Chapter 4: There Is Only One Demand

"Take the money and get the hell out! The Jia family doesn't welcome you!"

Jia Dongxu, who had been trembling behind Mrs. Jia, suddenly darted out.

His posturing, aggressive demeanor was just like that of a traitorous collaborator.

When Li Aiguo glared at him, he shrank back in fear, drawing jeers from the residents.

"I said earlier that I came to collect two debts today. That was just the first one."

A cold sneer curled the corner of Li Aiguo's mouth.

Under Yi Zhonghai's gloomy gaze, he slowly unbuttoned his jacket and tossed it to the ground.

His bare upper body was revealed.

It was covered in wounds of varying depths, each one like a twisted centipede, as if he had been subjected to torture... it was a shocking sight.

*Hiss.*

A gasp echoed through the room. Director Wang and Zhou Tiehu’s faces turned ashen.

"What is going on? Who did this!"

Director Wang was overcome with fury, losing her usual composure.

With so many gruesome wounds, some even in vital areas, the person who did this clearly intended to kill.

"Brother Li, I have failed you!"

Zhou Tiehu slammed his chest hard, then looked up and glared at Director Wang.

"The workshop handed Aiguo over to your neighborhood office. Is this what you call taking care of him?"

"I..."

Director Wang was speechless, rubbing her head in pain.

"Foreman Zhou, don't worry. I will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation today."

She strode over to Li Aiguo, picked up his jacket, dusted it off, and carefully helped him put it back on.

"Aiguo, who did this!"

Seeing the situation turning sour, Yi Zhonghai hurriedly stood up, smiling obsequiously: "Director Wang, it’s all a misunderstanding. A few kids were just playing around, no need to make a big deal out of it..."

"I wasn't asking you. Sit down!"

Director Wang glared fiercely at Yi Zhonghai.

The trouble was huge this time. Although Yi Zhonghai was unwilling, he had no choice but to sit down.

He regretted not checking the extent of Li Aiguo's injuries at the time.

If he had been a bit more ruthless back then, there wouldn't be this trouble today.

Now, he could only hope that Li Aiguo would be sensible and not reveal everything.

If it were the old Li Aiguo, he might have compromised, fearing that he would have to continue living in the courtyard and afraid of offending these animals.

But.

The current Li Aiguo knew the plot and had long since seen the true faces of these animals.

Master Lu once said: "The brave, when angry, draw their swords against the stronger; the cowardly, when angry, draw their swords against the weaker."

These animals were the "cowardly."

They only dared to bully the "weak."

Li Aiguo recounted the beating, his voice deepening: "Among those who attacked me that day were Jia Dongxu, He Yuzhu, Liu Guangqi, and Liu Guangtian."

Those named turned pale as death.

Jia Dongxu, not knowing when he had hidden behind Mrs. Jia again, timidly poked his head out: "I... I only kicked him twice at the end. Li Aiguo was mainly beaten by Shazhu and the others, especially Shazhu—he was really ruthless."

"Jia Dongxu, what nonsense are you spouting! If you hadn't come to beg me, would I have helped you deal with Li Aiguo?" Shazhu retorted in a panic.

Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangtian were not in the room, so the Second Master, Liu Haizhong, hurriedly stood up: "My Guangqi and Guangtian were just keeping watch, especially Guangtian, who isn't even ten years old. The real culprits are Jia Dongxu and Shazhu."

The Second Aunt, holding Liu Guangfu, wailed: "They caught the one holding the cow, so they'll catch the one pulling the stake! Our Liu family is truly cursed for eight lifetimes!"

"Second Master, Second Aunt, don't talk nonsense! My Dongxu saw with his own eyes that Liu Guangtian handed Shazhu the stick." Mrs. Jia wouldn't have it; she stood up and shouted loudly.

"Old sister-in-law, no matter how much you talk, it’s a fact that Guangtian and the others went to help Jia Dongxu."

Liu Haizhong pointed at Mrs. Jia's nose and said: "Jia Dongxu ran to my house and told Guangqi and Guangtian that he suspected Qin Huairu had been bullied by Li Aiguo long ago, and asked them to help him vent his anger. Your Jia Dongxu is the mastermind!"

"Mastermind your mother's leg! If you keep spouting nonsense, I'll crush you with my crotch!"

Mrs. Jia’s eyes turned bloodshot. She rolled up her sleeves and charged at Liu Haizhong, ready to mount him and attack.

Liu Haizhong was a big, burly man. As a blacksmith, he had swung heavy hammers for years, and his combat power far exceeded Shazhu's.

Yet, facing a desperate, shameless old hag, he was restrained, and in the blink of an eye, two bloody scratches appeared on his face.

On the other side, Jia Dongxu and Shazhu were also at each other's throats.

Because Qin Huairu was nearby, Shazhu couldn't make a move, so the two could only trade insults.

In an instant, the room descended into chaos.

Director Wang's face turned black.

*Slap!*

She slammed her hand on the table.

"Is this appropriate? Is this appropriate! It’s a complete mess! Yi Zhonghai, is this your so-called civilized courtyard?"

Cold sweat poured down Yi Zhonghai's face. He stepped forward, trying to pull Mrs. Jia off Liu Haizhong.

But Mrs. Jia was having too much fun and ignored him completely.

Mrs. Jia was only in her forties and was quite plump, fair and fat.

As the saying goes, fat people have strength.

Mrs. Jia truly had brute force; Yi Zhonghai pulled twice but couldn't budge her.

He had to lean into her ear and whisper: "Old sister-in-law, give me some face. You don't want Jia Dongxu to fail his second-grade machinist exam, do you?"

Mrs. Jia shuddered and reluctantly climbed off Liu Haizhong.

Jia Dongxu had been a machinist for five years but was still a first-grade machinist, earning only 27.5 yuan a month.

In this day and age, the promotion exam for machinists wasn't as hard as one might think.

Once a worker entered the factory, as long as they worked hard, they could usually be promoted to a second-grade machinist within two or three years.

But.

Jia Dongxu was too stupid. Even with Yi Zhonghai, a master craftsman, teaching him hand-in-hand, he couldn't learn.

The only way to get promoted to a second-grade machinist was to cheat.

Coincidentally, Yi Zhonghai was in charge of the rolling mill's machinist promotion exam this year.

However, Liu Haizhong couldn't be let off lightly either.

The moment Mrs. Jia stood up, she didn't forget to spit out a thick glob of yellow phlegm.

The phlegm landed right on the tip of Liu Haizhong's nose.

*Ugh...*

Seeing that the courtyard had descended into a complete mess before Director Wang had even started her investigation, Yi Zhonghai knew that today's matter would be hard to resolve peacefully.

He smiled awkwardly and walked up to Li Aiguo.

"Aiguo, I watched you grow up.

You, Yuzhu, Dongxu, Guangtian, and Guangfu are all good brothers.

What they did was indeed excessive.

I'll have them apologize to you in a moment."

"If apologies were useful, what would we need the police station and the neighborhood office for?"

Li Aiguo squinted at Yi Zhonghai: "I only have one demand: arrest everyone who beat me, and then compensate me for my medical expenses."

"You..."

Yi Zhonghai hadn't expected Li Aiguo to be so ungrateful.

His thoughts stalled, and he coughed lightly: "Aiguo, we are all neighbors in the courtyard. We have to see each other often in the future; there's no need to tear each other apart, right?"

"Now you want to talk about being neighbors? When they were beating me, why didn't they think about the fact that I was their neighbor too?"

"..."

Seeing that Li Aiguo's attitude was as hard as a steel nail, Yi Zhonghai was at a loss.

Seeing that Jia Dongxu was about to go to jail, Mrs. Jia turned and glared at Qin Huairu: "You little slut, I told you long ago that you were a husband-killing vixen and shouldn't have let Dongxu marry you. Now look, Dongxu is going to jail. It’s all your fault."

"Aunt Jia, don't say that about Sister Qin. This is all Li Aiguo's fault," Shazhu chimed in, defending Qin Huairu.

Mrs. Jia widened her eyes, about to spit in Shazhu's face.

Suddenly, she thought of something, swallowed her spit, and smiled at Shazhu.

Then, she stood up and ran to Yi Zhonghai's ear to whisper a few words.

Yi Zhonghai's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.