At the entrance of the courtyard, the Third Uncle returned from fishing, coincidentally meeting Yi Zhonghai who was also getting off work.
Thus, Old Yi and Old Yan met at the courtyard entrance.
"Old Yan, how was your catch today?" Yi Zhonghai asked with a smile.
Seeing Yan Bugui carrying a water bucket and holding a fishing rod, it was clear he had gone fishing again.
Fishing was Yan Bugui's side hustle.
However, Yan Bugui was reluctant to use good bait or make bait balls. Plus, there were many people fishing in this era.
Most importantly, there were few fish!
Big fish were even scarcer.
Given these circumstances, Yan Bugui's harvest was predictable.
Unless he was exceptionally lucky, Yan Bugui rarely had much to show for his efforts, sometimes even returning "empty-handed."
Today, Yan Bugui wasn't entirely unsuccessful, as could be seen from the wooden bucket he carried.
There were two small fish in the bucket.
But the fish were too small and too few, not even enough for a fish soup.
But it was still an improvement for the Yan family's diet.
"Not bad," Yan Bugui said with a smile.
Of course, Yan Bugui was secretly dissatisfied with his catch today.
Chatting as they went, Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui walked into the courtyard.
As soon as they entered, both Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui felt an unusual atmosphere in the courtyard.
The Third Aunt was waiting for Yan Bugui to come home for dinner, but first, she had to tell her husband about Xu Damao being attacked.
Yi Zhonghai didn't rush off either; instead, he listened attentively.
"What? Zhu and Dongxu attacked Xu Damao?"
"Put Xu Damao in a sack? Beat him up?"
"Li Dasheng caught Dongxu on the spot?"
…
After hearing what the Third Aunt had to say, both Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui were surprised.
Especially Yi Zhonghai.
At this moment, Yi Zhonghai's brow furrowed, and he quickly ran to the middle courtyard.
Upon arriving at the middle courtyard, Yi Zhonghai didn't go home first but went straight to the Jia family's house.
Qin Huairu was feeding the child, Jia Zhang was sitting by the kang, no longer mending shoes.
As for Jia Dongxu, he was sitting at home.
"Dongxu, I heard from your Third Aunt that you and Zhu attacked Xu Damao? Is that true?" Yi Zhonghai asked immediately upon seeing Jia Dongxu.
"It was Sha Zhu who dragged me into it," Jia Dongxu continued to try to shift blame onto Sha Zhu.
As if he, Jia Dongxu, was innocent.
"This Zhu needs to be spoken to," Yi Zhonghai's face darkened.
Yi Zhonghai wasn't sure if Jia Dongxu was truly innocent.
Perhaps Jia Dongxu had actually dragged Sha Zhu into attacking Xu Damao.
However, Sha Zhu and Xu Damao were sworn enemies, while Jia Dongxu and Xu Damao had far fewer conflicts.
To Yi Zhonghai, Jia Dongxu was his illegitimate son, while Sha Zhu was an outsider.
Even if Jia Dongxu had some responsibility, Sha Zhu would have to bear the brunt of it.
In Yi Zhonghai's heart, Sha Zhu was naturally inferior to Jia Dongxu.
Yi Zhonghai wouldn't play favorites.
…
Leaving the Jia family's house, Yi Zhonghai went to find Sha Zhu.
"First Uncle, it was Jia Dongxu who called me in," Sha Zhu said truthfully.
In Sha Zhu's view, the majority of the blame for attacking Xu Damao rested on Jia Dongxu.
Now, Yi Zhonghai wanted Sha Zhu to take the fall.
Sha Zhu was unhappy; he was Sha Zhu, not a fool. Most of the responsibility was Jia Dongxu's, so why should it all be thrown on him?
"Zhu, you can't be so selfish, you can't only think about yourself. Dongxu has a family…" Yi Zhonghai earnestly lectured Sha Zhu.
Under Yi Zhonghai's grand pronouncements, Sha Zhu felt that the First Uncle was truly the First Uncle, with high ideological awareness.
Neighbors should not be petty and should not care about gains and losses. As the saying goes, "It's a blessing to suffer losses."
Besides, it was Dongxu's wife who was caught peeping by Xu Damao, not Sha Zhu's wife.
He should also understand Dongxu's feelings.
He should learn to understand.
Standing not far behind Sha Zhu, He Yushui felt that Yi Zhonghai's words weren't quite right, but she didn't know how to refute them, nor did she dare.
After Yi Zhonghai's ideological education, Sha Zhu… had an epiphany.
Thus, Sha Zhu was willing to take the fall.
Then, Yi Zhonghai took Sha Zhu to the Xu family's house in the back courtyard.
…
Sha Zhu took the blame, turning Jia Dongxu into an innocent party.
This way, Jia Dongxu was completely uninvolved.
"Send Sha Zhu to the police station," Xu Fugui said.
Next, both Xu Mu and Xu Damao also insisted on sending Sha Zhu to the police station.
Seeing Sha Zhu about to lose his temper, Yi Zhonghai quickly stepped in.
In the end, Yi Zhonghai had Sha Zhu apologize to Xu Damao, pay him 5 yuan, and also sweep the courtyard for 3 days.
Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui both felt that the punishment for Sha Zhu was too light.
But the Second Uncle + Third Uncle were less than the First Uncle.
And, there was also the Deaf Old Lady.
If Yi Zhonghai couldn't control the situation, the Old Lady would help him.
In this courtyard, the First Uncle + Old Lady = ?
In any case, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui couldn't easily challenge Yi Zhonghai.
Even if the Xu family was dissatisfied, they couldn't do anything about it.
Actually, Sha Zhu wasn't satisfied either!
The 5 yuan (according to the second currency set, which hadn't been released yet, it was still the first currency, so it was actually 50,000 yuan) paid to Xu Damao was from Yi Zhonghai; he gave it to Sha Zhu first, and Sha Zhu gave it to Xu Damao.
In the drama, Jia Zhang said that the Jia family gave 5 yuan as a bride price when they married Qin Huairu, but it was actually 50,000 yuan of the first currency.
The second currency hadn't been released yet, but it would be soon.
In about two years.
Sweeping the courtyard wasn't a big deal for Sha Zhu.
But making Sha Zhu apologize to Xu Damao made Sha Zhu very unhappy.
Under Yi Zhonghai's persuasion, Sha Zhu said "sorry" to Xu Damao with a black face.
Xu Damao was a bit "surprised and delighted." Sha Zhu apologized to him.
Xu Damao even thought that getting beaten and getting Sha Zhu's apology wasn't a bad deal!
He kept the money; he was going to buy some delicious food.
…
Late at night, the only resident in Courtyard No. 95 who was still awake was Xu Fugui.
At this time, the entire Nanluoguxiang was shrouded in darkness.
Not only Courtyard No. 95, but no other courtyard had lights on either.
In the darkness, Xu Fugui quietly left his house.
From the back courtyard, he went to the middle courtyard. He found half a brick around the Jia family's house and then aimed it at the window of the Yi family's house, throwing it with force.
With a "crack," the window of Yi Zhonghai's house shattered.
Having smashed the window of Yi Zhonghai's house, Xu Fugui hurried back home.
Xu Fugui was letting off steam.
Without smashing the window of the Yi family's house, Xu Fugui wouldn't feel right.
Inside the house, Yi Zhonghai's scream echoed.
Did it hit Yi Zhonghai?
Xu Fugui felt a pang of fear; he only wanted to smash the window, not Yi Zhonghai!
If… Yi Zhonghai was killed, that would be a huge problem.
He could only pray that he hadn't hit Yi Zhonghai.
Perhaps Yi Zhonghai was simply scared!
After smashing the window, could he, Xu Fugui, have been that accurate to hit Yi Zhonghai inside the house?
…
Yi Zhonghai's screams continued.
Not long after, Sha Zhu, Jia Dongxu, Qin Huairu, Jia Zhang… all woke up.
A group of people came to the door of the Yi family's house.
Yi Zhonghai inside shouted to kick the door down.
"I'll do it!" Sha Zhu said.
With a forceful kick from Sha Zhu, the door of the Yi family's house was practically destroyed.
Qin Huairu held a kerosene lamp.
Upon entering the room, they saw that Yi Zhonghai's face was covered in blood.
There was also a bleeding wound on Yi Zhonghai's head.
It was truly a head wound.
Half a brick could be found on the ground.
Looking at the shattered window, the situation was simple.