My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 319: Jia Zhangshi Cheates on Reading Ballots

Soon, another person stepped forward to count the votes, using the character "正" (zhèng) to represent each vote, with one stroke representing one vote, and one "正" character representing exactly five votes.

Jia Zhangshi took the first crumpled piece of paper from the ballot box, unfolded it, and saw that it was round. She loudly proclaimed, "Round!"

The second one was a triangle. After she finished reading it, she glanced at He Daqing with disdain in her bangs, as if to say, "You'll get what's coming to you later."

As the ballots were read out one by one, Liu Haizhong suddenly realized that he had a few fewer votes than He Daqing. He immediately panicked and shouted at Jia Zhangshi, "Jia Zhangshi, read this carefully!"

After saying that, he winked hard at Jia Zhangshi.

Madam Jia understood immediately. She coughed, took another piece of paper from the box, and without even looking at it, immediately read aloud, "Circle!"

She didn't even look at the next few pages, and read them all as circles.

He Yuzhu, who was sitting in the audience, immediately noticed something was wrong and shouted, "Stop! Stop! Jia Zhangshi, take another look at what you're holding!"

Jia Zhangshi shouted arrogantly, "Shazhu, what business is it of yours? Are you trying to waste everyone's time?"

He Yuzhu's face turned red with anger: "Jia Zhangshi, do you think I'm blind? The paper you just showed clearly had a triangle on it, how could you read it as a circle?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent instantly. Everyone thought that with so many people watching, no one would dare to cheat in public, but Jia Zhangshi did just that, reciting without even looking.

After hearing Sha Zhu's words, He Daqing looked at Jia Zhangshi with suspicion: "Jia Zhangshi, take out the ballot you just read and let everyone see it."

Feeling guilty, Jia Zhangshi quickly looked at Liu Haizhong with pleading eyes. Liu Haizhong guiltily turned his face away: "Why are you looking at me? Just say what it is and show it to everyone."

Jia Zhangshi's heart jumped into her throat.

He Daqing, quick as a flash, snatched the paper. It clearly showed a triangle, but Jia Zhangshi had read it as a circle. He held the paper up for everyone to see, and the courtyard erupted in commotion.

He Daqing angrily retorted, "Jia Zhangshi, is this the vote you read out?"

He Yuzhu shouted loudly from the side, "Cheating! Cheating!"

He Daqing stared at Jia Zhangshi: "Tell me honestly, who told you to do this?"

He knew exactly who it was, but he had to get Jia Zhangshi to say it herself. The ballots were read in a circle, meaning Liu Haizhong benefited the most; he was definitely involved.

Seeing the angry looks in everyone's eyes, Jia Zhangshi stammered, "I...I must have been mistaken, okay?"

He Daqing picked up the next few sheets of paper, trembling with anger: "Misread them? Misread one, how could you misread so many? The ones below are either triangles or squares, and you read them all as circles. What do you mean? Do you have a grudge against me and Yan Fugui?"

Yan Fugui was startled. He hadn't really wanted to compete for the position of First Master; it was Liu Haizhong who had already given him benefits and had been eyeing the position ever since. If He Daqing hadn't suddenly appeared, the two of them would have already taken the position.

Jia Zhangshi, sticking to her act, stubbornly retorted, "I just misjudged, what can you do about it?"

He Daqing said coldly, "What? Do you believe that with me and all these people in the courtyard, we can make you get out of the courtyard house!"

Jia Zhangshi trembled with fright and quickly begged for mercy: "No, no, no! This... this was all Liu Haizhong's doing! He said he'd give me money if I helped him!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was in an uproar and turned to look at Liu Haizhong.

Liu Haizhong hurriedly retorted, "Don't listen to her slander! When did I ever say that to her? This has nothing to do with me!"

Madam Jia immediately became agitated: "Don't you dare deny it! You were the one who ordered me to do it!"

As he spoke, he pulled the money out of his pocket: "These three yuan are what you gave me last night! Otherwise, why would I have stepped forward today?"

Upon hearing this, everyone believed what Jia Zhangshi said.

Liu Haizhong was so angry he wanted to strangle Jia Zhangshi on the spot—that good-for-nothing! He pointed at Jia Zhangshi and cursed, "Don't wrong me! You say this money is mine, but what's the mark? I think He Daqing gave it to you; you two conspired together!"

He Daqing sneered angrily: "I'm accusing you? You think you're worthy?"

Everyone nodded in agreement, feeling that Liu Haizhong's words didn't make any sense and that Jia Zhangshi was clearly telling the truth.

Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, Yan Fugui quickly stepped forward, trying to persuade Liu Haizhong and He Daqing at the same time, attempting to smooth things over.

At this moment, He Yuzhu suddenly stood up and said loudly, "Alright, everyone, no need to go through all this trouble. It's just a vote, right? Since everyone's here, just raise your hands! I'll lead the way; those who want to vote for my dad, He Daqing, raise your hands!"

As soon as he finished speaking, many people in the courtyard raised their hands, and in the blink of an eye, more than half of them had raised their hands.

He Daqing was overjoyed and looked at Sha Zhu with new respect. He never expected that his son would be so useful in a critical moment.

He Daqing smiled and looked at Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui: "What else do you two have to say?"

Seeing that the vast majority of people in the courtyard supported He Daqing, the two men's spirits instantly sank.

He Daqing bowed repeatedly to everyone, saying, "Thank you all for your support! If you need a chef for any weddings or funerals in the future, just come to me. My son and I will definitely give you a discount!"

Looking at the smug He Daqing and his son, Liu Haizhong was so angry that he couldn't say a word. He turned around and walked towards the backyard.

Yan Fugui stood there, letting out a long sigh: "It's fate, it's destiny..."

As the farce came to an end, everyone congratulated He Daqing on successfully becoming the oldest man in the courtyard. He Daqing smiled broadly and politely responded to each congratulation.

Before long, most of the people in the courtyard had left.

Qin Huairu walked up to He Daqing, her face beaming with joy: "Daqing, congratulations on becoming the eldest man in our courtyard."

He Daqing looked at Qin Huairu, his smile widening: "Aren't you just an old lady in the courtyard now?"

Qin Huairu was a little embarrassed by what was said: "Da Qing, please don't make fun of me. At my age, how can I be called an old lady?"

He Daqing replied seriously, "Why not? I'm an old man, so naturally everyone has to call you an old woman."

Just then, He Daqing caught sight of He Yuzhu standing to the side, walked over happily, and patted his son's shoulder heavily.

"As expected of my son, if it weren't for you, this farce would have dragged on indefinitely."

Suddenly praised by his father in public, He Yuzhu was a little flustered and just smiled sheepishly.

"Dad, the main problem is that that old hag Jia Zhangshi cheated too obviously. She's treating all of us in the audience like fools."

He Daqing smiled and nodded: "Great, you've made progress."

Sha Zhu quickly added, "Dad, should we go and teach Jia Zhangshi a lesson right now?"

He Daqing waved his hand: "No need, I can treat her whenever I want. I've just become a grandfather, it's not appropriate for me to take action now, it would give others something to say. Let's go home first and have a good celebration."

Soon, the three of them returned home together. Sha Zhu volunteered to cook.

He Daqing looked at Qin Huairu and instructed, "Huairu, go and call Yushui over too, so she can share in the joy."

Qin Huairu nodded quickly: "Okay, I'll go right away."