Courtyard House: Starting as an eighth-grade worker, with too many wives.

One hundred dollars?

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. In those days, an average worker earned only about twenty yuan a month. One hundred yuan was almost half a year's wages, even without eating or drinking.

Yi Zhonghai's eyes flashed, and he stepped forward.

"Young man, why don't you just pay for this?"

He looked like he was trying to persuade someone earnestly.

"If you ask me, it's best to settle this privately. If you don't pay this money, we'll call the police and have you arrested."

He said he was doing it for Li Jianguo's own good, but in reality, he pinned all the blame on him. His tone was gentle, but his eyes held a confident light—as if he had already completely won over this young man.

Sha Zhu actually believed it and chimed in.

"Sir, isn't one hundred yuan a bit too much? This young man doesn't look like he has that much money. How about... a smaller amount?"

"What do you think, ma'am?"

Yi Zhonghai quickly asked Jia Zhangshi.

"I don't care!"

Jia Zhangshi stiffened her neck.

"Our eldest grandson was beaten like this, we must pay compensation!"

"Did you hear me, you brat?!"

Jia Dongxu mustered his courage and swung his fist.

"Pay up right now! Or I'll beat you up!"

Li Jianguo's lips curled into a cold smile.

court death.

He took a small half step forward, grabbed Jia Dongxu's wrist with his left hand, inserted his right arm under the other's armpit, and suddenly exerted force from his waist and hips.

Over-the-shoulder throw.

Clean and neat.

Jia Dongxu felt dizzy and disoriented. He was lifted up like a dead fish, arced through the air, and then crashed heavily to the ground two meters away.

"Bang!"

Dust flew everywhere.

Jia Dongxu lay sprawled on the ground, completely disoriented, unable to get up for a long time. His mouth was agape, his eyes rolled back, like a stranded fish, and he was making hoarse gasping sounds.

Li Jianguo patted non-existent dust off his hands and glanced at Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui.

"Weren't you going to call the police?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it clearly penetrated everyone's ears.

"I'm waiting."

He looked at Yi Zhonghai with disdain.

"Yi Zhonghai, didn't you say you were going to call the police? I'll give you that chance. Go and call the police."

"I'll settle this score with you properly when the police arrive."

Yi Zhonghai was stunned.

"What...what do you mean by this, kid?"

"What's wrong?"

Li Jianguo tilted his head, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"It's only been ten years or so, and they've all forgotten? Is the house registered under the surname Jia or Li?"

Is your surname Li?

Someone in the crowd frowned in thought.

"Li... what was it again?"

"Li Zhigang!"

Someone suddenly shouted.

"Yes! Li Zhigang! I remember now, those three rooms in the backyard used to be Li Zhigang's house!"

"Didn't they leave a long time ago? Did they go to support the Great Northwest?"

"Right, right, I remember now! When Li Zhigang's wife was pregnant, I helped him pickle some sauerkraut, and he gave me a fish in return!"

"I remember now! I even helped them move their things when they left that year..."

"etc!"

Some people stared at Li Jianguo's face, becoming more and more shocked the longer they looked.

"Look at this young man, doesn't he resemble Li Zhigang when he was young?"

"Oh my! Now that you mention it..."

"My goodness! If we calculate the age, isn't Li Zhigang about this age now?"

The crowd erupted in uproar.

Those who were just demanding that Li Jianguo pay them back have all forgotten about it and are now staring at him closely.

"Could he be... Uncle Zhigang's son?"

Lou Xiao'e's words were like a heavy hammer blow to everyone's heads.

The courtyard was silent for a second.

Then, everyone's eyes turned to Jia Zhangshi.

Madam Jia's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

After the Li family left, these three rooms were left vacant. At first, no one had any designs on them. Later, Jia Zhangshi, itching to take them, relied on the shrewishness she'd honed during her two years as a widow, and relentlessly pestered them until she finally occupied the rooms. It wasn't that no one in the courtyard objected. But faced with her unreasonable and disruptive behavior, who could argue with her? As time went on, everyone gave up. The Jia family thus moved in legitimately, and eventually, they treated them as their own.

I never imagined that anyone from the Li family would come back.

Jia Zhangshi's mind was buzzing, but instinct drove her to rush to the doorway, where her large body blocked the entrance.

"This is my home!"

She stared wide-eyed, her face turning a deep purplish-red, with an air of ruthlessness that seemed ready to slay any god or Buddha she might encounter.

"My Jia family has lived here for so many years! The neighborhood committee allocated this house to us a long time ago! This is the house Banggeng will live in when he gets married! Anyone who wants to take it will have to step over me!"

This shameless ability to distort the truth is truly astonishing.

Lou Xiao'e spat out a melon seed shell and laughed mockingly.

"Aunt Zhang, did the neighborhood committee really say that? How come we didn't know?"

She glanced sideways at Jia Zhangshi.

"How come I remember seeing Director Huang telling you at the street corner a few days ago that you should move out of this house as soon as possible? I think Director Huang already knew about Li's son coming back then, right?"

Lou Xiao'e was the only woman in the courtyard with a relatively normal set of values. She always treated everything in the courtyard as a joke. But seeing these people ganging up on an outsider, she couldn't stand it. Her gaze swept over Jia Zhangshi, then over Yi Zhonghai, her eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

Li Jianguo glanced at her and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

Then he turned to the crowd, his voice not loud, but clear.

"Thank you all for remembering me. I am Li Zhigang's son, Li Jianguo."

"I came back from the Northwest this time because of a job transfer."

"From now on, I'll live here."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Jia Zhangshi, over Yi Zhonghai, and over everyone present.

"I want my parents' house back."

"As for what crime it is to seize a house—"

A meaningful smile curved at the corner of his lips.

"I need to find out more about it too."

The crowd erupted in uproar as soon as he finished speaking.

"He really is a child of the Li family!"

"Yes, yes, yes! Li Zhigang's son is named Li Jianguo!"

"Looking at them now, the father and son really do look alike!"

Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu stood there, their faces burning with pain. Just moments ago, they had righteously demanded that Li Jianguo pay them compensation and even threatened to call the police to arrest him. Now, they were being slapped hard in the face.

"Shazhu, should we call the police or not?"

Some people started a disturbance.

Sha Zhu's face turned bright red.

"Go away! I didn't know, did I? Li Jianguo came but didn't reveal his identity, otherwise would I have misunderstood?"

He was biased, yet he blamed others for not introducing him. He scratched the back of his head, his eyes darting away, avoiding Li Jianguo's gaze.

Yi Zhonghai was a man of the world. Although he was embarrassed, he quickly recovered. In a few seconds, his face returned to normal. He couldn't show any more favoritism towards the Jia family, so he could only stand there silently, his face so dark it could drip water.

The second and third uncles were overjoyed to see Yi Zhonghai make a fool of himself. Normally, the eldest uncle was the one who called the shots in this courtyard, but why? Now that Yi Zhonghai had been humiliated, they were secretly delighted.

The old man pushed up his glasses and slowly began to speak.

"Sister-in-law, it was fine for you to live in this house before no one from the Li family was home. But now that everyone's back, it's not right for you to keep occupying it."

Second Uncle immediately chimed in.

"Exactly! It's not yours to begin with. You should move it. Young Li just got back; he needs to get some rest, shouldn't he?"

Madam Jia was trembling with rage. She'd lived in this house for so many years; did they really think she could just give it up? No way!

"snort!"

She gave a cold laugh, stubbornly sticking to her guns.

"He said his name was Li Jianguo, so he's the real Li Jianguo? I'd say he's a fraud! He's impersonating Li Jianguo to steal my house!"

Li Jianguo was too lazy to argue with her. He was tired after such a long car ride.

"Can someone do me a favor and call the police?"

He spoke calmly.

"I'll pay one dollar for the delivery fee."

He wasn't the kind of coward who would threaten to call the police. He genuinely wanted the police to properly investigate the case.

An eighth-level engineer, an expert hired by the steel rolling mill, shouldn't it be easy for him to get justice?