Jia Zhangshi saw her belongings being thrown and her old face flushed crimson, veins throbbing on her forehead, as she cursed furiously, "You ill-mannered thing, throwing my stuff, are you? I've lived in this Four-in-one courtyard for decades, it's not your turn to act wild!"
"This isn't acting wild, this is defending my rights!" Chen Yuan crossed his arms, his gaze full of disdain.
Seeing Chen Yuan's demeanor, Jia Zhangshi became even more enraged, reaching out to pick up her package, intending to shove it into Chen Yuan's house again to be a nuisance.
"I'd like to see who dares stop me! This is my stuff, I'm moving it in!"
Chen Yuan was quick-witted, taking a swift step forward, blocking the doorway like a human wall, obstructing her path.
"This is my home; if you keep this up, you'll be trespassing!" Chen Yuan looked down at Jia Zhangshi, his voice icy.
Jia Zhangshi saw her plan fall through and became completely hysterical, making a move to force her way in.
However, Chen Yuan stood firm at the doorway like a sturdy city wall; no matter how Jia Zhangshi pushed, she couldn't budge him an inch.
Jia Zhangshi was furious, all the shrewish energy she had accumulated for decades surged up, and she lunged forward to forcibly squeeze in.
During their struggle, she lost her balance, stumbled, and with a thud, her corpulent body fell heavily to the ground, making a muffled sound.
"Ouch! Murder! Someone's hitting an old lady!" Jia Zhangshi immediately burst into loud wails, "Neighbors of the Four-in-one courtyard, come quickly and see this little beast! He's hitting people, but not on the face; he actually dared to push me to the ground! My old bones are going to fall apart!"
Qin Huairu saw the situation and quickly ran forward to help Jia Zhangshi up, then turned to glare at Chen Yuan, "Chen Yuan, how could you hit someone? No matter what, she's an elder!"
"Hit someone? Qin Huairu, open your eyes and see clearly, did I even touch her?" Chen Yuan snorted, "This is self-defense! She illegally broke into my house and even tried to hit me; can she blame me for falling when she couldn't stand steady?"
Qin Huairu was momentarily speechless.
Sha Zhu saw Qin Huairu's pitiful appearance, and the anger in his heart was instantly ignited.
He rushed forward a few steps, rolled up his sleeves, and pointed at Chen Yuan, scolding, "You new kid, I'm going to teach you a lesson today, so you know what it means to respect the old and cherish the young!"
With that, Sha Zhu suddenly lunged forward, swinging his calloused fist directly at Chen Yuan's face, with great force and a whistling sound.
In the eyes of an ordinary person, this punch might have seemed menacing and hard to dodge.
But in front of Chen Yuan's enhanced body and reactions, Sha Zhu's movements were like slow motion, easily avoided.
At the same time, his right foot accurately kicked Sha Zhu's abdomen.
"Bang!"
With a muffled thud, Sha Zhu stumbled back a few steps and fell heavily onto the ground in the center of the Four-in-one courtyard, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
Chen Yuan hadn't used his full strength with that kick; otherwise, with his current physical condition, Sha Zhu would probably have had ruptured internal organs, instead of just being in too much pain to speak.
The onlookers gasped in surprise, not expecting Sha Zhu, who usually boasted of being the bully of the Four-in-one courtyard, to be so vulnerable in front of Chen Yuan.
"I didn't realize this kid was so strong!"
"..."
Sha Zhu lay on the ground, clutching his stomach, his face pale, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He tried to get up and continue fighting to regain his dignity, but the sharp pain in his abdomen made it impossible for him to stand. He could only lie on the ground in a pathetic state, hurting and angry, but not daring to move again.
"Cough... cough cough..." Sha Zhu coughed, saliva uncontrollably drooling from the corner of his mouth, looking utterly disheveled.
Seeing this, Qin Huairu's eyes welled up with tears, and she looked pitifully at the surrounding onlookers, hoping someone would come to her aid.
The only one who responded was Yi Zhonghai.
However, he stepped forward to maintain his authority in the Four-in-one courtyard.
"Xiao Chen, this isn't appropriate; hitting people is wrong. We're all neighbors in the same Four-in-one courtyard, we see each other all the time, there's no need to make things so ugly."
"Oh? Then, Old Man Yi, how do you suggest we resolve this matter?"
Yi Zhonghai didn't speak, as he wasn't directly involved. He looked at Jia Zhangshi on the ground, "Old Sister-in-law, what do you say?"
Jia Zhangshi got up from the ground, pointed at Chen Yuan, and shrieked, "I want compensation! I want two hundred yuan! Look at how he hit me; it's not right if he doesn't pay!"
Her tone was aggressive, "Also, you have to lend me your extra room for a year. This is compensation for hitting me! Otherwise, I'll report you!"
The Four-in-one courtyard erupted in an uproar.
"Two hundred yuan? That's a worker's annual salary!"
"And live in his house for a year? That's too much of a demand!"
"This Jia Zhangshi is getting more and more shameless... She doesn't even look at herself!"
The surrounding neighbors whispered among themselves, their expressions varied.
Even the few Dama who usually sided with Jia Zhangshi couldn't help but frown, feeling that her demands were too excessive.
After hearing Jia Zhangshi's demands, Chen Yuan was first stunned, then he laughed in anger. How could a person be so shameless?
He immediately slapped her!
What a relief!
"Hahaha! Two hundred yuan? A year in the house? You old shrew, have you gone mad with greed? Open your eyes and see, who is being unreasonable, and who made the first move?"
Jia Zhangshi immediately lay down on the ground again and started rolling around, letting out pig-like squeals.
"Murder! Killing an old person! Is there any justice left! Old folks of the Four-in-one courtyard, come and judge for me!"
This kind of rogue behavior was taken to the extreme by Jia Zhangshi.
Yi Zhonghai, seeing this, pretended to be earnestly advising Chen Yuan, "Xiao Chen, you see, it's not good if this gets blown out of proportion. How about this, I'll give you a way out.
Two hundred yuan is indeed too much, but if you lend your vacant room to Zhang Dama for a year, it can be considered a gesture of reconciliation. What do you think?"
As Yi Zhonghai said this, a benevolent smile hung on his face, but his eyes hid calculation.
In his opinion, this was a good opportunity to kill two birds with one stone: he could re-establish his authority in the Four-in-one courtyard and also win over Qin Huairu's family, benefiting himself.
"Oh? Thinking for my sake? Put away your hypocritical pretense; I don't need you to interfere in my affairs! What kind of damn manager are you, mind your own business!" Chen Yuan retorted unceremoniously.
Yi Zhonghai's smile instantly froze. He hadn't expected Chen Yuan to disrespect him so much, reprimanding him in public.
"Chen Yuan!" Yi Zhonghai's face suddenly changed, and his voice turned cold, carrying the anger of being offended, "How do you speak to an elder? I am the manager of this Four-in-one courtyard!"
His face flushed crimson, and his fingers trembled, as if he was ready to explode at any moment.
Chen Yuan sneered, his gaze full of disdain and provocation.
"Manager? Someone who didn't know would think you're the director of the Street Office!" Chen Yuan said word by word, "Go check if a manager actually has the right to interfere in such matters! Stop acting like a big shot here!"