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

She turned her head and looked around, but couldn't find the stick, and was a little disappointed.

"Xiao Xi! Xiao Xi!"

It was a woman's voice.

"Aunt Lou!"

Xiao Xi held up a tomato, her face covered in juice, and her smile was so sweet it could melt anyone's heart.

Li Weidong then noticed that he was sitting next to a young woman. It was Xu Damao's wife, Lou Xiao'e.

Lou Xiao'e and Xu Damao sat on the same bench.

Li Weidong nodded politely.

Lou Xiao'e had short hair, a fair and clean oval face, and a touch of baby fat. At twenty-three or twenty-four, she was at the peak of her beauty. Wearing a cotton shirt and trousers, she had a full figure with round breasts and a shapely bottom.

Xu Damao, standing to the side, was tall and thin with a horse-like face and a mustache that made him look rather comical. His face was already long, but the mustache made it appear even longer, as if his face had been cut in two.

"Wei Dong's back? Hehe, you better watch out tonight. They're after you."

Xu Damao said with a grin.

When he opened his mouth, his mustache bounced up and down, making it look like he had two extra eyebrows.

"Thanks, but I'm really not afraid of those three old men."

Li Weidong spoke very arrogantly.

Xu Damao clicked his tongue, his face full of surprise: "Tsk, after a few years out there, your personality is like a completely different person. You used to be so quiet you wouldn't say a word.

"People have to learn to adapt, otherwise how can they survive?"

Li Weidong casually added a comment.

Xu Damao was even more surprised: "Wow, that's a clever way to put it. What did you learn while you were studying away from home?"

"You used to skip grades all the time in school, and now you're in college?"

Li Weidong knew what was going on. He was just over twenty and had studied in the south. Logically, four years of schooling would barely be enough to qualify him as a resident physician.

But this kid was naturally smart, and he managed to pass the exam to become a chief physician, and even got a master's degree along the way.

In this day and age, resident doctors are a rarity, let alone attending physicians.

Li Weidong was thinking that if he took his attending physician certificate to the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill tomorrow, he could not only take over his parents' jobs, but also get in himself.

I should at least get a minor leadership position in the infirmary.

His mother used to be the factory's accountant, but her workstation has been empty ever since she passed away.

But Li Weidong knew perfectly well: "I can't go to the hospital. In a few years, the situation will change, and doctors will suffer too. If I stay at the steel rolling mill, at least I'm on the same side as the workers, and nothing serious will happen."

"When the time comes, I can do whatever I want."

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai, his face dark, slammed the large enamel mug in his hand onto the table.

"Bang"

With a splash, the tea spilled out, leaving him looking rather disheveled.

"Stop arguing, let's start the meeting!"

Yi Zhonghai has a loud voice.

Li Weidong muttered to himself, "They really think they're something special. A mediator with so little power acts like an emperor."

Lou Xiao'e was sitting right next to him and heard everything clearly. She couldn't help but turn her head and glance at him.

She had only been married to the family for a year and hadn't had much interaction with Li Weidong before.

Xiao Xi was quite close to Lou Xiao'e, and right now she was leaning against her, offering the tomato in her hand to Lou Xiao'e's mouth.

Lou Xiao'e didn't stand on ceremony and took a bite. Judging from this, she usually fed Xiao Xi quite a bit.

Yi Zhonghai said coldly, "Li Weidong, you're late. Pay the fine of one yuan now. Next time you come to the meeting, bring some peanuts and melon seeds."

Li Weidong glanced at the enamel plate on the table, which was sprinkled with sunflower seeds and peanuts. He wondered which unlucky fellow had been fined into buying it.

Yan Bugui was like a rat, his mouth never stopped, constantly cracking peanuts. Liu Haizhong across from him looked down on him, glancing at him sideways.

"A fine of one dollar?"

Li Weidong stood up and laughed. "Yi Gong, who do you think you are? What right do you have to impose fines?"

"Don't kid me. A fine? Go ask the neighborhood committee, who can arbitrarily fine citizens?"

"Professor Yan, you are a very knowledgeable person, please explain the law to everyone."

Yan Bugui was speechless, forgetting to chew the peanuts in his mouth: "Uh, well... well..."

Yi Zhonghai's face turned ashen, and he cursed Yan Bugui in his heart.

"This is our rule in our facility!"

Yi Zhonghai said through gritted teeth.

"The rules of this compound? Who made them? So arrogant, daring to go against national laws?"

Li Weidong smiled.

"What do you mean, 'who decided'? I decided it, so what!"

Yi Zhonghai slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

"What? What gives you the right to set the rules? Do you think you can write the laws yourself?"

Li Weidong didn't move, and his voice wasn't loud: "Are you setting up your own court? Do you want to close the door and become a local tyrant?"

"You're talking nonsense! That's not true! When did I become a local tyrant?"

Yi Zhonghai panicked. He couldn't recite the legal statutes, but he knew exactly what the crime of setting up a private court was. It had been a serious offense since ancient times.

If the label of "local tyrant" is firmly attached to him, it could crush him.

"No? Then what gives you the right to fine me?"

Li Weidong chuckled: "Fines are a power reserved for law enforcement agencies, understand?"

Yi Zhonghai opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

"Those who have been fined should go to the police station to report it. These three are in for a lot of trouble."

Li Weidong glanced around and said, "The peanuts and melon seeds were all eaten by the three of them."

"Wow, this coordinator is really impressive!"

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui all turned pale.

He intended to control Li Weidong, but unexpectedly, right at the start, he was choked by someone else.

"Refund! Refund my money!"

Yi Zhonghai's voice changed: "Those who have been fined, come up and collect your money."

"Yes, yes, yes, it hasn't been easy for us leading everyone. We've put in a lot of effort, even if we haven't achieved anything great. We absolutely can't call the police!"

Liu Haizhong quickly stood up.

He dreamed of becoming an official, but if he ended up in the police station, his path to officialdom would be blocked.

"Old Liu, shut up!"

Yan Bugui wanted nothing more than to slap him.

At this point, bringing up the leader is just adding fuel to the fire.

"Nobody will call the police! Everyone who gets fined does so voluntarily!"

Sha Zhu stood up and shouted, "A man's word is his bond! There's no reason for us to take it back!"

"Yes, yes, we resolve our issues within the hospital."

Yan Bugui panicked.

He bought the peanuts and melon seeds, and he ate the most. He took all the leftovers home after the meeting.

"Teacher Yan, there's something wrong with your thinking."

Li Weidong laughed and said, "The courtyard will handle its own affairs. Are you trying to become a warlord?"

Yan Bugui panicked; his hands were trembling.

If this statement is taken literally, I'll lose my job.

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant."

"Pay up! I was fined a dollar last time I was late, enough to feed my family for several days!"

"Yeah, last time my kid got into a fight with a hamster, you fined him a dollar!"

The people below started chattering and making noise.

Li Weidong stood in the crowd and chuckled: "Wow, this is serious. Let's calculate how much the fine was, shall we call the police?"

Yi Zhonghai quickly shouted, "We'll pay! I said we'll pay! We'll split the cost among the three of us! Come up and collect your money!"

"Why should we split the cost equally? I only get 27.5 yuan a month!"

Yan Bugui was so anxious that his face turned pale, and his thin face was full of panic.

Liu Haizhong gritted his teeth: "Old Yan, it was you who insisted on buying sunflower seeds and peanuts with your money. You ate the most! Stop talking nonsense and pay up."

"If you keep causing trouble, you're definitely going to lose your job."

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui shuddered. He could only grit his teeth and ask, "Fine, then how do you want to divide it?"

"You take half, and Lao Liu and I will split the other half equally."

Yi Zhonghai spoke of it casually.

Eight yuan. Yan Bugui paid four yuan, and Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong each paid two yuan.

Li Weidong watched the show from the audience, inwardly cursing, "These three old bastards, they think they can outsmart me?"

The money was lost cleanly.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong's faces turned green.

Yan Bugui's face was so dark it could drip ink.

He was worried about the money. Four yuan was enough for his family to eat for half a month.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong were worried about something else entirely—what was the point of being a powerful figure if the foundation of their power was hollowed out?

With each of the three having their own thoughts, the meeting stalled.

At this moment, a short, fat woman who looked like a pig stood up.

The woman, not yet fifty, had a shrill voice: "Old man! Didn't you say you'd settle our house repair issue? Hurry up and get it done!"

"What's the rush, Jia Zhangshi!"

Yi Zhonghai suppressed his anger, took a deep breath, and said, "Let's talk about your family's situation. The Jia family's house is about to collapse, and they need a lot of money. As their neighbors, we should lend a helping hand."

An uproar immediately erupted below.

Xu Damao stood up and retorted, "What? Donating money again? Didn't you just donate last time? So we're all just making money off them?"

Sha Zhu was secretly glancing at Qin Huairu's chest when he heard Xu Damao object to the donation, and he jumped up.

This is a great opportunity to please the goddess.

"Xu Damao! Are you trying to cause trouble?"

Sha Zhu rolled up his sleeves. "Come on, let's go outside and talk!"

"You're such an idiot, Sha Zhu!"

Xu Damao chickened out, "I'm not going to stoop to your level."

"Shut up, all of you."

Yi Zhonghai slammed his hand on the table, the sound so loud it made everyone's ears ring. "This time, I'm not asking you to chip in. The money will come from Li Weidong. Just give me two hundred yuan, and he'll cover his old man's funeral banquet too."

Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses, his small eyes darting around like a mouse stealing oil: "There will be at least ten tables in the courtyard, which will cost about two hundred. We'll prepare four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes, plenty of white steamed buns, and a few bottles of Erguotou..."

As he was talking, he swallowed hard and quickly slurped it back down.

Yi Zhonghai stopped him from continuing: "Give the money to Sha Zhu to handle, and I guarantee he'll get it all sorted out!"

"Yes, yes, I'll put it in the account later."

Yan Bugui immediately interjected, afraid that Sha Zhu would get all the benefits. He was calculating in his mind—he would contribute two cents and bring his whole family to eat. Not only would they be full on the spot, but they could also take the leftovers home. This way, he would gain a lot of benefits.

"Little Li, you can rest assured. Leave this to me, Sha Zhu. I'll take care of everything perfectly!"

Sha Zhu strode up to Li Weidong and stretched out his hand to ask for money.

Li Weidong stared at that prematurely aged face and those greasy clothes. He took a sniff, and the smell of cooking oil mixed with sweat assaulted his senses, almost making him vomit.

"Damn it, Qin Huairu really has the guts to do that."

He cursed inwardly.

Sha Zhu couldn't hide his smugness and urged, "Don't just stand there, hurry up and give me two hundred yuan!"