his tune: "Through this matter, the three of us old men can rebuild our prestige."

"Once we regain control of the courtyard house, I will definitely encourage everyone in the courtyard to show their respect to you."

The deaf old lady turned to look at Qin Huairu, which startled Yi Zhonghai, who thought she was going to target Qin Huairu again.

The deaf old woman shook her head: "By the time you take control of the courtyard house, I will have already passed away."

She now understands very well that with Qin Huairu holding her back, Yi Zhonghai has no chance of controlling the courtyard house.

Yi Zhonghai was unconvinced, feeling that the deaf old lady was looking down on him.

"I'm sure I can regain control of the courtyard house. Nobody can stop me."

"Grandma, what will it take for you to agree?" (End of Chapter)