Chapter 47: The New Resident of Courtyard Number 95

"Hello, is this Number 95, N鑼guǒxiāng Courtyard?"

"Yes, young man. And you are?"

Yan Fugui looked at the young man standing before him. He was dressed in ragged clothes, frail of build, and reeked of a refugee running from hardship. At first glance, Yan Fugui lost all interest. However, the little girl standing behind the young man looked to be about ten years old, and she clearly possessed the budding features of a future beauty.

Upon seeing the little girl, a thought of taking her in as a child bride crossed Yan Fugui's mind.

The young man took out the residence certificate issued by the neighborhood committee, the household registration booklet, and the employment introduction letter from the rolling mill, saying, "Hello, I am You Jianguo, the new purchasing agent at the rolling mill, and this is my younger sister, You Fengxia. The neighborhood committee assigned us a place to live here."

Yan Fugui glanced at the documents, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. The desire to secure You Fengxia grew even stronger in his heart.

A smile crept across Yan Fugui's weathered face as he said, "I am Yan Fugui, the Third Master of this courtyard. Let me show you to your place."

One had to admit that Li Huaide took very good care of You Jianguo and You Fengxia. The rooms assigned to them were also located in the rear courtyard, right next door to Wang Lin's house.

"You're actually given these rooms!"

Seeing the spacious rooms, Yan Fugui felt an indescribable surge of envy. But because he had bigger designs in mind, he had to forcefully suppress his inner greed.

Yet, as Yan Fugui led You Jianguo toward the rear courtyard, Mrs. Jia could no longer contain her own greed. Hearing that these three rooms had been assigned to those two refugee brats, Mrs. Jia stepped forward and began to kick up a fuss.

"You must be the newcomers! Coming into our courtyard means you have to play by our courtyard's rules. Let me tell you, out of these three rooms, you must hand two over to our Jia family!"

Mrs. Jia felt she had grown wiser. How did that saying go again? Leave a line for yourself today so you can meet again tomorrow.

Believing that leaving one room for You Jianguo and You Fengxia to live in made her as merciful as the Goddess of Mercy, Mrs. Jia fancied herself quite generous.

Because Yan Fugui was still plotting to make You Fengxia his daughter-in-law and wanted to pave the way for a better life in the future, he had no choice but to step forward.

"Mrs. Jia, stop making a blind scene. These rooms were assigned by the neighborhood committee."

Yan Fugui's unusual reaction took Mrs. Jia by complete surprise.

Given Yan Fugui's stingy nature, he should have backed her up at a time like this. After some chaotic bickering, not only would her Jia family get to eat meat, but Yan Fugui and the others would also get a share of the spoils. Why wouldn't he want that?

The calculating Yan Fugui had unexpectedly changed his tune today and refused to stand on her side. Mrs. Jia felt as though she had lost all her face.

She continued her unreasonable uproar. "Even neighborhood assignments have to follow a first-come, first-served basis! My family applied to the neighborhood committee for these rooms long before Dongxu got injured. Don't you all agree these rooms should be given to me?"

Surrounded by a crowd of onlookers and facing the accusations of these heartless beasts, timid little You Fengxia instantly felt tears well up in her big, watery eyes.

Even You Jianguo, her older brother, was having a hard time of it. Yet, realizing that their family needed him to be the pillar of strength, he knew he had to face the hardships and obstacles ahead. Finally, he stepped forward.

"I will not give you our house!"

"Oh, my goodness! You little bastard, do you know anything about respecting your elders? I am practically your ancestor!"

Mrs. Jia shrieked with absolute glee, even resorting to pulling rank based on her age. In short, her stance was simple: if you don't give me the house today, I'm not leaving. I'll block your doorway.

Seeing this, Yan Fugui had no choice but to cast his gaze toward Yi Zhonghai.

Initially, Yi Zhonghai had no desire to get involved in Mrs. Jia's mess. Besides, his own family affairs were already driving him crazy with a splitting headache; how could he possibly find the time to meddle in other people's business?

However, when Yan Fugui's pleading gaze landed right behind him, Yi Zhonghai knew he couldn't dodge the bullet today.

He once again put on a solemn, towering posture of moral authority.

"Hello, I am the First Master of the courtyard. Let me say a fair word: you really ought to donate these rooms to the Jia family. There are only two of you; you simply can't live in so many rooms, and having that many is just a waste. But the Jia family is different. Right now, the Jia family only has Mrs. Jia and her daughter-in-law, and her daughter-in-law is even pregnant. They say a distant relative isn't as good as a close neighbor. As neighbors, wouldn't it be unreasonable for you not to help out the Jia family?"

Just at that moment, Qin Huairu, Lou Xiao'e, and Chen Xueru walked out, having caught wind of the commotion outside the passageway. They came over strictly to watch the show.

As they watched, however, they realized that the young man was far too green. He was on the verge of yielding under just a few sentences of Yi Zhonghai's moral kidnapping.

"Hey, Yi Zhonghai, what you're saying isn't right, is it?"

It was Chen Xueru who spoke. Compared to Qin Huairu and Lou Xiao'e, Chen Xueru was much better suited for confronting people head-on.

"Even if rooms needed to be cleared out, it wouldn't be your place to hand them over! Who do you think you are? Aren't you Jia Dongxu's master? Jia Dongxu got into an accident, and the Jia family needs support—shouldn't that support come from you yourself? What's this? You're too stingy to part with your own things, so you use other people's property to buy yourself a good reputation?"

Yi Zhonghai's expression turned dark as ink. He never imagined that Wang Lin wasn't even around today, yet one of the women from Wang Lin's circle would dare to openly challenge him and expose his scheming plot right out in the open.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Careful I don't sue you for defamation and get Wang Lin to chase you out of the courtyard!"

Yi Zhonghai's words sounded fierce, but he was putting up a bold front—it was merely his last resort to scare people.

Qin Huairu let out a sneer of utter contempt, glaring at Yi Zhonghai. "You think you have the power to kick my sisters out? Who do you think you are?"

"Fine, fine, very well! You lot are something else, don't wait until—"

Just as Yi Zhonghai's face darkened like stormy weather and he was about to continue threatening Qin Huairu, Wang Lin walked in, directly cutting him off mid-sentence.

"First Master, your bias is leaning so far it makes me feel like you're hardly fit to be the First Master anymore."

Hearing Wang Lin's voice, Qin Huairu and the other two women all trotted over to his side like eager little puppies.

"Wang Lin."

Seeing that Wang Lin refused to give him any face—and having been the cause of his wife divorcing him—Yi Zhonghai's eyes turned red with deep-seated hatred the moment they met.

Hearing Yi Zhonghai utter Wang Lin's name, You Fengxia squeezed out from behind You Jianguo. Taking quick little steps, she hurried directly to Wang Lin's side and said timidly, "Brother Wang Lin, Li Huaide told me to come look for you. That over there is my older brother, You Jianguo."

Looking at the obedient and adorable You Fengxia, Wang Lin felt an immense wave of fondness. Unfortunately, she was still far too young; for now, he could only take care of her properly like a little sister.

"Jianguo, come over here. Today, your Brother Wang has got your back. As long as I'm around, let's see who dares to lay a hand on your house."

Yi Zhonghai turned his head to look for Mrs. Jia. He intended to persuade her to let You Jianguo and his sister off the hook for now and deal with them properly after Wang Lin left.

Yet, the moment Yi Zhonghai turned around, he found no trace of Mrs. Jia anywhere. She had already fled back home long ago.

The paralyzing terror of Wang Lin had been deeply etched into the very core of Mrs. Jia's heart.