The moment He Yuzhu said this, Second Uncle Liu Haizhong angrily slapped the table and shouted, “You kicked him flat on his face, and the bruise on his lower back is still there. How is that not material evidence?”
“Qin Huairu was also there when you hit him and saw everything clearly. How is that not a witness? You’re still trying to argue at a time like this!”
But He Yuzhu ignored him completely and instead turned to Widow Qin Huairu.
“Xu Damao says I kicked him, and Second Uncle says you’re a witness. So are you here today to testify that I kicked him?”
Qin Huairu was an extremely clever woman. The moment she heard He Yuzhu’s words, she knew that no matter what, she could not become this witness.
Although this Silly Zhu seemed to have become a different person and no longer sent lunchboxes to her home, at least her three children could go to his place to eat good food, which relieved quite a bit of the burden.
As the saying went, when you eat someone’s food, your mouth becomes soft; when you take someone’s gifts, your hands become short. She could offend anyone, but never He Yuzhu!
“I... I didn’t see clearly,” Qin Huairu said softly. “Look, there’s nothing but ice and snow in this courtyard. Couldn’t Xu Damao have fallen because he wasn’t paying attention?”
Xu Damao was still clutching his lower back and putting on an act, groaning incessantly.
When he heard Qin Huairu blatantly telling lies, he sprang up from the bench in fury!
“Qin Huairu! He kicked me in the lower back in full view of everyone just now, and you dare give false testimony? Isn’t it just because you’ve benefited from He Yuzhu that you’re even willing to throw away your conscience?”
Widow Qin was also a fiery-tempered woman. Hearing this, she immediately tore off all pretense, and her tone became even more sarcastic and scornful.
“Whether he was pretending or not is obvious to everyone. Just now he was clutching his lower back and groaning like an old sow giving birth, but look how high he can jump now. If that isn’t pretending, then what is?”
It had to be said that neither Xu Damao nor Widow Qin Huairu was easy to deal with. The two of them traded barbs, each exposing the other’s shortcomings.
He Yuzhu sat on the bench with his hands tucked into his sleeves, secretly enjoying himself, because the System Currency in the system was constantly ticking upward.
Xu Damao’s negative emotions were rising rapidly, but Qin Huairu was no ordinary person either. Despite the fierce argument, she had not generated the slightest negative emotion.
He Yuzhu could not help sighing inwardly. People said that the human heart was as deep as the sea, and this widow truly could not be provoked. Whoever crossed her was bound to suffer misfortune...
“Quiet down, everyone, quiet down!”
Second Uncle Liu Haizhong angrily pounded the table. He had organized this whole-courtyard meeting, but never expected it to turn into such a farce.
Now He Yuzhu flatly denied hitting anyone, while Qin Huairu had clearly benefited from him in the past. Not only was she refusing to testify for him, but she was even turning the accusation back on him.
This matter had gone completely awry!
Seeing that the two had argued themselves hoarse, He Yuzhu slowly rose from the bench and began his speech.
“Everyone knows what kind of person I am. An upright man does not engage in secret schemes. Whether I kicked him or not, Qin Huairu didn’t see it. We can’t force someone to lie with their eyes open, can we?”
“Since everyone is here today, I have a few things to say. Our neighbors don’t pay much attention to formalities and all call me Silly Zhu, and I usually answer to it.”
“But Xu Damao is not allowed to call me that. If our neighbors can change the way they address me, that would be best. If they don’t, then if I fail to hear them and don’t respond, they shouldn’t take offense.”
These words were neither servile nor overbearing. He had not created too many enemies, targeting only Xu Damao.
However, he had made his position clear: if anyone called him Silly Zhu in the future, he might very well ignore them. After he finished speaking, the entire courtyard fell utterly silent.
Everyone realized that He Yuzhu was different today. He was neither sneakily malicious and sharp-tongued nor relying on his broad arms and brute strength to force the issue.
He had reason and evidence on his side at every turn, leaving everyone unable to find fault with him.
“I’ll also admit that I was indeed hotheaded and kicked Xu Damao just now, but there was absolutely a reason for it. Kicking him was entirely justified!” He Yuzhu said.
“What? You hit someone and still managed to make it sound justified?” Liu Haizhong’s fat face trembled with anger. No one knew what kind of genetics he had inherited to remain so fat in 1961.
Liu Haizhong’s negative emotions +104, +41, +33, +14...
“Of course I had a reason for hitting him. Since everyone is here today, let’s discuss it openly!” He Yuzhu wore a solemn, righteous expression, looking nothing like someone in the wrong.
“I’m seeing someone named Lou Xiaoe, but Xu Damao has repeatedly pestered her. I warned him again and again, yet he refused to change!”
“Today Lou Xiaoe came to my home and said that her parents wanted to meet me tomorrow. Everyone, you understand how serious this is without me having to explain, right?”
“But Xu Damao blocked her at every turn outside, insisting that she had some business with him. Tell me, isn’t that blatant hooliganism? What’s wrong with kicking him? I should have kicked that mouth of his!”
Everyone in the Siheyuan erupted in an uproar, discussing the matter noisily. There were all kinds of opinions.
Xu Damao had been kicked, and now he was even being accused of hooliganism. He was so furious that his negative emotions surged wildly!
“You’re talking nonsense! Third Uncle can testify. She was introduced to me by him. If you don’t believe me, we can ask him face-to-face!”
Yan Bugui’s aged face twitched slightly at those words, and his gaze shifted evasively behind his glasses.
He knew perfectly well that he absolutely could not admit to this. Once he did, he would never again be able to get food from Silly Zhu for the rest of his life.
His spouse’s health was declining by the day, and she urgently needed nutritional supplements. This was a matter of life and death. He could offend anyone, but never He Yuzhu!
Between two evils, choose the lesser one! Yan Bugui immediately made his choice in his heart and decided to support He Yuzhu with all his might!
“You’re saying that my good intentions caused all this trouble? I merely introduced you two. Whether she’s your girlfriend or not is for Lou Xiaoe to decide. Why are you asking me?”
“If you put it that way, then friends won’t dare introduce anyone to each other in the future, will they? So just because I moved my lips, I’ve become a matchmaker?”
Yan Bugui pushed the matter away completely, refusing to admit that he had introduced them, and left Xu Damao utterly stranded!
Xu Damao now felt as though the entire world had betrayed him!
The widow refused to testify for him, Third Uncle had switched sides at the crucial moment, and he had been beaten yet ended up accused of hooliganism? He was even more wronged than Dou E!
Usually, he was full of schemes and quick with his tongue, but now he could only gape helplessly, unable to say a single word for a long time.
He Yuzhu secretly glanced at the total System Currency and saw that Xu Damao was the main contributor, with Second Uncle as support. The two had accumulated 1,574 negative emotions, and the total was still rising.
It looked like he would definitely have enough money to buy the gifts. It was better to spare someone when possible.
“All right, all right, let’s say I failed to control my emotions. Even if Xu Damao deserved the beating, did I really have to kick him in front of the entire courtyard? I’ll compensate him with a pound of pork tomorrow. How about that?”
“And you too, Second Uncle. Don’t blindly take sides in the future. You picked up a silver acupuncture needle and thought you were Zhao Zilong. As for Xu Damao, that fellow is simply the kind who gets people killed without paying the price!”
Second Uncle sat behind the Eight Immortals Table, his face ashen. Another small surge of negative emotions had arrived!