Sha Zhu stared with his bull-like eyes: "What nonsense are you spouting! Why would I think about him?"

The fat man popped a peanut into his mouth: "Stop pretending. When you got into trouble, he was more worried about you than anyone else. He ran around taking care of everything and even paid for your medical expenses. You two are true love!"

With two "pfft" sounds, Yan Bugui and his son Yan Jiecheng both spat out their drink.

Sha Zhu and Xu Damao are truly in love, hahaha!

Only Shi Bowen couldn't understand, and we didn't dare ask, because we knew nothing...

Sha Zhu argued with the fat man, his face flushed, before the fat man finally told him, "Xu Damao went back to his hometown, taking Qin Jingru with him."

Yan Bugui glanced at the middle courtyard: "No wonder it's been so quiet lately, turns out he's not here."

Sha Zhu wholeheartedly agreed: "Third Uncle, you've hit the nail on the head! Who is Xu Damao? In the old days, he would definitely be a traitor!"

Yan Jiecheng retorted, "That's not right! This traitor you're talking about saved your life!"

Sha Zhu scratched his nose guiltily, his toes digging into his skin. If it weren't for his slippers, he could have dug a bomb shelter on the spot...

At this critical juncture, Banggeng suddenly came from the Central Court.

The little brat's appearance made the fat man very uncomfortable.

Naturally curly hair, hooked nose, looks like a skewer!

He doesn't like to talk to people, and he can't say more than a few words to anyone. He's like an old silver coin, and what's most unpleasant is his gaze.

This kid has completely copied Sha Zhu's habit of not looking people in the middle; he doesn't even greet people when he comes to the front yard.

His gaze swept casually around the shed, regardless of whether there were so many women present.

His purpose in coming here seemed to be Xiao Dang. He walked straight over to her as soon as he saw her.

Xiao Dang saw him too, rolled her eyes, and deliberately turned her head to talk to Yu Li.

Banggeng walked up to him and said four words: "Come home with me."

As a result, Xiao Dang completely ignored him, and everyone else acted as if they hadn't heard him either, leaving him standing there.

Banggeng frowned and said loudly again, "Come home with me!"

This time, Xiao Dang turned around and said, "Hey, who are you talking to?"

Bang retorted angrily, "Is this how you talk to me? You think I'll punch you?!"

On the other side, Sha Zhu couldn't hold back any longer: "You little thief, how dare you talk like that?"

Bang Geng turned his head, his eyes practically spitting fire, his hatred so intense he didn't even bother to hide it. Sha Zhu jumped to his feet, furious: "What? You little thief, don't look at me like that. I'm standing right here, come at me if you dare!"

Bang Geng hasn't spoken a word to him in eight years, so naturally he won't talk to him now.

Instead, she continued to stare at Xiao Dang: "Mom said you should go home."

Xiao Dang stood up abruptly and said angrily, "I have no mother, and I have no home!"

Bang Geng was also furious: "Say that again?"

The fat guy next to him shouted, "Hey, you little brat, what are you doing? You're a grown man, how come you don't know any better?"

Banggeng's head suddenly turned from a strange angle, and the fat man said that he was exceptionally talented, and that the kid had a bit of an eagle's gaze and a wolf's look.

The fat man had never met Jia Dongxu, so he couldn't comment...

Banggeng abandoned Xiaodang and walked towards the fat man with a sinister look: "It's you! Perfect, there's a score I should settle with you about!"

Before he even reached the fat man, Thunder Tiger blocked his path and gave him only one word: "Get lost!"

"..."

Sending Banggeng to the front yard to find Xiaodang was another of Qin Huairu's schemes.

Back then, because of Ran Qiuye's matter, she completely fell out with the deaf old lady. On the surface, Yi Zhonghai also distanced himself from her, but in reality, the old woman's determination to have the "Qin Huairu + Bang Geng" combination support her in her old age grew stronger day by day.

Now everyone is living in earthquake shelters, seeing each other all the time. Yi Zhonghai has started issuing orders again, and Qin Huairu decisively made peace with him.

Aside from his aunt's disapproval, the two families surprisingly reconciled.

Every day, everyone sat in the middle courtyard, smelling the aroma of food from the front yard. One of the people in the middle courtyard, named Liugen, felt increasingly uneasy.

Unable to contain himself, he grumbled, "I mean, this idiot Zhu is one of our own from the Central Courtyard, so why does he have to cook in their front yard all day? It's really something, hogging two head chefs at once, isn't he afraid of overeating!"

Then he said to Qin Huairu, "Qin Huairu, isn't Sha Zhu your best friend? Why don't you call him back?"

Qin Huairu pursed her lips and remained silent, but Yi Zhonghai chimed in, "Liu Gen makes a lot of sense. Their front yard is already in dire straits, and Zhu Zi is one of our middle yard people, so it's not appropriate for him to keep crowding into someone else's place. Besides, there's Xiao Dang, why isn't he going home at this critical juncture?"

Qin Huairu first glanced at her mother-in-law, then at Yi Zhonghai, and then said to her eldest son, "Banggeng! Go to the front yard and call your sister home. Tell her it was me who said this!"

Xiao Dang now calls Sha Zhu "Silly Dad," and the two are as close as family. Now that Xiao Dang is back, how could Sha Zhu not come along?

She really schemed against him completely. In the end, Bang Geng took it all as gospel.

Not long after, the stick came back.

He came back alone, and his face was bruised and swollen.

Qin Huairu panicked, rushed up to him, and shouted, "Who did this?"

Banggeng was trying to hide his embarrassment and didn't want to talk... It was so embarrassing. Before Fatty even had a chance to make a move, Benleihu had beaten him to a pulp. If Shazhu hadn't shouted "Let it go" at the end, he probably wouldn't be able to get up by now.

What tormented him even more than the physical pain were the fat man's words: "You little brat, a coward who only bullies his own kind. Back then, Liu Guangfu and his gang in the backyard hung his tattered shoes on him and even stripped him of his cotton-padded pants, but he didn't dare to seek revenge. He's more tolerant than a turtle. Now, I don't know who gave him the courage to come and cause trouble in our front yard."

Thunder Tiger exclaimed in surprise: "Is it this exciting?!"

The fat man said to Li Xianying, "He also has a nickname, do you remember it?"

Li Xianying slapped her thigh: "That's right, call it toothpick!"

The earthquake shelter erupted in laughter; the older women laughed unrestrainedly, while the young women and wives chuckled quietly.

Banggeng almost buried his head in the ground, so angry that his fingernails dug deep into his palms. What a disgrace! What a disgrace!

This nickname was given to him by Liu Guangfu. Bang Geng secretly vowed that he would definitely kill Liu Guangfu, he definitely would!

The more Qin Huairu pressed him for answers, the less Bang Geng would utter a single word.

An older woman, annoyed by the noise, snapped, "That's enough! If you keep shouting, the whole yard will hear you!"

※※※※※※

Even the greatest difficulties will pass.

With everyone united as one, relying on unwavering faith and tireless efforts, they rebuilt and restored the devastation left by the disaster at an incredible speed.

Time is indeed the greatest sculptor.

When winter comes, all the previous hardships, happiness, gains and losses are restored to their most essential form.