On the other side, when Ma Hua pushed the cart to the backyard, he saw his second aunt leading two children and walking towards him aggressively. Ma Hua couldn't help but frown. What was going on? Were they planning to cause him trouble?

"Ma Hua, how could you do this! Old Liu was just joking with you a few times, and you've gotten him into such a mess!" The second aunt's eyes were red as she glared at Ma Hua.

Good grief. You're so hypocritical! If he hadn't reported me, would he be in such a bad situation? What's wrong with me? I'm the victim here, you know. When the MCA (Malaysian Chinese Association) was in power...

Just then, I saw the deaf old lady's house; her two heads were pressed against the window, peeking in!

Thinking of this, Ma Hua angrily cursed, "Get lost, you have no brains. Ask more questions instead of being used as a pawn like Liu Haizhong."

"Ma Hua, how dare you talk to my mother like that!" Liu Guangtian glared angrily at Ma Hua.

"Tch, what do I care if your dad gets arrested? What's up, want to fight? Just say it,"

Ma Hua glanced at Liu Guangtian with disdain. At this time, Liu Guangtian already had a few strands of hair sticking out of his bangs. He was very fat and strong.

"You, I won't fight you, Ma Hua, how can you be so heartless? My dad is the second oldest man in our compound, how dare you do this!"

Seeing Ma Hua's fierce gaze, Liu Guangtian instinctively took a few steps back. Ma Hua could beat up Sha Zhu like it was nothing; he wouldn't dare lay a hand on him.

"Oh, what's wrong? You want to come in too? Do you know what your father did wrong? You all saw what I kept in this room. What's wrong with that?"

"Is your family dissatisfied with the new era? Are you planning a rebellion? I think it's not just your father, you all need to go in and get some reformed!" Ma Hua spat and said disdainfully.

"You, you," Liu Guangtian was so angry he couldn't speak. He dared not say anything more, because if the factory found out, he would be finished.

The second aunt was so angry at Ma Hua that she trembled all over, and pointed her finger at him with shaky steps. The neighbors who were watching the commotion looked at each other, but no one said a word; they all quietly watched the show.

“Ma Hua, how can you say that? Second Uncle was just trying to help you, afraid you'd go astray. He just misunderstood you. How can you say that about him! I think Old Liu's intentions were good!”

And your aunt is so old, how could you talk to her like that?

"Such disrespect for the elderly! I think you should go and learn a thing or two!" Seeing that things were getting out of hand, Yi Zhonghai quickly stepped forward. In front of everyone, he tried his best to portray himself as an impartial and just elder.

"Hey, isn't this our old man from the compound? You've been released so quickly? What happened? Did the neighborhood committee misunderstand you and release you?" Ma Hua teased Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai's face instantly darkened. If it weren't for Director Wang of the neighborhood office being afraid of taking responsibility, he and the others definitely wouldn't have gotten out. After all, the two old men in the courtyard had made such a big mistake.

This can be considered a dereliction of duty by the neighborhood committee. Even so, he probably won't be able to keep his status as an "old man" anymore; he'll have to go to the neighborhood committee to report for training after work.

“Ma Hua, what are you saying! How could an old man be this kind of person? You’ve misunderstood him,” Sha Zhu chimed in from the side.

"Hey, isn't this our compound's notorious thief, Silly Zhuzi? What, you've been released too?"

Ma Hua's sarcastic remark caused Sha Zhu's expression to change instantly. "That damned Ma Hua, how could they treat people like that?"

“You,” Sha Zhu angrily pointed at the MCA.

“You, what do you mean, ‘you’? Oh, not bad, silly Zhuzi, you’ve got money to buy a new scarf and new shoes, huh?” Ma Hua emphasized the word “shoes” as he spoke, and glanced at Lou Xiao’e at the back of the crowd.

Upon hearing Ma Hua's words, Lou Xiao'e immediately pushed through the crowd to carefully examine Sha Zhu's scarf and new shoes.

"Hmph, that was given to me by my grandma, you can't be envious!" Sha Zhu said arrogantly, raising his foot to show off to everyone.

Everyone in the courtyard looked at Sha Zhu with envy and jealousy. They wanted it too. Only Lou Xiao'e stared at Sha Zhu in disbelief. How could the old lady do this?

"Alright, Zhuzi, this has nothing to do with you. Ma Hua, why don't you apologize to Second Aunt right now? You're the one who caused this mess in our courtyard."

Yi Zhonghai impatiently scolded Sha Zhu, "What time is it? Why are you still showing off this?"

“That’s right, the old man is right! Ma Hua, you’d better apologize to my mother right now!” Liu Guangtian said angrily.

"Apologize? What did I do wrong? Tell me, what did I do wrong? What's wrong with me putting that up at home, Yi Zhonghai?" Ma Hua's scrutinizing gaze swept over everyone. Everyone lowered their heads; who dared to say no?

“You covered this thing with a red cloth, and Lao Liu doesn’t even know what it is. Isn’t this because you’re afraid you’ll go astray? Lao Liu’s intentions are good, Ma Hua, you should understand!” Yi Zhonghai’s moralistic cudgel was used again.

"I covered it with a red cloth out of respect for it, fearing it might get dirty. Did I do something wrong?" Ma Hua said indignantly.

"And Yi Zhonghai, stop spouting nonsense. If you really care about me, why didn't you remind me? Instead, you went to the neighborhood committee to complain and have my house raided?"

I remember when I first arrived, some kid-less guy specifically told me that there were three old men in charge of things in our compound, and the oldest was the most powerful. Now it seems they're not all that great after all!

Ma Hua gave Yi Zhonghai, whose face was ashen, a mocking glance. After a pause, he continued, "I think Second Uncle Liu Haizhong did the right thing! Our courtyard should be like this."

This is a new society now, we value the law and fairness. It's no longer the era of you old folks having the final say. If you have any problems, you should report them to the neighborhood committee or the police station.

"And Auntie, your awareness is very low. Uncle is just implementing our government's policies."

You're really holding Uncle back. If he doesn't become a leader in the future, it'll all be your fault.

"Tch, smearing people and praising them to death, anyone can do that," MCA sneered inwardly.

"This..." The second aunt was now caught between a rock and a hard place. Had she really done something wrong? If she had truly ruined her boss's career, she would be in deep trouble.

"And Second Aunt, you mustn't listen to the instigation of some bad elements. Also, I think our Second Uncle was such a noble person before..."

They must have been instigated by some scoundrels to do this. What you need to do now is go and verify this with your second uncle. We can't let these bad elements get away with it.

Hearing Ma Hua say that, the second aunt glared angrily at Yi Zhonghai. "Yes, it's all Yi Zhonghai's fault! If it weren't for him, our family wouldn't be in this situation!"

"Yi Zhonghai, you bastard! If anything happens to my old Liu, I'll never forgive you!" After saying this, Aunt Er angrily led her two children home to get their things to visit Liu Haizhong.