Chapter 43: Compound Riot, Silly Zhu Beaten

After finishing lunch at noon, Wang Lin led Qin淮茹, Lou Xiaoe, and Chen Xueru into the courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui merely glanced at the three of them before looking away, sitting silently with gloomy and sorrowful expressions.

Aside from these three heads of the household, every single male resident in the courtyard wore a miserable and worried look.

Only Silly Zhu appeared full of vigor and immensely pleased with himself.

Upon seeing Xu Damao following closely behind Wang Lin, Silly Zhu immediately began to mock him.

"Damao, looks like you're going to be disappointed. This man here is still a hundred percent a real man."

"You..."

Xu Damao's expression turned ugly, but knowing he was no match for Silly Zhu, and having noticed the moment he stepped in that every man in the courtyard except Silly Zhu looked as gloomy as a gathering storm, he realized everything Wang Lin said must be true.

"Everyone, haven't you noticed? When you first moved into this courtyard, you were all perfectly capable of having children. But ever since Silly Zhu started cooking for events, you completely lost your reproductive abilities and became childless households."

Hearing Xu Damao's words, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui fell into deep thought.

Once they connected the dots, the truth immediately became crystal clear.

Yi Zhonghai had known He Daging in the past and had been reduced to a childless state because of him.

After Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui moved in, He Daging never hosted any more gatherings, which was why they had been able to have children.

However, ever since Jia Dongxu's wedding banquet last time, where Silly Zhu had been the head chef, they had all been poisoned and rendered infertile.

Since Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui already had sons and daughters—and quite a few sons at that—they didn't care as much, but the others certainly did.

A heavy, oppressive feeling weighed on their hearts, and they desperately needed a target to vent their frustration.

After listening to Xu Damao's explanation, everyone present figured out the whole picture.

In the entire courtyard, there were only two people capable of turning everyone into childless households without anyone noticing. One was He Daging, who had eloped with a widow, abandoning Silly Zhu and He Yushui, and the other was He Yuzhu, who had inherited He Daging's true culinary skills.

This time, even Yi Zhonghai did not step in to defend Silly Zhu. After all, he was a victim himself; what else could he do?

"First Uncle, you have to believe me, I really didn't do it on purpose."

Yi Zhonghai cast a venomous look at Silly Zhu and coldly demanded, "You want me to believe you? But if you don't even tell me the truth, how can I?"

Silly Zhu felt profoundly wronged.

"I'm innocent, First Uncle! I've always kept an eye on Deaf Old Lady, and she definitely went to see Xu Damao today..."

Seeing that Wang Lin was defending Xu Damao, Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong dropped the matter.

Let alone Liu Haizhong, even Yi Zhonghai, the most prominent First Uncle in the rolling mill, had no desire to provoke Wang Lin right now, not to mention that Liu Haizhong was currently acting as Wang Lin's lackey.

With a face as dark as a gathering storm, Liu Haizhong spoke up with a stern accusation.

"You claim you have nothing to do with this? Then explain this: why did the timing of my becoming childless match up so perfectly every single time?"

Silly Zhu stopped arguing. He wasn't a fool.

Even though he hadn't actually administered the poison, the matter was undoubtedly tied to him.

Forget the others; even Silly Zhu himself was starting to suspect that he was somehow responsible.

When Qin Huairu, Lou Xiaoe, and Chen Xueru witnessed this scene, all three of them were utterly dumbfounded.

"Darling, this courtyard is complete chaos. Did everyone here really end up childless?"

The three women found it hard to believe, and their gazes toward Silly Zhu were filled with horror.

Not only the three women, but Qin Min's expression was equally horrified.

Feeling the terrified gazes of the three women and Qin Min, Silly Zhu felt a bitter taste rise in his mouth.

He had grievances, but nowhere to voice them! For the first time, a deep sense of resentment toward Deaf Old Lady took root in Silly Zhu's heart.

"That damned old crone is truly evil. If it weren't for her, how could I have been framed by so many people?"

Seeing that Silly Zhu had stopped defending himself, Xu Damao sensed an opportunity. He was already in a foul mood today, and he decided to take it out on Silly Zhu to feel better.

Being cunning, Xu Damao knew he couldn't take Silly Zhu down alone, so he began instigating the other heartbroken residents in the courtyard.

"Brothers, Silly Zhu isn't even denying it anymore. We absolutely cannot let this culprit off the hook! Join me and teach him a lesson he won't forget!"

"That's right, let's beat Silly Zhu up!"

Prompted by Xu Damao, the courtyard, which had been quiet enough to hear a pin drop, instantly erupted.

Those male residents who had just been sitting in a daze, utterly despondent, suddenly surged forward with boiling rage and set upon Silly Zhu, delivering a brutal beating.

Xu Damao landed the most vicious blows of all.

Knowing that his own chronic injury had been caused by Silly Zhu's kick, Xu Damao seized the chance to exact full revenge.

Unnoticed by anyone, Xu Damao gathered all his strength and delivered two heavy, vicious kicks straight to Silly Zhu's most sensitive spot.

Those two kicks wrung a miserable shriek from Silly Zhu. He doubled over, clutching his ruined crotch, his eyes bulging in sheer agony.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai began to panic.

No matter what Silly Zhu had done in the past, he was his designated second-choice retirement caretaker—no, wait, he was his primary one now.

If Silly Zhu was finished, who would take care of him in his old age?

Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to step forward now, as this would surely earn him Silly Zhu's eternal gratitude.

"Everyone, stop! This might not have been Silly Zhu's doing. We can only blame ourselves for trusting Deaf Old Lady too much. None of us ever imagined she was that kind of person."

Yi Zhonghai paused, tossing out a hypothesis of his own.

"Don't forget, whenever our families had good food, we always shared some with Deaf Old Lady. It's very likely she applied the poison to the serving dishes back then. What do you all think?"

By now, everyone had vented their initial fury and realized that dwelling on it further was useless. They couldn't just murder Silly Zhu over this unless they wanted to end up in prison.

"Silly Zhu, are you alright?"

Yi Zhonghai hurried over to Silly Zhu, who was still clutching his crotch, and asked with apparent concern.

It had to be said that Yi Zhonghai was a master of pretense. If he had truly wanted to protect Silly Zhu, why hadn't he spoken up before the beating started? Waiting until Silly Zhu was battered to the point of being unable to get up before stepping in made his intervention entirely meaningless.

Yet Silly Zhu lacked the capacity for such deep thought; instead, he was convinced that Yi Zhonghai was the only truly good person in the entire courtyard.

Didn't he see that everyone else had stayed silent, simply watching him get beaten by the mob, while Yi Zhonghai was the only one who stepped in to rescue him?

"Th-Thank you, First... Uncle."

Because of the excruciating pain, Silly Zhu's words came out in stuttering gasps.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai felt immensely pleased inside.

"You deserve it! For helping your bastard father slip childless-inflicting poison to the whole courtyard, you deserve to share our fate and become childless too."

Despite these thoughts, he maintained a look of deep concern for Silly Zhu, acting as if he were heartbroken and outraged by the severe injuries inflicted on the younger man.

"How could you people hit him this hard? Why are you just standing there? Go find a flatbed cart and take Silly Zhu to the hospital immediately!"

Faced with Yi Zhonghai's feigned anger, the men who had beaten Silly Zhu snapped back to their senses. Seeing Silly Zhu's agonizing state, panic set in, and they quickly rushed out to find a cart.

Because of the chaos surrounding the poison incident in the courtyard, Wang Lin's return with yet another beautiful woman went completely unnoticed for the time being.

However, going unnoticed today did not mean it would stay that way tomorrow. Soon enough, because of Chen Xueru, the flock of beasts in the courtyard would find a new reason to target Wang Lin.