At that moment.
The courtyard compound was already crowded with people.
Everyone sat together, discussing the matter in small groups.
Second Uncle Liu Haizhong saw that only Ye Jianguo's family had yet to arrive.
His face darkened with anger as he scolded them:
“What is wrong with Ye Jianguo?”
“The ten minutes are almost up, and he still has not arrived. He has absolutely no sense of discipline.”
Xu Damao hurriedly chimed in, “That bastard is probably feeling guilty and does not dare come.”
Lou Xiaoe looked at Xu Damao and said angrily, “Xu Damao, did you not already say it?”
“Our chickens were absolutely not stolen by Ye Jianguo and his family.”
Xu Damao shouted angrily, “Shut up.”
“It was definitely stolen by that bastard Ye Jianguo.”
Xu Damao was furious at Lou Xiaoe's words.
Was this woman really his wife?
How could she help an outsider at a time like this?
She was simply detestable.
When Lou Xiaoe heard Xu Damao's words, her eyes reddened with anger.
She had never expected Xu Damao, who normally did not dare shout at her, to actually tell her to shut up in front of everyone.
This had never happened before.
She angrily turned her head away, unwilling to look at Xu Damao anymore.
Seeing this, the others also began discussing it in hushed voices.
In particular, when Sha Zhu saw Xu Damao and Lou Xiaoe arguing, the smugness on his face grew even stronger.
Just as he was about to speak to Qin Huairu sitting beside him, he noticed what appeared to be a palm print on her cheek.
He hurriedly asked with concern, “Sister Qin, what happened to your face?”
Qin Huairu's whole body trembled. Her eyes reddened, and she gently shook her head.
Sha Zhu was about to say something else when several people walked over from the rear courtyard.
It was Ye Jianguo, Liu Qian, and the others.
After walking over, they casually found a place and sat down.
Second Uncle Liu Haizhong was very displeased.
He scolded them, “Ye Jianguo, what is the meaning of this?”
“Do you have any sense of discipline at all?”
“How can you make the entire family wait for you?”
Jia Zhangshi immediately chimed in, “A person like this deserves severe punishment. Better yet, drive him out of the courtyard compound.”
She never passed up an opportunity to attack Ye Jianguo.
Ye Jianguo glanced indifferently at bureaucrat-obsessed Liu Haizhong and mocked him, “Did you not say that we were to gather after ten minutes?”
“I was not late. You came early.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“How laughable!”
Second Uncle Liu Haizhong was momentarily speechless.
He had not expected that Ye Jianguo would become so sharp-tongued.
Just as he was about to argue back, First Uncle Yi Zhonghai spoke.
He looked at Second Uncle Liu Haizhong and said, “All right, Second Uncle. Since everyone is here, let us begin.”
Although Second Uncle Liu Haizhong was furious, he could only grit his teeth and nod.
Afterward.
He took a deep breath, looked at everyone, and adopted an official tone:
“The reason everyone has been summoned to hold this whole-compound assembly is that one of Xu Damao's old hens was stolen.”
“The nature of this matter is extremely vile. No one in our courtyard compound has ever lost anything before, yet now a thief has appeared.”
“Therefore, we must identify and catch this thief.”
“As it happens, someone in our courtyard compound cooked chicken tonight. I imagine many of you smelled that chicken soup.”
“That person is Ye Jianguo.”
“Xu Damao now strongly suspects that his old hen was stolen by Ye Jianguo.”
“Everyone also knows what kind of person this street loafer Ye Jianguo is. Thus, after learning about this matter, I also felt that it must receive severe punishment.”
“That is why I summoned everyone to this meeting.”
“That is the whole matter.”
As soon as Second Uncle Liu Haizhong finished speaking, everyone began discussing it in hushed voices.
“So that bastard Ye Jianguo was the one who cooked the chicken soup.”
“I was just cursing whoever had cooked chicken soup. So it was that bastard Ye Jianguo. The soup smells incredibly good.”
“Does a street loafer like Ye Jianguo have money to buy chicken?”
“I think so too. Maybe Ye Jianguo is the chicken thief.”
“.......”
Hearing everyone's discussion,
Xu Damao spoke at just the right moment, “Everyone must know that these two old hens of mine were given to me by a rural commune.”
“I have always been reluctant to slaughter them for food.”
“I intended to keep these two old hens until Xiao'e became pregnant and entered postpartum confinement, then slaughter them to nourish her.”
“But now someone has stolen them.”
“This person must receive severe punishment and compensate me.”
“Otherwise, I absolutely will not let this go!”
Sha Zhu had always disliked Xu Damao.
Whenever he saw Xu Damao speak, he could not help but trade a few barbs with him.
Now that Qin Huairu appeared to have been hit, he felt deeply distressed, yet there was nothing he could do.
Therefore,
he was inexplicably irritable.
He immediately retorted, “You are talking about pregnancy and postpartum confinement? You two—can you even have children?”
“If you could, you would have had one by now.”
“In my opinion, she is simply a hen that cannot lay eggs.”
As soon as Sha Zhu said this,
everyone burst into laughter.
Lou Xiaoe and Xu Damao had been married for three years, yet still had no children.
They had often discussed it in private.
They all said that Lou Xiaoe was a hen that could not lay eggs.
Now that Sha Zhu had made the matter so explicit, they all burst out laughing.
When Lou Xiaoe heard Sha Zhu's words and saw the others laughing, she was finally reduced to tears of anger.
She angrily berated Sha Zhu, “Sha Zhu, what nonsense are you spouting?”
“You damn bastard!”
“You are the hen that cannot lay eggs!”
After Lou Xiaoe finished cursing him, her tears would not stop flowing.
This had always been a source of anguish for her.
Yet.
Now Sha Zhu had brought it up in front of so many people.
It made her furious.
It made her feel awful.
Especially since Xu Damao had just shouted at her.
The two pent-up emotions surged together, directly crushing Lou Xiaoe.
Xu Damao ground his teeth and said, “Sha Zhu, keep talking nonsense and I will tear that foul mouth of yours apart!”
Xu Damao had already been in a foul mood because one of his old hens had been stolen.
Now.
After being mocked by Sha Zhu again, he exploded with rage.
It had to be known that
their childlessness was not only a source of anguish for Lou Xiaoe, but also for Xu Damao.
After all,
whenever people criticized Lou Xiaoe, Xu Damao was criticized for the same thing as well.
Therefore,
he was furious now and wished he could get into a serious fight with Sha Zhu.
However,
Sha Zhu was completely unafraid.
He was a hoodlum by nature.
And he was already feeling depressed.
He did not care what Lou Xiaoe or Xu Damao thought.
He simply wanted to make Xu Damao miserable with his retorts.
The angrier Xu Damao became, the happier Sha Zhu was.
He mocked him, “Did I say anything wrong?”
“How long have you two been married? Three years, right?”
“Look at Ye Jianguo, who married at around the same time as you. He and his wife already have a pair of twins.”
“And you? Not a sign of anything.”
“If she is not a hen that cannot lay eggs, then what is she?”
When Lou Xiaoe heard Sha Zhu's words, her whole body trembled with even greater anger, and her tears flowed without end.
She cursed through her tears, “Sha Zhu, you bastard!”
Liu Qian, who was sitting beside Ye Jianguo, could not stand it any longer.
She said angrily, “Sha Zhu, you have gone too far.”
“Is that any way to speak to someone?”
Afterward.
She went to Lou Xiaoe's side and comforted her.
Sha Zhu was about to say something else when First Uncle Yi Zhonghai finally spoke.
He said, “All right, Sha Zhu. Shut up.”
“What we need to do now is find the thief who stole Xu Damao's old hen, not quarrel.”
At this point,
Yi Zhonghai paused, then looked at Ye Jianguo and asked, “Ye Jianguo, Xu Damao says you stole his old hen. What do you have to say in your defense?”
Xu Damao immediately glared viciously at Ye Jianguo and said, “Ye Jianguo, you definitely stole my old hen, did you not?”
Jia Zhangshi immediately added, “That bastard Ye Jianguo definitely stole it.”
“Everyone must know that this bastard Ye Jianguo is a gambling addict. It is impossible for him to have any money on him.”
“Besides, have any of you ever seen Ye Jianguo buy meat and bring it home during all this time?”
“Therefore, I dare say that Xu Damao's chicken was absolutely stolen by Ye Jianguo.”
“Ye Jianguo is the chicken thief.”
Jia Zhangshi was unwilling to remain a mere bystander.
She wanted to join the fray.
She wanted to target Ye Jianguo viciously.
She wanted revenge.
She wanted everyone to know that Ye Jianguo was the chicken thief.
She wished nothing more than to drive Ye Jianguo out of the courtyard compound.
After Liu Qian comforted Lou Xiaoe for a while, she heard everyone targeting her husband.
She said angrily, “You are all wronging Jianguo.”
“The chicken Xu Damao lost was an old hen, but the chicken Jianguo bought was a rooster.”
“They are completely different kinds of chickens, all right?”
As soon as Liu Qian said this, everyone was stunned.
Ye Jianguo's chicken was a rooster?
If that was true, then Ye Jianguo could not be the chicken thief.
After all,
Xu Damao had only lost an old hen.
Could the chicken thief be someone else?
Jia Zhangshi snorted and said, “Who knows whether you are lying?”
“Just because you say it was a rooster, that makes it a rooster?”
Everyone listened.
And they felt that Jia Zhangshi's words made sense.
This was merely Liu Qian's one-sided statement.
Liu Qian was enraged.
She was about to retort again when Ye Jianguo, holding Tuantuan and Yuanyuan, spoke.
He looked at Jia Zhangshi with an ambiguous smile and said, “Old hag, you keep insisting that I stole the chicken. Are you really so certain it was me?”
Jia Zhangshi snorted. “It was definitely you.”
“You are a street loafer and a gambling addict. There is no way you could have had money to buy chicken.”
“You definitely stole it.”
Ye Jianguo suddenly laughed.
He said, “Since that is the case, do you dare swear an oath?”
“If I am not the chicken thief, then may you be struck by lightning, choke on your food, choke while drinking water, and break your leg while walking?”
As soon as Ye Jianguo said this, everyone was stunned.
None of them had expected Ye Jianguo to say something like that.
He wanted Jia Zhangshi to swear an oath?
Moreover,
that poison oath was rather terrifying.
It had to be known that
in this era, people still took oaths very seriously.
They would not swear one lightly.
When Jia Zhangshi heard Ye Jianguo's words, she also snorted and said, “Why should I swear an oath?”
“The chicken thief is you, no matter what!”
Ye Jianguo mocked her, “You keep saying that you are certain, yet you do not even dare take a simple oath?”
“If you do not dare, then get out of here!”
“You have no right to speak here!”
.....