Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

Ma Huaisheng went straight to the office of another deputy district head, who had been his former subordinate; Qian Youde rushed to the clerk's office, it was this clerk who had transferred him to the Nanluoguxiang Subdistrict Office—otherwise, how could he have gotten such a popular position that was praised and evaluated every year?

But the results were far from satisfactory. They were all present at the meeting that day and immediately recognized that this was a firm directive from the city. Not to mention, the district head had just been reprimanded by Vice Mayor Yan and was still seething with anger; there was no room for compromise.

The two got no straight answer and had to go home dejectedly.

On Monday morning, the district head and the secretary went to a meeting in the city and reported the matter on the spot. Their words were sharp and uncompromising, and they solemnly proposed to initiate a disciplinary review. The secretary tried to say a few words to soften the blow for the two, but before he could speak, the topic was already turned over.

That afternoon, Qian Youde and Ma Huaisheng were suspended from their duties and questioned by the organization; they were not even allowed to return home and were instead placed in an empty room in the street office to cooperate with the investigation day and night.

The news quickly spread throughout the Nanluoguxiang Subdistrict Office that Director Qian and Deputy Director Ma were under investigation. However, despite the absence of these two top officials, daily operations continued as usual, maintaining order and without any signs of chaos.

After nearly two days of intensive investigation and interviews, the district and city authorities finally got a clear picture of the situation.

No one expected that this matter would bring up old grievances of the steel rolling mill workers!

Suppressing the descendants of heroes is a heinous act with extremely negative consequences. Fortunately, however, no substantial consequences have yet occurred—the idea has been conceived, but the action has stalled halfway, making it difficult to determine guilt and sentence.

The final decision was made by the joint panel: expulsion from the Party and public office, and permanent ban from employment; the punishment is limited to the individual and does not involve any relatives, thus closing the case.

If it weren't for someone secretly mediating and saying a few kind words on their behalf, the outcome would probably have been even worse.

As for Yi Zhonghai, the worker involved in the incident at the steel rolling mill, the subdistrict office has officially notified the factory.

It was this eighth-grade fitter who instigated Qian Youde to take action; however, after searching through the regulations, no charge could be found that could accurately pinpoint his crime, so they simply handed the hot potato back to the steel rolling mill for disposal.

Furthermore, the eighth-grade fitter is the factory's technical backbone. If we just detain someone, the factory leaders will have to come knocking on our door to ask for him back—why make trouble for ourselves?

The "manager" title was revoked on the spot by the neighborhood committee; along with it, all the "Advanced Civilized Compound" titles were also cancelled. The investigation revealed that many compounds had habitually engaged in falsification and misrepresentation to compete for those small rewards. It was better to make a clean sweep and remove all the titles to avoid future complications.

In the future, for minor neighborhood matters, just go directly to the street office—even the smallest issues will be mediated on the spot; and there will be street patrollers to handle daily affairs. The "management magistrates" were originally set up to prevent enemy agents from infiltrating; now that enemy agents are hard to find and the grassroots teams are growing stronger, this old role has been abolished.

The Yi Zhonghai incident served as a wake-up call for everyone.

When the news reached the compound, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui almost burst into tears.

Yan Bugui had only been in charge of the "management master" position for less than a year, and he was planning to use his status as the third master to visit more households during the Spring Festival this year. Once he delivered the Spring Festival couplets, who would dare not slip him a handful of candy or a few eggs?

But now that his status has been revoked, how can he, an ordinary resident, possibly bring himself to go door-to-door selling his products?

Liu Haizhong was even more furious than him—the only title he had that he could hold onto was "the steward." Now, not even a hair's breadth remained; forget about vying for the title of the first steward, even the title of the second steward had vanished into thin air.

Upon learning the news that evening, Liu Haizhong was so angry that he took off his belt and beat Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu severely. Although this matter had nothing to do with his son, in his eyes, if the father was angry, the son had to be beaten.

Yi Zhonghai fared even worse than the other two: while the others only lost their reputations, he was publicly criticized by the street office and even sent directly to the steel rolling mill.

When Director Yang received the notification, he was so angry that he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time. He simply summoned several core cadres for an emergency discussion.

Yi Zhonghai is usually quite well-behaved, but he has a penchant for causing trouble—and every time he does it, it's always aimed at He Yuzhu's family.

Upon hearing that it was targeting He Yuzhu's family again, Director Yang's heart tightened: This person was a top target being watched by two departments in the city, and Yi Zhonghai was doing the same thing, running into them every few days.

"Tell me, how should we deal with Yi Zhonghai?"

When Director Yang spoke, only the two deputy directors, Secretary Wang, and Director Zhang of Workshop One sat around in the meeting room—this matter did not escalate, nor did it alarm the entire leadership team.

"Factory manager, this matter must be dealt with severely! We've already lost face outside the factory. If we don't take a firm stance, people outside will think our steel rolling mill is protecting its own and covering up for its own people!"

Director Zhang of Workshop One spoke first. Ever since Yi Zhonghai was transferred back to the factory, the two had been at odds—although Yi Zhonghai had taken on several apprentices, he was increasingly disrespectful to Zhang, the workshop director, and even dared to interfere with production scheduling.

Especially after Yi Zhonghai was rated as an eighth-level fitter, Director Zhang had to hold his nose and give way: those high-precision jobs all depended on Yi Zhonghai's hands, and no one else could really do it.

With a long-standing grudge and now that they've found a handle against him, how could Director Zhang possibly back down?

"Besides, Director He is also a veteran of the factory. What Yi Zhonghai is doing is no different from bullying his own family member!"

"But the evidence isn't solid yet... The city's report is just a general indication of the situation; there might be some discrepancies..."

No sooner had Director Zhang finished speaking than Jiang Shouqin interjected in a deep voice, offering a word of reassurance for Yi Zhonghai. He continued, "Besides, Yi Zhonghai just returned from the front lines of the Northwest reconstruction effort, with a limp in one leg. How long has he been back at the factory? If he's severely punished, the workers below, unaware of the situation, might become disheartened..."

He stopped there. Director Yang glanced at him sideways, a sudden thought striking him: Yi Zhonghai had been frequently visiting Deputy Director Jiang's office lately; and Jiang Shouqin and He Yuzhu had always been at odds—could there be something more to this than met the eye?

Director Yang pondered the matter, but lacking concrete evidence, he couldn't directly target Yi Zhonghai. After all, the statement sent by the city clearly stated that Yi Zhonghai only played a "matchmaking" role, delivering a gift and offering a suggestion; it was difficult to definitively classify him.

"That's settled then—reduced wages by three grades, to the standard of a fifth-grade worker, for a period of three years; a factory-wide public reprimand."

Factory Director Yang made the decision. Yi Zhonghai's involvement was too minor; at most, he was just adding fuel to the fire. Besides, he was an eighth-grade fitter and a meritorious contributor to the reconstruction efforts. If they really suppressed him to the death, it would only damage the factory's vitality.

Several factory leaders immediately drafted official instructions and quickly forwarded them to the personnel department and the broadcasting station.

As soon as the penalty announcement came over the loudspeaker at the steel rolling mill, Yi Zhonghai's face darkened considerably.

The rank hasn't changed; it's still a level eight worker. But the salary has been cut by a large margin. If there's no outstanding performance within three years, don't even think about turning things around.

The broadcast didn't go into details, but some people in the factory were secretly delighted—who could blame them when Yi Zhonghai usually acted arrogantly and had very few friends?

Only Qin Huairu silently stepped forward, handed her a cup of hot water, and offered words of comfort, but her heart was pounding: Yi Zhonghai used to generously give her two or three yuan every month, but now that his salary has been halved, given his stinginess, she probably wouldn't even see a single penny.

"Xiao'e".

An older woman suddenly showed up at the door, awkwardly rubbing her hands, her face full of apology and embarrassment. Rumors had already spread throughout the courtyard: the investigation of the two directors of the street office was definitely related to Yi Zhonghai's punishment—most likely caused by the courtyard-wide meeting last week.

Liu Haizhong was cursing loudly at home, insisting that Yi Zhonghai was the one who stabbed him in the back when he was dismissed. Although he was talking behind closed doors, his voice was so loud that even the sparrows on the clothesline in the backyard flew away.

"Hey, ma'am? Come in and talk to me."

Lou Xiao'e saw that she was standing outside the threshold, hesitant to speak, so she stepped aside to let her pass.

"Xiao'e, I really knew nothing about what happened before... I'm so sorry..."

The older woman had just begun to apologize when Lou Xiao'e gently interrupted her: "Auntie, this really isn't your fault. I know perfectly well how you and Yi Zhonghai deal with each other."

For the past six months, Lou Xiao'e had been watching an elderly woman run around the streets every day making paper boxes. Later, after asking around through an acquaintance at the street office, she learned that Yi Zhonghai had gone to the street office and publicly canceled all the odd jobs the woman had taken on, making it sound very reasonable—"My family doesn't need this little bit of money; the jobs are for families in greater need."

The words were nice, but they didn't give her a single penny for living expenses, clearly forcing her to send the child away.

"Xiao'e, I have some free time lately. Do you have any needlework at home? I... I can do it."

An older woman stammered as she spoke, her face burning with embarrassment—Yi Zhonghai had been scheming against Lou Xiao'e at every turn, yet she had to shamelessly come to ask for help.

We had no choice but to ask. Of all the families in the courtyard, only Lou Xiao'e's family was relatively well-off and willing to pay for help.

Lou Xiao'e thought for a moment and nodded: "What a coincidence, there are two thick quilts that need to be taken apart and washed. I was originally waiting for Lili to come back from her vacation to help out, but since you're willing, then I'll trouble you."

The middle-aged woman readily agreed: "Sure! Leave it to me, I guarantee I'll unpack it clean, wash it thoroughly, and sew it up perfectly!"

"A quilt costs one yuan. You've worked hard these past two days. Yuzhu will be back soon, so we're tidying up the house."

Upon hearing the price, the middle-aged woman's eyes lit up, and she became very alert—it only costs one yuan to wash and disassemble a quilt?

She used to work at another house, earning at most a dime. They only gave her more because they thought she was old and hardworking. A dime could buy a pound of cornmeal. If she made two beds a day, her family's food supply would be complete.

Lou Xiao'e's offer was like a windfall, so generous that it made her heart tremble.

"Xiao'e, that's too much... Sanmao has had enough, really enough..."

"It's just one yuan per quilt. The thick quilt is heavy, and it's hard for one person to carry it. If you're willing to take it, I'll save myself the effort. Don't try to refuse me."

Lou Xiao'e waved her hand with a smile: "Besides, my family really doesn't need that much. Zhiliang is a sensible child. You've been saving money lately just to send him to school, haven't you?"

Yi Zhiliang is only one year younger than Bang Geng. Now Bang Geng goes to school with his schoolbag every day. An older woman sees this and her heart is in turmoil.

She forced a smile, her lips twitching slightly: "Yes... but I'm afraid I can't send him this year. Next year, once I've saved up some money, I'll definitely send Zhiliang in..."