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

"What are Yi Zhonghai and the others discussing? They're definitely planning to deal with us," Xu Damao said nervously. "What do you think about this..."

"They're definitely going to target you." Li Xiangdong raised an eyebrow and said, "Target me? They wouldn't dare for now!"

"What about me? I can't..." Xu Damao said nervously.

"What's there to be afraid of? Have you done anything wrong?" Li Xiangdong asked.

"No, no. It was the old deaf man who asked me for food. I didn't give it to him," Xu Damao said hurriedly.

"Then what are you afraid of? Just confront them. If you can't win, you still have me," Li Xiangdong said. "If anyone tries to hit you, just lie on the ground. If I don't make them pay for their underwear, that'll be a miracle."

Chapter 58 Confronting Qin Huairu (Seeking flowers, votes, and full subscription!)

"Hehe, that's good, that's good." Xu Damao said excitedly, "Then let's overturn the general meeting again tonight."

"Then go back, I'll be right back."

Li Xiangdong locked the gate and took Yu Li to the factory dormitory. Half an hour passed before he returned. He parked the car inside and specifically checked the kitchen. The lock was secure.

"Damn it, I can't keep valuables at home anymore."

Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "Otherwise, who knows what kind of trouble these beasts will cause? Right, I should also teach the Thief Saint a lesson."

"By the way, I'll go get the design blueprints for the Type 81 rifle." Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "If I can make a Type 81 rifle, the military will definitely take it seriously. This will also be a kind of protection for me when strong winds blow in the future."

"From then on, everything I designed became extremely confidential. If I kept it at home, hehe! If a guy didn't keep his eyes open, he could easily sneak in and have a lot of fun."

Li Xiangdong added some coal to his stove and closed the door. He was preparing to attend the hospital-wide meeting, determined to utterly humiliate the Jia family this time.

At this moment, Yan Jiekuang came over and said to Li Xiangdong, who came out, somewhat cautiously, "Section Chief Li is in a meeting and has been waiting for you!"

Li Xiangdong carried a stool to the central courtyard, where the layout was the same as before. Yi Zhonghai sat in the middle of the eight-immortal table, flanked by Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui. The deaf old woman, who hadn't appeared last time, was now sitting to the side and slightly behind Yi Zhonghai.

There was a round-backed chair there, the deaf old woman wrapped up tightly in it. She was also holding a thermos in her arms. Her eyes seemed to be burning with will-o'-the-wisps.

Thermos flasks were made from saline bottles. Saline bottles are the glass bottles used for large-volume infusions. Things are different now; infusion bottles, both large and small, are made of plastic. Now they're all made of glass.

Li Xiangdong sat down a meter away from Xu Damao. This immediately calmed Xu Damao down, allowing him to brace himself and prepare for the battle with Yi Zhonghai.

"Everyone, stop arguing, the meeting is starting..." Liu Haizhong slapped the table and said, "Today's meeting is very important, everyone must take it seriously."

"Bang Geng stole a pot of chicken soup from Li Xiangdong's house, and he even broke in by picking the lock. This is a serious problem, um, a very serious problem."

"Everyone must take this seriously and make sure to educate the children well."

Sha Zhu scoffed from below, "Alright, alright. Second Uncle, don't you even know what you're saying? Hurry up and tell me how to punish him."

Sha Zhu meant that they should put the matter of Bang Geng behind them as soon as possible so that they could deal with Xu Damao later.

"Well, let me tell you about the punishment. First, Jia Zhangshi and Bang Geng will have to apologize to Section Chief Li. Then they'll be fined twenty yuan and will have to clean the compound for a week," Yi Zhonghai said.

The first two items are somewhat plausible, but cleaning the courtyard for a week is just a gimmick to fool people.

Jia Zhangshi glared at Li Xiangdong with her pig-like eyes, her gaze seemingly venomous, and said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have stolen your chickens."

After Jia Zhangshi said those words, she felt so humiliated that she wanted to vomit blood. Of course, this humiliation wasn't because she had been caught stealing, but because she had apologized to Li Xiangdong, a mere young upstart.

Bang Geng didn't seem to mind at all, and even apologized with a grin.

After the two apologized, Sha Zhu took out twenty yuan and handed it to Li Xiangdong, saying, "Here you go. He's a section chief, so what's wrong with him going to your house for a bite to eat? You're making a fuss over nothing and have no magnanimity at all."

"You're a fool, but you can't expect others to be fools like you." Li Xiangdong said with a faint smile, "I'm a section chief, I earn more money. Does that mean I should be the one having my money stolen from?"

“I…” Sha Zhu really didn’t dare to say that.

"Get out of here!" Li Xiangdong said disdainfully.

Sha Zhu clenched his fists, his heart filled with hatred for Li Xiangdong. He wished he could smash Li Xiangdong's head to pieces with one punch. But reason told him that he couldn't throw that punch.

If Li Xiangdong is truly a master, then Sha Zhu's punch will definitely get him beaten again. If he's not a master, then knocking Li Xiangdong down with one punch would be satisfying, but Sha Zhu would probably have to spend some time in jail.

Sha Zhu believed that Li Xiangdong might not be his match. He thought that he hadn't paid attention to Li Xiangdong's skills that day, which was why Li Xiangdong had ambushed him.

When Yi Zhonghai saw that Sha Zhu's face was red and his fists were clenched, he hurriedly called out, "Zhu Zi, sit down quickly, the meeting is starting."

Sha Zhu let out a long breath and said, "Okay, sir, I'll give the money to Section Chief Li."

"Shazhu, what money are you giving me? You haven't shortchanged me. If you say you owe me money, then who will hand me the money?" Li Xiangdong said calmly.

"Huai Ru, could you take over for a moment?" Yi Zhonghai hurriedly instructed.

Qin Huairu also wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible. She wanted the affair between Bang Geng and Jia Zhangshi to be over quickly so that it wouldn't attract any more attention.

However, once she got two big black tens, Qin Huairu didn't want to give them to Li Xiangdong.

"Section Chief Li, you see how poor our family is, why don't you just give us ten yuan..." Qin Huairu said to Li Xiangdong, wiping away her tears.

If Li Xiangdong can get that ten yuan, then the remaining ten yuan will be Qin Huairu's.

"You can't bear to part with your wealth? Heh, fine. Then you don't need to give it to me." Li Xiangdong said coldly.

"Great, great! Thank you, Section Chief Li!" Qin Huairu said with delight. Qin Huairu was also happy that Li Xiangdong was so kind to her, waiving the twenty yuan with just a plea. This meant he was interested in her. If that happened, winning him over would be a piece of cake.

"Huai Ru, what are you saying? Hurry up and give the money to Section Chief Li, and this matter will be over." Yi Zhonghai looked at Li Xiangdong's disdainful smile, and he understood everything.

Qin Huairu was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood. Li Xiangdong wasn't asking for money anymore; back then, he was going to send Banggeng and Jia Zhangshi in.

Qin Huairu was a smart woman, and she immediately understood.

"Just kidding, just kidding," Qin Huairu hurriedly said. "Section Chief Li, please accept this money."

Qin Huairu handed the money to Li Xiangdong with a pained expression.

As Li Xiangdong took the money, he coldly said, "Are you joking? What right do you, Qin Huairu, have to joke with me?"

"You're just an apprentice in the factory, and you're joking around with an eighth-level engineer like me?"

"I've only been here a few days, and I don't know anyone here yet. Besides, you're a widow, joking with a young man like me?"

Qin Huairu blushed after being confronted by Li Xiangdong. Only then did she realize that she had been overthinking things.

"Section Chief Li, why are you so persistent? You shouldn't treat a female colleague like this!"

Sha Zhu stood up and blocked Qin Huairu's path, like a dog guarding its food.

Chapter 59 A Scattered All-Staff Meeting (Seeking flowers, votes, and full subscriptions!)

"Get lost, you damn simp!"

Li Xiangdong said coldly.

Yi Zhonghai was furious. His purpose at tonight's meeting wasn't to fight Li Xiangdong. Tonight, he was there to crush Xu Damao's arrogance and rebuild Yi Zhonghai's crumbling prestige.

"Zhu Zi, what are you doing? Sit down right now."

Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he slammed his fist on the table.

Sha Zhu also remembered the important matter: dealing with Xu Damao. Arguing with Li Xiangdong would definitely not benefit him.

“Okay, I’ll sit down now. Hehe, Section Chief Li, you’re only in charge of technology. What else can you do to us! Don’t think I’m afraid of you…” Sha Zhu said smugly.

Before Sha Zhu could finish speaking, Yi Zhonghai shouted, "Zhu Zi, are you drunk? Don't talk nonsense here!"

Sha Zhu shrank back and sat down.

Li Xiangdong finally understood: he was just a section chief, yet these beasts weren't afraid of him. It turned out he didn't have any real power.

They demoted Yi Zhonghai, but with some serious training, he'll probably be promoted after the New Year's assessment. Then he'll be showing off in front of me again.

"Heh heh, Yi Zhonghai, you think that's all I'm capable of? You just wait and see!" Li Xiangdong thought to himself.

Seeing that everyone had quieted down, Yi 307 Zhonghai said, "We are an advanced compound, and everyone should respect the elderly and care for the young. Today I want to criticize Xu Damao. Why didn't you serve a bowl of ribs to the old lady? I've forgotten all the lessons I've taught you..."

"Wait, tell me why I gave the deaf old woman a bowl of meat? How much is my monthly quota? What will I eat if I give it to her? Who is she to me that I should give her meat?" Xu Damao bombarded him with a barrage of questions:

"And who do you think you are, Yi Zhonghai? You think you can lecture me? What gives you the right to lecture me?"

Yi Zhonghai never expected Xu Damao to have such audacity. He actually dared to question him, something Yi Zhonghai had always found incredibly easy to do before.

“Xu Damao, I’m an old man…” Yi Zhonghai said, trembling.

"Whose grandpa are you? Your surname is Yi, and mine is Xu. Whose grandpa are you?" Xu Damao said disdainfully, "We're just neighbors, and I'm the neighbor you've been bullying!"

"I've been to the hospital several times because of Sha Zhu's beatings, and he only paid for the medical expenses. You're trying to fool and intimidate me, preventing me from calling the police! Now, let Sha Zhu try to lay a finger on me!"

"I'll settle all the old scores with him and let him rot in jail."

"And that deaf old lady..."

Sha Zhu couldn't help but jump up: "Xu Damao, you fucking found me, I'm here today..."

"Yi Zhonghai, is this how you act as a mediator? Heh heh, now I understand what kind of person you are." Li Xiangdong sneered, "You're a local tyrant! Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui are your ministers. The deaf old lady is your empress dowager."

"Is this idiot Zhu your henchman, the Grand General of the Palace?"

"No, no, that's not true!" Yi Zhonghai panicked. "Section Chief Li, you can't frame me out of thin air! Everyone's watching..."

“It’s not up to you or me to decide. Xu Damao is the victim.” Li Xiangdong said calmly, “That’s why Sha Zhu is about to hit someone. Even in the old days, people were allowed to speak in court.”

Xu Damao stood up excitedly and said, "That's right, that's right. Yi Zhonghai, tell me, why should I give the deaf old lady a bowl of meat when I eat it?"

"Don't give me that nonsense about sending straw sandals to a martyr's family! Make the deaf old lady admit she's a martyr's family member! I'll go get her a bowl of meat right now!"

The deaf old woman trembled with anger; she knew the gravity of the situation. If she admitted it herself, it would be impersonating a martyr's family member—a serious charge.

"Xu Damao, you...you..." Yi Zhonghai trembled with anger and couldn't speak.