Siheyuan: Buyers get rich from hunting

"I think we must figure out a perfect way to make that ignorant guy realize clearly that there are some things that are not her turn to interfere in! If she keeps interfering in our affairs like this, she will suffer and learn her lesson!" Xu Damao's words were full of gritted teeth. As he spoke, his eyes rolled around, and a barely perceptible cunning flashed across his eyes, as if a cunning old fox was plotting some conspiracy.

He then turned his gaze to Yan Bugui beside him, with an expectant and flattering smile on his face, and said, "Old Yan, you are the wisest man in our courtyard. You are well-read and knowledgeable. There are countless ideas in your mind, just like the stars in the sky. In your opinion, can you come up with some clever ideas for this matter? We have to let her know that the rules of this courtyard are not decided by her alone."

Hearing this, Yan Bugui's mouth curled up into a smug smile, he stretched out his right hand calmly, gently stroked the sparse mustache on his chin, narrowed his eyes slightly, like a shrewd and calculating man, and fell into a brief contemplation. He thought to himself: This old lady usually relies on her seniority in the courtyard to interfere in our affairs. If I don't teach her a lesson today, she will really treat us as soft persimmons that can be manipulated at will.

After a long while, Yan Bugui slowly opened his mouth and said, "In my opinion, we might as well adopt a strategy of 'fighting fire with fire'. Think about it, the old lady has always loved to meddle in other people's business, right? Since she likes to meddle in other people's business so much, we might as well artificially create some so-called 'troublesome things' for her, so as to induce her to take the initiative to meddle in other people's business. But in fact, these 'troublesome things' are all traps and snares that we have carefully designed, just waiting for her to jump in foolishly! Once she falls into this pit, she will naturally deeply appreciate the power of it. Humph, by then, let's see if she dares to be so arrogant and domineering again!"

After hearing these words, Xu Damao's eyes, which had been dull, suddenly became bright, like two sparkling gems, flashing with excitement. He slapped his thigh and shouted, "Oh my, this is a really great idea! Old Yan, you are really my think tank! But...how do we implement it? You have to tell me in detail, we have to plan it carefully to ensure that everything goes well!"

After saying that, he couldn't wait to put his head close to Yan Bugui, his ears perked up, afraid to miss every word he said next, his face full of anxiety and expectation, as if he had already seen the embarrassed look of the old lady when she fell.

Seeing this, Yan Bugui smiled slightly, with a mysterious arc on his lips. That smile seemed to contain endless deep meanings that were hard to fathom. He slowly adjusted his posture to ensure that he was close enough to Xu Damao so that the other party could clearly hear every word he said.

Then, he lowered his voice, which was deep and magnetic, and whispered softly in Xu Damao's ear. His tone was sometimes rapid, sometimes slow, as if he was telling a fascinating story, and every word was full of temptation and conspiracy. As time passed, Xu Damao's smile became brighter and brighter, as if he had heard some extremely interesting or exciting news, and finally he couldn't help laughing out loud, with a bit of pride and arrogance in his laughter, as if he had foreseen the wonderful show that was about to happen.

At this time, Yan Bugui also had a smug look on his face. He gently patted Xu Damao on the shoulder, and their eyes met in the air, as if they were silently communicating each other's thoughts and expectations. After looking at each other with Xu Damao, the two of them laughed knowingly at the same time, and the laughter was full of anticipation and excitement for the upcoming "good show".

Their eyes flashed with sinister and calculating light, just like two cunning foxes who had seen the poor old lady falling into the traps they had set. They seemed to have foreseen the old lady's stunned and helpless expression, as well as her despair of struggling but being powerless.

The next morning, the sun shone through the mottled leaves into the yard, and the golden light and green leaves intertwined to form a beautiful picture. However, in sharp contrast to this peaceful and tranquil atmosphere, a sense of uneasiness was quietly spreading. The people in the yard seemed to feel something unusual, and their eye contact became unusually subtle.

At some point, some mysterious rumors began to spread in the yard. These rumors moved among the crowd like ghosts, and they became more rampant every night. It was said that in a remote corner of the yard, a creepy "ominous thing" had appeared! This news was like a heavy bomb, instantly setting off a storm in everyone's heart. Everyone whispered to each other, with panic on their faces, as if the "ominous thing" would jump out of the darkness at any time and swallow them up.

The deaf old lady living in the yard, although unable to hear the gossip due to physical reasons, her keen observation ability was not diminished at all. She noticed that the expressions of the people around her became unusually nervous, and the communication between them was full of obscurity and hints. Her eyes, which had experienced vicissitudes of life, flashed with doubt and worry, as if she had already sensed the impending unrest and turmoil.

This strange atmosphere made the old lady feel suspicious, and her strong curiosity was like a burning flame, driving her to find out what was going on. So, this old but vigorous old woman, with a staggering step, slowly walked towards the legendary corner.

Along the way, the old lady's heart was pounding as if it was about to jump out of her throat. Finally, she came to the place shrouded in rumors. The scene in front of her made her slightly stunned - there was nothing here, only a few shadows that looked particularly gloomy and terrifying. After careful observation, the old lady soon found that this place was obviously carefully arranged by someone. There were some strange objects scattered on the ground, and there were also several strangely shaped stones placed around. It looked like the scene of some kind of evil ritual.

Seeing this scene, the old lady understood about 70% of it in her heart. She knew that there must be some conspiracy behind this, but she did not choose to expose it on the spot. Instead, she just shook her head gently, with a trace of helplessness and emotion on her face. After experiencing the baptism of a long time, she already knew the complexity of human nature. At this moment, she would rather remain silent and look at this matter with a tolerant and understanding attitude.

At this time, Xu Damao and Yan Bugui, who were hiding in the dark and secretly observing all this, did not expect that things would develop like this. They had originally expected the deaf old lady to be shocked and make a scene because of the so-called "ominous thing", but they never expected that the old lady would be so calm and composed, and did not even say a word of complaint. This sudden situation made them feel a little frustrated, and the farce they had originally planned was ruined. At the same time, they could not help but have a little more awe for the deaf old lady, realizing that this seemingly ordinary old woman actually had wisdom and tolerance beyond ordinary people.

However, in that dim corner, Xu Damao and Yan Bugui looked at each other furtively, with a cunning and sinister smile on their faces. Although the previous plan seemed to have failed, they obviously had no intention of giving up.

Xu Damao leaned down slightly and whispered to Yan Bugui in a very low voice: "Hey, Old Yan, look at this old lady. She looks calm and indestructible on the surface, but what about her in reality? I think she is just a paper tiger, strong on the outside but weak on the inside! We have to give her another dose of strong medicine to see if she can withstand it."

After hearing this, Yan Bugui nodded repeatedly to show his agreement, his eyes narrowed into a slit, with a barely perceptible gloomy light flashing in them. He gritted his teeth and agreed, "That's right! How can she manipulate the wind direction in this yard at will? This time, let's just use Yi Zhonghai as a target and use his biggest pain point as our sharpest weapon!"

At this point, the two smiled at each other, as if they had seen the dawn of victory. Then, they began to plot how to weave a more vicious and deadly web of rumors in order to completely defeat their common enemy.

After careful consideration, Xu Damao's eyes suddenly lit up and he lowered his voice and said, "I got it! Let's spread the news and say that Yi Zhonghai's heart has been burned by the fire of jealousy because he cannot have children. Every night when it is quiet, he will quietly climb onto the roof alone and pray devoutly to the bright moon hanging high in the night sky. He prays to God to let all the children of other families in the yard suffer various misfortunes. Only in this way can his twisted and perverted heart gain some balance..."

After hearing the news, Yan Bugui's usually sarcastic face curled up slightly, revealing a chilling sneer: "Hey! This is really a brilliant idea! Look how cruel this rumor is, and it's so covert, it can be said to kill people without shedding blood! We must make good use of it and find a way to spread it in this yard without anyone noticing."

As expected, before long, these rumors spread like a terrible plague throughout the courtyard at an alarming speed. The originally peaceful and tranquil courtyard was instantly filled with smoke and panic. The residents, as if under a spell, began to look at Yi Zhonghai with extremely strange eyes. Some people saw him coming from afar, and they lowered their heads and hurried away; others gathered together and whispered, pointing in the direction of Yi Zhonghai from time to time.

The deaf old lady, who had always been highly respected, was so angry that she trembled all over after learning about this. Her trembling old hands tightly grasped Yi Zhonghai's arm, and her cloudy eyes were filled with heartache and incomparable determination.

She shook Yi Zhonghai's hand vigorously, and said in a trembling but powerful voice: "Zhonghai, I've lived for such an old age, what kind of people have I not seen? I know you are a really good person in my heart. Those messy rumors are pure nonsense and fabricated out of nothing! But don't worry, I will never watch you suffer this injustice, and I will never allow these ill-intentioned people to do whatever they want and hurt any kind and upright person in our yard!"

So, the deaf old lady's hands, which were full of traces of time, trembled slightly, and she tightly grasped her crutches. She had already made up her mind to convene a meeting of the whole hospital. With her prestige that had been through many ups and downs and her respected prestige as well as the life wisdom accumulated over the years, she would calm the increasingly intense storm.

When the whole hospital meeting officially began, the deaf old lady stood up slowly under the attention of everyone. Although her voice was slightly trembling due to her advanced age, her tone was firm and powerful.

"Everyone, please be quiet for a moment and listen to what I have to say." The deaf old lady said. Although her voice was not loud, it seemed to have a magical power that made the originally noisy scene instantly silent.

"During this period, some false rumors about Yi Zhonghai have been circulating in our courtyard. Some people say that because he can't have children, his heart is full of resentment, and he even wants to curse the safety and health of the children in our courtyard. Listen, does this make sense? It's simply nonsense!" The deaf old lady seemed a little excited when she said this, and the hand holding the crutch unconsciously increased the strength a bit.

Then, she slowly looked around, her eyes like two sharp lightning bolts, shooting straight at everyone present. At that moment, everyone felt the unquestionable majesty and solemnity revealed in her eyes.

"What kind of person is Yi Zhonghai? Don't all of us living in this yard know it? Although he didn't have his own flesh and blood, over the years, he treated each of us as if we were his own children! There has never been even a word of complaint or dissatisfaction. Such a good man, how can we bear to watch him being wantonly harmed by those unfounded and fabricated rumors?" The deaf old lady became more and more excited as she spoke, and in the end, her voice couldn't help but choke up.