Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

After being scolded, Jia Dongxu was speechless. Everyone else had the same idea. If the street office didn't care about Jia Dongxu's actions, they were prepared to do the same and build a small courtyard to grow some vegetables. Even if they couldn't grow vegetables, it would be a good place to store miscellaneous items.

But now that this has happened, everyone has given up on the idea—because those places are public spaces, not privately owned.

Now, thinking back to Zhang Dabiao having a private little courtyard where he could do whatever he wanted, I was truly envious.

Jia Dongxu fell silent. He had worked for nothing, but thinking that his two houses faced each other and no one ever went into the area in between, he figured that piling up firewood and coal briquettes would be a good use of the space.

But Director Wang then pointed to his door and said, "Also, restore the doors to these two rooms to their original state!"

"The exterior of a courtyard house cannot be altered arbitrarily! Don't you understand that?!"

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu were both stunned; they had never heard of it before.

In their subconscious, I just changed the direction of the door, so why can't I do that? Is it illegal?

"Director Wang, I just changed the direction of the door, is that not allowed?"

Yi Zhonghai's heart was bleeding. He had spent a week buying materials and hiring people to fix it, and now he had to put it back to its original state.

Then wouldn't I have wasted my money and effort?

And we have to do it all over again?!

"The municipal government has long stipulated that buildings left over from before the liberation, including traditional courtyard houses and private residences, are not allowed to have their use, style, or appearance changed arbitrarily!"

"Otherwise, Zhang Dabiao would have already converted that small side room into a two-story attic."

"He's rich, and it's his private property, so he doesn't dare to change it. You, Jia Dongxu, live in public housing, so what right does he have to change it?!"

Then everyone remembered that before Zhang Dabiao bought the courtyard house, he had about a thousand yuan in his hands.

Turning those two small side rooms into a small second floor is no problem at all. Moreover, if a second floor is built, the upper floor will no longer be blocked from getting light.

But he didn't move. Now he understands that it wasn't that he didn't want to move or change, but that he couldn't!

Jia Dongxu pointed a trembling finger at Zhang Dabiao: "Zhang Dabiao, you knew all along, didn't you?"

Zhang Dabiao picked his nose: "How novel is that? If I could just change it however I wanted, I could build not just a second floor, but three or four!"

"But if this matter were allowed to proceed freely, have you thought about what would happen to all the old courtyards in Beijing?"

"It's unacceptable for the ancient buildings in the capital of a country, right under the emperor's nose, to be altered into such a chaotic mess, resembling a slum or refugee camp! Is there even a need to consider this?"

Yi Zhonghai asked coldly, "Since you knew, why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Do I need to talk to you? Have you forgotten that I've had nothing to do with the Jia family anymore?"

"I love watching them recklessly court disaster; I'm overjoyed."

Why should I say it?

"Besides, none of you have asked me?"

Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai felt something rising in their throats.

With red eyes, Jia Dongxu questioned Zhang Dabiao, "So, Zhang Dabiao, you're the one who reported this?"

Zhang Dabiao shrugged and made a bear-like gesture: "I leave for school early every morning, before you guys have even started work yet. I wanted to report you, but I didn't have time."

"Besides, what you're doing is infringing on everyone's public space. I don't care because it's none of my business."

"So it wasn't me."

Jia Dongxu was truly enraged. He stood in the middle of the courtyard, circling around and shouting, "Who is it?!"

"Who exactly reported this? They just can't stand to see the Jia family doing well, can they?"

But nobody's stupid. Why would they come out and admit it after they've already reported it?

Naturally, no one acknowledges it.

However, Zhang Dabiao guessed that it was most likely Liu Guangqi who did it, because the Jia family's demolition of the door had some impact on the structure of his house. However, it did not affect You Hongjuan's pregnancy, because You Hongjuan went to work at the factory during the day.

If you hire a professional installer to modify the door and add a beam above the door, Liu Guangqi would be fine with it. But since you hired a few mediocre workers, plus Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai personally messing around with it, Liu Guangqi always felt it was unreliable.

So on the day they finished the project, they reported the matter to Director Wang, making them work for nothing, lose everything, and learn a harsh lesson.

Director Wang ignored Jia Dongxu's tantrums. Pointing to the two altered doors, she said, "I don't care how you did it. Restore it to its original state within three days. Then, the street office's renovation team will come and inspect it. If it's not up to standard, redo it. The exterior must match the architectural style of the buildings in the yard, and the structure must be completely sound!"

"Otherwise, I will notify the factory that you, Jia Dongxu, have made unauthorized alterations, causing significant damage to the stability of the building, and I will demand that your Jia family be relocated from courtyard number 95!"

"If you live in Nanluoguxiang, you have to abide by our rules! Otherwise, you'd better leave Nanluoguxiang!"

"Look what you've done to those two perfectly good rooms!"

Jia Dongxu wanted to argue that it was a factory building, but Yi Zhonghai grabbed him and stopped him.

"Director Wang, we'll change it, we'll change it right away!"

"I guarantee it will be fixed within three days, it will definitely be fixed!"

If the Jia family is really kicked out, Yi Zhonghai's retirement investments will all go down the drain, and he'll be completely finished.

After Yi Zhonghai gave his assurance, Director Wang led his staff away from the courtyard.

Seeing that there was no show to watch, everyone dispersed.

Only Jia Dongxu, his eyes vacant, and Yi Zhonghai, utterly helpless, remained.

--well--

After all that effort, spending money and time, what was it all for?

At this moment, they missed Jia Zhangshi, who could throw a tantrum at any time. Without Jia Zhangshi, there would be no entry point for moral blackmail in this courtyard, and Yi Zhonghai's abilities would have nowhere to be displayed.

Let's be patient for a few more months, and when she returns from her labor camp, we'll fight her to the death!

(Jia Zhangshi – If the courtyard had not given birth to Jia Zhangshi, the world would have remained in darkness forever!)

------------

This time, Yi Zhonghai learned his lesson and directly hired a renovation team from the neighborhood committee. Master Lei personally led the team to repair the door, so there was no chance of any mistakes.

The money given to Peng Tao for the house was 380, and another 50 was spent on changing the gate and repairing the small yard, totaling 430 in total...

Yi Zhonghai had to endure it; there was nothing he could do if he didn't.

But the Jia family divided the property into one room in the front courtyard and one room in the middle courtyard...

They're still living together in the middle courtyard as a family, isn't that just buying loneliness?

Yi Zhonghai shook his head and didn't bother with it anymore. He decided that once Jia Zhangshi returned, she could move to the front courtyard's main hall, which would make the middle courtyard quieter.