My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 80: Frame Zhang Lei

Yan Jiecheng was so frightened that his legs went weak, and he cried out, "Dad, save me!"

Seeing Yan Jiecheng's utterly terrified state, Yan Fugui's heart sank. He knew something serious must have happened, and he sternly demanded, "Explain yourself clearly! What exactly happened?"

Soon, Yan Jiecheng told Yan Fugui the lie he and Jia Dongxu had made up, insisting that Zhang Lei had set them up, tricked them into going to the casino, and even encouraged them to take out high-interest loans.

Upon hearing this, Yan Fugui clutched his chest in anger, pointed at Yan Jiecheng, and cursed, "This is outrageous! Who gave you permission to gamble? You're a good-for-nothing!"

Yan Jiecheng knelt down with a thud, pleading, "Dad, I know I was wrong, please help me! The interest rates on these loan sharks are outrageously high!"

Seeing his pathetic state, Yan Fugui angrily shouted, "You know interest rates are terrifying? You dare to lend money on something so dangerous? Are you crazy?"

At this moment, the third aunt rushed over to support Yan Fugui, patting him on the back to help him catch his breath while urgently saying, "Old man, you mustn't upset yourself!" Then she turned and went inside to get some water.

Meanwhile, at the Jia family's house, Jia Dongxu knelt down with a "plop" as soon as he entered, and explained to Jia Zhangshi with a mournful face that he had been forced to borrow money at high interest rates.

When Jia Zhangshi heard that Jia Dongxu had borrowed two hundred yuan at exorbitant interest rates, she was terrified, her voice trembling: "Dongxu, are you crazy? That's two hundred yuan at exorbitant interest rates!"

Jia Dongxu grabbed Jia Zhangshi's arm and pleaded, "Mom, please help me! Otherwise, those people are ruthless and they definitely won't let me go!"

Madam Jia was frantic, pacing back and forth, her voice trembling with tears: "Dongxu, Mom doesn't have that much money!"

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu panicked and collapsed to the ground, muttering to himself, "Then, what should I do?"

Meanwhile, Qin Huairu, who had stood silently to the side the whole time, was already terrified when she heard that Jia Dongxu had borrowed money from loan sharks. Now, having just recovered, she heard Jia Zhangshi say that she had no money, and her legs went weak, causing her to collapse to the ground. Covering her face, she cried out, "Dongxu, Dongxu, why did you borrow money from loan sharks? Why did you gamble?"

Madam Jia then turned her anger on Qin Huairu, pointing her finger at her and yelling, "What are you crying about! It's all because you're incompetent and can't serve Dongxu properly at home, which is why he had the idea to go out and fool around!"

Hearing Jia Zhangshi's distorted words, Qin Huairu felt a tightness in her chest. She bit her lip, feeling extremely aggrieved—how could she possibly control what Jia Dongxu did? This was simply unreasonable.

At this moment, Jia Zhangshi suddenly grasped the key point Jia Dongxu had just made, and looked sharply at Jia Dongxu, asking, "Dongxu, are you saying Zhang Lei took you there?"

Jia Dongxu's eyes darted away for a moment, then he nodded emphatically: "Mom, yes, it was Zhang Lei who took us there. He lied to us!"

Hearing this, Madam Jia suddenly felt emboldened. She grabbed Jia Dongxu, who was lying on the ground, and said loudly, "Come on, let's go settle accounts with him!"

As the two stepped outside, they ran into a group of Yan family members who were heading to the back courtyard. Upon seeing them, Jia Zhangshi straightened her back even more and asked loudly, "Third Uncle, are you also going to find Zhang Lei?"

Yan Fugui snorted and nodded with a sullen face.

At this moment, the neighbors in the courtyard saw that the Jia family and the Yan family were heading towards the back house, and they immediately felt that there was something interesting to see, so a large group of people followed behind.

The four people, who had just finished eating roast duck and were chatting animatedly, suddenly heard a loud knocking on the door.

Zhang Lei frowned, wondering who it could be at this time, and quickly got up and walked to the courtyard gate.

He opened the door and was immediately stunned, wondering why everyone in the yard was here. He then asked, "What are you all doing here?"

Jia Zhangshi immediately rushed forward two steps and said in a shrill voice, "Zhang Lei, what are we doing here? We're here to settle accounts with you!"

Upon hearing the words "settling accounts," Zhang Lei looked at Jia Zhangshi with a puzzled expression, wondering if she had relapsed. He then asked, "What accounts do I have to settle with your Jia family?"

Before Zhang Lei could even step aside, Jia Zhangshi and her entourage squeezed into the back courtyard.

Zhang Lei watched as the group of people blatantly entered, frowned, and walked up to Jia Zhangshi, saying, "Jia Zhangshi, you'd better give me a reason that can convince me, otherwise, I'll make you suffer today no matter what."

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, Jia Zhangshi took a step back in fright, but quickly regained her composure and said defiantly, "Zhang Lei, don't think you can fool us just because you can fight! If you don't give the Jia family an explanation for what you've done, I... I'll call the police and have you arrested!"

Hearing this, Zhang Lei was somewhat bewildered and said, "Mrs. Jia, can you please explain yourself clearly? What exactly happened?"

After saying this, Zhang Lei looked at Jia Dongxu and Yan Jiecheng standing in the crowd, and a guess immediately formed in his mind.

At this point, Yan Fugui couldn't stand it any longer and stepped forward, saying with a stern face, "Zhang Lei, we always thought you were quite honest, we never expected you to do something like this!"

Seeing so many people burst in, Ye Shuqin and her two sisters rushed to Zhang Lei's side and asked anxiously, "Husband, what's going on?"

Zhang Lei patted Ye Shuqin's hand, signaling them not to panic, and his gaze swept over the two angry families in front of him, his face darkening.

Zhang Lei looked at Jia Zhangshi and Yan Fugui and said irritably, "Can you two stop beating around the bush and just get to the point! You're making things so confusing, it's all so baffling."

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, Yan Fugui immediately recited the entire story that Yan Jiecheng had fabricated to everyone.

Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in uproar.

Zhang Lei looked thoughtfully at Jia Dongxu and Yan Jiecheng in the crowd, then turned to Yan Fugui and asked in a deep voice, "You mean, I took Jia Dongxu and Yan Jiecheng to gamble and deliberately set them up so they would borrow money from loan sharks? Is that right?"

Yan Fugui gritted his teeth and nodded: "Yes, that's it!"

Jia Zhangshi immediately jumped in to echo her, pointing at Zhang Lei and saying, "Zhang Lei, are you admitting that you deliberately harmed your neighbors? What were you up to?!"

Other onlookers joined in the discussion, all revolving around the gambling issue. Occasionally, someone would point at Zhang Lei and utter some harsh accusations.

Zhang Lei chuckled and said, "Oh, even so, what can you two do to me?"

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, Jia Dongxu and Yan Jiecheng were both stunned. They hadn't expected Zhang Lei to admit it so readily.

The others glared at Zhang Lei with uncontrollable rage. Yan Fugui was so angry that his fingers trembled, and he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time, only repeating, "You're utterly outrageous! Utterly outrageous!"

Madam Jia was so angry she was jumping up and down, pointing at Zhang Lei's nose and yelling, "Zhang Lei! If you don't give me an explanation today, I'm not done with you!"

Zhang Lei laughed and said, "Alright, stop talking nonsense. If you have the guts, call the police and have me arrested."

When Zhang Lei suggested calling the police, everyone was stunned. They hadn't expected that Zhang Lei would be the first to suggest it.