My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 291: Cui Dake sows discord between Sha Zhu and Nan Yi

Because of Liu Lan's special circumstances, the neighborhood committee quickly arranged for her divorce from Ma Kui. Staff arrived at the detention room and notified Ma Kui.

Upon hearing this, Ma Kui exploded: "What? Divorce? That bitch Liu Lan dares to divorce me? She's gone too far! She's a member of the Ma family, in life and in death!"

The neighborhood committee staff were furious with him: "Ma Kui, we're not here to discuss anything with you today, we're here to inform you. We know you caused your mother's death and stole her medical money. Do you think you can just say you won't divorce her? We don't even need to waste words with you for your behavior. We're only telling you out of humanitarian considerations. Whether or not you divorce is no longer up to you. What you've done is outrageous; you can expect to go to jail!"

Ma Kui was terrified.

After the neighborhood committee officials left, everyone in the same detention cell looked at him. A burly man stood up and said, "You angered your mother to death, and then you stole her medical money to gamble?"

Ma Kui, blustering but inwardly weak, retorted: "None of your business!"

The group exchanged a glance and immediately surrounded him. Ma Kui, startled, backed away: "What do you want?"

"What are you doing?" the man sneered. "I despise unfilial beasts like you the most. You even steal your own mother's life-saving money. You don't deserve to live!"

After saying that, the men surrounded Ma Kui and began punching and kicking him. Ma Kui screamed in pain, desperately crawling to the door and banging on it, crying, "Help! Help! They're hitting me!"

When the police officers arrived, everyone immediately stopped. The leader quickly apologized with a smile, "It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding, he touched it himself."

Ma Kui hurriedly shouted, "No! They ganged up on me!"

The police officer looked at Ma Kui, whose face was bruised and swollen, then at everyone in the room, and knocked on the door: "Behave yourselves!" He then looked at Ma Kui again, "You're Ma Kui?"

Ma Kui nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Don't cause trouble here. Go back to your bunk and stay put." The police officer glanced at the others, "You guys watch your voices too, understand?"

After saying that, the police officer turned and left.

Ma Kui stood there stunned.

The people inside instantly understood what the police officer meant. They grabbed Ma Kui's leg and dragged him back. Someone took off a smelly sock and stuffed it into his mouth: "Still yelling for help? I'll let you yell all you want!"

As he spoke, he pressed his head down and slammed it hard against the ground.

At this moment, Ma Kui even felt like dying. He still didn't understand why everyone was targeting him.

At lunchtime, people were queuing up in an orderly fashion to get their meals at the steel mill's canteen.

The person at the front suddenly asked in confusion, "Hey? What's going on today? The food is different from yesterday's!"

The guild leader in charge of serving food casually replied, "The chef from the Nanjing University of the Arts is on leave today, so just make do with this for now."

As soon as these words were spoken, a chorus of complaints immediately arose in the queue. Ever since the cafeteria opened at Nanjing University of the Arts, the food has become more and more delicious every day, and the staff rarely deliberately tosses and turns the food to give less. Everyone has long been used to what they like.

Sha Zhu, who was in the queue, curled his lip and muttered disdainfully, "What's so good about it? His cooking isn't as delicious as mine."

Sha Zhu's words, though spoken three or four people away, were clearly heard by Cui Dake, who was standing next to him. Wasn't that the guy who beat him up? He immediately asked his coworker, "Hey bro, what's up with that big, dumb guy over there?"

The coworker glanced at Sha Zhu and casually said, "Oh, his name is Sha Zhu. He used to be a cook in our canteen. His skills were pretty good, but I don't know why he was transferred to the workshop."

Upon hearing that Sha Zhu was a cook, Cui Dake looked incredulous: "He's a cook? He doesn't look like one."

"Are you even from our factory? Don't you even recognize Sha Zhu?" The coworker was somewhat surprised.

Cui Dake quickly explained that he had come from a small machine repair shop to learn the trade and had only been there a short time. His coworker then realized, "Oh, no wonder you don't know Sha Zhu. He was already in the workshop when you arrived. But seriously, Sha Zhu's cooking is really good. Before Nan Yi came, he was the head chef in the factory canteen and also managed the school canteen's meals. I just don't know who's a better cook, him or Nan Yi."

What was said in jest was taken seriously by the listener. Cui Dake's eyes lit up; he had been worried about not having a chance to mess with Nanjing University of the Arts, and now the opportunity had come knocking.

Soon it was Cui Dake's turn. He got his food and steamed buns, quickly looked around, and saw Sha Zhu sitting alone in the middle, eating his food in a carefree manner while muttering to himself.

Cui Dake carried the plate and tiptoed over.

The moment Sha Zhu looked up and saw him, his face immediately darkened: "Hey, you bastard, what are you doing sitting here?"

Cui Dake quickly smiled apologetically, "Brother, brother, it's a misunderstanding, it was all a misunderstanding before."

"Misunderstanding my foot! You're obviously not a good person." Sha Zhu didn't buy it.

Cui Dake protested his innocence: "Brother, you don't understand me. That day was truly a misunderstanding. Tell me, what kind of kind person would let someone bring them food for so long for no reason? If Liang Ladi had no feelings for me at all, would she accept my lunchboxes every day?"

Sha Zhu was taken aback, somewhat doubtful: "Really?"

"Really, absolutely true!" Cui Dake patted his chest to assure her. "I, Cui Dake, am a big shot at the machine repair shop down there. Liang Ladi is a widow with four children. Wouldn't it be better for me to find a young, unmarried woman? We're from the same factory, and I wanted to help her out. Who knew she'd treat me like a fool? Can you believe it?"

Sha Zhu was skeptical: "Even if you're right, you shouldn't lay hands on women."

Cui Dake nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, you're right! You can tell at a glance that you're an upright and magnanimous person."

Sha Zhu felt very comfortable after being flattered: "I didn't realize you were so perceptive."

Seeing that Sha Zhu had taken the bait, Cui Dake chuckled inwardly and changed the subject: "Hey, it's embarrassing to say. Nan Yi has a terrible reputation in our machine repair factory. The whole canteen hates him. Who knew he'd become such a hot commodity here? Where can we complain to him?"

Sha Zhu immediately perked up: "Are you serious?"

"Of course!" Cui Dake started making things up, portraying Nanjing University of the Arts as having extremely bad character, spouting all sorts of nonsense, like peeping at widows taking a bath.

Sha Zhu grew angrier as he listened, slamming his fist on the table: "Bastard! How dare someone like that be a cook?"

Cui Dake sighed with feigned regret, "Brother, I really feel sorry for you. I've heard about what happened to you. If Nanjing University of the Arts hadn't come, you would have gone back to the cafeteria long ago. Now he's controlling the cafeteria, sigh... never mind, let's not talk about it."

"Hey, don't stop talking, keep going!" Sha Zhu said anxiously.

Seeing that he had taken the bait, Cui Dake deliberately spoke slowly, "Look at this food today, it's awful. If you were here, would the cafeteria be like this?"

Sha Zhu became smug: "That's right, my cooking skills are second to none in the entire steel rolling mill."

Cui Dake leaned forward and lowered his voice, "Comrade He Yuzhu, do you want to go back to the cafeteria?"

Sha Zhu sighed, "I want to, but it's not up to me now."

"I have an idea, do you want to give it a try?"

Sha Zhu's eyes lit up: "What method? Tell me!"