My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 94: A Smile That Forgives All

Yan Jiecheng then chimed in, "That's right, it would be a shame not to eat such good food."

Liu Guangtian looked at Zhang Lei and said, "Zhang Lei, I heard from Xu Damao that you organized this dinner. Is there something you want to say to us?"

Hearing Liu Guangtian's words, everyone turned to look at Zhang Lei. Zhang Lei smiled and said, "I just wanted to strengthen our relationship, didn't I?"

He paused, then continued, "Besides, we're all the same age. Sometimes we bump into each other in the yard. Why not take this dinner as a chance to bury the hatchet?"

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, Xu Damao, quick-witted, immediately picked up his glass and said, "Zhang Lei is right, everything is in the wine, let's drink!"

Upon hearing Xu Damao's words, everyone raised their glasses and shouted in unison, "Cheers!"

Soon, under the influence of alcohol, everyone started chatting about all sorts of things.

At this moment, Zhang Lei seized the opportunity to ask, "Xu Damao, you just got back today, how come you're already clashing with Sha Zhu again?"

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, Xu Damao immediately pouted and said, "This isn't Sha Zhu's fault. I kindly reminded him, but he turned around and blamed me instead."

Hearing this, Zhang Lei looked at Sha Zhu, raised an eyebrow, and said, "Oh, is that so?"

Sha Zhu immediately became agitated, stiffening his neck as he said, "Zhang Lei, don't listen to his nonsense! He said an old man is trying to fool me? How could that be?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Lei immediately realized that Xu Damao must have seen Yi Zhonghai brainwashing He Yuzhu again, so he thought of giving He Yuzhu a heads-up, but it turned out to be superfluous.

Zhang Lei asked He Yuzhu curiously, "Silly Zhu, what did that old man say to you this time?"

Sha Zhu was straightforward and blurted out, "I came back to ask Uncle what he thinks about the Jia family."

Upon hearing Sha Zhu's words, Zhang Lei pressed further, "What did the old man say?"

Sha Zhu looked at Zhang Lei, sighed and said, "Hey, we all misunderstood Uncle. Uncle showed me Aunt's medical records. Aunt still needs to take medicine and take care of the deaf old lady. She doesn't have any extra money to take care of the Jia family. Besides, they don't have any children and they have to save money for their retirement. It's not as glamorous as we imagined. Uncle is just a low-key person and doesn't want to trouble us."

After hearing He Yuzhu's words, Zhang Lei thought to himself, "Damn, Yi Zhonghai's brainwashing ability is really strong."

Fueled by alcohol, Xu Damao slammed his hand on the table and exclaimed, "Silly Zhu, what Yi Zhonghai said is utter nonsense! Everyone knows that Aunt Yi's little ailment won't cost you a penny!"

Seeing that Sha Zhu was about to refute Xu Damao's words again, Zhang Lei quickly stopped him, saying, "Sha Zhu, Yi Zhonghai told you he's not rich either, do you think that's possible?"

Sha Zhu, looking completely puzzled, said, "How is that impossible? Didn't I just say so?"

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "Let alone the old lady being sick, even if she's been sick for a long time, Yi Zhonghai's monthly salary plus subsidies is only a little over 100 yuan. What medicine can't he afford? And what about the deaf old lady in the backyard? She's a recipient of the Five Guarantees. The government takes care of all her basic needs, and apart from the old lady taking care of her, she doesn't spend any money at all."

Hearing Zhang Lei's explanation, Xu Damao quickly chimed in, "Exactly! Sha Zhu, you should use your brain and analyze this too. See how right Zhang Lei is!"

After hearing the analysis, Sha Zhu was at a loss for words.

But after thinking for a while, he forced himself to say, "But, but Grandpa Yi really did a lot of good things for our courtyard."

Zhang Lei followed up, saying, "Oh, Sha Zhu, can you tell me what good deeds he's done?"

Sha Zhu blurted out, "That means helping the poor people in the courtyard and mediating conflicts among them."

Xu Damao couldn't stand it anymore and slammed his fist on the table, standing up and shouting, "What nonsense about helping the poor and mediating conflicts!"

Then Sha Zhu immediately became unhappy and raised his voice, saying, "Xu Damao, watch your mouth, or I'll slap you!"

Zhang Lei quickly stopped him, saying, "Shazhu, don't get agitated. I haven't heard Xu Damao finish speaking yet."

Xu Damao said smugly, "Shazhu, look at Zhang Lei, he's much more mature and steady than you. All you know is to resort to violence at the drop of a hat."

Sha Zhu said unhappily, "Are you going to talk or not? If not, shut up and listen to me!"

Xu Damao scoffed, "Listen to me, you say he helps the poor? Who has he helped? Besides the Jia family in the courtyard, who else could he help? And you say he mediates conflicts? Ninety-nine percent of the conflicts in the courtyard are just the Jia family's petty squabbles!"

Listening to Xu Damao's words, Zhang Lei nodded secretly. It seemed that Xu Damao was indeed a wise man.

Zhang Lei laughed and said, "Shazhu, you can think carefully about whether what Xu Damao said is right or wrong. Don't be so quick to draw conclusions. Don't look at what a person says, look at what they do. When you can analyze it clearly yourself, you won't be confused anymore."

Xu Damao then seized the opportunity to say, "Zhang Lei, if he can understand what you're saying to him, he's not Sha Zhu. What do you call this? This is called that there are no wrong nicknames, only wrong names." He then burst into laughter.

Seeing Xu Damao's smug look, Zhang Lei said, "Alright, hurry up and drink. Come and clink glasses with me." The two then clinked glasses.

Zhang Lei turned to look at Sha Zhu and said seriously, "Sha Zhu, Yi Zhonghai isn't as simple as you think."

At this moment, Yan Jiecheng also raised his wine glass and came over, saying repeatedly, "Yes, yes, Shazhu, my dad told me before that Yi Zhonghai is very shrewd."

Liu Guangtian nodded in agreement: "Yes, my dad also told me that Yi Zhonghai is a deep thinker and that I shouldn't openly oppose him."

Listening to everyone criticizing Yi Zhonghai, Sha Zhu felt for the first time that Yi Zhonghai's position in his heart was shaken.

Seeing Sha Zhu's expression, Zhang Lei shook his head helplessly.

If we want to completely break ties between Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai, we have to do it step by step, and at least we have to take a drastic step.

He ignored Sha Zhu and turned to look at the others at the table, who were already shouting and drinking contests.

As the saying goes, before a man drinks, he is the world; when he drinks, the whole world is his.

In his past life, Zhang Lei often saw drunk people like this at drinking parties. It started with "I'm not good at drinking," but eventually turned into "Anyone who doesn't drink is disrespecting me." Before drinking, "Nobody here knows me"; after drinking, "I don't know anyone here."

Now, apart from Zhang Lei, the others at the table are in this state.

Liu Guangtian patted his chest and boasted that his father was the second eldest uncle, and there was nothing in the entire courtyard that he couldn't handle.

Yan Jiecheng, not to be outdone, stuck out his neck and boasted about his father's abilities at school, saying that there was no trouble his father couldn't handle within the school's boundaries.

Xu Damao went on to boast wildly, slamming his fist on the table and shouting that no one in the entire factory dared to disrespect him.

He Yuzhu went even further, bringing up even his boss who cooked at work, shouting at the top of his lungs, "There's no boss I don't know!"