The Fitter Master in the Courtyard: Surrounded by Dead Men

Not only did Yang Ping's face darken, but the eyes of the men around him who had been silent also changed—cursing Yang Ping was an insult to all those who had shared life and death with him.

"That Jia Dongxu is something else!"

A shout erupted from the crowd, "He's disrupting the unity of the compound and dragging us down in our evaluation for advanced worker—beat him up!"

"You bastard, you dare to hit a woman? That's not a rule in our compound!"

"They're corrupting morals and deserve to be punished!"

A dozen or so figures rushed forward, their fists raining down like a torrential downpour in June.

Jia Dongxu panicked, but there was no way he could retreat. He could only curl up and cover his head, his cries of pain squeezing out from between the people.

"Ouch! Stop hitting me... Help!"

In just a few breaths, his clothes were tattered and his face was a mixture of red and blue.

"Stop! All of you, stop!"

Yi Zhonghai rushed all the way from the Intermediate People's Court, his voice hoarse from shouting.

Ma Dachui and the others then stopped, realizing that causing someone's death was no laughing matter.

Yi Zhonghai knelt down and helped Jia Dongxu up. Seeing his swollen appearance, almost unrecognizable, he gasped with heartache.

"What are you doing? Why have you beaten someone up like this!"

"He's trying to ruin the unity of our compound."

Ma Dachui replied in a muffled voice, "It will delay the evaluation for advanced worker."

"Exactly! He even tried to lay a hand on Ma Xiaoling. There's never been a rule in our compound that a man would hit a woman. If word gets out, what will become of our compound's reputation?"

Li Tiezhu followed suit.

"That's right, the reputation of this place can't be ruined!"

The people around them nodded in agreement.

Yi Zhonghai's face was so gloomy it looked like it could be wrung out of water.

What kind of retribution has he suffered? Why is everyone talking about "the compound needing to work together" these days?

"Evaluating Advanced Role Models"

This was meant to shut him up.

You see, these were the very words he usually used to manipulate everyone in the courtyard, but now those words have turned around and hit him where it hurts.

"Uncle, I don't think this matter can be easily dismissed."

Jia Dongxu assaulted a woman; this must be reported to the Women's Federation, and the director of the Women's Federation must be asked to uphold justice.

"That's right. A grown man hitting a woman, and someone else's wife at that, what kind of behavior is that?"

"Report it to the Women's Federation, you absolutely must report it to the Women's Federation, let the comrades there handle it."

Ma Dachui and his group clearly had no intention of letting Jia Dongxu off the hook.

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat.

Last time, Xu Damao was punished for peeping at the Women's Federation director while she was using the toilet; he was forced to sweep the yard for three whole months.

If this incident of hitting women gets reported to the head of the Women's Federation, Jia Dongxu is probably finished. He might even be locked up for a few days.

"Ugh...ugh!"

Jia Dongxu waved his hands frantically, sobbing and spitting out blood-tinged saliva, unable to utter a single clear word.

In Yi Zhonghai's view, this was clearly his apprentice begging him not to go to the Women's Federation.

His face grew even uglier, realizing that his disciple had probably really made a move.

If the Women's Federation really gets involved, it will definitely not have a good outcome.

"So what do you want?"

He asked in a deep voice.

"Simple."

Yang Ping stepped forward and said, "Let Jia Dongxu pay Xiaoling 100 yuan for medical expenses, and we'll call it even."

This time, not only will we beat Jia Dongxu to a bad lesson, but we'll also make him pay us a hundred yuan—enough to make this kid feel the pinch for months.

"Okay, let's do it that way."

Yi Zhonghai readily agreed.

Jia Dongxu's throat bobbed, his face flushed red, and he waved his hands frantically in the air—he didn't want the money, he didn't want it! But no matter how much he struggled, he could only manage broken sobs.

Yi Zhonghai seemed to understand his apprentice's anxiety, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a softer voice, "Dongxu, don't worry."

"I'll cover this money for you now; you can pay me back later when you're financially better off."

After saying that, he turned and gestured to his wife to get the money.

Jia Dongxu's chest heaved violently, his vision suddenly went black, and his body went limp and collapsed.

"Quick! Sha Zhu, get him to the hospital right away!"

Yi Zhonghai immediately shouted loudly.

"Silly Zhu!"

Qin Huairu also called out urgently.

"They're here!"

Sha Zhu responded immediately, his figure moving as fast as the wind, and he was in front of Jia Dongxu in the blink of an eye.

He grabbed the person from the ground, hoisted him onto his back, and turned to run towards the hospital.

Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu also hurriedly followed.

Upon arriving at the hospital, after a series of examinations, the doctor said that Jia Dongxu was fine; he had only fainted temporarily due to a deficiency of qi and blood, and his vocal cords were also experiencing a temporary problem. He was advised to go home and rest for a while and take some supplements to improve his health.

Yi Zhonghai's anxiety finally subsided—his first apprentice, whom he was counting on for his retirement, absolutely could not afford to have any mishaps.

In the courtyard, an older woman stuffed a hundred yuan into Yang Ping's hand and then hurriedly turned and left.

Seeing that the matter was over, the onlookers dispersed in twos and threes.

Yang Ping held the stack of banknotes, turned around and handed them to Ma Xiaoling: "Sister, this is the medical compensation from the Jia family."

"My dear brother, I really don't know how to thank you."

Ma Xiaoling took the money, her eyes slightly red.

She looked down, counted out fifty yuan, and handed it back to Yang Ping: "You can keep half of this money."

"Need not."

Yang Ping waved his hand, his tone gentle yet firm.

Ma Xiaoling handed over the items, a relaxed smile on her face. "Take them. I wouldn't have been able to get these without your help."

She didn't say it, but she was genuinely happy to receive so many for the first time.

"Keep your voice down."

Yang Ping lowered her voice and reminded him, "This money is for your medical treatment, not for anything else."

"Yes, it's for medical treatment."

Ma Xiaoling nodded quickly.

"Then I'll go back to my room first."

After Yang Ping finished speaking, he turned and walked towards his room.

"Wait a minute, this money..."

Ma Xiaoling wanted to share half with him, but remembering her earlier instructions, she swallowed her words.

Seeing that Yang Ping had already closed the door, she had no choice but to give up, thinking that she could buy something for him another day.

She smiled, carefully put the money away, and went back to her room.

After Yang Ping entered the house, she began preparing dinner.

I noticed that there were seven or eight processed pigs in the system warehouse, so I took out some pork—there was no meat to buy at the market tonight.

Needless to say, it must have been put there by the black rat.

Since the warehouse sharing was launched, all sorts of things have appeared in it every day. Before, it was white pears, winter dates, and hens, and now even pork is available.

He planned to go over there that evening to see how the black rats were selling and how much profit they had made.

**seventy**

It was late at night, three in the morning.

Yang Ping opened her eyes and got up from the bed.

He went behind the door and listened to the sounds outside; the courtyard was completely silent.

So he climbed out the window and quietly left his residence.

He got on his bicycle and headed towards Dongdan.

About ten minutes later, the figure disappeared into the shadows of the alley.

Yang Ping immediately recognized the person guarding the courtyard gate as the one he had seen that day, and he walked straight toward him.

"Is the black rat inside?"

"Yes, Brother Mouse has been in the yard the whole time."

The other person answered quickly, clearly recognizing him.

Black Rat had been instructed to treat Yang Ping with the same respect he would show himself, so naturally he dared not conceal anything.

"OK."

Yang Ping nodded slightly, then turned and headed towards the courtyard.

The area was deserted and empty; it seemed that the spies who had been stationed there had all moved elsewhere, and it was eerily quiet all around.

He strode across the threshold and headed straight for the side room—the bicycle had already been stored in the system's warehouse, so there was no need to worry about it being stolen.

"Comrade Yang!"

As soon as Black Rat saw him enter, he quickly got up.

Yang Ping looked over and clearly saw the weariness in the other person's eyes.

"Thank you for your hard work these past few days."

"Of course,"

Black Rat rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "The system repository is so convenient, wouldn't it be a waste not to use it?"

"You still need to rest more, don't exhaust yourself."

Yang Ping spoke earnestly.

He doesn't have many capable people under him, and if he really overworks himself to the point of injury, the loss will be more than just the effort.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

As Black Rat spoke, he pulled a thin booklet from his pocket and handed it over.

"The accounts for these days are all here, please take a look—in the past week or so, the total income is six thousand eight hundred dollars."

A hint of surprise flashed across Yang Ping's eyes; the figures in the ledger were appearing faster than he had anticipated.

In just over ten days, a surplus of 6,800 yuan had been accumulated.

In this day and age, ten thousand yuan is an astronomical figure that is hard for ordinary people to imagine.

However, compared to the goal of a million, this amount of money still seems insignificant.

He took the sheet of paper filled with records from the other person and scanned the densely packed entries line by line.

"Five thousand catties of white pears were purchased at five cents per catty, and sold for three cents, resulting in a profit of one thousand two hundred and fifty yuan."

"Three thousand catties of white pears were purchased at five cents per catty, and sold for three cents, resulting in a profit of seven hundred and fifty yuan."

"Five thousand catties of winter jujubes were purchased at three cents per catty, and sold for two and a half cents, resulting in a profit of one thousand one hundred yuan."

"Fifty chickens, bought at two yuan per jin, sold at five yuan per jin, making a profit of one hundred and fifty yuan."

"Two thousand catties of pork were purchased at a price of 0.5 yuan per catty, and sold for 1.5 yuan, resulting in a profit of 1,500 yuan."

"..."

Behind every line of numbers on the page lies unseen sweat.

Such a huge amount of weight must have required countless hands to repeatedly carry it in the fields and on bumpy roads to gather it up.

At the very end of the account, after deducting the workers' expenses and wages, what remained was six thousand eight hundred dollars.

It must be said that this is truly hard-earned money, saved penny by penny through diligent work.

"You've had a tough time these past few days, Black Rat."

Yang Ping raised his eyes, his tone tinged with emotion.

The man called Black Rat grinned and waved his hand, saying, "Comrade Yang, you're too kind."

I treated it like a trip to the countryside. I could sleep in the car, and I didn't have to do any work, so it wasn't tiring at all.

Compared to those who walked into the city in donkey carts and bamboo baskets, he had it much easier.

Those people rely on animal power and carrying loads on their shoulders, and can't transport many kilograms at a time, while he can haul thousands of kilograms of goods in one trip with almost no effort.

Once you arrive in the city, you only need to unload the goods, and someone will naturally take over to sell them, which is both convenient and worry-free.

"That's good."

Yang Ping nodded.

He naturally understood the ins and outs, but he simply didn't want to run around doing it.

Otherwise, it's not impossible to give this job a try myself.

Comrade Yang, here is exactly 6,800 yuan.

Black Rat pushed a bulging cloth bag in front of Yang Ping.

"I'll take five thousand; you can keep the rest for your own use."

If you encounter a large volume of goods and lack sufficient funds, you can withdraw from the system's storage space at any time and replenish it afterward.

Yang Ping counted out five thousand yuan in cash and casually put it into the system space—it was safer there than anywhere else.

"Understood, Comrade Yang."

The black rat nodded in agreement.

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Yang Ping got up to take his leave.

I'm just here to check on the profits. The results are satisfactory. I'll leave the specifics to Black Rat. I can come back when the time is right.

"Oh, right."

Black Rat suddenly remembered something, "Xu Banxia wants our goods, can we supply them to her?"

The acquired goods are all distributed by those silent agents, and no one else—not even Black Rat's confidants—has ever touched them.

Only this Banxia was exceptionally bold, actually taking the initiative to come to him seeking goods.

Wei Laosi didn't dare to agree at the time and let Hei Shu decide. Hei Shu also waited until Yang Ping arrived before bringing it up.

"Can."

Yang Ping thought for a moment and then nodded.

It wouldn't hurt to give someone like Xu Banxia a helping hand when she's starting out; she's destined to make waves in the business world.

"it is good."

The black rat noted it down.

Yang Ping said no more and turned to walk out of the courtyard.

Finding a secluded spot, he took out his bicycle from the system space, mounted it, and rode towards the courtyard.

Before long, he had returned to the courtyard.