Courtyard House: From Bloodsucking Jia Zhangshi to Industrial Giant

Chapter 8 Standing on the Moral High Ground!

"Ever since Old Jia passed away, the Jia family's life has been worse than ever. With five mouths to feed, only Jia Dongxu earns money. Normally, they consider it a holiday if they eat a meal of steamed buns made from two kinds of flour!"

Xiao Dang is a sick child, and Bang Geng and his grandmother eat a lot.

With many children and limited rations, Jia Dongxu's monthly salary was never enough, and he had to borrow some money from his master every now and then...

Yan Bugui embellished the story, exaggerating the extent of the Jia family's existence and depicting their life as a living hell.

In his view, all human interactions are based on a scale, and ultimately it's all about the exchange of interests. Zhang Chengfei came to claim kinship because the Jia family is from the capital and lives a better life than people from other places; he was there to take advantage of them.

When he heard that the Jia family was having a hard time, he would definitely turn around and run away, afraid of having any connection with the Jia family again, and afraid of being entangled with Zhang Erya.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chengfei did not run away after hearing this. Instead, he sighed and said, "It's all my fault for not coming sooner. If I had recognized my relatives earlier, I could have given five yuan of the school's ten-yuan monthly living allowance to Er Ya."

His voice held a hint of pity for his chubby niece: "Five yuan a month may not be much, but it can relieve Er Ya's family's immediate financial burden. Third Uncle, don't you agree?"

"Huh?" Yan Bugui was dumbfounded, thinking to himself, "How come you, a big, handsome young man with thick eyebrows, are not working properly?"

Did I tell you all that so you could subsidize the Jia family? I told you to run! Why didn't you run?!

You're even offering money as a subsidy? If you have money, give it to me, and I'll call you Third Uncle, no, Third Master!

Damn it, my dislike level has increased by 68!

After waving goodbye to Yan Bugui, Zhang Chengfei continued walking forward. Just as he reached the entrance of the public toilet, he saw Aunt Erda waiting there.

"Er Ya's third uncle..." Second Aunt hesitated, unsure how to begin.

According to custom, she and Zhang Erya are of the same generation, so she should also call him Third Uncle.

But faced with such a young face, she couldn't bring herself to call him that, and could only vaguely refer to Zhang Chengfei as "Er Ya's third uncle".

Zhang Chengfei thought to himself, "I've sent one away, and another one keeps coming. But this is just right, I can gain another wave of dislike points."

He straightened his collar and stepped forward: "And you are?"

"I'm also from compound number 95. I live in the backyard. Dongxu calls me Second Aunt, but you can just call me Chrysanthemum," Second Aunt said awkwardly.

"Isn't it inappropriate to call you that?" Zhang Chengfei paused for a moment. "I'll just call you Second Auntie instead."

"Either is fine." The second aunt didn't want to argue with Zhang Chengfei about how to address him; she was waiting here for important business.

"Third Uncle, I heard you haven't seen Zhang Erya for many years?"

"The last time we met, I was only twelve years old."

The second aunt lowered her voice: "Do you know what your eldest niece is like now?"

Zhang Chengfei also lowered his voice to ask, mimicking her, "How is it?"

"Four words! Selfish, shrewish, and cunning!" Aunt Er slapped her thigh.

Zhang Chengfei corrected: "These are eight characters."

"Don't worry about the details!" Auntie Er slapped her thigh again. "Just ask around the whole Nanluoguxiang area, everyone knows Zhang Erya is a shameless, scoundrel, and unreasonable scoundrel!"

She talked on and on, starting with Zhang Erya selling cardboard boxes and sprinkling water, then talking about how the Jia family behaved in the courtyard, and how Jia Zhangshi caused trouble by crying, making a scene, and threatening to hang herself, tormenting the entire courtyard.

He slapped his thigh for the third time: "In short, anyone who gets involved with Zhang Erya is incredibly unlucky!"

After saying that, he secretly observed Zhang Chengfei through his chubby eyes, thinking to himself, "I've described Zhang Erya's shrewishness and difficulty to the fullest extent. I don't believe you won't have some doubts in your heart!"

After listening, Zhang Chengfei thought to himself, "This is nothing compared to what Zhang Erya has done in those fanfictions. What you're saying is child's play."

You may feel bored and dull inside, but you can't say that outwardly.

He looked at the expectant aunt, his expression turning indignant: "Is everything you're saying true?"

The second aunt nodded vigorously: "Of course it's true, and I haven't even told you what's even more outrageous!"

"This is absolutely outrageous!" Zhang Chengfei roared.

"That's right, Zhang Erya is just that outrageous!" Aunt Er echoed.

"I'm talking about you! You've gone too far!" Zhang Chengfei pointed at the second aunt's nose.

The second aunt looked completely bewildered: "What? What did you say?"

Zhang Chengfei glared at her angrily: "Although I am young, I remember when our Er Ya was in Lijiazhuang, she was gentle and lovely. She never raised her voice to anyone and would not even step on an ant if she encountered one!"

In the village, she was the kind of person who would turn the other cheek even if someone slapped her on the right!

But when they got to your courtyard house, they were completely different people! What does that tell you?

Aunt Er was pondering what Zhang Chengfei had described, wondering what it had to do with Zhang Erya. Hearing his question, she didn't have time to think and murmured, "What does it mean?"

Zhang Chengfei took a deep breath and roared again, "Even a rabbit will bite when cornered! This shows that our Er Ya has been bullied too badly in your courtyard, and she's finally snapped!"

He pointed behind him toward the courtyard house: "What kind of courtyard could drive someone to this? This, this isn't a courtyard, this is clearly the cannibalistic old society!"

He made a move to leave, muttering to himself that he was determined to report the matter to the local street office and have them thoroughly investigate it.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Er panicked. She knew that even if Zhang Chengfei went to the neighborhood committee, it wouldn't solve anything. But her husband was Uncle Er, the head of the courtyard house!

If they let him cause trouble in the neighborhood, wouldn't Director Wang think that her husband, Lao Liu, is incompetent and can't even handle such a small matter?

To put it mildly, this is just creating trouble for the neighborhood committee and increasing their workload. But to put it more seriously, oh my god, it might affect Old Liu's career!

Thinking of this, the second aunt panicked and grabbed Zhang Chengfei's clothes: "Third Uncle, don't worry, I was just joking with you."

"Are you kidding?" Zhang Chengfei glanced at her sideways. "You mean no one is bullying our Er Ya?"

"No one is bullying her!"

"Then how did our Er Ya go from being gentle and lovely to becoming selfish, ruthless, and shameless?" Zhang Chengfei persisted.

Aunt Er gritted her teeth and stamped her foot: "I already said I was just joking. Er Ya is not selfish at all. She is selfless, gentle, reasonable, and a good neighbor. She is a truly wonderful person!"

"Really?" Zhang Chengfei looked at her suspiciously.

Auntie Er, steeling herself, lied and commented, "Of course it's true! I, Li Juhua, have lived for fifty years and have never seen a better neighbor than Zhang Erya!"