Sha Zhu's Rebirth in the Courtyard: Starting with Hitting Someone in the Head

Chapter 59 Retribution Arrives

"You said it was arranged by the neighborhood committee?" He Yuzhu took a puff of his cigarette, the smoke blowing directly into Old Sun's face.

"Produce the government documents. I'm starting to doubt your motives. Can your neighborhood office represent the Beijing Municipal Government or the State Council? Answer me. If you don't reveal who's behind you today, I'll strip you naked."

Old Sun's face paled for a moment, and his lips moved.

The two young officers behind him blushed, and one of them took half a step forward, opening his mouth to speak.

He Yuzhu glared at him, raising his voice slightly: "You two shut up. I know the policies better than you do, no need to preach to me. I can say nice things too. I am a member of the leadership class, and I should share the burdens of the Party and the country as a master of the country."

I support the national rental policy. Why don't you produce some official documents? If there aren't specific regulations, I don't know how to cooperate. You can't expect a worker like me to act before the organization's official documents, can you?

He finished speaking in one breath, took another drag of his cigarette, and changed his tone to a mocking one: "Comrade, I'd also like to cooperate with the organization's work. Could you show me the relevant documents issued by the city so I can study them carefully and figure out how many rooms need to be vacated, who to rent them to, and how the rent will be calculated? That way, I can follow the rules."

He paused, then added in the most sincere tone, "I'm thinking, if I, a worker, suddenly take over the house to collect rent, wouldn't that make me an exploitative class? I wouldn't dare to tarnish the organization's reputation."

Someone in the crowd burst out laughing and quickly covered their mouth.

He Yuzhu threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. When he looked up, his sincere expression had changed, and he spoke again in a sinister tone: "Is that enough? Do you want to hear more? Answer me."

A crowd had already gathered at the entrance of the alley, including factory workers returning home from get off work, women clutching groceries, and a few teenagers squeezing through the gaps in the crowd to watch the spectacle. Everyone remained silent, their eyes fixed on Old Sun and his two companions.

This wasn't the first time Lao Sun had dealt with He Yuzhu. Last time, when they were selecting liaison officers, he was left speechless by He's retorts. This time, he was blocked at the door again, and his face turned a deep purplish-red.

He Yuzhu ignored them, pointing at Lao Sun and the other two: "Tell me, who's behind this? Tell me, and I won't make things difficult for you three. Otherwise, I'll go to the municipal government and sue you. If the municipal government can't handle it, I'll go to the square and write a blood oath saying your street office forcibly rented the property, and your street office director Zhang will have to get out of here. I'll give you one minute to think it over."

He raised his wrist to look at his watch. A layer of fine sweat appeared on Old Sun's forehead. He had been working at the grassroots level for many years and had seen all kinds of people, but this young man in front of him spoke eloquently, rattled off policy provisions, and was impossible to reason with or persuade. He even threatened to write a petition in blood at the drop of a hat.

He quickly calculated in his mind: it wasn't worth risking his job for the sake of Wang Xia, a women's director, and Yang, the deputy factory director. Besides, Director Zhang knew nothing about this matter. Now that things had escalated, the street office had lost face, and he didn't know how they would be able to carry out their work in Nanluoguxiang in the future.

If He Yuzhu really goes to the city to report him, and it turns out he was the one in charge, while Wang Xia and Deputy Factory Director Yang are hiding behind the scenes and nothing happens, he won't be able to escape the blame. He might as well just confess directly.

The two young officers next to them were already terrified, their lips turned white, and they didn't know where to put their hands.

"One minute is up. You three can get lost. Wait for me to cause a huge scene at the city government." He Yuzhu turned to go back to the courtyard.

Old Sun quickly grabbed his arm. "Comrade He Yuzhu, I'll talk, I'll talk." He Yuzhu stopped and turned to look at him. The onlookers all squeezed forward a couple of steps, eager to hear who was behind this.

Old Sun swallowed hard and said in a very low voice, "It's Deputy Director Yang and Director Wang Xia from the steel rolling mill. Deputy Director Yang has a past with the old lady in the backyard, and when he heard you had a falling out with her, he contacted us through Wang Xia. I also had my own ulterior motives; I wanted to find a job for my son at the steel rolling mill, so I agreed. Director Zhang doesn't know about this; I did it behind his back. We were wrong and caused you trouble."

He Yuzhu looked at him without saying a word. The two officers behind Lao Sun nodded in agreement, their heads almost touching their chests.

"Comrade He Yuzhu, I'm sorry." Old Sun lowered his head.

He Yuzhu withdrew his gaze, turned, and entered the courtyard. The door closed behind him. The crowd of onlookers was still standing in the alley, and Old Sun led two cadres away quickly with their heads down.

Inside the main room, He Yuzhu sat in a grand chair, pouring himself some tea. Wang Xia and Yang Honglin were there. One was the head of the women's affairs office at the street office, and the other was the deputy director of the steel rolling mill. The two of them had teamed up to vent their anger for the old deaf man, plotting to take his house. Most people would have been intimidated.

He lit a cigarette, and memories of his past life flooded his mind. Wang Xia, in her past life, was a master of covering things up. She left all the important and trivial matters in the courtyard to Yi Zhonghai.

This widowed man took advantage of the situation, saying that matters within the courtyard should be resolved within the courtyard itself, so as not to cause trouble for the neighborhood committee or the police station. As a result, Yi Zhonghai and the old deaf man turned the courtyard into their own independent kingdom, and he was schemed against by those beasts within the courtyard for the rest of his life.

That's not all. He's thirty years old and still unmarried. Logically, the neighborhood committee and the street office should care about him, inquire about his situation, and help him find a partner.

But his ancestors had nothing to do with him, and now that I think about it, something doesn't seem right.

This matter is inextricably linked to Gai Zi Wang.

He was a fool in his past life. Yi Zhonghai knew he had high standards, so he deliberately chose undesirable women to keep him from getting married.

She asked matchmakers to find someone for her, but every time things started to look promising, Widow Qin and Yi Zhonghai would pull dirty tricks on her, both to her face and behind her back. After a couple of times, word spread among the matchmakers that the silly Zhu from Nanluoguxiang had already gotten together with the widow and was going on blind dates everywhere.

Little did he know, this was all shown to him by the judge.

He Yuzhu stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. Wang Xia had only ever been a women's director in this life, and she still wouldn't give him a break. With the debts from the past life added to the debts of this one, this woman was not to be allowed to have an easy time.

Wang Xia has a son, fourteen or fifteen years old, who attends middle school in the district. He usually lives at school and only comes home on weekends. He Yuzhu took out a piece of paper, spread it on the table, and began to write a threatening letter.

The handwriting was deliberately crooked and messy, as if it were written by an illiterate person struggling to write. The gist was simple: You've done too many bad things, and the organization wants to talk to you. They'll talk about your son first, then you. There was no signature, only a skull drawn in the corner of the letter.

After writing it, I folded it up and put it in my online space, planning to deliver it to Wang Xia tonight.

As for Yang Honglin, break one of his legs as a warning. Spare his life out of respect for his former high-ranking position. Break his leg openly and honestly, then retrieve the old deaf man's photos and throw them in his face.

He had been a member of the underground Communist Party, so he must have recognized the Kuomintang agents in the photo. These people's uniforms did not have cap badges or breast insignia.

How ridiculous! Yang Honglin has mistaken a thief for his mother and is now going to take care of her in her old age.