Chen Jianye's gaze was calm, and he remained silent.
He was not in a hurry.
Whoever was in a hurry would speak first.
"Jianye, I heard someone say you're going to report Sha Zhu to the police. Is that true?"
Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but ask.
Sha Zhu pricked up his ears; this was what he cared about most.
"It is true."
Chen Jianye nodded in admission.
There was nothing to deny about the rumor he had spread himself.
"Jianye, your father passed away, and Sha Zhu handled the cooking for your family. You can't repay kindness with enmity."
Yi Zhonghai tried to appeal to his emotions.
"Sha Zhu cooked for my Chen Family, and my Chen Family paid him. It was just a transaction."
"He's cooked for at least fifty, if not a hundred, families. He worked and got paid; there's no favor to speak of."
"Look at my head. I was almost beaten to death by Sha Zhu. Shouldn't I call the police?"
Chen Jianye pointed to his head, which was wrapped in bandages.
The dark red blood looked shocking.
"That's true, but when Sha Zhu attacked you, it was also because you were holding a knife and hacking at me."
"Sha Zhu made a mistake in a moment of panic, and you also bear some responsibility."
Yi Zhonghai said.
"Hehe."
Chen Jianye sneered, got up, walked to the stove, and pulled out a kitchen knife.
He walked towards the dining table, holding the knife.
"Jianye, don't be impulsive. Let's talk things over calmly."
"Jianye, put the knife down first. Your Third Master and I both support you."
"Chen Jianye, what are you doing? Are you coming again?"
Yi Zhonghai and the others were terrified, getting up and moving away from the dining table.
If not for their dignity, they would have run out of the Chen Family home.
Seeing them in a state of fright, Chen Jianye sneered, tossed the kitchen knife in his hand.
Clang!
The kitchen knife landed on the dining table.
Seeing that Chen Jianye had no intention of attacking them, Yi Zhonghai and the others slowly returned to their seats at the dining table.
"Yi Zhonghai, why would I want to hack you to death? Don't you know in your heart?"
"You withheld my father's pension, made my mother host a grand banquet during a famine year, and when others stole from my house, you turned a blind eye."
"Go ahead and call the police. I just happen to need an opportunity to make someone's actions public."
Chen Jianye sat back down at the dining table and coughed a few times.
He had just come out of the hospital and was still very weak; he had to act convincingly.
"Jianye, you've misunderstood me."
"I can swear to heaven that I have no unfairness towards your Chen Family in my heart."
Yi Zhonghai tried his best to explain.
If Chen Jianye were to reveal those things, his image in the Courtyard would collapse.
"Alright, those are all things of the past."
"If there's nothing else, you two should go back. I still have important matters to attend to."
Chen Jianye was dismissing them.
He casually picked up the kitchen knife from the dining table.
As he held the knife, Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui both trembled, instinctively leaning back to widen the distance between themselves and Chen Jianye.
"Jianye, sending Sha Zhu to jail won't do you any good."
"He acted against you to save me. I can't just watch him go to jail. How about I have him compensate you?"
Yi Zhonghai also leaned back, speaking cautiously.
"First, return my father's pension, then talk to me."
Chen Jianye said impatiently.
"I was planning to keep your father's pension for your mother's funeral."
Yi Zhonghai smiled apologetically.
"I am the son of the Chen Family. You don't need to worry about the funeral."
Chen Jianye sneered.
"Last night, when you went to the hospital, I covered fifty yuan of your medical expenses."
Yi Zhonghai added.
He wanted to reduce his own losses.
"That was money Sha Zhu covered. He almost beat me to death, so he should pay for the medical expenses. What does it have to do with you?"
"Are you going to give me the money or not?"
Chen Jianye stood up, holding the knife.
Although there was a dining table between him and Yi Zhonghai, when he stood up, he could reach Yi Zhonghai's head by swinging the knife.
"Lao Yi, Lao Chen's pension rightfully belongs to Chen Jianye. Why are you holding onto it?"
"Exactly! Yesterday, you even told us that you were holding that money for Jianye. Now that he wants it, why don't you just give it to him?"
Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui both chimed in, trying to persuade him.
Their hearts trembled.
In their minds, Chen Jianye seemed to have gone crazy.
They were also close to Chen Jianye, and if they got cut, it would truly be a bloody disaster.
"I'll give it, I never said I wouldn't."
"I'll go get it now."
Yi Zhonghai had no reason to refuse and readily agreed.
He got up and left the Chen Family home.
Chen Jianye sat down, his gaze sweeping over Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui: "Don't worry, Grandpas, every wrong has its perpetrator. This doesn't concern you two, and I won't drag you into it."
"Jianye is a sensible person."
"I've always seen you as a reasonable person since you were a child."
Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui felt a little relieved, spouting free compliments, trying their best to appease him.
Chen Jianye sneered inwardly.
Both the Liu Family and the Yan Family had taken items from the Chen Family.
The current discussion didn't concern them, but when the missing items from the Chen Family were discussed later, they wouldn't be able to escape responsibility.
No rush, one by one.
Soon, Yi Zhonghai returned to the Chen Family home, took out a thick package wrapped in kraft paper from his pocket, and placed it on the table.
"This is your father's pension. I haven't touched a single cent of it since I collected it from the factory."
Yi Zhonghai said openly and honestly.
Chen Jianye opened the kraft paper, inspected it, confirmed it was correct, and put it in his pocket.
"Jianye, regarding Sha Zhu injuring you, I can have him apologize to you."
"We're all residents of the same Courtyard, constantly seeing each other. There's no need to make things ugly."
Yi Zhonghai persuaded.
"Sha Zhu injuring me requires two hundred for medical expenses and five hundred for compensation."
"If he can pay, this matter will be settled. If not, I'm going to call the police right now."
Chen Jianye said coldly.
"Chen Jianye, I think you're deliberately making things difficult for me!"
Sha Zhu's face flushed with anger.
Two hundred plus five hundred, that was seven hundred yuan.
He would need two years to earn that back, even if he didn't eat or drink.
Moreover, he was raising his sister He Yushui and occasionally gave Qin Jie a little surprise. He only had a little over a hundred yuan in savings now.
Seven hundred yuan wouldn't be enough even if he sold himself.
Yi Zhonghai raised his hand, signaling Sha Zhu to be quiet.
He looked directly at Chen Jianye: "Jianye, I just gave you three hundred yuan. Isn't it inappropriate for you to be so greedy?"
"Yi Zhonghai, the three hundred yuan is the pension the factory gave my father. It has nothing to do with you. Don't act like it's your money."
Chen Jianye scoffed, then turned to look at Sha Zhu: "The price I'm offering is very fair. If you think it's not suitable, you can very well go to jail."
With that, he placed the documents he had brought from the hospital on the table.
When asking people for money, one always had to show them something.
"Even if the blow Sha Zhu gave me is healed now, it won't be stable in the future. Maybe one day I'll just be gone."
"Even if I live, it's normal for my head to twitch or my body to lose control later."
"Is asking him for a few hundred yuan too much?"
Chen Jianye growled, gripping the knife tighter.
"Not too much, not too much."
Liu Haizhong didn't even look at the documents, seeing Chen Jianye's tendency to turn dark, he quickly said.
"Sha Zhu was too heavy-handed, it really shouldn't have happened. It ruined Jianye's whole life."
"It'll be a problem even getting a wife later. I think a few hundred yuan in compensation is very reasonable."
Yan Fugui also quickly said.
Yi Zhonghai turned to look at Sha Zhu.
Seven hundred yuan.
He knew Sha Zhu definitely couldn't come up with it.
He himself could, but seven hundred yuan was not a small sum.
If Sha Zhu didn't produce something, it would be very difficult for Yi Zhonghai.