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

Chapter 146 Ridiculous Moral Blackmail: Yi Zhonghai Gets Tricked! (6k)

Fengzeyuan.

While Jia Zhangshi was caught red-handed and publicly executed for reselling grain at the market, Li Hongbing was working in the kitchen and completely unaware of it all.

Although he knew that Jia Zhangshi had gone to the farmers' market to sell grain, and guessed that she would probably continue to do so, and that Tao Cuilan had already set her sights on her, making the outcome almost certain, he did not expect it to happen so soon.

night.

When Li Hongbing returned to the courtyard after get off work, there was nothing unusual in the courtyard.

There has been no news of Jia Zhangshi being arrested for reselling grain.

This morning, the only two people in the court who knew the truth were Jia Zhangshi, the person involved, and Tao Cuilan, the person behind the exposure and whistleblowing.

Jia Zhangshi is now imprisoned, while Tao Cuilan, the whistleblower, is unusually stern.

In the past, when Tao Cuilan saw Jia Zhangshi suffer misfortune, especially being arrested, she would definitely clap her hands and cheer, gloating over the Jia family's misfortune, and even openly provoking and mocking them.

But not this time.

Once Tao Cuilan did this, Jia Zhangshi and the others in the courtyard would immediately guess that she was the one who reported it.

It was no secret in the courtyard that the Xu and Jia families were sworn enemies.

If the report gets out, it will definitely reignite the hatred between Jia Zhangshi and the Jia family, and even provoke condemnation from Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old woman.

Tao Cuilan wasn't stupid; naturally, she wouldn't jump out at this time and cause trouble for her family.

Being unafraid is one thing.

But this did not prevent her from wanting to stay out of it.

Anyway, since Jia Zhangshi is unlucky, her goal has already been achieved.

however.

It is precisely because of this.

Not long after Li Hongbing returned to the house, upon hearing the news of his return, Jia Dongxu angrily led Yi Zhonghai to the front yard and shouted.

"Li Hongbing, get out here right now!"

When Jia Dongxu said this, not only was Li Hongbing inside the house stunned, but even the residents in the front yard, such as Yan Bugui, were all dumbfounded, staring at Jia Dongxu in disbelief.

This Jia Dongxu must have lost his mind to dare to openly provoke Li Hongbing like this?
Isn't this just plain suicide?

"Jia Dongxu, what's going on with you?"

Yan Bugui, who came out of the house first, looked at the "crazy" Jia Dongxu and said with some confusion: "You ran to the front yard and shouted for no reason, and you even dared to speak rudely to Hongbing. Are you living too comfortably and have to make trouble for yourself?"

Yan Bugui was speechless.

It's not that he's biased towards anyone, but Jia Dongxu's actions just now were suicidal.

Jia Dongxu had fought with Li Hongbing before, and everyone knows the outcome, so naturally everyone thinks he's gone mad now.

However, after Yan Bugui spoke up, Jia Dongxu didn't give him a friendly look.

"Yan Bugui, this has nothing to do with you, mind your own business!"

Jia Dongxu knew that Yan Bugui was usually close to Li Hongbing and always tried to curry favor with him, so Jia Dongxu clearly took his words as speaking on behalf of Li Hongbing.

"Jia Dongxu, how dare you speak to me like that? Don't you have any sense of respect for your elders?"

Originally, he meant well by offering advice, but Jia Dongxu's act of addressing him by his first name, coupled with his tone, infuriated Yan Bugui. He immediately looked at Yi Zhonghai beside him and said with a dark face, "Old Yi, aren't you going to do anything about this?"

Jia Dongxu was Yi Zhonghai's apprentice, and in the past, Yi Zhonghai was the one in the academy who liked to talk about respecting the elderly and caring for the young the most.

Putting aside the fact that he is now the senior manager of the compound, just the fact that Yan Bugui is a generation older than Jia Dongxu means that Jia Dongxu's behavior was already quite impolite and offensive.

only.

What Yi Zhonghai said next almost made him so angry he wanted to curse.

"Old Yan, calm down. Dongxu is just angry right now. Try to understand him and don't take it to heart."

Yi Zhonghai's attitude, seemingly kind, was actually all in favor of his apprentice Jia Dongxu.

The seemingly indifferent tone made Yan Bugui's heart clench with unease.

In front of so many people in the front yard, Jia Dongxu was already like this, yet Yi Zhonghai still told him to calm down and not to take it to heart.

at this time.

Li Hongbing came out of the house and, seeing Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai barking in the front yard, retorted, "You dogs, what are you barking about here?"

Although Li Hongbing knew that Jia Dongxu must have his reasons for suddenly doing this, he had not done anything against the Jia family or Jia Dongxu recently, so he would not tolerate him.

Didn't know.

Li Hongbing's casual remark immediately broke Jia Dongxu's defenses.

The pronunciations of "dog thing" and "dog Dongxu" are incredibly similar.

"grass!"

When Jia Dongxu uttered a phrase from the classics and charged straight at him, Li Hongbing immediately burst into laughter.

boom!
The kick, delivered hastily and without any preparatory force, caused Jia Dongxu to scream in pain and stagger backward.

Fortunately, Yi Zhonghai, who was not far behind him, reacted quickly and caught him in time, preventing him from falling to the ground.

Even so.

Yi Zhonghai, who caught Jia Dongxu, also snorted coldly and was forced to take two steps back to offset the momentum brought by Jia Dongxu.

this moment.

Suddenly feeling a sharp pain in his wrist and as if struck by a heavy object in his chest, Yi Zhonghai's face contorted in shock as he stared incredulously at Li Hongbing standing directly in front of him.

When did this kid become so strong?
Even Sha Zhu's brute strength probably wouldn't be that exaggerated, right?
Yi Zhonghai was clearly dumbfounded.

Meanwhile, Jia Dongxu, clutching his stomach, looked on in pain and, enduring the agony, raised his head and shouted at Li Hongbing, "Li Hongbing, how dare you hit someone?"

"Didn't you strike first?"

Faced with Jia Dongxu's accusations, Li Hongbing smiled and said calmly, "Everyone saw it just now. You rushed up to me for no reason and tried to hit me. I was just forced to fight back."

You're about to hit me, do you expect me to just stand there and let you bully me?

"Jia Dongxu, are you out of your mind?"

This isn't the first time, yet Jia Dongxu still doesn't learn his lesson. He's a typical example of someone who's both bad at the game and loves to play.

"That's right, Jia Dongxu made the first move!"

No sooner had Li Hongbing finished speaking than Yan Bugui, who had just been humiliated by Jia Dongxu and angered by Yi Zhonghai, stepped forward to voice his support for Li Hongbing, saying, "Everyone has seen this, and we can all testify for Hongbing."

"I saw it too."

"Yes, I can testify that Jia Dongxu struck first."

“It wasn’t just Lao Yan who saw it, we all saw it, and we can all testify to it.”

"That Jia Dongxu is something else. He suddenly ran to the front yard for no reason, shouting and yelling, telling Hongbing to get out, and then he tried to hit someone first. Does he really think we have no one in the front yard?"

"Yi Zhonghai, aren't you going to do anything about your apprentice?"

"..."

Seeing Yan Bugui's shamelessness, the people in the front yard he represented almost wanted to curse him, but they also immediately chimed in to agree.

If they don't speak up, all the credit will fall on Yan Bugui's head.

Yan Bugui represented them all, so if anyone had a different opinion, it would be tantamount to going against Li Hongbing.

The key is.

Jia Dongxu inexplicably came to the front yard to provoke Li Hongbing. Although he is the one who is suffering losses now, he was the one who took the initiative to attack, so what Li Hongbing said is correct.

Moreover.

Although they were all from the same compound, if you break it down, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, master and apprentice, were from the middle compound, while Li Hongbing was from the front compound.

In terms of relationships, they were still closer to Li Hongbing.

In terms of future prospects, Li Hongbing is miles ahead of Jia Dongxu.

Even with Yi Zhonghai, a master fitter, as his mentor, it was useless.

In this respect, Li Hongbing is far superior.

The "unity of mind" of the people in the front yard was clearly a miscalculation for Yi Zhonghai, but he couldn't fight against so many of them. He could only explain, "Everyone, there are some things you may not know. This time, it wasn't Dongxu who caused trouble for Li Hongbing, but Li Hongbing who started the trouble and broke the rules."

Yi Zhonghai's words clearly piqued the curiosity of everyone in the courtyard, even Li Hongbing wanted to know why he had stirred up trouble.

At this moment.

Other residents in the middle and back courtyards also heard the commotion in the front yard and rushed over.

The fact that Jia Dongxu provoked Li Hongbing is something that even if word got out, no one would believe it.

Does Jia Dongxu still have the guts now?

"Yi Zhonghai, tell me, how did I provoke this, and what rules did I break?"

Faced with the accusations Yi Zhonghai had leveled against him, Li Hongbing wanted to know what reasons he could possibly have.

Hearing Li Hongbing's words, Jia Dongxu, who had recovered somewhat from the pain, shouted on the spot: "Li Hongbing, if you're a man, you should be brave enough to admit your mistakes. You did something but don't dare to admit it, hiding your face and behaving cowardly. How can you be so shameless?"

"Yi Zhonghai, Jia Dongxu, if you want to pick a fight, just say so. Don't keep me in suspense. I don't have the time or inclination to play games with you."

Seeing that they only condemned him but never said anything, Li Hongbing was losing his already limited patience.

"Fine, you want me to say it, right? Then let me ask you, did you report my mother?"

Jia Dongxu took a deep breath and confronted him directly.

"What's wrong with your mother?"

Li Hongbing was somewhat surprised, and then asked the question knowing the answer already.

In a short moment, Li Hongbing had already figured it out from Jia Dongxu's few words.

Just now, Jia Dongxu mentioned the word "report" and also mentioned Jia Zhangshi, which obviously means that something has happened to Jia Zhangshi or she has encountered some trouble.

If that's the case, then there's only one possibility.

Tao Cuilan reported Jia Zhangshi for reselling grain.

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu must have misunderstood; they thought he was the one who reported them.

He and the Xu family both had a grudge against the Jia family. It was easy to understand why Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai suspected him but not the Xu family. It was simply because he had witnessed Jia Zhangshi selling grain at the market yesterday.

After Jia Zhangshi returned yesterday, she probably told Jia Dongxu or Qin Huairu about the coincidence. Now that Jia Zhangshi is in trouble, he is obviously the prime suspect.

only.

After clarifying the matter, Li Hongbing did not reveal his discovery from yesterday, namely that Tao Cuilan had been following Jia Zhangshi.

The reason is simple. It's not that Li Hongbing wanted to protect the other party, but even if he knew about this matter, he guessed that it was mostly Tao Cuilan who reported Jia Zhangshi, but he had no evidence to prove it.

And the most important point.

Why should I have to prove myself to Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai just because they came to make trouble when I clearly didn't do something?
Did we give them face?
"Li Hongbing, watch your mouth!"

Feeling insulted by Li Hongbing, Jia Dongxu was clearly even more furious.

"Jia Dongxu, isn't Jia Zhangshi your mother?"

Li Hongbing countered with a question, not intending to argue with Jia Dongxu, but instead saying directly, "Jia Dongxu, since you say I reported your mother, then tell me, what did I report about your mother? Where is your mother now? What happened to her?"

Li Hongbing's barrage of three questions silenced Jia Dongxu completely.

Jia Dongxu naturally knew about Jia Zhangshi's current situation and the reason for her arrest, but he didn't know what to say in front of so many people.

"You're not going to tell me, are you? I'll tell you for you?"

Seeing this, Li Hongbing was not afraid of deepening Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai's suspicions about him, and immediately said without hesitation: "If I'm not mistaken, your mother... Jia Zhangshi, should be arrested for illegally reselling grain at the market."

These words immediately caused an uproar among the previously unaware crowd.

"what?"

"Is there still this?"

"Hongbing, is what you're saying true?"

"Jia Zhangshi reselling grain?"

"I knew it! She's been carrying grain out every day these past few days, saying it's for her relatives and brother in the countryside. There's definitely something fishy going on. Turns out she's been reselling grain."

"This Jia Zhangshi..."

"..."

at the same time.

Tao Cuilan, who was mingling in the crowd, was also startled when she heard Li Hongbing say these words.

Because Tao Cuilan knew very well that the person who reported Jia Zhangshi was not Li Hongbing, but herself.

Tao Cuilan actually saw Li Hongbing at the market yesterday, but didn't pay much attention to him.

But the fact that Li Hongbing could describe Jia Zhangshi's situation so accurately clearly shows that he knows something.

Now that Li Hongbing has discovered Jia Zhangshi's grain reselling activities, he might have seen her that day as well.

Tao Cuilan felt uneasy, worried that Li Hongbing would tell others about her.

now.

Hearing Li Hongbing say this directly, and hearing the surrounding whispers, Jia Dongxu's eyes turned red, and he immediately roared, "Li Hongbing, you've already admitted it yourself, how dare you say that you didn't report my mother?"

Enraged and losing his temper, Jia Dongxu immediately tried to rush up and fight Li Hongbing, which startled Yi Zhonghai.

Seeing the situation was turning bad, and fearing that Jia Dongxu would suffer another loss at Li Hongbing's hands, Yi Zhonghai quickly grabbed him and anxiously tried to dissuade him, saying, "Dongxu, don't be impulsive. You're no match for Li Hongbing. You can't beat him..."

No matter what.

Blinded by hatred, Jia Dongxu paid no attention to anything else and only wanted to settle scores with Li Hongbing.

At this moment, Jia Dongxu was even harder to control than a pig during the Lunar New Year.

Yi Zhonghai was indeed strong, but Jia Dongxu was in his prime and not weak at all. He took several solid blows from Yi Zhonghai, which brought out his "painful" mask.

"Yesterday I did encounter Jia Zhangshi reselling grain at the market, but on what basis do you say I reported her?"

Hearing Li Hongbing's question, Jia Dongxu, who was being held tightly in Yi Zhonghai's arms, asked with red eyes, "Who else could it be but you?"

Go ask your mother!

"Li Hongbing!"

"Want to practice? Come on!"

"Yi Zhonghai, let go of Jia Dongxu and let him be a proper man."

"It's not that I look down on you, I just want to ask, do I, Li Hongbing, need to resort to these unorthodox methods to deal with you?"

"ridiculous!"

"..."

Those who had initially thought that Jia Zhangshi was the one Li Hongbing had reported, upon hearing Li Hongbing's mockery of Jia Dongxu, all became more aware of the situation.

With Li Hongbing's abilities, there's really no need for him to stab the Jia family in the back.

Even if Li Hongbing really did it, given his personality, he would most likely disdain lying and would simply admit it.

However, Yi Zhonghai didn't care about any of that. He said with a stern face, "Li Hongbing, I know you have a grudge against the Jia family, but so much time has passed, and we haven't provoked you for so long. You don't need to hold a grudge and push people to the brink of despair, do you?"

"One should be forgiving when possible. Aren't you afraid of divine retribution for doing this?"

"Yi Zhonghai, isn't this feudal superstition?"

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai was actually using divine retribution to scare him, Li Hongbing laughed again.

Yi Zhonghai's condemnation did not frighten Li Hongbing; on the contrary, Li Hongbing was startled by Li Hongbing's words and quickly denied it, saying, "Li Hongbing, don't talk nonsense. When have I ever been superstitious?"

"Yi Zhonghai, everyone was listening just now, so there's no point in denying it."

Faced with Yi Zhonghai's contradictory words and actions, Li Hongbing couldn't help but shake his head and said disdainfully in front of everyone: "Yi Zhonghai, that's all you've got in terms of tricks and ideology."

Let's not even talk about the Jia Zhangshi incident. Even if I did report it, what can you say?
I'm asking you, isn't Jia Zhangshi's act of reselling grain a violation of policy?
Do you think Jia Zhangshi did nothing wrong and shouldn't have been reported?

If that's really what you think, then let's go to the police station right now and see who's right and who's wrong.

Is this what you mean by breaking the rules?

Shit!

If you two, master and apprentice, don't get out of here right now and keep causing trouble and disturbing my peace, I'll go to the police station and invite Officer Yang over so he can give you a good ideological lesson, so that you two backward thinkers won't affect and ruin the image and reputation of our entire courtyard.

Two bad apples spoil the whole bunch!

Yi Zhonghai is Yi Zhonghai. Even if he's not the big boss of the compound, or the one in charge of the compound, he still habitually uses his so-called morality to distort and resist laws and policies.

His so-called moral theories are nothing but a pile of dog shit to Li Hongbing, and have no effect whatsoever.

at the same time.

Li Hongbing's rebuke left Yi Zhonghai speechless.

But the two accusations he had leveled against himself and Jia Dongxu sent chills down his spine.

Outdated ideas, a rotten apple.

None of them are good words.

Unfortunately, Yi Zhonghai couldn't refute it.

Li Hongbing is no fool; he can't be easily fooled with just a few words.

At this moment.

Jia Dongxu was still in a daze and wanted to settle scores with Li Hongbing without thinking twice, but Yi Zhonghai had already realized that they had lost completely again this time.

Originally, I wanted to criticize Li Hongbing for being ruthless and leaving no way out for others, and to condemn him for having problems with his character and integrity, calling him a treacherous villain who stabbed people in the back.

As a result, Li Hongbing not only gained a foothold with just a few words, but also damaged their ideological awareness, even making them the rotten apples and sinners in the courtyard.

In Yi Zhonghai's view, Li Hongbing was trying to label them and slander them as master and apprentice.

But for Li Hongbing, this is simply a fact.

Knowing he had lost, especially given that the Jia Zhangshi affair was inherently shameful and staying would only bring further humiliation, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to call on Sha Zhu, who was mixed in with the crowd, to help him "send" Jia Dongxu back.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu flee in defeat, the crowd was not surprised by the result, but shook their heads helplessly.

Inside the courtyard house, Li Hongbing was undefeated.

I don't know what Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu are thinking, they're always so stubborn.

As for Jia Zhangshi's matter, even if Li Hongbing really reported it, Jia Zhangshi brought it upon herself first, so she has no one to blame but herself.

They've already publicly declared themselves enemies who won't associate with each other anymore. So what if you find something on the other side and report it?
Nobody really says anything about this.

If Li Hongbing had some kind of leverage over Jia Dongxu or Yi Zhonghai, they wouldn't believe that the master and apprentice would be so benevolent.

As Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu retreated, Li Hongbing returned to his room, and the crowd gradually dispersed.

However, the matter of Jia Zhangshi being reported for reselling grain has attracted widespread attention and discussion.

To everyone's surprise, less than half a quarter of an hour later, Yang, the clerk with a livid face, came to the courtyard and ordered Yan Bugui and the other courtyard managers to call out everyone in the courtyard and hold a general meeting.

Although Officer Yang didn't say anything, after Jia Dongxu's commotion, everyone knew that Jia Zhangshi had been arrested for reselling grain. Coupled with Officer Yang's intimidating expression, everyone basically knew why he had come.

as predicted!

After everyone had arrived, Officer Yang, who had remained silent throughout, announced with a dark face that Jia Zhangshi had defied the rules and violated policy by reselling grain.

"Officer Yang, this Jia Zhangshi is indeed muddle-headed, and what she did is infuriating. But could you please consider that this is her first offense and that she didn't have any intention of profiting; she simply wanted to resell the grain. Could you give her a chance to reform?"

After Officer Yang finished his briefing, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward to plead with Officer Yang on behalf of Jia Zhangshi.

He knew this was a thankless task, and might even anger Officer Yang.

But after all, Jia Zhangshi was Jia Dongxu's biological mother, and he couldn't just ignore her.

To Yi Zhonghai's utter surprise, his plea for leniency immediately drew disgust from Officer Yang.

"Yi Zhonghai, how dare you plead for Jia Zhangshi? I haven't even mentioned the more shameful things yet!"

"You, Yi Zhonghai, were once a high-ranking official in the management department. How could you say such a thing? Huh?!"

“If Jia Zhangshi simply wanted to resell the grain without making a profit, I would have pleaded for her long ago without you even having to ask.”

"Do you know how she did it?"

"She's really 'clever'! The national policy of unified purchase and distribution had just been implemented, and she started to openly violate it. It's one thing to resell grain, but she even hid big stones in the grain and deliberately sold it at a so-called low price to cheat and swindle people!!"

"Is this what you mean by having no intention of making a profit?"

"..."

After being publicly berated by Officer Yang, Yi Zhonghai was completely stunned.

All of a sudden.

Yi Zhonghai was incredulous and subconsciously looked at his apprentice Jia Dongxu beside him.

He knew absolutely nothing about this!

When Jia Dongxu approached him, he didn't mention any of this.

Not a single mention!
(End of this chapter)