Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

"Cadres should be given handouts? Is that your rule, Yi Zhonghai?" Li Xiangdong sneered. "Heh heh, then I'm going to have a serious talk with you about that today."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Donation Meeting Was a Mess (Seeking Flowers and Votes!)

"I'll go ask Director Yang and Director Li how many people they've helped!"

Li Xiangdong snorted coldly and said, "Yi Zhonghai, your kind of thinking is very dangerous."

"No, I didn't mean that!" Yi Zhonghai panicked.

If the notion that cadres should help the poor were applied to Yi Zhonghai, he wouldn't even be able to die if he wanted to.

"You didn't mean that? Then let me ask you again, you keep saying that everyone in the compound should help each other. I ask you, who have you helped?" Li Xiangdong said sternly.

"Jia Jia and Sha Zhu don't count, because you're counting on Jia Dongxu for your retirement. Sha Zhu is a prospective candidate!"

"You mostly just talk the talk about helping these two companies! Heh heh, using other people's things to buy your favors, Yi Zhonghai, you've got a good plan!"

"You want to please your elderly parents and not take anything from others! You earn ninety-nine yuan a month. Give twenty yuan to the Jia family, and they'll live a much better life."

Yi Zhonghai was stunned. He hadn't expected that Li Xiangdong, who had only been in the compound for a few days, would already know everything about it so clearly.

"That's impossible. How could he possibly figure it out? Oh right, that bastard Xu Damao said that!" Yi Zhonghai glared at Xu Damao with murderous intent.

That one glance sent shivers down Xu Damao's spine.

Yan Bugui realized he should step in to resolve the situation himself.

"This fundraising is voluntary, everyone can do as they see fit. There's no coercion!" Yan Bugui said, pushing up his glasses.

"Force? You'd have to be capable of that first." Li Xiangdong said disdainfully, "You two workers and an unqualified elementary school teacher, what gives you the right to force me?"

"Even the neighborhood director doesn't have that power!"

Yan Bugui opened his mouth, but he didn't expect that his words would provoke a barrage of criticism from Li Xiangdong.

Yi Zhonghai took a deep breath and said, "We all live in the same compound, so helping each other is only natural. If you help someone today, then when you encounter difficulties in the future, others..."

"Yi Zhonghai, shut up! Trying to use moral blackmail again. Getting others to pay so you can save face!" Li Xiangdong said coldly, "But does the Jia family need a donation?"

"Yes, we need it! Of course our family needs it!" Jia Zhangshi cried out.

"You'll receive Jia Dongxu's compensation of five hundred yuan tomorrow," Li Xiangdong said casually. "And Qin Huairu's replacement job has been finalized; it'll be twenty-seven and a half yuan a month!"

“Look at these family members, does any of them look like they’re starving? Jia Zhangshi is especially obese.”

"Are you all sure you want to donate to them? Look at your own emaciated children. You're all so stupid, being used as pawns by Yi Zhonghai."

"What do you mean by 'old man'? If you don't take him seriously, then he's nothing."

"You've encountered problems and suffered injustice! You still expect the three of them to help you? Don't you know to go find the police?!"

"And Yi Zhonghai, did you get approval for this fundraising at the street level? If not, then it's illegal! If you report it..."

Yi Zhonghai was already dizzy from Li Xiangdong's barrage of words. Now, upon hearing the words "illegal" and "to report," he immediately jumped up:

"No need to report it, I know I did something wrong. I apologize to everyone!"

Yi Zhonghai, clearly eager to survive, gave everyone a 90-degree bow.

Liu Haizhong was also startled; he was involved in this too. If word got out, how could he continue his official career? Liu Haizhong felt that one day he would become the director of the steel rolling mill.

"Well, Lao Yi has already apologized. Since everyone's money hasn't been donated yet, it's as if nothing happened. Let's all disperse. The meeting is over for today," Liu Haizhong said, standing up.

Li Xiangdong snorted coldly; that was all he could do for today. After what happened today, these beasts probably wouldn't dare to provoke him easily in the future.

As soon as Jia Zhangshi sat down on the ground, she started wailing: "You heartless bastards! You just want to see our family unable to make a living. You're all inhuman!"

Jia Zhangshi's words made the residents leave even faster.

"Mother-in-law, what are you doing?" Qin Huairu was getting angry. If she weren't concerned about her image, she would have already given Jia Zhangshi two large sums of money.

“These heartless bastards…” Jia Zhangshi continued to curse.

I thought I could make a hundred or so yuan tonight to make my retirement savings a little more substantial, but it all came to nothing.

"Mother-in-law, please stop scolding. You've offended everyone. How are we supposed to live in the courtyard now?" Qin Huairu came up and tried to pull Jia Zhangshi up with great effort, saying in a voice only the two of them could hear, "The shoebox on the table!"

Jia Zhangshi immediately understood, jumped up and hugged the shoebox on the table to her chest.

"Jia Zhangshi, what are you doing? There are fifteen yuan inside that belong to Second Uncle and Third Uncle. Quickly return the money to them!" Yi Zhonghai said hurriedly.

"No, no! Although we agreed that the money would be returned, you haven't brought us any donations. So the money won't be returned!" Jia Zhangshi wailed.

At this time, not many people had left the courtyard, and Li Xiangdong had just arrived at the hanging flower gate.

Yi Zhonghai was furious with Jia Zhangshi. How could she say such a thing in front of everyone? Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui were also dumbfounded.

"Tsk tsk, so the wealthy gentry's money was returned as is, while the commoners' money was split 20/80." Li Xiangdong stopped and said quietly, "Hehe, you three have a good plan."

Although everyone didn't fully understand Li Xiangdong's words, they all grasped the meaning: the money donated by the three old men was fake; they were being tricked into donating together.

As for the money donated by these residents, the three old men shared the profits with the Jia family!

"No, that's not true," Yi Zhonghai hurriedly replied.

"Yeah, Jia Zhangshi, have you fucking gone mad?" Liu Haizhong wanted nothing more than to kill Jia Zhangshi.

Although Liu Haizhong only had a brain the size of a walnut, he knew that this matter was going to be spread. That meant he would never be able to become an official again.

“Mrs. Jia, you’re delirious. Go home.”

Yan Bugui was also terrified; if word got back to the school, he might lose his job. Yan Bugui hated Jia Zhangshi to the core.

Madam Jia also realized that she couldn't offend all three gentlemen at once.

"Uh, I was just talking nonsense, nothing of the sort! Nothing of the sort!" Madam Jia said hurriedly, "Look, I've taken all this money back."

Clutching the shoebox, Jia Zhangshi scurried back home like a big black rat. Qin Huairu, pulling Banggeng and Xiaodang along, also rushed back like the wind. This left Shazhu, who had hoped to fawn over her, utterly disappointed.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Offending Yi Zhonghai to the Death (Seeking flowers and votes!)

"That old hag!"

Yan Bugui whispered, "We were helping her family, and he almost pulled us all into the water!"

"I will absolutely not interfere in their family affairs anymore," Liu Haizhong said angrily.

"Sigh, what knowledge could two women possibly have!" Yi Zhonghai sighed and said, "Zhuzi, move the table back for me."

"Today's commotion has made us forget about making Li Xiangdong pay for the table."

Liu Haizhong, with his protruding belly, said, "Then let's hold another meeting tomorrow. We can use this opportunity to force Li Xiangdong to back down."

"Tomorrow won't work," Yan Bugui shook his head. "We've had two consecutive days of meetings. We need to rest for a few days. Otherwise, everyone will resent it."

"That's settled then, you two go back and rest."

Yi Zhonghai said.

Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui both followed Yi Zhonghai to his house.

"Give us the money! You haven't paid us back yet!" Yan Bugui glared at him. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have paid five yuan!"

Yi Zhonghai was furious, but he quickly suppressed it. He smiled and said, "Alright, old woman, give me fifteen yuan."

Jin Yumei looked pained, but she still went to get the money.

Sha Zhu, who had brought the table in, scoffed, "Tsk tsk, you two only donated fifteen yuan. And you even had to ask an old man for it back, really..."

"Shut up, you idiot! This is none of your business!" Liu Haizhong roared.

"Hehe, I donated thirty yuan, you guys should learn from me." Sha Zhu said smugly.

"We can't compare to you; I have a whole family to support."

Yan Bugui said.

"That's true, I'm the only one who's full, so the whole family isn't hungry," Sha Zhu said with a grin.

"Tsk tsk, you've kicked the rainwater out of the He family's house, haven't you?" Yan Bugui said disdainfully. "Someone like you dares to say that you only have one person to feed and the whole family isn't hungry? Look how thin your sister has become!"

Sha Zhu was dumbfounded, and it took him a while to say, "That's because the rainwater is growing, so it's normal for it to be a little thin!"

"Pah!" Yan Bugui spat out disdainfully.

Yi Zhonghai hurriedly said, "Old Yan, here's your five yuan. Old Liu, here's yours. Zhu Zi, go back and rest. You've had enough today."

After the three men left, Yi Zhonghai's smile vanished. He slammed the enamel mug he was holding onto the ground, sending it clattering and rolling around. Enamel fragments flew everywhere.

"Li Xiangdong! I'm not done with you yet!"

Yi Zhonghai lowered his voice and roared.

Li Xiangdong messed everything up today. He even made Yi Zhonghai lose face terribly.

"Old man, let it go." Jin Yumei picked up the teacup and saw that a lot of the enamel was chipped off. "Li Xiangdong is a cadre, how can you possibly fight against him?"

"That's not necessarily true! I have plenty of ways." Yi Zhonghai said fiercely, "Let's take it slow. What's with that old deaf woman in the back? It's not like she doesn't want her identity, is it?"

“That’s possible,” Jin Yumei said, frowning.

"No, she and Director Yang have a very good relationship. It's said her son and Director Yang were comrades-in-arms. Otherwise, why would Director Yang give her so much face?" Yi Zhonghai said.

"But why is she afraid of Li Xiangdong? There must be something wrong here."