Courtyard House: Initial Donation of 50 Million

As summer turned to autumn, life in the courtyard seemed calm on the surface, but beneath the surface, undercurrents were surging due to Jia Dongxu's "transformation." The one most affected was none other than Liu Haizhong, the second uncle who was obsessed with officialdom and had an inflated ego!

Liu Haizhong was seething with rage, almost to the point of internal injury! He was obsessed with becoming an official! He had toiled half his life in the forging workshop of the steel rolling mill, finally managing to reach the rank of a level seven forger, a senior craftsman, but he hadn't even gotten close to the "official" title! The preparatory office for the newly built automobile branch had been officially established, and rumors were flying about the candidates for workshop directors and section chiefs, but Liu Haizhong was nowhere to be seen! He felt he had the skills (blacksmithing counts as a skill, right?) and the qualifications, so why couldn't he be a leader?

What infuriated him even more was that Wang Huanbo, from the west courtyard across the street, had become the chief engineer at a young age and was received by high-ranking officials. That was because Wang Huanbo had real skills, and Liu Haizhong, though envious, respected him to some extent. But what was that crippled Jia Dongxu from the central courtyard? A useless second-level fitter who couldn't even do his job properly, living on welfare at home due to a work injury, yet he'd managed to latch onto Wang Huanbo's coattails, spending all his time poring over books and pretending to be knowledgeable! When Liu Haizhong went to Wang Huanbo for technical advice (actually, he wanted to curry favor), Chief Engineer Wang was polite, but mostly just offered a few words of encouragement. He never personally tutored Jia Dongxu like he did, nor did he provide him with textbooks or money! Why? In what way was Jia Dongxu better than him? Just because he's crippled, does he deserve sympathy?

That evening at dinner, Liu Haizhong, over a trivial matter, once again displayed his "fatherly love as solid as a mountain" on the brothers Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, whipping them with his belt until it whistled loudly.

"You good-for-nothings! Look at Chief Engineer Wang! And look at you! I've worked so hard to raise you, and you can't even get into high school! Useless! A bunch of useless trash!" Liu Haizhong hit and cursed at the same time, but it was actually a veiled attack, and he was venting all his anger on his son.

"Dad! Stop hitting us! We'll never do it again!" Liu Guangtian screamed, clutching his head.

"Dare not? I think you're all hopeless! I work myself to the bone at the factory, and when I get home I still have to put up with your nonsense! I'll beat you all to death, you good-for-nothings!" Liu Haizhong got more and more excited as he hit him, as if he were hitting Jia Dongxu, or those leaders who didn't appreciate him.

The second aunt stood by, not daring to intervene. Exhausted from the beating, Liu Haizhong sat down, panting, gulping down a mouthful of cold tea, his eyes flashing menacingly towards the courtyard. The more he thought about it, the angrier and more resentful he became. He felt ignored, insulted! Wang Huanbo looked down on him, helping a cripple! He couldn't swallow this insult!

A wicked thought, like a poisonous weed, sprouted in his mind: Report him! Yes! Report Wang Huanbo for secretly teaching Jia Dongxu techniques—this is "unauthorized activity," "cultivating personal power," and "disrupting the factory's work injury management system" (Jia Dongxu should be resting but is studying, hindering his recovery)! Yes! Do it! Let the higher-ups investigate him! Even if he can't bring down Wang Huanbo, he can at least disgust him, and it would be best to ruin Jia Dongxu's studies! Let's see how arrogant he can be then!

No sooner said than done! Liu Haizhong found an excuse to slip out of the courtyard and ran to the street office, where he found Old Wang, the street deputy director whom he had met a few times before and who also liked to put on airs. He embellished the story, describing Jia Dongxu's "frequent secret meetings" at Wang Huanbo's house, his "receiving of unknown information," and the "possible involvement of technical secrets," making it sound very convincing. He even went so far as to say, "Director Wang, you know, even though Chief Engineer Wang is talented, he can't ignore organizational discipline! Is it appropriate for him to teach the factory's technology to a cripple like this? If some secrets leak out, who can take responsibility? I think we need to do something about it!"

Deputy Director Wang of the neighborhood committee was a power-hungry man who was also a little jealous of Wang Huanbo's early success. Upon hearing Liu Haizhong's "report," he saw it as a good opportunity to show his authority. Under the guise of "caring for comrades and understanding the situation," he decided to "visit" the courtyard the next day.

Meanwhile, Xu Damao in the front yard was also keeping an eye on Jia Dongxu. He was equally jealous that Jia Dongxu had managed to get on Wang Huanbo's good side, but he was much more cunning than Liu Haizhong. He wasn't thinking about reporting him; instead, he was figuring out how to get on that powerful backer himself.

"If even a cripple like Jia Dongxu can catch Boss Wang's eye, then I, Xu Damao, have the education (high school graduate), the ability (eloquent), and the connections (knowing many leaders). Why can't I?" Xu Damao tossed and turned in bed, thinking, "Chief Engineer Wang is a master of technology, but he still needs someone to run errands for external communications and social interactions, right? I can show movies, procure scarce resources, and I'm eloquent—exactly the kind of talent Boss Wang needs!"

He decided to change his strategy, shifting from simple flattery to "demonstrating value and waiting for an opportunity to defect." He figured he needed to find a chance to properly express his loyalty to Chief Engineer Wang, letting him know that he was far more useful than that taciturn Jia Dongxu!

And so, one, driven by jealousy and ambition for officialdom, plotted to launch a sneak attack; the other, blinded by greed, schemed to curry favor with a powerful patron. The courtyard nights were filled with calculations driven by differing motives.