In the west wing, Liu Hui Zhen had finished cooking and was feeding Shen Yuan Chao rice porridge.
Shen Yuan Chao sighed. He was used to drinking milk powder, and eating rice porridge was a bit bland!
First Aunt looked at Shen Yuan Chao: "Little Yuan Chao, don't you like rice porridge? Don't worry, when First Aunt gets divorced, I'll get some money and buy you milk candy, okay?
If I can get a house, I'll leave it to Yuan Chao in the future!"
Shen Yuan Chao pouted. Yi Zhong Hai's plan was to wait for First Aunt to be unable to make a living in the courtyard and go back to beg him. In that situation, would First Aunt be able to get a house and money?
It was more likely that Yi Zhong Hai would find a way to force First Aunt to leave with nothing!
Pitiful. He was just a baby who had recently learned to crawl. Even with his extraordinary intelligence, he couldn't help First Aunt to get a fair divorce according to the new marriage law.
Sigh...
How did I end up as a baby?
If someone in the courtyard would just step in and help First Aunt divorce Yi Zhong Hai...
Shen Yuan Chao felt helpless. He was so young, yet he had so many troubles, one after another.
But Shen Yuan Chao didn't know that Liu Hai Zhong was waiting for Yi Zhong Hai and First Aunt to mention divorce so he could call the Women's Federation!
That evening, Yi Zhong Hai gathered the neighbors from the courtyard and held a general meeting. He said, "This time, at the Patriotic Health Movement meeting...
Yi Zhong Hai glanced at Liu Hui Zhen meaningfully. He had already decided to target Shen Yuan Chao, but it wasn't realistic. So, his first step was to tarnish Liu Hui Zhen's reputation!
A widow with three children, if her reputation was bad enough, she wouldn't be able to hold her head up in the entire courtyard, or even the alleyway.
She wouldn't even be able to keep her job at the welfare station!
As long as Liu Hui Zhen left the courtyard with Shen Yuan Chao!
Then his plan to take care of Old Lady and himself would go smoothly!
A naive and gentle Liu Hui Zhen, a baby without a background, in Yi Zhong Hai's hands, wasn't she just a plaything?
Shen Yuan Chao could tell from Yi Zhong Hai's gaze that he was up to no good. Even though he was still young, he had new worries.
How could he stop Yi Zhong Hai from plotting against his Baozi mother?
It was too difficult. Baozi mother was too trusting, and she had no idea about being taken advantage of!
"Today, we are having a general meeting to address two issues. Firstly, we need to settle a private matter in our courtyard. Xu Fu Gui, tell us, why were your pants and underwear found in Second Aunt's bed?"
Liu Hai Zhong: "Yi Zhong Hai, what nonsense are you talking about? I know you are jealous of my third son. You don't have one, but you can't ruin my wife's reputation like this!
Everyone take a look. Can Xu Fu Gui even fit into these pants and underwear?"
Yi Zhong Hai's face stiffened. He was being accused of being childless in front of everyone, and his face couldn't handle it!
"Liu Hai Zhong, isn't it that your wife found another man's underwear in her bed? If you can't handle it, then I'll report it to the neighborhood committee. Don't let this petty issue waste everyone's time!"
Xu Fu Gui: "First Uncle, what you said is not right. Our courtyard values reputation the most. We've been working hard for a year just to win the "Civilized Courtyard" award. But you!
You're going to report this to the neighborhood committee for something so unfounded? The truth is, I was trying to be a good person, but I forgot to mention it.
These pants are mine, but they were altered. They were too small for my son Da Mao, so I thought that Old Liu has so many children, so I'd give them to Old Liu's children to wear!
Everyone take a good look at the size. Isn't it about the same as my son Da Mao's?
My son Da Mao is only one child, so he wouldn't go looking for Second Aunt, right?"
People in the courtyard: "Hey, you know what, it really does look like Old Xu was trying to be a good person. Second Aunt probably wanted to alter them for the kids to wear for the New Year?"
"Yeah, who knew it would cause such a big misunderstanding? First Uncle, it's not right to jump to conclusions. What a big impact this has on the courtyard's reputation!"
"That's right!"
Shen Yuan Chao was overjoyed. The arguing back and forth had actually made Yi Zhong Hai look bad!
The people in the courtyard were whispering amongst themselves. Yi Zhong Hai's face was stiff. He could see that it was Xu Fu Gui and Liu Hai Zhong working together to frame him!
He originally wanted to use this incident to control Xu Fu Gui and Liu Hai Zhong, but he ended up being tricked instead!
Yi Zhong Hai felt like a victim of circumstance!
It seemed that not only Shen Yuan Chao couldn't stay in the courtyard, but Xu Fu Gui couldn't stay either. Liu Hai Zhong was easy to manipulate, but Xu Fu Gui was a different story!
He had to think carefully. He had schemed against He Da Qing when he left the courtyard. He was confident in scheming against Xu Fu Gui again!
Yi Zhong Hai: "Since everything is fine, then let me remind everyone. We've been making noise in the courtyard every day. Who is really affecting the reputation?
Now, I need to talk to everyone about the second thing. Starting today, the Patriotic Health Movement will be launched nationwide. We not only need to catch rats, sparrows, flies, and bed bugs, but also clean our surroundings!
You need to throw away all your junk and garbage, dispose of what needs to be disposed of and clean up what needs to be cleaned up!
Every 10 households in the street will form a hygiene group and inspect each other. We have 27 households in our courtyard, so we'll divide into three groups, starting from the west wing. The last group will be me, Liu Hui Zhen, Old Lady, Sha Zhu, the Jia family, Old Xu's family, Zhou Po Po's family. There are seven households in this group!
Liu Hai Zhong and Old Yan, you each lead a group of ten households. After dinner every day, everyone will clean first.
After cleaning, everyone will inspect each other!
Then, we'll welcome the neighborhood committee's inspection!
This cleaning is different from our previous hygiene cleanups. Everyone must take it seriously. The cleaning needs to go deep into every household. Not only should the floor, ceiling (roof), and four walls be clean without dust or cobwebs, but the furniture inside, the surrounding area, and the courtyard should also be clean.
If we find anyone who is not cooperating and cleaning properly, they will be discrediting our entire courtyard. We will definitely not spare them!
This competition, the ones who pass will get a red flag, the ones who fail will get a white flag. If your cleaning is especially good, you will receive praise from the neighborhood committee and rewards. I heard that the best reward is a certificate, a teacup, and a towel!
Don't mention the rest, with this certificate, our kids can hold their heads up when they get married, right?
I'll emphasize it again, starting tonight, after dinner, everyone must clean the courtyard. Clean continuously, clean repeatedly!"
"Certificate? Teacup? Towel? That's great, my towel needs to be replaced!"
Yi Zhong Hai: "Alright, that's all for the specific details. Everyone starts tonight!
Make sure you clean our courtyard spotless! If anyone doesn't cooperate and holds us back, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
After Yi Zhong Hai finished speaking, he looked at Liu Hui Zhen meaningfully. Lately, Liu Hui Zhen would go out every night after dinner, taking Sun Xiu Ju with her.
Yi Zhong Hai guessed that they must have found odd jobs.
As long as Liu Hui Zhen wasn't in the courtyard cleaning after dinner, she would be the negative example of the courtyard. Then, he would hold a general meeting and say a few things!
Liu Hui Zhen's reputation would be tarnished, and he would gradually plot, turning her into a negative example. At the same time, he could create a divide between Sha Zhu and Liu Hui Zhen's family!
After the general meeting, Liu Hui Zhen pushed her small bamboo cart and walked towards the west wing with Shen You Tian, Shen You Chu, and Sun Xiu Ju.
Passing by Qin Huairu's door, Bang Geng saw Shen Yuan Chao's small bamboo cart and started crying again, "Waaah... waaaah..."
If Bang Geng could talk, he would definitely say he wanted the small bamboo cart too!
But in this era, this small bamboo cart was a luxury item. Even if they squeezed every last drop out of the Jia family, they might not be able to get one!
So, Bang Geng could only covet Shen Yuan Chao's small bamboo cart!
Jia Zhang Shi saw Bang Geng crying and felt heartbroken: "Liu Widow, when will you send your small bamboo cart to our house? If you make my grandson cry, will you be responsible?"
Qin Huairu also had red eyes: "Hui Zhen, our Bang Geng really likes it. Can you let him sit on it for a while? Just for a little bit. The child is crying so much, he might cry himself sick!"
Liu Hui Zhen was unsure what to do, but Shen You Tian climbed directly into the small bamboo cart and sat facing Shen Yuan Chao: "My brother and my small cart, no one can sit!"
Shen Yuan Chao wanted to give Shen You Tian a thumbs up. Baozi mother was too gentle, even if she didn't want to lend it, her social skills couldn't compare to Qin Huairu's.
But with Shen You Tian's outburst, people only thought that it was normal for children to be protective of their younger siblings.
No one could say a word against Liu Hui Zhen!
Shen You Tian and Shen You Chu's birthday was in August, so they were still considered three-year-old children!
Shen You Tian: "Sister Qin, you can't bully my brother because he can't talk. Bang Geng cries because he doesn't have a small cart, my brother also cries because he doesn't have a small cart, and besides, my brother was out in the cold and snow, and it affected his health!
Why don't you give my brother some milk first, and then let Bang Geng play with the small cart after he recovers?"
Shen You Chu and Shen You Tian clearly remembered that Qin Huairu had refused to give Shen Yuan Chao milk before.
Neighbors in the courtyard should always reciprocate kindness.
Qin Huairu's milk wasn't enough for Bang Geng, and she wouldn't give it to Shen Yuan Chao, so how could she have the face to borrow the small bamboo cart?
Qin Huairu's face stiffened. She didn't expect three-year-old Shen You Tian to have such a sharp tongue!
If she continued, she would be bullying a helpless orphan. She couldn't afford that reputation!
Seeing Qin Huairu's defeat, Shen Yuan Chao felt pleased. Bean Sprout sister was amazing! He would give her more kisses when he got back. He wouldn't dodge anymore!