The train driver in the courtyard

The next few days were spent in a flurry of activity as the sports car's development progressed rapidly.

Before we knew it, it was Sunday morning.

I glanced at the calendar on the wall; it was the day Chen Dafang's family was to leave Beijing by train.

Li Aiguo got up and washed up. Chen Xueru had prepared breakfast: cornmeal porridge and five fried eggs.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Aiguo saw that it was almost time, so he strolled out of the house and arrived at the door of Nan Yi's house.

"Nan Yi, you're eating."

"Do you have something to say about Aiguo?" Nan Yi and Liang Ladi were having a meal with several children. Their family was doing quite well now, and the children were eating steamed buns.

Life has been much better these past two years than before; as long as you work hard, you can have enough to eat.

Xu Damao was also awakened by the commotion outside. Hearing that Li Aiguo was going to help Chen Dafang see him off, he rushed over to join in the fun.

Anyway, I have nothing to do at home on Sunday, and I'll have to endure Liu Lan's gestures, so I might as well go to the train station for a stroll.

Yan Jiecheng wanted to sleep in, but his third uncle dragged him out of bed.

"Old Chen must have a lot of scrap at home. Go help him see him off and ask him if he can give us some of his scrap."

"I think the main purpose is to collect scrap, and seeing them off is just a side thing," Yan Jiecheng said helplessly, putting on his clothes to help out.

More and more people came to see the Chen family off, and the courtyard soon became lively.

An older woman at home heard the commotion and nudged Yi Zhonghai's arm: "Old man, the second and third uncles in the compound and all the young people have gone to help see him off. Wouldn't it be inappropriate for you not to go?"

"What do you know? I need to conserve my energy. There's something big to do later." Yi Zhonghai had already planned to give Li Aiguo a good beating when he got back.

At this moment.

Li Aiguo's voice came from outside: "You guys are all pretty enthusiastic, that's right. We can't always think about ourselves, we can't be too selfish."

Yi Zhonghai almost fainted from suffocation.

Using his lines against him? That Li Aiguo guy is too shameless.

Xu Damao now understood what was going on. He couldn't miss the chance to kick someone when they were down, so he said loudly, "Yes, yes, this kind of person is a backward element. Let's do some work on him when we get back."

finally.

Yi Zhonghai couldn't save face, so he put on his clothes and came out to help Chen Dafang's family see them off, but he only saw them off to the gate of the compound.

He still needs to prepare!
There were many people seeing him off and many onlookers. A large group of people helped move the things. Li Aiguo borrowed a truck from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, and all the things were loaded onto the truck.

Chen Dafang was so moved that tears welled up in his eyes, and he kept expressing his gratitude.

Xu Damao and Nan Yi initially thought they were just joining in the fun, but when they arrived at the train station, they realized something was wrong.

Once they arrived at the platform, Li Aiguo surprisingly took out two hundred yuan and handed it to Chen Dafang as a token of respect.

"This is too much, patriotic, how can your uncle accept so much?" Chen Dafang pulled out ten ten-yuan bills and insisted on returning them to Li Aiguo.

Li Aiguo refused to accept the money, and the two argued for a while. Finally, seeing that the train was about to depart, he had no choice but to accept five ten-yuan bills and then helped Chen Dafang onto the train.

Nan Yi, recalling Chen Xueru's words from yesterday, finally understood: "Brother Aiguo, you wouldn't be buying Chen Dafang's house, would you?"

Xu Damao slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "The Chen family has two houses! Aiguo, you've hit the jackpot! The Chen family's house is worth at least two hundred yuan!"

"What's the rush? Do you think I'm the kind of person who lets my own people suffer? When we get back, we'll tidy up the house and treat everyone to a meal there at noon."

Seeing how eager they were, Li Aiguo patted his chest generously and said, "I already told Xueru before I left. I guess the food is already back. Good wine and good food, everyone, let's dig in."

Upon hearing this, the residents who initially felt they hadn't gotten a good deal were all smiles, giving Li Aiguo a thumbs-up and praising his kindness and righteousness.

Seeing this, Xu Damao stroked his chin, feeling that he had neglected to unite the masses recently.

"I have cured pork and fish at home. When I get back, I'll have Nan Yi cook for me. This is also to celebrate the voluntary labor in our compound!"

Well, this is another level up. Xu Damao felt he had learned something.

The group climbed onto the truck with excitement, and Xu Damao raised his fist: "Let's go!"

Li Aiguo: "."

Back in the compound.

As soon as the car came to a stop, the residents jumped out and grabbed brooms and dustpans from their homes to clean their houses.

Li Aiguo took out his key and unlocked the door.

The house had actually already been cleaned by Chen Dafang's family.

The floor was cleaned spotlessly, and the windows were wiped clean. Only some unwanted furniture remained in the room.

Those that were in better condition could still be used, but the chairs with broken legs could only be used as firewood, and the unwanted items were all picked up by the Third Uncle.

Li Aiguo, with his sleeves rolled up, was working enthusiastically with Xu Damao, Yan Jiecheng, and a few others, some sweeping the floor, others moving things.

A stern voice suddenly came from outside.

"Good heavens! Is this some kind of chaos? Who gave you the audacity to open this door so casually?"

Yi Zhonghai strode over from behind, hands behind his back, and shouted.

To be honest, Yi Zhonghai has a really good face; he looks honest and kind, yet dignified.

but.

The only drawback is that although his eyes are not small, the corners of his eyes are slightly upturned, and the whites of his eyes make up a large proportion of his eyes, which is exactly what the physiognomy book calls "three-white eyes".

People with these kinds of eyes may appear clear-headed and dignified, but in reality they harbor a bit of malice and scheming, and are self-centered in everything they do.

Xu Damao's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong.

Yi Zhonghai's arrival was clearly ill-intentioned. He rushed into the house as if his feet were greased, and whispered to Li Aiguo, "Aiguo, something bad has happened! Yi Zhonghai is here!"

Li Aiguo was also puzzled. Yi Zhonghai had been listless a while ago, so why was he suddenly so energetic today? Could it be that someone was backing him up?
He put down the broom, came out of the house, looked at Yi Zhonghai, and said, "Yi Zhonghai, you've come to help me clean my house?"

"Your house? Isn't this Chen Dafang's house? How did it become your house?"
"Patriotism! You're part of the organization, you absolutely can't do something like stealing houses. The old man is just trying to help you."

Yi Zhonghai spoke with his head slightly tilted back, accompanied by a faint downward curve at the corners of his mouth.

On the surface, it appears to be the steadfastness and authority of an elder, but in physiognomy, "drooping corners of the mouth indicate a narrow-minded nature," and this demeanor hides an unquestionable desire for control.

While physiognomy is not a reliable indicator, Yi Zhonghai's aggressive demeanor clearly indicates that he has no intention of letting the matter rest.

Li Aiguo saw a withered figure flash by behind the crescent-shaped gate, and then looked at Yi Zhonghai's confident expression, and immediately made a guess in his mind.

Ah, so you came prepared!

This old bastard must have someone backing him up, otherwise he wouldn't dare to blatantly cause trouble like this.

Li Aiguo said calmly, "Yi Zhonghai, this house was sold to my family by Chen Dafang, so what are you going to do about it?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai was overjoyed, crossed his arms, and said coldly, "What you're doing doesn't comply with policy regulations."

Besides, this house doesn't belong to Chen Dafang personally; it was allocated to him by the steel mill. In fact, it has already been allocated to Sha Zhu.

This was a new situation, and the first person to react was not Li Aiguo, but Xu Damao.

This guy gets agitated just hearing the name "Silly Pillar".

"Yi Zhonghai, you're lying through your teeth!"
Sha Zhu is still squatting inside the fence; why should the steel mill allocate him a house?

Stop trying to fool people!

Yi Zhonghai grunted and said, "How it was divided is none of your business to ask!"
In short, this house now belongs to Sha Zhu's family. You'd better vacate it quickly, or I'll have to take action!

As he spoke, he lunged forward, intending to force the people out.

Li Aiguo stepped aside to block him: "What if I don't let you?"

"Who dares to disobey! Old Yi, don't waste your breath on them, go to the neighborhood office and get someone to teach this unruly brat a lesson!"

Upon hearing this voice, Li Aiguo knew that the person in question had arrived.

Turning my head, I saw the deaf old lady leaning on a cane, walking step by step from behind the crowd.

She was thin and her withered face was gloomy.

Upon seeing the deaf elderly woman appear, the residents in the compound exchanged glances.

Everyone knows that the deaf old lady is a big shot in the compound; even Yi Zhonghai has to show her respect. With her getting involved, this matter is unlikely to be resolved easily.

Yi Zhonghai, however, was overjoyed and called out to Liu Guangtian, telling him to report to the street office.

Liu Guangtian completely ignored him.

Yi Zhonghai called over a few more young men, but none of them moved; they all lowered their heads and pretended to be deaf and dumb.

Just kidding, with a dinner party with meat and wine in front of you, who would want to wade into this mess?

"Yi, you useless thing! You go and make the trip yourself!" The deaf old lady was also annoyed that Yi Zhonghai couldn't even get a child to do anything.

Yi Zhonghai quickly responded with an "Eh," and turned to walk out.

"and many more!"

Yi Zhonghai had only taken two steps when he saw Liu Haizhong rushing back from outside, grabbing his arm: "Old Yi, don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive!"

We're all neighbors in the same compound, we see each other all the time. Let's talk things out calmly, there's no need to escalate it to the neighborhood committee. It's not good to ruin our relationship."

"This isn't about unity or disunity! It's about Li Aiguo violating the policies from above."

He abused his position to engage in corrupt practices and attempted to oppress the workers.

Since he doesn't recognize his mistakes, I'll ask the neighborhood committee to hold a study session for Li Aiguo in a while to thoroughly investigate the root causes of his erroneous thinking.

With Li Aiguo making such a huge fuss, what's there left to discuss?!
This is a new society now; how can he still have absolute power?

Yi Zhonghai's hair stood on end, his expression righteous and his words resolute.

At this point, those who wanted to speak up for Li Aiguo dared not step forward, fearing they would be labeled as feudalists.

Yi Zhonghai made up his mind that even if it meant falling out with everyone in the compound and going down in flames, he would still suppress that little bastard Li Aiguo!
Otherwise, would there still be a place for his uncle in this compound?
Who admits it.

Li Aiguo's expression changed instantly, his face magically transforming into a smiling one as he said, "Go!"

"what?!"

"Yi Zhonghai, hurry up and come back quickly, don't delay everyone's meal."

Now it was Yi Zhonghai's turn to be completely baffled. Did this little bastard have other tricks up his sleeve?
But then I thought, what kind of person is the deaf old lady? She must have already arranged everything.

No matter how capable Li Aiguo is, he can't turn the tide!
Thinking of this, his doubts vanished instantly. He shook off Liu Haizhong's arm, turned around, and ran out of the courtyard in a flash.

Seeing that everyone was still standing there in a daze, Li Aiguo smiled and called out, "Brothers, hurry up and clean the house. Nan Yi, go prepare the dishes. We'll eat together after everyone's done."

Xu Damao's eyes lit up as he smiled and said, "Right, right, let's help Aiguo tidy up his house first and help the residents. This is also what Grandpa taught us. Hey, where did Grandpa go?"

Yan Jiecheng chuckled, "He went to complain. This guy keeps talking about unity, but he's the one who undermines it. It's really quite amusing!"

Although the young people in the compound were a little worried, they gradually relaxed when they saw that Li Aiguo was not in a hurry at all, and went inside to get busy.

Everyone was chatting and laughing, creating a lively atmosphere.

Only the deaf old woman stood outside, and no one paid any attention to her.

"You little brat, don't be so smug! Just you wait, today I'll throw you behind bars and make sure you never get out of this mess again!" The deaf old woman narrowed her eyes, a wicked smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

Yi Zhonghai left quickly, and returned quickly as well.

When Nan Yi and Liang Ladi had set the food on the table, he arrived with Director Wang from the neighborhood office.

"Old Yi, what exactly happened? I still need to go to Compound No. 6 to take care of some business."

Director Wang entered the courtyard, his gaze sweeping over the busy crowd, and for a moment he was confused about the situation.

Upon seeing the dishes on the table, he jokingly said to Li Aiguo, "Aiguo, is this a housewarming party for you?"

Why weren't you notified me of such a great thing beforehand?
"That's not right of you! Look at me, I came empty-handed, without even bringing a gift!"

"Aunt Wang, everyone helped clean the house today, so it's a good opportunity to get together and have some fun."

Don't worry, I'll definitely contact you in advance when I move. I'm still waiting for your red quilt cover.

Li Aiguo said with a smile.

"You little monkey, you're always taking advantage of me," Director Wang joked.

Yi Zhonghai, standing to the side, turned pale.

"Director Wang, I invited you here to sue Li Aiguo for illegally occupying the Chen family's house." Director Wang glanced at the deaf old lady standing beside him and realized that he might have misunderstood, so his expression became serious.

"I know about this. Chen Dafang gave the house to Li Aiguo. The formalities have been completed, and the house now belongs to Li Aiguo."

Yi Zhonghai was prepared: "Director, this house was rented with the help of the steel rolling mill. The mill has already allocated the house to Sha Zhu. Here are the paperwork."

As Yi Zhonghai spoke, he handed the paperwork to Director Wang.

"No way!" Director Wang took the paperwork, glanced at it, and frowned. "Our subdistrict office clearly notified the steel mill a long time ago that the house had already been transferred to Li Aiguo. How can they allocate it twice? This is just nonsense!"

Yi Zhonghai dared not criticize the street office for not handling things properly, but the deaf old lady didn't care about that and stepped forward with her cane.

"Xiao Wang, you've definitely been fooled by that kid Li Aiguo!"
As the director of the subdistrict office, how can you be so careless in handling matters?
We need to conduct a thorough investigation among the people to find out the truth!

"I'm not blaming you, but you should call someone to arrest Li Aiguo and return the house to my silly Zhu!"

Director Wang, as the director of the subdistrict office, was reprimanded to his face and became furious.

However, now that Yi Zhonghai has the necessary paperwork, she is in a bit of a dilemma.

After all, the house was rented by the steel mill, and Li Aiguo was not an employee of the steel mill.

Could it be that Li Aiguo really took advantage of a loophole?

Just then, Li Aiguo said with a smile, "Aunt Wang, could I take a look at these documents?"

"of course can."

Li Aiguo took it, glanced at it, and laughed: "Why doesn't this document have the official seal of the housing management department? There's only a signature."

"You don't understand, do you? Section Chief Liu, who keeps the official seal in the Housing Management Department, hasn't been to work lately. This is Deputy Section Chief Ma's signature!" Yi Zhonghai said coldly.

The deaf old woman's lips curled into a sinister smile: "Li Aiguo, stop nitpicking. Admit your mistake now, or you'll be in deep trouble!"

They arrested one by one, one by one, and the onlookers exchanged glances. This deaf old woman was ruthless.

Xu Damao, Yan Jiecheng, and the others became somewhat nervous upon seeing the paperwork.

Li Aiguo remained calm and said slowly, "Perfect timing. I need to speak with the housing management department of the steel rolling mill. Second Uncle, could you please help me invite the head of the housing management department over?"

"Alright!" Liu Haizhong didn't even ask a question and was about to run out when he was stopped by the Third Uncle.

"Hey, ride my bike to Haizhong, quick! It's free!"

"Eh."

Before Liu Haizhong could even leave the house after pushing his bicycle, several people walked over.

The residents recognized the man in the lead as Section Chief Liu of the Housing Management Department, followed by Deputy Section Chief Ma and several staff members.

When Yi Zhonghai saw the leader coming, he hurriedly stepped forward, bowing and scraping, and said, "Section Chief, you've come at the right time. This guy has taken over Sha Zhu's house. You should immediately notify the security department to arrest him."

Section Chief Liu was stunned when he heard this: "What do you mean, 'Sha Zhu's house'? This house was specially allocated to Comrade Li Aiguo by our factory!"
I'm here today to discuss follow-up matters with Comrade Li Aiguo!

After saying that, Section Chief Liu didn't look at Yi Zhonghai again. He walked up to Li Aiguo and said, "Comrade Aiguo, the factory originally planned to help you pay the rent for this house, but after inquiring, we found out that you have already bought the house outright."

"That's why our housing management department came over specifically to ask if there's anything else in the house that needs fixing, so we can arrange for someone to take care of it."

"This is too much trouble for you, I'm really sorry," Li Aiguo replied with a smile, but inwardly he admired Deputy Factory Director Li's thoughtfulness.

This kind of thorough approach makes you popular wherever you go.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, it’s the right thing to do!” Section Chief Liu took out a pen and notebook. “Please just tell us, we will definitely handle it properly…”

This scene.

Yi Zhonghai was dumbfounded.

The deaf old lady was dumbfounded.

Even the residents in the compound were dumbfounded.

Why is our factory renting a house for Li Aiguo?

"I do not know."

Yi Zhonghai sensed something was wrong and gave Section Chief Liu an awkward smile: "Section Chief, are you mistaken? Li Aiguo is not one of our factory's employees."

Section Chief Liu was interrupted and angrily reprimanded, "You don't know yet, do you? Our steel rolling mill has hired Li Aiguo as an expert, with the same benefits as a chief engineer. From now on, when you see him, don't just call him Li Aiguo, you have to call him Expert Li!"

Wow.

The scene instantly erupted in excitement.

Xu Damao's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets: "Brother Aiguo has become an expert in the factory! That's great news!"

The old man asked, "What are the benefits of being a chief engineer?"

"A little over a hundred yuan a month in salary, plus a meal allowance, and full reimbursement for business trips. Oh, and there's also a few dozen yuan subsidy every month, so you don't have to spend money on socks." Liu Haizhong was also envious.

The residents were talking about it.

Yi Zhonghai was puzzled. If the factory planned to allocate the house to Li Aiguo, what was the deal with Sha Zhu's house?
The deaf old lady also realized this and looked at Yi Zhonghai with a questioning gaze.

Just as Yi Zhonghai was about to step forward to ask, he saw Li Aiguo hold up the document he had just seen and hand it to Section Chief Liu: "Section Chief Liu, I want to report that someone forged the documents of our steel rolling mill's housing management department in an attempt to seize other people's property. I'll have to trouble you to investigate this matter."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai's face turned deathly pale. His heart skipped a beat, and he knew something was wrong. He reached out to snatch the paperwork back.

Section Chief Liu, however, was quicker and took the paperwork first.

"This paperwork was issued by Deputy Section Chief Ma. Old Ma, tell me what's going on?!" Section Chief Liu's face was so gloomy it could drip ink.

Their real estate department was a step behind and had already been criticized by Deputy Section Chief Li. Now they've gotten into this fake paperwork issue. Are they trying to get him punished?
Deputy Section Chief Ma took the materials, his face full of questions: "That's impossible, how come I didn't know about this?"

"This signature is not mine."

"This document paper doesn't belong to our real estate department either."

"This ink is ordinary blue ink. Our real estate department uses carbon ink for official documents."

"I'm certain this document was forged by someone else!"

The moment Deputy Section Chief Ma said that, the situation immediately became serious.

Section Chief Liu also realized this and quickly asked Li Aiguo about the details of the matter.

After figuring it out, he looked at Yi Zhonghai with a cold face: "Yi Zhonghai, tell me, what's the deal with these fake documents?"

"I...I..." Yi Zhonghai opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, and his back was soaked.

He really didn't know these were fake documents!
He couldn't very well tell Section Chief Liu that the paperwork was secretly provided by a staff member in the real estate department at the behest of Factory Director Yang.

The deaf old woman hadn't expected things to turn out this way, and her eyes were now almost red: "Impossible! These documents are absolutely genuine!"
You must be protecting Li Aiguo! You're all in cahoots, ganging up on this old woman!

"Madam, you need to be responsible for your words. Don't think we won't take action against you just because you're old!"

Section Chief Liu didn't recognize the deaf old lady and didn't take her seriously at all.

"I want to see your factory director Yang! I want to file a complaint!" The deaf old lady seemed to have gone into a state of madness.

In fact, she was very clear-headed. If the house belonged to Li Aiguo, where would Shazhu live when he came back?

Even if she has to work herself to the bone, she's determined to get that house.

The deaf old lady is a high-end version of Jia Zhangshi. In the past, she could control others without having to throw a tantrum because of her cunning.

She relied on her high status and old age, and in the past, everyone had given her some face.

However, the situation is different today.

"Alright, if you want to see the leader, then come with me." Section Chief Liu was about to investigate the situation thoroughly when he ordered several officers to escort the deaf old lady to the side as well.

The deaf old lady was quite old and often referred to herself as "Grandma" in the compound. She had never suffered such humiliation before, so she immediately shouted.

"You're trying to drive this old woman to her death! Fine, let Director Yang take a look!"

She first brought up Director Yang's name, but unfortunately Section Chief Liu was on Deputy Director Li's side and didn't give him any face at all.

The deaf old woman felt the situation was completely out of control and started throwing a tantrum:
"I'm seventy or eighty years old. If anything happens to me, you'll all have to pay with your lives!"

"This is outrageous! These young people are lawless these days, they actually bully an old woman like me!"

Her tricks might scare the residents of the compound, but they had no effect on Section Chief Liu.

"Fake steel rolling mill property documents are tantamount to stealing factory assets. No matter who is involved, our property department can investigate to the end!"

"take away!"

When the deaf old lady saw that her best trick had failed, she could only look at Director Wang of the neighborhood office with a pitiful expression.

"Xiao Wang, Director Wang, I'm an old woman, you're the director of the subdistrict office, you can't just stand by and watch them arrest me, can you?"

"If you have any questions, you can ask me at home, and I will answer them to the best of my ability."

This is where the deaf old lady is smarter than Jia Zhangshi; she knows when to advance and when to retreat.

Now that I think about it, I'm the director, Director Wang thought to himself.

However, considering his responsibilities, he still spoke well of the deaf old lady.

"Director Wang, don't worry, we're just taking her back to the security department to investigate the forged documents. We won't use any force," Section Chief Liu nodded to Director Wang.

Director Wang couldn't say anything, so he could only watch as the staff took the deaf old lady away.

After dealing with the deaf old lady.

Section Chief Liu then turned to Yi Zhonghai, his face still icy: "Yi Zhonghai, you come with me too, let's go to the security department and explain things clearly."

"I," Yi Zhonghai, felt my legs go weak and tried to take a step, but I almost collapsed to the ground. In the end, I was helped away by two staff members.

After the two men left, Officer Liu nodded to Li Aiguo: "Comrade Aiguo, our real estate department will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly and give you an explanation."

After Officer Liu left, the courtyard fell into silence.

Everyone was stunned by what happened today.

First, Li Aiguo became an expert.

then.

The deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai were both taken away.

This is an absolutely shocking revelation!
"Ahem, gentlemen, the dishes are getting cold. Why don't you sit down and have a couple of drinks?" Li Aiguo said with a smile.

Everyone then realized what was happening and sat down together.

Li Aiguo then invited Director Wang to stay for dinner as well.

"You know what, I'm actually a little hungry right now, so I'll give you a bite."

Outside the courtyard, the steel mill's security department, having learned of the news, dispatched a jeep, and Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady were pushed into the vehicle.

The two were escorted into the car like prisoners, their teeth grinding as they listened to the laughter coming from the yard.

"That damned little bastard!"

"Don't speak, or your mouth will be gagged," the security officer said coldly.

Yi Zhonghai: "."

The deaf old lady: "."

I can't even swear anymore, it's so frustrating.

Some are sad, while others are happy.

Li Aiguo is quite happy now.

The banquet was lively, and Director Wang didn't put on airs like a street office director, toasting with several residents.

The happiest person was Xu Damao. The thought of Shazhu not being able to return to the compound made him drink several cups in a row. In the end, Liu Lan had to help him back.

After everyone left, Chen Xueru, along with He Yushui, helped clean the table and whispered, "Brother Aiguo, neither the deaf old lady nor Yi Zhonghai are brainless people. They shouldn't have forged the documents, right?"

"It shouldn't have been them. But who exactly is behind this?"

Li Aiguo was also somewhat puzzled, but he didn't dwell on it, because the Beijing Lighting Factory had delivered the custom-made headlights to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop ahead of schedule.

Big, bright headlights.

Li Aiguo hopped on his motorcycle and sped off towards the locomotive depot.

(End of this chapter)