Courtyard House: In this life, I have a new home!

Dan Dahai's tone turned cold. "That's it. Report to the sanitation team now. And I'll deduct another twenty yuan from your pay!"

"This can't be done, Director Shan..."

My legs went weak from bangs.

"You don't have to go."

Dan Dahai stared at him. "Disobeying orders from your superiors will result in a major demerit. Two major demerits and you're fired. We're being lenient by not giving you a demerit this time, understand?"

"I'll go, I'll go right now."

Liu Haizhong's voice sounded weak and listless.

He dared not take the blame; this kind of thing can't be washed away, he would have to carry it for a lifetime.

Liu Haizhong spent the entire afternoon cleaning the toilets, and the smell emanating from him was so strong that even mosquitoes avoided him.

As Li Weidong passed by him, he could tell what this guy had been up to just by smelling him.

Upon seeing Li Weidong, Liu Haizhong was overjoyed, as if he had seen a savior. He quickly pedaled his bicycle to catch up. Li Weidong turned into a side road, and Liu Haizhong followed suit.

"Chief Engineer Li! Please wait a moment!"

Liu Haizhong shouted from behind.

There are few people on this road; there's only one pedestrian every thirty meters or so.

Li Weidong placed one foot on the footrest and the other on the ground, turning around and frowning: "Don't get too close, talk over there if you have something to say."

Liu Haizhong stopped two meters away, waiting for a worker to walk away before lowering his voice and urgently saying, "Chief Engineer Li, please let me be the team leader! I'll do whatever you say from now on!"

His face was so fat it looked like a bitter gourd.

Li Weidong curled his lip, his tone disdainful: "Why would I need you to listen to me? I don't want a dog like you. If I wanted to find obedient ones, I could easily find a bunch."

"I...I...If I don't take this official position, please put in a good word for me, considering we're old neighbors! It's just a matter of you saying a few words, I'll kneel down and do it for you!"

Liu Haizhong said he was really going to kneel down on the ground.

"Looks like you're so desperate for an official position that you've lost your mind."

Li Weidong sneered, "You're still bringing up neighbors with me? What kind of relationship do we have? When those three beasts were plotting against my family, why didn't they consider that we were neighbors?"

He paused, then continued, "Haven't you ever wondered why, after all these years you've struggled to become a team leader, it suddenly happened to you?"

Liu Haizhong froze, his face turning bright red, but he quickly understood.

"It was...it was you who asked Shan Dahai to mention me..."

Li Weidong nodded, making no attempt to hide his intentions: "Yes, it's me. First, I'll lift you up, let you enjoy yourself for a couple of days, then kick you down from the top. How does that feel? Pretty good, huh?"

"You...you're getting revenge on me!"

Liu Haizhong's entire body of fat was jiggling violently.

"Yes, I'm just getting revenge on you."

Li Weidong said calmly, "It would be no fun to crush you all at once. I want you to slowly taste the bitterness of despair."

After saying that, he got on his bicycle and left, quickly arriving at the entrance of the courtyard house.

At the gate, Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu were waiting. Liu Guangqi held up a bamboo pole with firecrackers hanging from it, while Liu Guangfu clutched matches, ready to light them at any moment. Zhang Cuihua stood on the steps, craning her neck to look into the distance, waiting for Liu Haizhong to return.

A crowd of onlookers gathered at the entrance.

"Hurry! Your dad's back! Light the firecrackers!"

Zhang Cuihua shouted at the top of her lungs.

Just as Li Weidong was about to enter, he turned around and saw Liu Haizhong riding his bicycle from a distance, seemingly intending to catch up and cause trouble.

Liu Haizhong desperately tried to catch up with Li Weidong, plotting in his mind that no matter what method he used, he had to get Li Weidong to agree to put him back in the position of group leader.

Even if he had to become Li Weidong's dog and kneel down to beg for mercy, he would accept it.

But Li Weidong was riding too fast, and even though he was almost at his doorstep, he couldn't catch up.

Just as he was thinking about how to talk to Li Weidong when he got home, a series of firecrackers suddenly went off in his ears, startling Liu Haizhong so much that he trembled all over.

He turned his head and saw his wife and son setting off firecrackers.

He then remembered that he was supposed to celebrate tonight.

The thought of being relegated to cleaning toilets made my vision go black.

Liu Guangqi was setting off firecrackers when he saw his father riding back on his bicycle. The handlebars wobbled, and he fell to the ground by the roadside, motionless.

This startled him so much that he threw away half of the firecrackers in his hand and ran over as fast as he could.

This is his powerful backer!

Banggeng had been squatting nearby, waiting to pick up the unexploded firecrackers. When he saw a whole string of them on the ground, he rushed over, stomped them out a few times, picked them up, and ran away.

The string of firecrackers was mostly filled with large firecrackers; there were hardly any small ones left.

Li Weidong gave a cold snort.

He knew that Liu Haizhong had fainted due to a rush of blood to his head.

This guy already has high blood pressure, and this could easily leave him paralyzed on one side.

"Hey! Don't go! Didn't you see my dad faint? Come and help him!"

Liu Guangqi turned around and shouted at Li Weidong.

Zhang Cuihua kept shaking her big head through her bangs.

As for Liu Guangfu, standing to the side, there was even a hint of excitement in his eyes.

"Fuck you!"

Li Weidong threw this sentence at Liu Guangqi and turned to leave.

Just then, Director Wang from the neighborhood committee suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

She first lashed out at Liu Guangqi, saying sharply, "Liu Guangqi, is this how you beg for help? Who do you think you are, daring to order Chief Engineer Li around?"

When Li Weidong saw Director Wang arrive, he could only stop in his tracks: "Director Wang, is there something you need? By the way, Liu Haizhong is a big guy, his blood pressure must be high. He fainted because of a sudden attack of blood and qi."

"Don't move him, call an ambulance right away."

Zhang Cuihua quickly pulled the head out of her bangs: "Aren't you a doctor? You can't just stand by and watch someone die!"

"Save me? How can I save me?"

Li Weidong sneered and casually brushed the matter aside, saying, "Call an ambulance quickly, or it will be too late."

"Exactly, how are you going to save them empty-handed?"

Director Wang took over, "Quickly go to the neighborhood committee and call the hospital."

"Chief Engineer Li, I need to speak with you about something."

"Let's go inside and talk."

Li Weidong said with a smile.

"No need, no need, I'll say it here."

Director Wang smiled and said, "Our neighborhood has two public bicycles for the militia defense team. We'd like to install an engine on them. Do you think that's possible...?"

Before Director Wang could finish speaking, Li Weidong laughed: "Alright, push the cart to the steel rolling mill first thing tomorrow morning! With the relationship between our factory and the neighborhood committee, do we even need to discuss such a small matter?"

Director Wang smiled and said, "See you tomorrow."

He turned and left.

Li Weidong didn't care about anything else and rushed home. Liu Haizhong's life or death was none of his concern.

As soon as I entered the Intermediate People's Court, I saw Jia Zhangshi fiddling with a large basin of snails. Needless to say, this family was definitely going to have stir-fried snails tonight.

Banggeng saw Li Weidong approaching, rolled his triangular eyes—mostly white and little black—and said smugly, "We're having snails at home tonight too, way more than yours!"

Li Weidong, a cold smile on his face, pushed the cart towards the backyard. Inside the canvas bag under the cart's crossbar, there was now a pig's stomach and an old hen. He planned to make stewed pig's stomach and chicken tonight.

Upon entering the backyard, one could see Cui Dake fiddling with some old, worn-out furniture by the door. It looked like he had bought it secondhand, and it might even be a third-hand table and bench.

Upon seeing Li Weidong, Cui Dake quickly ducked into the house, seemingly terrified.

Li Weidong shook his head, puzzled, and pushed the cart to his front door.

Xiao Xi was the first to run out: "Brother, brother, brother's back!"

Holding his younger sister's hand, Li Weidong saw Lin Yurou and He Yushui standing at the door.

"Rain Water, I'm making pork tripe and chicken soup tonight. Do you know how to make this dish?"

Li Weidong smiled and said, "I'll tell you the key points later."

"Okay, okay."

He Yushui skillfully took the ingredients out of the canvas bag.

"Brother Dong, I need to talk to you about something."

Lin Yurou hesitated for a moment.

"Okay. Xiaoxi, go to the kitchen with Sister Yushui. We need to make braised salted pork and fresh fish tonight."

Li Weidong said, "Those fish will go bad if we don't eat them."

"Okay, brother, Xiaoxi is the most obedient."

The little girl said it very seriously.

Seeing Xiao Xi's appearance, Li Weidong knew that Lin Yurou must have taught her.

Lin Yurou and the others have already moved to the main room on the west side. The room is almost fifty square meters, which is more than enough for three people, so the side room on the west side is no longer needed.

"What is it?"

Li Weidong asked.

He led Lin Yurou by the hand into his bedroom. There was a writing desk under the windowsill. He sat down in the chair, picked Lin Yurou up, and placed her on his lap.

Fortunately, the curtains were drawn.

Lin Yurou blushed deeply and rested her head on Li Weidong's neck.

"That Cui Dake came over this afternoon spouting nonsense. He even bought clothes and said he wanted to give them to me. I told him to get lost, and he grinned and tried to grab my hand."

Lin Yurou said, "I pulled out my gun, cocked it, pointed it at his head, and told him to get lost."

"Xiaoxi and Yushui were taking a nap at that time."

Li Weidong, whose mind was still on Lin Yurou, immediately flew into a rage upon hearing this: "That bastard, I'm going to beat him up right now."

"Won't this cause trouble?"

Lin Yurou asked worriedly.

Li Weidong snorted coldly, "What harm could happen if I beat him? He dared to cross my line. I won't let this go until I've taught him a lesson."

He knew perfectly well that he had plenty of cards to play. Dealing with someone like Cui Dake would be a piece of cake.

Having spent so much time in another era, where everything was done according to the rules, Li Weidong felt a bit constrained here. Now that he's figured things out here, he's learned how to use what he has.

The rules are strict these days, but ultimately, many things depend on human decision-making. There are plenty of loopholes to exploit.

For example, he might be a level-seven engineer, a medical master's degree holder, someone who has contributed to the country, and a family member of a martyr. If he's really angry and has a legitimate reason, beating up Cui Dake wouldn't be considered a big deal.

Even if the police find out, they'll at most just shout "Good job!"

In the afternoon, Cui Dake was fiddling with old furniture in the yard, but his mind was filled with the scene from noon. He still felt a chill run down his spine; that woman Lin Yurou had actually pulled out a gun and almost shot him. If he hadn't knelt down quickly, he wouldn't be alive now.

He wiped the last small table clean and was about to move it into the house when he looked up and saw Li Weidong walking over with a livid face.

Cui Dake's heart skipped a beat; he knew he was in trouble. This person had come to settle scores with him. He instinctively took a step back.

Li Weidong walked up to it in a few steps, just as the small table was blocking his way. He raised his leg and slammed his foot down hard.

"Bang"

With a muffled thud, the table shattered into pieces, splintering wood all over the floor.

Cui Dake opened his mouth wide, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth, so much so that even his throat was visible.