The deaf old lady was quite surprised to see Lou Xiao'e come to their house late at night. She was about to welcome him into the house, but she saw Lou Xiao'e shaking her head and refusing,
"Old lady, I have something to do with the third uncle and brother Su Cheng, so I won't enter the house."
The old lady was surprised. She was looking for someone this late at night. She thought the matter must be urgent, so she blurted out,
"Is there anything we can't talk about inside the house?"
Lou Xiao'e stood at the door, glanced at the old lady and said truthfully,
"Old lady, Silly Zhu hit my Damao and even refused to apologize. I want everyone in the courtyard to comment!"
When the old lady heard that Silly Zhu had actually hit someone, her face suddenly showed a look of anxiety. She stood up with her crutches and said,
"How could Silly Zhu do such a stupid thing? Is there any misunderstanding here?"
When Lou Xiao'e saw the old lady opening her mouth and talking to Silly Zhu, not caring about what happened to her family's Damao, Lou Xiao'e also felt a sense of dissatisfaction in her heart, and she immediately said dissatisfied,
"Old lady, isn't it like you? The first time you open your mouth, you turn on Silly Zhu, and you deserve to be beaten just like my Damao?"
"Daughter, it's my wife. I'm confused."
The old lady knew that her words had hurt the relationship between the two, but it was about Silly Zhu, and the old lady couldn't care so much, and then asked,
"But how come Silly Zhu is so good at beating people?"
Lou Xiao'e took a deep look at the old lady and said,
"Old lady, you are the ancestor of this courtyard, and you will not be so partial to Fuzhu! Brother Su Cheng knows the rights and wrongs here best!"
Seeing Lou Xiao'e talking about him, Su Cheng couldn't be an outsider. He stood up and helped the old lady to tell him about the fight between the two this afternoon when Xu Damao was angered by Silly Zhu's bad mouth.
After listening to this, the old lady had a gloomy face. Now she was walking to the door on crutches. She frowned and looked at Lou Xiao'e and said,
"Daughter, Silly Zhu is an outspoken person, but he is not a bad person. Can't you resolve this matter privately? There is no need to make such a fuss, right?"
Seeing the old lady's obvious favoritism, Lou Xiao'e became even more unhappy and refused without thinking,
"Old lady, please don't advise me on this matter."
Then he looked at the third uncle who followed him out and said,
"Third uncle, the first uncle and the second uncle are notifying the people in the front yard and the middle yard to hold a meeting. Could you please help me notify the people in the back yard?"
When the third uncle heard this, his eyes flashed and a smile appeared on his face.
"Okay, leave this to me."
After the third uncle finished speaking, he went to call people from house to house, leaving only the old lady, Su Cheng and Lou Xiao'e.
At this moment, Lou Xiao'e looked at the old lady. Seeing that the old lady was leaning on crutches, as if she was going to attend a meeting in the courtyard, her eyes were a bit pleading,
"Old lady, can you please stay out of this matter tonight?"
The deaf old lady is the ancestor of this courtyard, and her words are more effective than the three elders in the courtyard. And she is obviously towards Silly Zhu, so Lou Xiao'e naturally doesn't want the old lady to get involved.
Su Cheng on the side heard Lou Xiao'e's words and comforted him,
"Grandma, why don't you go back to the house and rest? It's windy and cold at night, so I'll just go there."
When the old lady heard this, she was not willing. She treated Sha Zhu as her own grandson and did not want Sha Zhu to suffer a loss, so she said,
"I'll just go over and take a look. It's okay!"
When Lou Xiao'e heard this, she took a deep look at the old lady and said nothing more.
Then he looked at Su Cheng and said,
"Brother Su Cheng, you are the leader of the factory and you can speak in this courtyard. Damao has always regarded you as a good buddy. When the time comes, you will have to say something fair for us!"
Su Cheng thought for a while, but did not refuse. Silly Zhu really went too far this time. He beat someone and acted like a rogue. What is the difference between him and the Jia Zhang family in the courtyard? So he said,
"Brother and sister, if you don't tell me about this, I will help you."
…
The Siheyuan, Intermediate Court, and Whole Court meetings were held again.
The three uncles were still sitting at the top of the table next to the arch as before. Everyone in the courtyard still gathered around, leaving an open space in the middle.
But tonight, on the two benches in the middle of the open space, those sitting and confronting each other were no longer the Jia family, but the Xu Damao family and Silly Zhu.
At this moment, Lou Xiao'e had helped Xu Damao sit on the bench on the left. Everyone in the courtyard was shocked when they saw Xu Damao's miserable appearance with a bruised nose and swollen face.
Then everyone looked at Sha Zhu who was sitting on another bench, and they all felt in their hearts that Sha Zhu's attack was too cruel.
At this time, the first man had almost arrived. He looked at the deaf old lady sitting in the crowd, nodded to her, and then said to Liu Haizhong,
"Old Liu, first come and tell everyone why we need to hold a hospital-wide meeting today."
Hearing this, the second uncle Liu Haizhong blushed with excitement. This was an opportunity to show off his authority. He immediately nodded and stood up, coughing twice on purpose at the crowd. After the scene calmed down,
He put his hands behind his back and said like a leader,
"Why are we holding a meeting today? It's because this afternoon, Silly Zhu and Xu Damao had a conflict in our courtyard. Silly Zhu even beat Xu Damao up, and his attitude was arrogant and refused to apologize."
Upon hearing this, Si Zhu immediately shouted dissatisfied and said, before the second uncle could finish speaking.
"Second uncle, what you said is wrong. I wasn't the one who made the move first. Why should I apologize to him?"
When the second uncle heard this, he glanced at Silly Zhu with dissatisfaction and said,
"Silly Zhu, why did Xu Damao strike first? Didn't you count it yourself?"
Silly Zhu glanced at the second uncle and said nonchalantly,
"Didn't I just say that Xu Damao is a rooster that can't lay eggs? Is there anything wrong with that? Everyone has seen it. He and Lou Xiao'e have been married for four or five years. If they can have children early, everyone can tell whether Xu Damao is a rooster.
A rooster that can’t lay eggs?”
"Haha~"
Everyone in the courtyard couldn't help but smile when they heard Si Zhu's words of ridicule to Xu Damao. Xu Damao, who was sitting opposite Si Zhu, immediately looked at the second uncle and said,
"Second uncle, did you see that Si Zhu was a personal attack?"
"Ah~hiss~"
Perhaps out of excitement, Xu Damao pulled the wound at the corner of his mouth when he spoke, causing him to scream out.
Lou Xiao'e, who was sitting next to Xu Damao, said with a concerned look on her face,
"Da Mao, your injury is not healed yet, please stop talking."
Then he glared at Silly Zhu and cursed,
"Silly Zhu, you are a bastard!"
Upon hearing this, Silly Zhu suddenly looked at Xu Damao with a mocking smile,
"Xu Damao, you are still a man and you don't feel embarrassed. Do you want your wife to stand up for you?"
The senior man at the top frowned when he saw Silly Zhu who looked like he was not stingy.
"Zhuzi, this is a hospital-wide meeting, don't mess around here!"
Hearing this, Silly Zhu looked at the uncle, his face became more sarcastic, and he said in a strange way,
"Master, it's better for me to act recklessly than for you to act sanctimoniously, right?"
When the first man heard what Silly Zhu said, he knew that the other party was mocking him. Before that, he had secretly concealed the fact that He Daqing had sent living expenses to their brothers and sisters. He was speechless for a moment.
At this moment, the third uncle sitting on the right hand side of the first uncle immediately accused him,
"Si Zhu, is this your attitude towards your elders?"
Upon hearing this, Shazhu shrugged, still looking like he was not stingy.
When the second uncle saw this, he immediately asked,
"Silly Zhu, let me ask you, did you hit Xu Damao like this?"
Silly Zhu nodded and said,
"I was the one who hit him, but it was Xu Damao who made the move first."
When the second uncle heard this, he immediately said firmly,
"Since you admit that you were the one who hit me, then you should apologize to Xu Damao in front of everyone!"
"Why?"
Silly Zhu said unhappily,
"If Xu Damao wants to take action, is it possible that I have to stand still and let him hit me?"
Lou Xiao'e listened to Si Zhu's sophistry and immediately said angrily,
"Silly Zhu, if you hadn't taunted my Damao first, could he have made the first move?"
Silly Zhu glanced at Lou Xiao'e and said proudly,
"Lou Xiao'e, you said I mocked Xu Damao, why did I mock him?"
When Lou Xiao'e heard this, she immediately became angry, but looking at Silly Zhu's proud face, her resentment towards Silly Zhu over the past few years also exploded instantly. Lou Xiao'e couldn't care less about her face and said immediately,
"Silly Zhu, you said that my Damao is a rooster that can't lay eggs, and he exposes others but doesn't reveal his shortcomings. That's why you said this. Shouldn't you beat him?"
When Si Zhu heard this, he knew that he was in the wrong, so he could only say nothing.
But Lou Xiao'e refused to give up. She looked at the three senior men and said,
"First uncle, second uncle, third uncle, in the past few years that Damao and I have been married, there has been no movement in my stomach. If there are some rumors spread behind the back of the compound, I will admit it. But what about Silly Zhu? He always does it in front of everyone.
This made Damao and I laugh so hard that we couldn’t even raise our heads in this courtyard. Can you tell me if there are any people like this?"
When Lou Xiao'e said this, she looked at Si Zhu and scolded,
"Silly Zhu, I really want to ask you, is it fun to rub salt into other people's wounds?"
Silly Zhu opened his mouth, but was unable to speak.
When Lou Xiao'e saw the silent Silly Zhu, she pointed at Xu Damao, who was bruised and swollen beside her, and continued to say to Silly Zhu,
"Silly Zhu, I also want to ask you, you beat my family Damao like this, is it too much for me to ask you to apologize to my family in front of everyone?"
Is it too much?
Not too much at all.
But even though Silly Zhu now knew that what he did was unreasonable, asking him to apologize to Xu Damao in front of everyone was even more uncomfortable than killing him. Even though he was a bit of a rogue,
"Lou Xiao'e, don't say it's so wronged. I was the one who hit him. I'm just sitting here today. If you're not convinced, just ask Xu Damao to come over and beat him back. If you want me to apologize, there's no way!"
Seeing Sha Zhu's generous look, Lou Xiao'e looked at the three elders above and said,
"You three gentlemen, you have all seen that Silly Zhu is a rogue, why don't you just ignore him?"
The old man glanced at Silly Zhu and opened his mouth. He had too many worries in his heart and finally chose to remain silent.
When the second uncle Liu Haizhong saw that the first uncle was silent, he could just show off his authority. He cleared his throat and looked at Silly Zhu and said,
"Silly Zhu, this is your fault. Just apologize to Xu Damao in front of everyone and pay Xu Damao ten yuan for medical expenses. Is there any problem?"
Upon hearing this, Shazhu looked at the second uncle with a straight face and said,
"Second uncle, you can compensate me, but if you want me to apologize to Xu Damao, don't even think about it."
Qin Huairu on the side saw that Sha Zhu still looked indifferent, stood up from the crowd, walked to Sha Zhu and persuaded softly,
"Si Zhu, let's stop being stubborn and apologize to Xu Damao."
Silly Zhu glanced at Qin Huairu and said dissatisfied,
"Qin Huairu, other things are easy to discuss, so don't mention this!"
Qin Huairu knew that Sha Zhu was getting stubborn, and no one could persuade her. She could only look at Lou Xiao'e, put on an apologetic expression and said,
"Xiao'e, you understand Shazhu's temper to some extent. I apologize to you on behalf of Shazhu. It's all our fault. I hope you can forgive me."
Lou Xiao'e shook her head and said,
"Qin Huairu, we will not accept your apology. If you stupid Zhu doesn't apologize to us in person today, this matter will never end!"
Seeing the tense situation, the third uncle also sold a favor to Lou Xiao'e, looked at Silly Zhu and said,
"Silly Zhu, when you are beaten, you must stand upright. If you make a mistake, you must accept the punishment. Apologize to Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e in front of everyone. It is not embarrassing!"
Silly Zhu glanced at the third uncle and said,
"Third uncle, please stop taking off your pants and farting. People may not accept your favor."
When the third uncle's little idea was exposed, his face suddenly turned red, he pointed at Silly Pillar and cursed,
"Silly Zhu, you are simply unreasonable!"
Silly Zhu glanced at the third uncle disdainfully, then looked at Lou Xiao'e and said,
"Lou Xiao'e, I still said the same thing, there is no way for me to apologize."
When Lou Xiao'e heard this, she looked at the first uncle. The second uncle and the third uncle had spoken before. Yi Zhonghai, as the first uncle in the courtyard, could not help being so arrogant as long as he spoke.
But after the uncle saw Lou Xiao'e's look for help, he said something very biased towards Silly Zhu,
"Silly Zhu, since you refuse to apologize, pay more for Xu Damao's medical expenses."
Hearing this, Shazhu nodded and said,
"No problem, I'll pay them twenty sums!"
But after hearing what the uncle said, Lou Xiao'e quit and immediately retorted,
"Master, do you think my family is short of money like Silly Zhu? Shouldn't Silly Zhu apologize to us if he did something wrong today?"
When the uncle saw this, he ignored Lou Xiao'e's accusation and directly said,
"Da Mao's wife, let's leave this matter as it is. Everyone has to go to work tomorrow, so let's disperse!"
When Lou Xiao'e heard this, she was also anxious. She could only look in the direction of Su Cheng, hoping that Su Cheng could come out and speak a fair word for her.
Seeing such a partial elder, Su Cheng glanced at the arrogant Silly Zhu again.
In the end, he couldn't stand it anymore. He was about to stand up and say something fair for Lou Xiao'e, but the old lady sitting next to him grabbed Su Cheng and said,
"What do you want, you little monkey?"
Su Cheng glanced at the old lady and said,
"Grandma, I know you feel sorry for Shazhu, but it is indeed Shazhu who did this dishonestly. Can you just stop getting involved?"
Unexpectedly, the old lady still refused to let go and muttered,
"Xu Damao is not a good person, he deserves it!"
Su Cheng didn't expect that the old lady would say such words, and she couldn't distinguish right from wrong.
Seeing that everyone was about to disperse, he didn't bother to talk to the old lady anymore, so he immediately broke away from the old lady's grasp on his hand, stood up from the stool and shouted to everyone,
"Everyone, please wait and listen to what I have to say."