socalfunplaces Chapter 118 Provoking the Birds 1
Chapter 118 Provoking the Birds 1
"Where are Lou Xiao'e's friends?!"
A loud voice shattered the tranquility of the courtyard, causing the locust tree leaves to rustle.
Before the words were even finished, a burly man wearing a white apron with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows pushed through the crowd and strode in. It was none other than Sha Zhu, who had just rushed back from the restaurant.
His forehead was covered in sweat, his cheeks were flushed, and his eyes scanned the crowd anxiously. His cloth shoes made a rapid "thump-thump-thump" sound on the bluestone slabs.
Behind him, Yan Bugui was hunched over, his hands on his knees, panting heavily. His gray hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to his forehead.
He was running so fast that his glasses tilted to one side, and he kept shouting, "Slow down...slow down, you silly Zhu! He's right here!"
Sha Zhu then noticed Lin Zhou and the other two standing by the stone table. He was about to step forward when he was stopped by the large crowd in the courtyard.
Before anyone knew it, the courtyard was already packed with people. People from the front and back yards crowded around the moon gate and under the eaves, completely surrounding Lin Zhou and his companions.
Curiosity and gossip filled everyone's faces. Adults tiptoed forward, while children, held in arms, clung to their parents' shoulders, peering out curiously.
In the early 1980s, although China had begun its reform and opening up, people still had little entertainment. This unexpected "friend of Lou Xiao'e" was like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, instantly disrupting the tranquility of the entire courtyard.
Lin Zhou glanced at the crowded people, his gaze landing precisely on a few key figures.
Under the east corner of the wall stood an old man named Yi Zhonghai. He was wearing a dark blue jacket with a front opening, holding a pipe in his hand, his brows furrowed, his face expressionless, but his cloudy eyes held a hint of vigilance that was hard to detect.
Beside him was Uncle Liu Haizhong, who had just come out of the room in the backyard, holding a palm-leaf fan in his hand. Hearing the commotion, he hurried over.
He was standing on tiptoe, trying to squeeze to the front, still maintaining his old-fashioned air: "Make way! Make way! What's all this fuss about?"
After catching his breath, Uncle Yan Bugui finally joined the front of the crowd. His small eyes darted around, glancing at Lin Zhou and then at Sha Zhu. He had pulled out his notebook again, ready to jot something down.
Qin Huairu stood not far from Sha Zhu, still clutching the bunch of unpicked long beans in her hand, her face pale and her eyes filled with panic.
Her mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi, had already squeezed to the front, her triangular eyes wide open, a gloating smile on her lips, looking like she was enjoying the show.
Outside the crowd, Xu Damao had somehow slipped in. He was wearing a fashionable floral shirt, and his hair was slicked back and shiny.
Upon hearing the name "Lou Xiao'e," her expression instantly changed, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes. Yet, she forced herself to remain calm and stood there, wanting to hear what Lin Zhou had to say.
Lin Zhou looked at the faces before him, each harboring their own thoughts, and sneered inwardly. These were the "protagonists" of the courtyard house, each shrewd and calculating, each with their own ulterior motives. Today, he was going to stir up this murky water.
He ignored the hasty Sha Zhu and instead turned his gaze to Yi Zhonghai in the corner. His voice, neither loud nor soft, clearly carried throughout the entire courtyard and reached everyone's ears.
"This must be Master Yi Zhonghai, right?"
Yi Zhonghai was taken aback, clearly not expecting Lin Zhou to call him out first. His grip on his pipe tightened, and his brow furrowed even more: "Comrade, you are…?"
"Who I am is not important." Lin Zhou interrupted him, a half-smile curving his lips. He glanced at everyone and said, word by word, "I've only heard Lou Xiao'e mention you."
She said that years ago, an old woman known as the Deaf Woman told her something in private—"Master Yi, you've lied to your wife your whole life."
The moment those words were spoken, the noise in the courtyard subsided by half. All eyes turned to Yi Zhonghai, their eyes filled with shock and confusion.
Yi Zhonghai's face darkened abruptly, and his hand gripping the pipe trembled slightly: "What nonsense are you spouting!"
"Nonsense?" Lin Zhou raised an eyebrow, his voice suddenly rising several decibels, striking everyone's hearts clearly. "Lou Xiao'e said that the person who couldn't have children back then wasn't your wife at all! It was you, Yi Zhonghai! Yet you made her bear the stigma of being a 'barren hen,' suffering a lifetime of misery!"
"boom!"
This sentence was like a thunderclap that exploded in the Intermediate People's Court!
The crowd erupted in cheers!
"What?! It's Yi Zhonghai who can't have children?"
"My God! This is a huge secret!"
"No wonder Yi Zhonghai never had children his whole life! So that's why! His wife was so wronged!"
The sounds of discussion, exclamations, and gasps mingled together, making one's ears ring.
Everyone looked at Yi Zhonghai with strange eyes, their gazes filled with shock, disdain, and the excitement of watching a spectacle unfold.
Yan Bugui's pencil fell to the ground with a "thud." He stared wide-eyed at Yi Zhonghai, his mouth agape as if he could fit an egg in it.
Uncle Liu Haizhong was stunned and the palm-leaf fan in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".
He never imagined that the respected old man in the courtyard would be hiding such a shocking secret!
Madam Jia slapped her thigh and shouted in a shrill voice, "Oh my! I knew it! No wonder Yi Zhonghai never had any children! It was his own fault! And he blamed his wife! That's so despicable!"
Her voice was shrill and piercing, instantly drowning out much of the chatter. Yi Zhonghai's face turned pale and then flushed, and he was trembling all over.
What he valued most in his life was his reputation. Having been a respected elder in the courtyard for so many years, he always acted as an elder and was respected by others.
But now, Lin Zhou's words have exposed his most shameful secret to everyone!
He was trembling with rage, pointing a finger at Lin Zhou, his lips quivering, unable to utter a complete sentence for a long time: "You...you...you're spouting nonsense! I'm going to sue you!"
"Sue me?" Lin Zhou sneered, looking at him coldly. "Master Yi, you know best whether you're making baseless accusations or not."
Lou Xiao'e told me that the deaf old lady had told her about this before she left Beijing.
And she also told me who the deaf old lady was. She was an old woman who had lived in this courtyard house her whole life. What couldn't she know?
Although the deaf old lady had passed away many years ago, she held immense prestige in the courtyard. Lin Zhou's mention of her name instantly boosted the credibility of his words; Lin Zhou wanted to extract some secrets from this person who was dead and had no way to verify them.
The murmurs among the crowd grew louder, and the looks directed at Yi Zhonghai became increasingly disdainful.
"So that's how it is! No wonder the deaf old lady was so protective of Yi Zhonghai back then!"
"Yi Zhonghai is so dishonest! He made his wife carry the blame for her whole life!"
"His wife is so pitiful; she carried this infamy until her death!"
Yi Zhonghai stood in the center of the crowd, enduring strange looks from all directions. He felt his face burning, as if he had been slapped hard several times.
He opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but found that he had no way to argue.
This was his deepest secret, and even the deaf old lady only found out about it by chance. He never imagined that Lou Xiao'e would know about it and would tell others about it!
Sha Zhu stood to the side, completely dumbfounded. He had rushed back excitedly, wanting to ask about Lou Xiao'e's situation, but he never expected to hear such explosive news. He looked at Yi Zhonghai, then at Lin Zhou, and for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Qin Huairu's face was as white as paper. She gripped the vegetables in her hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white. She never expected that Lin Zhou would target Yi Zhonghai so directly, and with such a ruthless move right from the start!
Xu Damao stood outside the crowd, a smug smile playing on his lips. He and Yi Zhonghai had always been at odds, and seeing Yi Zhonghai humiliated made him incredibly happy.
But amidst the exhilaration, he also felt a vague unease—who exactly was this Lin Zhou who had suddenly appeared? And where was Lou Xiao'e?
Lin Zhou looked at Yi Zhonghai's disheveled appearance and listened to the murmurs around him, but he remained completely unmoved. This was exactly the effect he wanted.
These "beasts" will strike at their sore spots, humiliate them, make them distrust each other, and turn this seemingly peaceful courtyard into complete chaos! If they want to retire, they should ruin their reputation first.