Siheyuan: A journey of mountains and rivers

He Yuzhu smiled and hugged her gently, "Yes, Xiao'e, as long as you are by my side, everything becomes so beautiful."

Life in the courtyard gradually returned to normal, and everyone seemed to have come out of the storm. However, He Yuzhu knew in his heart that the apparent calm did not mean that all problems had been solved. Some hidden dangers still existed, waiting to erupt at some unexpected moment.

One morning, He Yuzhu and Lou Xiao'e got up as usual, ready to start a new day of busy work. He Yuzhu was going to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, while Lou Xiao'e was cleaning the yard. The sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves onto the ground, giving people a warm feeling.

"Brother Yuzhu, do you have any special plans today?" Lou Xiao'e asked with a smile.

He Yuzhu thought for a moment and replied, "Nothing special happened today. I am going to sort out the things left over from the last party. By the way, Xu Damao seems to be acting sneaky lately. I wonder what he is up to."

Lou Xiao'e frowned, "Xu Damao has always been a restless person, we have to be careful."

He Yuzhu nodded, and secretly decided to pay more attention. After breakfast, he began to work in the yard, sorting out the piled up debris. Just as he was concentrating on the work at hand, he suddenly heard a noise coming from the gate of the yard.

"He Yuzhu, come out!" Xu Damao's voice came, with obvious anger.

He Yuzhu put down the work in his hands and walked quickly to the door, only to see Xu Damao standing there angrily with a livid face.

"Xu Damao, why are you speaking so loudly? Can't you just talk it out nicely?" He Yuzhu frowned and said dissatisfiedly.

Xu Damao glared at He Yuzhu and said with gritted teeth: "Stop pretending to be a good guy here! There was another chicken missing from my chicken coop last night. Did you do it?"

He Yuzhu was furious when he heard this. "Xu Damao, stop slandering me! I, He Yuzhu, am upright and never do anything sneaky!"

Xu Damao sneered, "You said it wasn't you, then let everyone judge and see if it was you who did it!"

At this time, the neighbors in the courtyard were also attracted by the noise and gathered around, watching the two people arguing.

"Everyone, please give your opinion. A chicken was missing from my chicken coop last night, and I suspect He Yuzhu did it!" Xu Damao shouted loudly, causing everyone to talk about it.

"Yuzhu, you wouldn't do such a thing, would you?" a neighbor asked with a puzzled look.

He Yuzhu took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "I say again, I did not steal Xu Damao's chicken. If you insist on accusing me, then let's find evidence and let the facts speak for themselves!"

Xu Damao's eyes widened, looking a little exasperated. "Okay, then find evidence! But I tell you, you can't escape today!"

At this moment, He Yuzhu felt Xu Damao suddenly step forward and push him hard. He was caught off guard, lost his balance, and fell heavily to the ground, grimacing in pain.

"Brother Yuzhu!" Lou Xiao'e hurriedly ran forward and helped He Yuzhu up, her eyes full of worry.

When the neighbors saw this, they all started talking about it. "Xu Damao, this is wrong. How can you hit someone?"

"That's right, why can't we just talk it out? Do we have to resort to violence?"

Xu Damao was also a little stunned, as if he didn't expect that he would push He Yuzhu. He said calmly, "I just wanted him to give an explanation, but I didn't expect him to be so weak."

He Yuzhu endured the pain, stood up, and looked at Xu Damao coldly, "Xu Damao, your behavior has gone too far. I will definitely find out the truth and clear my name!"

At this time, Yi Zhonghai rushed over after hearing the news. Seeing this scene, his brows knitted tightly, "What's going on?"

Lou Xiao'e said quickly, "Uncle Yi, Xu Damao wrongly accused Brother Yuzhu of stealing his chicken and even beat him up!"

After hearing this, Yi Zhonghai looked at Xu Damao with a heavy face, "Damo, this matter is very serious. We cannot wrongly accuse someone without any evidence. We must find out the truth."

Xu Damao was still unconvinced, "Uncle Yi, one of my chickens is indeed missing. Who else could have stolen it if not him?"

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand, "Da Mao, calm down first. Let's find out the truth together. We can't make groundless accusations."

He Yuzhu felt a sharp pain in his back, but he knew that now was not the time to worry about it. He stood up straight and said firmly, "Okay, let's find out the truth together. I, He Yuzhu, have never done anything sneaky, and I want to prove my innocence!"

Under the mediation of Yi Zhonghai, everyone decided to start investigating the matter and find out who stole Xu Damao's chicken. Several neighbors spontaneously formed a team and began to search around the courtyard, looking for clues.

After a careful investigation, they found some strange traces. There were some unknown footprints on the ground around the chicken coop, which seemed to be not human footprints, but left by some small animals.

"These footprints don't look like human ones." A neighbor squatted down to take a closer look, "They look more like they were left by a cat or a dog."

After hearing this, He Yuzhu had an idea, "I remember there was a wild cat hanging around in the yard recently, could it be this cat?"

Xu Damao's expression became complicated. "But one of my chickens is indeed missing. How do you explain this?"

Yi Zhonghai nodded, "This needs further confirmation. We can't draw conclusions based on just this little clue. Yuzhu, do you have any ideas?"

He Yuzhu thought for a moment, "Uncle Yi, I remember there was an old shed in the corner of the yard, and there seemed to be some mice in it. Could it be that the wild cat went to catch mice and took the chicken away as well?"

Everyone thought it made sense and decided to go to the old shed to check it out. He Yuzhu endured the pain and led everyone to the old shed. Sure enough, they found some chicken feathers and traces of mice.

"It seems that it was really done by the wild cat." A neighbor said with relief.

Xu Damao showed a trace of embarrassment on his face, "So that's how it is, I wrongly blamed Yu Zhu."

He Yuzhu looked at Xu Damao and said calmly, "Damo, it's good that the misunderstanding has been resolved. But in the future, when you encounter something, you still have to deal with it calmly and not act rashly."

Xu Damao nodded and apologized in a low voice, "Yuzhu, I'm sorry, I was impulsive."

He Yuzhu smiled slightly and patted Xu Damao on the shoulder. "It's okay. We are all neighbors. We can talk about it in the future."

With the misunderstanding resolved, the courtyard returned to peace. He Yuzhu returned home, and Lou Xiaoe treated his wounds distressedly, her eyes full of worry.

"Brother Yuzhu, you must be more careful in the future and don't be so impulsive." Lou Xiao'e scolded softly.