Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 113 You Can't Do Anything Without Money! (3k)

Yan Bugui, who had taken the initiative to visit Li Hongbing to "discuss" the matter after discovering that the situation was completely different from what he had imagined, was in a very awkward position.

But soon.

Yan Bugui couldn't help but say to Li Hongbing, "Hongbing, has any of us offended you? For more than a year, we've all been sharing the courtyard's tap water, and the monthly water bill has been split fairly. Why do you want to open a separate account for yourself?"

Li Hongbing expressed his amazement at Yan Bugui's unusual remarks.

It's unbelievable that they could find fault with him from this angle.

So, his refusal to share the same water pipe with the others in the courtyard is considered antisocial, and there must be something he can't stand about it?
Yan Bugui clearly realized that his visit was a joke, and in order to cover up his embarrassment and make amends, he had to change the angle of his story.

Although Yan Bugui did not explicitly say that Li Hongbing had a problem, the questioning tone he conveyed in his words was all too obvious.

"Uncle Yan, as I just said, I only want running water to be installed in my home so that it will be more convenient for me."

Seeing that Yan Bugui was still taking advantage of his kindness, Li Hongbing emphasized again and responded confidently: "Moreover, I am doing this for everyone's sake. I would rather spend more money myself than affect everyone."

"Look, the water pipes haven't even been laid yet, and you've already arranged to come to my door. I have no choice but to do this!"

Li Hongbing's words made Yan Bugui even more embarrassed.

"Hongbing, this is all Grandpa Yan's fault!"

Yan Bugui clearly sensed the dissatisfaction in Li Hongbing's tone and subconsciously avoided Li Hongbing's gaze. He said somewhat embarrassedly, "It's because Uncle Yan didn't understand the matter clearly beforehand and misunderstood you. Uncle Yan apologizes to you here, please don't take it to heart."

I'll explain it to everyone in the yard for you later, so that there won't be any misunderstandings..."

"That would be great! After all, we all live in the same courtyard. If we cause misunderstandings over such trivial matters, affecting our neighborly relations, or even making me a sinner in this courtyard, that would not be good."

Li Hongbing smiled, but it was a veiled insult to his face.

Although Li Hongbing had considered this matter from the beginning, he did not expect that the people in the hospital would act so quickly.

They've already started arguing before they've even begun construction themselves.

It's impossible to say that you're not unhappy at all.

“Hongbing, what are you saying… It’s all Grandpa Yan’s fault, he didn’t know how to speak just now… Since there’s nothing else, Grandpa Yan will head back now…”

Even with his thick skin, Yan Bugui was too embarrassed to stay any longer and make things difficult, so he could only leave after saying a few words.

Leaving Li Hongbing's house, Yan Bugui felt depressed and regretful.

During this period, Yan Bugui tried every means to get closer to Li Hongbing and get on his good side. He was afraid that this would offend Li Hongbing and make him have a bad opinion of him.

If that were to happen, he would be kicking himself.

"How is it, sir?"

As soon as Yan Bugui returned to his house, Aunt Yan couldn't wait to get up and ask him questions, while the representatives from the various households in the front yard who were waiting for the results all looked at him.

"Ruihua, have you even figured this out? Don't make this kind of blunder again next time. You've made me lose face so badly this time."

Yan Bugui was angry, and he said this not only to his wife, but also to the other people in the front yard.

"what happened?"

"Old Yan, what's going on?"

"Uncle Yan, please tell me what's on your mind, don't keep me in suspense!"

"So, what exactly is going on?"

Did Li Hongbing agree?

"..."

Faced with the crowd's questions, and some even worried that Li Hongbing wouldn't "cooperate," Yan Bugui said irritably, "Agree to what?"

Before you sent me there, you didn't even clarify the situation. Li Hongbing's water connection wasn't intended to run through our building's water pipes. He went to the water company this afternoon to apply for a separate account and installation.

If Yan Bugui had known this would be the outcome, he shouldn't have listened to their encouragement and flattery and become the one to stick his neck out for them.

They've completely fooled us.

"Huh? Is that so?"

"Uncle Yan, are you sure you haven't made a mistake?"

"Yeah, Lao Yan, Li Hongbing isn't deliberately lying to you, is he?"

"If he pulls a feint and then tries to connect our yard's tap water to our homes, we'll be in big trouble."

"It's not cheap to open your own water account and install tap water. Even if Li Hongbing is rich, he might not be willing to spend money like this."

"Exactly! Just for running water to be installed in our homes, this is more than just wasteful..."

"..."

Hearing the controversy among the crowd, and even some people making unfounded speculations, Yan Bugui became even more agitated.

"That's what Hongbing told me anyway. If you don't believe me, go ask him in person. If that doesn't work, go to the water company yourself, and you'll understand everything."

Regardless of whether things turned out the way they suspected, Yan Bugui had no intention of getting involved in the matter any further.

Anyway, it's impossible for me to offend Li Hongbing on their behalf again.

You should contact Li Hongbing or the water company to verify; they should handle it themselves.

This isn't just his problem.

If someone is offended, you can't just let him do it alone.

It concerns everyone, yet they all hide behind the scenes and remain aloof. What's going on?

Seeing Yan Bugui's dark expression in public, everyone looked at each other in bewilderment.

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

They all fell silent.

Even if they have their own thoughts, no one is willing to step forward and do something that would offend people.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent Yan Bugui, who was eager to become the dean's boss, just now.

Everyone likes to be the good guy.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Yan Bugui became even angrier and said to them, "Hongbing also said that starting next month, he will no longer participate in the sharing of water fees in the courtyard."

As soon as Yan Bugui said this, someone immediately asked, "Old Yan, do you mean that Li Hongbing won't be using the tap water in the courtyard with us anymore?"

If Li Hongbing doesn't share the water bill with the community, then he definitely can't use the community's tap water, let alone have it connected to his own home. This indirectly proves that it's true that Li Hongbing opened his own water account and installed tap water in his home.

"If that's the case, and Li Hongbing withdraws from the water bill sharing, then do we need to recalculate how much water bill each of us will have to pay each month?"

Soon, someone made this suggestion.

The crowd fell silent and began to calculate.

Silence fell in the room once again.

only.

When everyone did the math, the result left them somewhat dumbfounded.

Originally, after Li Hongmei got married, the Li family had one less person to share the water bill. If Li Hongbing also leaves, then there will be two fewer people in the courtyard to use water and share the bill.

In reality, the water bill that each household will have to share each month will neither remain the same nor decrease; in fact, it will be more than before.

For users without water meters, the water company charges them on a tiered basis, with additional charges for every five people or more, and charges for fewer than five people still calculated as if there were five.

Even without Li Hongbing and Li Hongmei, the total monthly water bill for their front yard remains the same, but there are two fewer people to help share the cost.

What a loss!
Although there are quite a few people in the front yard, each household shares the cost, so the increase in water bills is not much, and can even be said to be minimal.

However, it is an indisputable fact that the monthly water bill is higher than before.

and so.

Everyone felt they had been cheated.

Even if Li Hongbing applied for a separate account and installed tap water independently, the extra cost of opening the account and installing the tap water pipes would be many times more than the small increase in their water bills, which still made everyone feel somewhat uncomfortable.

It's like the enemy suffering a thousand casualties while you only lose a hair; in their eyes, it's still a loss for you.

"That Li Hongbing is something else. He doesn't use the perfectly good tap water in the yard, but insists on installing his own in the house, acting like he's some kind of genius."

"They're young after all; even if they had money, they wouldn't squander it like this."

"With Hongmei gone, there's absolutely no one who can control him now."

"Sigh, Li Hongbing, how much money has he spent lately, and he's still such a spendthrift!"

"What can we do when such a windfall has fallen from the sky, and the Li family already had a considerable fortune?"

"If you have to blame someone, you can only blame their good fortune!"

"I refuse to believe that once he's spent all that money on construction, he can still save Lou Bancheng's daughter again..."

"..."

Feeling dissatisfied, everyone began to complain and grumble.

It's impossible not to feel a little envious or even jealous of Li Hongbing's good fortune and success during this period.

They had no grudges against each other, so they couldn't just cause trouble for no reason, like the Jia family and Yi Zhonghai did, deliberately making trouble for Li Hongbing, could they?
This incident allowed them to vent their pent-up resentment.

Yan Bugui couldn't stand it anymore and said directly, "Stop complaining. Hongbing is spending his own money and hasn't bothered anyone, so stop making trouble for no reason."

I don't think there's much to say about this. If any of you have any thoughts or opinions, you should talk to Hongbing face-to-face..."

Yan Bugui couldn't care less what they said about Li Hongbing, but since they were in his own home, he couldn't let Li Hongbing misunderstand and think that he had some kind of dissatisfaction with him.

Yan Bugui already regrets his actions today; further escalating the misunderstanding will do him no good.

As the crowd gradually dispersed, Yan Bugui sighed inwardly.

What's going on!
……

the other side.

Shortly after Yan Bugui left, Li Hongbing noticed that people from each household in the front yard were coming out of Yan's house, and he couldn't help but shake his head.

I hadn't noticed before, but sure enough, they were secretly holding a small meeting.

Li Hongbing wasn't particularly angry about the matter.

This is the most authentic version.

To be honest, if the water supply were actually connected to their own home from the yard's tap water pipes, other people in the yard would be affected to some extent when using their water.

They considered their own interests, and Li Hongbing couldn't place his hopes on others' generosity or lack of concern.

If that's the case, how is he different from Yi Zhonghai in the drama?

People are selfish, including Li Hongbing himself.

That's why Li Hongbing would rather spend more money and avoid trouble, and save himself the trouble of having to put up with other people's attitudes.

after a few days.

On Li Hongbing's day off, the water company's pipe-laying workers arrived as scheduled. They spent a lot of time and effort to successfully bring running water into Li Hongbing's home.

Those who had complained in the courtyard before remained silent and continued to be as warm and polite as ever.

Many people even took the initiative to visit the place and said a lot of nice things to him.

Li Hongbing accepted all of these claims without question.

Perhaps one day in the future, when he falls on hard times, they will take advantage of his misfortune and kick him while he's down, but Li Hongbing will not let that happen.

The better they do, the less they dare to offend them, and the more eager they are to curry favor with them.

Reality is like this, and so is human nature!

As for when things get tougher, he'll be lucky if he doesn't mess with others; how could he possibly tolerate those little puppets in the courtyard being so arrogant?

After the water pipes were installed in the house, the next step was for the bricklayers and carpenters we had hired to come in, and everything went according to the agreement we had made beforehand.

The renovation only involved one room, with the other two requiring minor repairs; the construction period was actually quite short.

Because he gets off work late, Li Hongbing pays his workers extra to work overtime so he can check the progress and quality of the day when he gets back in the evening. If there are any problems, they can be communicated face-to-face, which saves a lot of trouble.

Three rooms, it's not a big project.

Despite Li Hongbing's numerous requirements, the project was basically completed smoothly in about three days.

Many things can be solved with money.

(End of this chapter)