Chapter 41: The Entire Compound Meeting, Determining the Truth

At 8:00 PM, everyone in Courtyard 95, except for Xu Damao and Silly Zhu, had gathered in the middle courtyard to await the start of the full-院 meeting.

Mrs. Jia was currently in high spirits. Qin Min had taken over Jia Dongxu's job of sweeping the streets, leaving her free to simply eat, sleep, and lounge around the house all day. She found this lifestyle utterly delightful; her only remaining wish was to have a great-grandson.

To secure this precious great-grandson, Mrs. Jia treated Qin Min far less harshly than she had treated Qin Huairu in the original timeline. After all, Qin Min was pregnant, and she was counting on her to deliver a grandson for the Jia family.

"Qin Min, you need to hurry up and have this baby. I'll cover your work shifts for the time being."

Mrs. Jia beamed as she looked at Qin Min's increasingly prominent belly, discussing the matter with a warm smile.

"Alright, Mom, I'll listen to you in everything."

Qin Min felt immensely pleased. Although the living standards in the Jia household were quite poor, perspective mattered; compared to the countryside, city life was infinitely better.

Right now, Qin Min felt as though she had been born to be a urbanite, favored even by the heavens.

Look at her useless former husband—he hadn't even touched her, nor realized she wasn't a virgin, before he met his end. And as luck would have it, she had been impregnated by her old flame from the countryside, instantly cementing her status within the Jia family.

Little did Qin Min know, she was indulging in pure fantasy. The moment she gave birth to the child would mark the beginning of her deepest regrets.

The only reason Mrs. Jia was hiding her shrewish nature so successfully was out of fear that Qin Min might run away with the child.

Having settled the matter with Qin Min, Mrs. Jia glanced at her daughter-in-law, worrying that overexertion might harm her unborn grandson, and snapped angrily, "I say, First Uncle, you called for a full courtyard meeting, but it's already past eight! Why hasn't it started yet?"

Yi 中海 (Yi Zhonghai) was equally irritated. He never expected that at this late hour, Xu Damao and Silly Zhu would still be missing.

"Let's wait a little longer. As soon as Silly Zhu and Xu Damao get back, we'll begin..."

At that moment, Xu Damao and Silly Zhu returned. Xu Damao immediately plastered a smile on his face and apologized.

"Sorry, sorry, we're late."

Deep down, Xu Damao loathed Silly Zhu with a passion. He knew that Wang Lin had a weakness for women and, for reasons unknown, was capable of marrying multiple wives.

To win Wang Lin's favor, Xu Damao had decided to introduce Yu Haitang, the rolling mill's resident beauty, to him.

However, Silly Zhu had ruined the entire plan. The moment he saw Xu Damao continuously praising Wang Lin, Silly Zhu had rushed in to interfere.

Even so, Xu Damao had not given up on his plan; he simply decided to target someone else.

Seeing Xu Damao and Silly Zhu return together, and noting Xu Damao's cooperative attitude in admitting his fault, Yi Zhonghai decided not to make things difficult for him.

However, Yi Zhonghai now looked upon Silly Zhu with a certain degree of suspicion. Xu Damao's words had planted the seeds of doubt in his mind.

How had deaf granny managed to administer the poison? To be able to drug the entire courtyard without a single person noticing, there were only two individuals capable of such a feat: one was Silly Zhu's father, He Daqing, and the other was Silly Zhu himself.

After all, whenever there was an event in Courtyard 95 requiring a banquet, these two were invariably hired to do the cooking.

"The reason we are holding a full courtyard meeting today is because the police came to me with some information. They want all the men in the courtyard to go to the hospital for a medical checkup."

Liu Haizhong was extremely curious and asked, "Did the police give a reason?"

"That's right, why do we need a checkup? A medical examination costs a pretty penny."

Yan Buwei was equally reluctant. Medical checkups were expensive, and given that he had the largest family, his household would bear the heaviest financial burden.

"The police discovered a drug at deaf granny's place—a drug that renders people childless. Word is, a substantial amount of it was used."

Yi Zhonghai stated simply, choosing to omit his own private suspicions for the time being.

"What? A drug that makes people childless?"

Everyone's eyes immediately locked onto Yi Zhonghai. They were well aware that Yi Zhonghai's household had always been childless.

"That's right. Therefore, all male residents of the courtyard must go to the hospital tomorrow for an examination."

"Agreed."

This time, neither Liu Haizhong nor the tight-fisted Yan Bugui raised any objections.

As for why only the males needed to be examined, the reason was simple: in the prevailing societal mindset, sons were prized far above daughters, who would eventually marry out anyway. As long as they could ensure their sons were not destined for childlessness, that was all that mattered.

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai was about to wrap up the meeting, Xu Damao hastily intervened.

"I have something else to say! That scoundrel Silly Zhu loves kicking other people's most prized possessions. When I went for my medical checkup, my precious asset was kicked to pieces by Silly Zhu. We must punish him for this!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Jiecheng and Liu Guangqi, who were already feeling nervous, experienced a sudden chill between their legs.

The reason was simple: they too had fallen victim to Silly Zhu's signature kick to the groin in the past.

"No, it can't be... Is my precious asset ruined by Silly Zhu as well?"

The two young men instantly resolved that even if their fathers refused to fund their checkups or grant them permission to go, they would borrow the money if necessary to get themselves examined at the hospital.

"What? Such a thing happened?"

"Humph, watching Silly Zhu go around kicking people's groins, I knew sooner or later something would go wrong."

While some residents remained skeptical, Mrs. Jia proved to be an exception. Loving nothing more than chaos, she immediately began stoking the flames.

Yi Zhonghai's expression darkened; he felt as though Mrs. Jia was hurling veiled insults at him.

The reason was obvious: whenever Silly Zhu assaulted someone, Yi Zhonghai, acting as the First Uncle, always managed to sweep the matter under the rug. Otherwise, given Silly Zhu's volatile temper, he would have landed behind bars countless times by now.

"Mrs. Jia, stop talking nonsense. Xu Damao's case is an isolated incident. Apart from him, how many times has Silly Zhu actually hit anyone else? Besides, when Silly Zhu beat Xu Damao, wasn't it because Xu Damao was asking for trouble?"

Yi Zhonghai's words reassured Yan Jiecheng and Liu Guangqi to a large extent. Although Silly Zhu had bullied them when they were younger, it was indeed only on a few occasions.

The rest of the courtyard residents also felt that Yi Zhonghai made a valid point.

While Silly Zhu constantly clashed with Xu Damao, it was invariably because Xu Damao provoked him first.

Xu Damao cast a disdainful glance at Yi Zhonghai. Initially, he had intended to share his full suspicions with the older man, but at that moment, Xu Damao decided it was time to part ways with him entirely.

Little did Xu Damao know that Yi Zhonghai was far shrewder than he gave him credit for.

After Xu Damao had dropped those hints earlier that day, Yi Zhonghai had secretly visited the hospital for an examination. The results matched Xu Damao's claims precisely: he had indeed been rendered sterile by poison.

However, having been poisoned for so long, recovery was utterly impossible. He had no choice but to seriously consider who would look after him in his old age.

Silly Zhu had always been his designated candidate for old-age support. Now that Jia Dongxu was out of the picture, he certainly wasn't about to give up on Silly Zhu, even if the latter might have been the one who poisoned him.

Furthermore, Yi Zhonghai had already picked out a prospective wife for Silly Zhu. And she was none other than Qin Min, the wife of his precious disciple.

Choosing Qin Min was simple: she was easy to control, and moreover, he was confident he could easily lure her into his bed.

The thought that he would enjoy Silly Zhu's wife while Silly Zhu dutifully cared for him in his old age brought a smug sense of satisfaction to Yi Zhonghai; he felt as though he had exacted ultimate revenge.

"Very well, since everything has been made clear to everyone, you are all dismissed."

Liu Haizhong spoke up first, completely ignoring Yi Zhonghai's unsightly expression as he eagerly hurried over to ingratiate himself with Wang Lin.