Lin Zhen had already been home and asleep for a while.
Only then did Liu Haizhong come back, panting heavily.
The moment he entered the courtyard, he hurriedly lifted up his bicycle again, afraid the neighbors would hear the sound of it.
Back home, Liu Haizhong turned on the light.
One look in the mirror gave him a fright—his face was covered in blood.
The harsh light woke Second Aunt.
Still groggy, she asked, "Why did it take you so long to use the toilet?"
"Keep it down. I took a fall!"
"A fall? What did you fall—oh my! What happened to you?"
When she saw Liu Haizhong's blood-covered face, Second Aunt screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Shut up!"
Liu Haizhong hurriedly covered his wife's mouth. Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, in the other room, were awakened too.
They came over and were both startled.
"Dad, what happened to you?"
"I fell on my way to the toilet. Don't make a fuss. It'll be embarrassing if people hear about it. Mother, bring me a basin of warm water so I can clean up. Do we have any medicine? Put some on me."
"Oh dear, why would we keep medicine at home? Shouldn't you go to the clinic?"
"No! Listen up, all of you. I fell at the public toilet because it was dark. Don't go spreading nonsense outside. Guang Tian, Guangfu, hurry back to sleep!"
"Okay, got it."
The two sons truly did not feel sorry for their father despite his bloodied face. Told to return to bed, they did, and soon started snoring.
Liu Haizhong was so furious he wanted to drag the two of them up and beat them.
Second Aunt was heartbroken.
As she cleaned Liu Haizhong's wounds, she asked softly, "What really happened?"
Liu Haizhong let out a long sigh.
"Sigh! I got stuck in my own head. Damn rotten luck. I was going to Lou Xiao'e's old family home to look for proof that she had been in contact with her parents, but when I got there, I remembered that the old house had already been confiscated."
"What? Why were you going there in the middle of the night?"
"Well... it would have been fine if I'd come straight back. But then I wanted to visit Lou Xiao'e's former servant. At a street corner, my wheel got caught on a stick in the flower bed, and I was thrown so hard I nearly blacked out!"
"Oh, dear Lord, how could you be so unlucky? You never should have gone out!"
Liu Haizhong said gloomily, "What's the point of saying that now? I couldn't sleep. That pent-up feeling was suffocating me. I just couldn't let it go!"
"You really shouldn't provoke Lin Zhen and Lou Xiao'e. Some things aren't about whether you believe in superstition or not. Look at Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu—they cursed him every day, and look how they ended up. You went out in the middle of the night to do something bad and nearly got yourself killed. Maybe something is protecting their family."
"Shut up! What nonsense are you talking about? Such a woman's view. Who still believes in superstitious nonsense like that?"
Second Aunt said unconcernedly, "Then we should steer clear of them from now on. Even if Lin Zhen becomes the First Elder of the courtyard, you shouldn't try anything again."
"Shut up! What bad thing did I do? I was just taking a walk in the middle of the night, all right? I didn't actually find any evidence and report him to the neighborhood office, yet you're lecturing me!"
"All right, all right, don't move. Sigh... the people in the courtyard will definitely laugh at you tomorrow."
The next morning, the courtyard was indeed lively.
Silly Zhu still wanted to beat Xu Damao.
But Liu Haizhong's appearance shocked him into stopping.
"Oh my! Second Elder, who did you get into it with? What happened to your face?"
Xu Damao said in surprise, "So that was why I heard Second Aunt shouting last night?"
Silly Zhu chuckled. "Could Second Aunt have scratched you?"
Liu Haizhong's face turned livid. "Get lost!"
Second Aunt said awkwardly from the side, "He fell on the way to the public toilet in the middle of the night..."
Silly Zhu chuckled. "How fast did he have to run for that to happen?"
Lin Zhen came over to watch the excitement too.
The instant he saw Liu Haizhong's face, he found it even harder not to laugh.
Liu Haizhong had already been fat, and now the swelling made him look even fatter.
He looked like a watermelon. A large patch of skin had been scraped off his nose, there was a bump on his forehead, and half a front tooth had broken off.
Half his face was injured, and his left eye was squinted shut.
He looked as though he had just stepped down from a boxing ring.
"Oh my! Second Elder! Do you have a grudge against the ground? Did you smash your face straight into it?"
Liu Haizhong kept a grim face and did not bother arguing with them. He waved his hand and hurried away.
Silly Zhu asked curiously, "Second Elder, why aren't you riding your bicycle today?"
Second Aunt said, "He's hurt like this. What bicycle could he possibly ride?"
Lin Zhen smiled. "Then why not take the day off? Why go to work?"
"Sigh... it's just injuries on my face. It won't interfere with work."
Lin Zhen and Silly Zhu chuckled as they left.
Xu Damao curled his lip, finding it amusing as well.
Yi Zhonghai, however, frowned slightly, sensing that something was off.
Even if Liu Haizhong had run to the toilet in the middle of the night, he could not possibly have fallen badly enough to end up like that.
Besides, someone who rode a bicycle every day was not riding one today. There had to be something suspicious going on.
Before leaving, Yi Zhonghai specifically went to the bike shed to take a look.
Sure enough, he found something wrong.
Several spokes on Liu Haizhong's front wheel were broken, and the handlebars were bent.
"Old Liu fell off his bicycle? Did he ride a bicycle just to go to the toilet at the entrance?"
Yi Zhonghai became suspicious and decided to ask Liu Haizhong about it when he had the chance.
By coincidence, Second Aunt came to the bike shed to push the bicycle out, planning to have it repaired quickly.
"Second Aunt, Old Liu fell off his bicycle, didn't he?"
Second Aunt replied irritably, "Old Yi, that's none of your business!"
"I... I was just concerned."
"No need. If you really care, go see Qin Jingru off on the long-distance bus. She's at the Jia family's door and doesn't want to leave."
Yi Zhonghai hit a wall and had no choice but to leave.
In the central courtyard, Qin Jingru was sulking.
Qin Huairu had told her to leave quickly and not delay her trip to the hospital. She said that once her mother-in-law returned, she would be even more determined to drive Qin Jingru away.
Qin Jingru wanted to stay in the courtyard, but Xu Damao was afraid of Silly Zhu. Since they had not gotten their marriage certificate yet, he did not dare let Qin Jingru stay.
Since Xu Damao would not relent, Qin Jingru could only leave.
She was not sulking because she absolutely had to stay with the Jia family. She was determined to get back the thirty eggs Xu Damao had given Qin Huairu.
"Cousin! I came to help you watch the children for several days and did nothing but exhausting work. I got no benefit at all. You have to let me take the eggs Damao gave you. He bought those for me!"
Qin Huairu said angrily, "You've only been with Xu Damao for a few days, and you've already learned to be this cold-hearted?"
"I'm cold-hearted? You were the one who asked me to come, and you're the one driving me away. Hmph! What do you take me for?"
"Fine, fine! Take them. When you get home, tell Third Uncle that your man bought them for you!"
"I will! I'm going back to spread the news. After a while, I'll come back and marry Damao!"
Yi Zhonghai frowned. "All right, take your things and hurry to the station. Don't delay Huairu's trip to the hospital."
Qin Jingru glared at him. "Hmph! I'm not even from this courtyard now. It's none of your business!"
Yi Zhonghai hit another wall. What was going on? Why was my authority in the courtyard getting lower and lower?
He wanted to scold Qin Jingru, but she truly was a guest of the Jia family, and it was not his place to interfere. He could only leave with a livid face.
After Qin Jingru left, Jia Zhangshi spent her days sleeping and did not look after Bang Geng or Xiao Dang. The two children ran around the courtyard every day.
In the blink of an eye, it was Monday of the following week.
Lou Xiao'e took her four sons and followed Aunt Liu to the neighborhood office.
Most of the people in the courtyard had gone to work, and the Siheyuan was quiet that morning.
Suddenly, agonized sobbing came from the front courtyard.
Something had happened to Bang Geng.
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