Courtyard House: My Wife is Xu Huizhen

Page 214

Jia Dongxu was speechless with frustration and stormed into the house.

Granny Zhang asked, "What's wrong?"

"It's all because of that scoundrel Sha Zhu, he's not going back."

"Damn idiot Zhu, why don't you just die?"

Granny Zhang started cursing and insulting He Daqing's ancestors for eighteen generations before she felt relieved. That night, thinking about her hatred for He Yuzhu, she couldn't sleep at all.

She tossed and turned until midnight, when suddenly Zhang Pozi got out of bed, quietly opened the door, and looked around the entire courtyard, but there wasn't a soul in sight.

There were two bicycles parked in the covered walkway, one new and one old. The old one belonged to He Daqing, while the brand-new one was bought by He Yuzhu before the new year.

Granny Zhang's heart stirred. She looked around again to make sure no one else was in the courtyard before tiptoeing to the brand-new bicycle.

"Damn you, idiot Zhu, losing your bicycle this time is compensation for me."

Granny Zhang was always dishonest; she'd take a clove of garlic from one neighbor and a lump of coal from another. But since everyone lived in the same courtyard house with over a hundred people, the theft of a few things was commonplace, and no one bothered to make a fuss.

After practicing martial arts, He Yuzhu's hearing and eyesight improved, and he could easily wake up even when he was asleep, if there was any slight noise.

He woke up in the middle of the night, and then the sounds outside became clearer. He shook his head and released his mental energy to check.

To my shock, Granny Zhang was actually trying to pry open her own bicycle.

"Damn it, that damned old woman Zhang actually dared to steal a bicycle."

The gates of the courtyard houses are never locked at night, since more than 100 people live inside. Although every household has a chamber pot, some people still need to go to the outhouse in the middle of the night, so the gates cannot be locked.

Although the He family has many houses, they also have a large population. Bicycles can only be parked on the covered walkway and are locked every day to prevent them from being stolen in case of an accident.

He Yuzhu never expected that Granny Zhang would be so bold as to get up in the middle of the night to steal his bicycle.

Just as he was about to shout, He Yuzhu suddenly changed his mind and quietly sat up and started to put on his clothes.

Although Granny Zhang was quite fat, she wasn't very strong. She struggled for a long time trying to open the lock, but to no avail. In a fit of anger, Granny Zhang simply bent down, picked up the bicycle, and walked out.

He Yuzhu waited until Granny Zhang left the central courtyard before opening the door and sneaking out with her.

He Yuzhu was furious. This bicycle was only a year old and still brand new. He never expected that Granny Zhang would dare to take it away so easily. Luckily, he was alerted, otherwise he would have suffered a loss this time.

Although Granny Zhang was not a clean freak, she usually only took advantage of her neighbors in the courtyard and never stole anything large.

This time, it was also the return of He Yuzhu and his wife that provoked Zhang Pozi, as they walked around in front of him every day.

Especially during the entire Spring Festival, the He family ate lavishly and dressed warmly every day, which was a world apart from the Jia family.

Especially before the Spring Festival, his nose was flattened by Xu Damao's mother. When he went to their house to argue, he didn't get a single penny.

After all, Jia Dongxu had previously flattened Xu Damao's nose, and the Jia family hadn't paid a single penny. Now, things were settled directly, and everyone paid for their own medical treatment.

Jia Dongxu was also sacked and had his leg broken. Although he reported it to the police, the murderer has not yet been found. He can only swallow his anger and accept his fate.

This old woman was seething with anger, and today, driven by a sudden impulse, she decided to steal Sha Zhu's bicycle and sell it for money. Not only would she make Sha Zhu suffer, but she could also get some money to spend.

Granny Zhang knew that she was capable enough to do this herself, so she didn't discuss it with her son and daughter-in-law and secretly pried open the bicycle.

Unfortunately, she couldn't pry it open, so she had to carry the bicycle out on her back. At this time, the goods were very sturdy, and the bicycle was also quite heavy. Carrying it on her shoulder made Granny Zhang pant heavily.

Granny Zhang was so focused on walking forward with her head down that she didn't notice Sha Zhu following her. Soon, Sha Zhu arrived at an alley below Jiaodaokou.

Actually, there are two car repair shops near Nanluoguxiang, but Granny Zhang knew that such things as selling stolen goods could not be done nearby, so she went a long way to the car repair shop under Jiaodaokou.

He Yuzhu followed behind and soon arrived at the place. After thinking for a moment, he realized that he knew the owner of the repair shop. His name was Er Lengzi, and he was about thirty or forty years old. He used to have a wife, but she ran off with someone else and he was now an old bachelor who liked to drink and was drunk all the time.

He gets drunk and curses all the time. He doesn't care about hygiene, his body is always oily, and he's also a bit dishonest. It's said that he used to be involved in the underworld.

In those days, bicycles were expensive possessions. A few years ago, they cost as much as 300 yuan each. Although they have become cheaper recently, they still cost close to 200 yuan.

This has given rise to a special industry: some people steal bicycles and take them to repair shops, where they are disassembled into ordinary parts, which are then combined with other parts to assemble a brand-new second-hand bicycle.

Many TV dramas feature similar plots where people spend 30 to 50 yuan to build their own car, and most of these parts are stolen in this way.

Er Lengzi, who was dishonest, also started this business, but he was lucky and was never discovered by the police.

Zhang Pozi had discussed it with Er Lengzi beforehand and confirmed that he would buy the bicycle at a high price, which gave her the idea to steal He Yuzhu's bicycle.

If He Yuzhu hadn't followed him directly, and they had discovered the bicycle was missing during the day, they wouldn't have been able to find it even if they came looking for it again. In just half an hour, Er Lengzi would have turned the bicycle into a pile of parts that the original owner wouldn't recognize.

When Granny Zhang arrived at Er Lengzi's house, she put down her bicycle and went to knock on the door.

"Who is it?" The lights came on inside the house, and then the person inside asked.

"It's me, I've brought you your bicycle," Granny Zhang whispered, pressing her ear against the door.

Soon, Er Lengzi opened the door, looked around to make sure there was no one else in the alley, then picked up his bicycle and went inside. Granny Zhang followed him in.

Er Lengzi put down his bicycle, turned around and said to Granny Zhang, "What are you doing here? Why aren't you going home yet?"

"You idiot, you haven't paid yet." Granny Zhang was a little stunned.

The simpleton, drunk, asked, "What money?"

After saying that, he even raised his hand to touch Granny Zhang's fat face.

Granny Zhang was completely stunned. Although the person had been bad, she had always been virtuous and would not usually have affairs with other men.

Only when Er Lengzi's hand left her face did Granny Zhang realize that she had been teased by Er Lengzi. Just as she was about to get angry, she saw that Er Lengzi's face was flushed and he smelled of alcohol.

He must have drunk too much last night and is still drunk. He suddenly lost his temper. What's the point of talking to a drunkard?

Old Mrs. Zhang cursed her bad luck inwardly, suppressing her anger, and said somewhat angrily, "You idiot, stop pretending. Didn't we agree before that I would give you a new bicycle and you would give me seventy yuan?"

"What 70 yuan? Are you crazy for money? Get out of here right now."

"You idiot, you actually want to double-cross me? That's too much! I carried this whole way with great difficulty, and you're not going to pay me? No way!"

"If you want money, fine, sleep with me and I'll give you money."

Er Lengzi lost his wife, but in the years when he had money, he could go to the outskirts of the Eight Great Hutongs to find those old women to relieve his lust.

He had been drinking since yesterday and was still not sober. Looking at the plump Granny Zhang in front of him, Er Lengzi felt a strong urge to get her. Although Granny Zhang was already forty years old, as an old bachelor, Er Lengzi did not mind her age. As long as she was a woman he could use, that was fine.

"Are you crazy?"

"Are you crazy? I caught you stealing someone's bicycle in the middle of the night. If I report you to the police station, how many years do you think you'll go to jail?"

"You dare!!"

"Hehehe, but you have to be a good girl and let me sleep with you once, then I won't report you and I'll even give you the money."

"you..."

Granny Zhang was furious. She never expected that Er Lengzi would be so uncivilized and try to take advantage of her.

Er Lengzi chuckled and said, "Stop pretending to be a virtuous woman. That Jia Dengxu isn't Old Jia's son. I know all the shady things you did when you were young."

"How did you know?" Granny Zhang asked, somewhat incredulously.

He Yuzhu, who was eavesdropping outside, was also startled. According to Er Lengzi's words, Jia Dongxu was not actually a child of the Jia family, but a bastard born from Zhang Pozi's affair with someone else when she was young.

Faced with Er Lengzi's accusations, Granny Zhang's reaction was not as intense as He Yuzhu had imagined. Could it be that what Er Lengzi said was true?

He Yuzhu thought about it carefully and realized that Old Jia was indeed not good-looking, while Jia Dongxu's son was exceptionally handsome, the most handsome in the entire courtyard. He Yuzhu had to admit this.

Er Lengzi's laughter grew even louder, and then he said, "What do you care how I know? I also know whose child it is."

He Yuzhu, who was listening outside, was getting anxious. "Just say the name already! You've gone this far, but you still haven't said who the man is."

Granny Zhang immediately lost her temper, but Er Lengzi was extremely ugly, even uglier than He Daqing. Granny Zhang would not agree to sleep with him.

Er Lengzi said fiercely, "Widow Zhang, you'd better think this through. If you don't agree, I'll report you to the police station tomorrow."

"You are shameless."

"I'm shameless. As long as I can sleep with you, I don't care if I'm shameless or not. Besides, it's not like I won't pay you. If you let me sleep with you, I'll give you the money."

Granny Zhang was so angry she cried. They had agreed that she would get paid as soon as the bicycle was delivered, but now she had to sleep with Er Lengzi to get the money.

He was the kind of person who never suffered a loss in the entire courtyard, but he never expected to be threatened by Er Lengzi this time.

Does this mean giving in, or gritting your teeth and refusing to give in?

If he really didn't comply, the clear-headed fool might not report it to the police, after all, he himself wasn't clean either, he made money by buying and modifying bicycles.

What Granny Zhang was afraid of wasn't that; at worst, both of them would go to jail. What she feared was the news that Jia Dongxu wasn't Old Jia's son.

If Jia Dongxu knew about his own background, who knows what the outcome would be? Granny Zhang simply couldn't afford to gamble; she couldn't let Jia Dongxu lose face in the courtyard.

"Come in here."

Seeing Zhang Pozi's dilemma, Er Lengzi smiled smugly and then pulled her into the inner room.

Granny Zhang was stunned. Knowing she couldn't resist, she simply closed her eyes and let Er Lengzi do whatever he wanted, treating it as if she had been bitten by a dog.

Chapter 159 Widow Zhang, did you steal the bicycle?

He Yuzhu eavesdropped outside for a while, only five or six minutes, and Er Lengzi finished. Zhang Pozi put on her pants while cursing.

"Hey, you idiot, this is only 10 yuan? That's not right!"

"It's ten yuan once, and you'll pay ten yuan again next time you come."

Er Lengzi, having tasted the sweetness of success, understood the principle of long-term planning. He intended to pay Zhang Pozi ten yuan per session, so that with seventy yuan, he could sleep with her seven times.

After seven times, they were all old acquaintances, and I would sleep with them even if they didn't charge me.