Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 243 A Self-Inflicted Trap: Turning a Small Matter into a Big One

"Fuck your grandma Jia Dongxu, when have I ever done such a thing? You did bad things yourself, don't try to put a fuss about me!"

Xu Damao exploded.

He was happily enjoying the gossip among the crowd when he got caught up in it himself, and he was so angry that he jumped up and down.

If that's really the case, then let it go.

The key point is that Jia Dongxu is completely trying to smear him!
It's too blatant.

He did approach Jia Dongxu on his own initiative and speak ill of Sha Zhu, but the problem is that Jia Dongxu didn't fall for it!
Jia Dongxu already knew about what happened that afternoon, and had even extorted 1.5 yuan from him.

Once the money was received, the matter of sowing discord was considered closed.

Who would have thought that Jia Dongxu would break the rules?

"slander!"

"It's just blatant slander!"

"Jia Dongxu is slandering me. Don't believe him!"

“I did not do such a thing at all. Jia Dongxu is obviously trying to shift the blame. You must not fall for his tricks.”

"Jia Dongxu, you heartless bastard, doing such a despicable thing in public, aren't you afraid of being struck by lightning?"

"Damn it, Jia Dongxu, I..."

"..."

Xu Damao was furious, but he refused to admit it and started cursing on the spot.

In the past, it was one thing to do bad things and cause trouble, but to be blamed for something like this made Xu Damao feel that he was being completely wronged.

It's clear.

Jia Dongxu deliberately shifted the blame onto him to shirk responsibility and find excuses; he was utterly inhuman.

"how?"

Hearing Xu Damao's words, Jia Dongxu seemed to have just realized what was going on. He immediately asked in front of everyone with a look of doubt and shock, "Xu Damao, is there something wrong with what you told me?"

Obvious.

In order to downplay his own problem, Jia Dongxu directly shifted the focus of the entire incident back to Sha Zhu and Xu Damao.

Everyone in the courtyard knew that Xu Damao and Shazhu were mortal enemies.

Moreover, Xu Damao has a history of such offenses, so it's not surprising that he did something like this.

In fact.

Xu Damao did indeed try to do that, but he didn't succeed.

But this was a secret between him and Xu Damao, unknown to others.

To protect his reputation and shift the blame, Jia Dongxu had no choice but to do this, disregarding the consequences of offending Xu Damao and the Xu family, since the two families already had a significant conflict.

"grass!"

Seeing that Jia Dongxu was still putting on an act in front of him, Xu Damao exploded again and immediately cursed at Jia Dongxu: "You son of a bitch Jia Dongxu, if you keep pretending with me, believe me I'll fight you to the death?"

Scored twice!

There's a saying that goes, "Only those who wish you well know how wronged you are."

At this moment, not only the other people in the courtyard, but also Xu Fugui and Tao Cuilan, the biological parents, looked extremely grim.

Especially Xu Fugui, the father, looked at Xu Damao with eyes full of disappointment and frustration.

He had warned Xu Damao more than once to stop doing this kind of thing and to stop getting entangled with Sha Zhu and Jia Dongxu, so as not to affect his upcoming blind dates and finding a partner, but Xu Damao just wouldn't listen.

Xu Damao is only two years younger than Shazhu, but he's already twenty-two this year. If it were anyone else, they'd already have a child.

Take Jia Dongxu and Li Hongbing in this courtyard, for example. Although their reputations and statuses are polarized, Li Hongbing already has two sons, while Qin Huairu, Jia Dongxu's wife, is pregnant with her second child and will be giving birth soon.

Although Sha Zhu is two years older than Xu Damao and is still unmarried, he sets a bad example. If Xu Damao continues like this, his future is in jeopardy.

After all, Xu Damao's reputation is perhaps slightly better than Jia Dongxu's and Sha Zhu's, but it's not much better.

"Xu Damao, tell me the truth, did you do that or not?"

After all, he was his own son. Even though he believed Jia Dongxu's words in his heart, Xu Fugui could not allow things to continue like this. He could only stand up and "interrogate" Xu Damao in front of everyone.

While it appears to be an accountability measure, it is actually giving Xu Damao an opportunity to "explain" or "clarify".

"No! Of course not!"

As soon as Xu Fugui spoke, Xu Damao's anger quickly subsided. He complained with a hint of grievance and frustration, "Dad, Jia Dongxu is slandering me and deliberately retaliating. He had ulterior motives, but his evil deeds were exposed. Now he obviously wants to shift all the blame onto me."

With his own father backing him up, Xu Damao was clearly more confident and calmer.

Upon hearing Xu Damao's statement, Xu Fugui did not press further. Instead, he turned to Jia Dongxu and demanded confirmation on the spot: "Jia Dongxu, you said that Xu Damao is sowing discord and deliberately provoking conflict between you and Shazhu. What evidence do you have to prove this? You can't just make things up without any proof, can you?"

"Xu Fugui, what evidence could there be for something like this?"

“Your Xu Damao isn’t stupid. Do you think he could write down any evidence or confession to prove that he did these things?”

"My wife is a woman, and she was afraid I would think something, so she didn't dare to tell me. I found out from Xu Damao, but I also had to save face for Huai Ru, so I naturally didn't ask her. That's why I misunderstood."

"I only found out now that Xu Damao lied to me."

"It can only be said that Xu Damao had ulterior motives and was utterly wicked."

"Otherwise, if I had known in advance what was going to happen this afternoon, why would I have gone to cause trouble for Sha Zhu?"

"What happened this afternoon was just that Bang Geng was being naughty, and Sha Zhu's attitude was terrible. He wasn't speaking human language, and Huai Ru got a little too emotional in the heat of the moment... To put it bluntly, it was just a misunderstanding, and it was all resolved at the time. If I were to bring this up again to find fault with Sha Zhu, wouldn't that just be humiliating myself?"

"Although I, Jia Dongxu, have a conflict with Sha Zhu, and things didn't go well this afternoon, it doesn't mean I'm completely lacking in basic manners..."

"..."

After coming up with the idea of ​​shifting the blame, Jia Dongxu's mind started working quickly, and he had a burst of "inspiration" and had already thought of a series of countermeasures.

When people are doing bad things, they are least afraid of hardship or fatigue, and their minds are most flexible and their potential is most easily unleashed.

If this matter isn't handled properly, Jia Dongxu knows perfectly well that he'll be in deep trouble, so he'll naturally have to put in all his "efforts" and effort.

Moreover, Xu Fugui's current actions are clearly aimed at protecting Xu Damao. The father and son are acting in unison, obviously putting on a charade.

Others might not see it, but how could Jia Dongxu, who had just used this trick with Qin Huairu, not understand?

Faced with Jia Dongxu's words, Xu Fugui, the old fox, turned extremely gloomy.

If Jia Dongxu insists on this approach, then frankly, he doesn't have a very good way to break the deadlock.

As the saying goes, it takes only a mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of legwork to refute them.

The key issue is Xu Damao's reputation; it's already set in stone. His past criminal record is now a fatal flaw.

At this point, the idea that the innocent will clear themselves is obviously useless, because the mud has already gotten into their crotch.

It is said that the worst self-justification is often the most effective counterattack.

Otherwise, it would be considered that they are in the wrong or that they are admitting their mistake.

The impact and damage to one's reputation are equally enormous.

When Xu Damao sabotaged Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu's blind date, although the Jia family was never able to produce any strong evidence, Xu Damao denied it from beginning to end.

Even though Qin Huairu later appeared and spoke, causing Xu Damao and the Xu family to question each other's stance and credibility, in the end, the matter still fell on Xu Damao's shoulders.

Once everyone generally believes that Xu Damao did it, it basically becomes a "fact".

"Damn it, this is outrageous!"

Seeing that Jia Dongxu not only slandered him but also acted aggressively, Xu Damao, who was extremely aggrieved, could no longer bear it and directly confessed to Xu Fugui: "Dad, I admit that I lied just now. I did want to use what happened this afternoon to sow discord between Jia Dongxu and Sha Zhu."

However, this plan did not succeed, and Jia Dongxu already knew the whole story by then.

Not only that, Jia Dongxu also used this incident as leverage to threaten me and extort 1.5 yuan from me.

I just didn't expect that Jia Dongxu would go back on his word and try to drag me down with him because his own affairs have been exposed..."

Although Xu Damao wanted to deny it to the death and try to get away with it, his past experience and lessons told him that this was useless.

The point is.

Xu Damao did indeed sabotage Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu's blind date.

But the current situation is completely different in nature.

As Xu Damao said these words, Jia Dongxu's expression changed slightly. While everyone looked at them in astonishment, Xu Fugui was furious and asked Xu Damao with a gloomy face, "Xu Damao, are you sure what you said this time is true?"

"Dad, it's absolutely true!"

Having already chosen to fight Jia Dongxu to the death, Xu Damao had no more scruples at this point, because whether he admitted it or not, his reputation couldn't withstand the damage.

Seeing Xu Fugui looking at him, Xu Damao withdrew his resentful gaze from Jia Dongxu and spoke again, "I've already admitted to sowing discord, so I can't risk my reputation to smear that bastard Jia Dongxu, can I?"

Hearing Xu Damao's somewhat frantic and hoarse voice, Xu Fugui's heart sank to the bottom.

Knowing son Moruo father.

As Xu Damao's biological father, Xu Fugui naturally knew that Xu Damao was telling the truth, and in a very short time, he sorted out the whole story.

At the beginning, when Jia Dongxu said that Xu Damao had sown discord between him and Sha Zhu, and that the source of the sack incident was Xu Damao, Xu Fugui believed it more than anyone else.

It wasn't just about knowing his son Xu Damao, nor was it because Xu Damao had a history of such behavior. Rather, it was because Xu Damao returned home after being turned down by Sha Zhu that evening and learned about Qin Huairu and Sha Zhu's actions that afternoon. Xu Fugui guessed that, given his son's personality and style, he was bound to cause trouble again. He even gave Xu Damao a special warning at the time.

Of course.

Xu Damao did not listen to him and did it anyway.

But the problem is.

Xu Damao tried to cause trouble, but failed and was even extorted by Jia Dongxu for 1.5 yuan.

If this matter ends here, even if Xu Fugui finds out, he might be angry and teach Xu Damao a lesson, but he might not necessarily do anything to Jia Dongxu.

One yuan and fifty cents isn't much, but if it can preserve Xu Damao's reputation, it would be absolutely worth it for Xu Fugui.

Moreover, Xu Damao's repeated trouble-making always backfired, which angered Xu Fugui. He decided to take this opportunity to teach him a lesson.

But what Jia Dongxu did next was not just excessive; it was almost no different from dancing at the Xu family's ancestral graves.

"Xu Damao, why are you biting people randomly?"

This time it was Jia Dongxu's turn to panic. Feeling so many eyes on him, he quickly tried to reason with Jia Dongxu, saying, "You can't just make up all this nonsense and slander people to deny what you've done, can you?"

"Jia Dongxu, what evidence do you have to prove that I have wronged you?"

When Xu Damao's gaze fell on Jia Dongxu, he seemed to see his own frustration from just now, and felt incredibly relieved and happy.

What goes around comes around, and now it's Jia Dongxu's turn to panic.

"Why should I prove it? You're accusing me of extortion, shouldn't you provide evidence to prove I did it?"

In a moment of desperation, Jia Dongxu managed to break free from the self-justification trap.

Although it was a deliberate denial, it must be admitted that it happened to take the "right" step.

In terms of verbal sparring and public opinion campaigns, Jia Dongxu still has the upper hand.

As long as Xu Damao cannot produce evidence and Jia Dongxu refuses to admit it, the extortion will "not exist."

No one knows the truth except themselves.

This incident, however, did not have as much impact on reputation as the one involving Xu Damao.

This involves the issue of their credibility in the eyes of the public.

"Who said I don't have evidence?"

Faced with Jia Dongxu's shameless behavior, Xu Damao was not angry or anxious this time. Instead, he calmly took out something from his body and said to Jia Dongxu with a sneer, "Do you think I, Xu Damao, am so easy to bully that I would be stupid enough to let you extort me without even being prepared?"

The dollar and fifty cents I gave you last night, didn't you notice that the one-dollar note was missing a small corner?
The missing corner was exactly what I secretly tore off, just in case you went back on your word and broke the rules. I never thought it would actually come in handy now.

You probably haven't had a chance to spend that dollar since tonight, right?

In other words, the one yuan you have is currently on you, or in your home. A search will reveal the whole truth!

"it is good!!!"

As Xu Damao unleashed this backhand move, Xu Fugui shouted loudly, praising him with great admiration: "Damao, well done!"

Even though Xu Damao was a victim of extortion in tonight's series of events, it couldn't cover up his disgraceful nature. However, this move to counter Jia Dongxu at the crucial moment made Xu Fugui feel extremely relieved.

“Today’s matter involves more than just retaliation and fighting; it also includes extortion. Jia Dongxu, you’re in deep trouble this time.”

Xu Fugui gave Jia Dongxu a cold look, then turned to the two senior administrators, Yan Bugui and Du Jianguo, and said, "Old Yan, Old Du, this involves criminal activity. We can't refuse to see the authorities this time, can we?"

"This……"

"Old Xu..."

Seeing that Xu Fugui wanted to report the case, Yan Bugui and Du Jianguo, as the senior staff members of the school, hesitated but did not dare to refuse directly.

They wouldn't dare stop something like that.

Without waiting for Yan Bugui and Du Jianguo to express their opinions, Xu Fugui, who had already made up his mind and was not seeking their advice, stated in an unquestionable manner:
“We’re going to the police station now. To prevent Jia Dongxu and his family from destroying evidence, Jia Dongxu, Qin Huairu, and Banggeng must all go together.”

Cuilan, you stay here and keep watch. Don't let anyone from the Jia family in until the police from the local station come to investigate..."

(End of this chapter)