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

Chapter 6 Sharpening the Knife
"Speak! What's going on with you?"

The experienced police officers present quickly noticed something was wrong. Jia Dongxu didn't seem like a villain who had committed any evil deeds, but rather that he had some kind of grudge against Li Hongbing. They immediately began to scrutinize the two of them.

"Officer, I've come to turn myself in!"

Li Hongbing didn't try to hide anything; he immediately started to confess.

However, his action caught the police officers present off guard.

"what happened?"

Li Hongbing offered to turn himself in, and they didn't dare to take it lightly, immediately asking, "What crime did you commit?"

"I hit someone."

Li Hongbing readily admitted what he had done, pointing at the stunned Jia Dongxu beside him, and said, "I slapped his mother twice..."

"No swearing!"

Before Li Hongbing could finish speaking, a police officer standing nearby gave him a stern warning.

"Officer, I didn't swear."

Li Hongbing put on an innocent look and corrected himself, saying, "What I mean is, he slapped his mother twice and even used a weapon."

"They've started using weapons? What kind of weapons?"

Upon hearing Li Hongbing mention this, every single police officer present turned extremely serious.

"A broom is a broom used for sweeping the floor."

He gave an answer that gave everyone a scare, and then Li Hongbing became indignant:
"But his mother deserves a beating. She's superstitious and spreads rumors everywhere that I'm possessed by a water ghost and that I won't live for more than a few days. Isn't that cursing me to die?"

"What's even worse is that his mother is always gossiping behind my back, ruining my sister's reputation, saying that she's a jinx who killed my father two years ago and is now going to kill me too. Isn't this just pure feudal superstition and spreading heresy?"

“My sister isn’t even married yet! If this gets out… I’ll be so angry that I’ll hit his mother.”

"Officer, I made a mistake. I shouldn't have acted so impulsively. I should have dealt with this matter calmly and rationally..."

"..."

Li Hongbing kept using the vulgar term "his mother," and although he had just explained that it wasn't meant as an insult, the police still suspected that he was deliberately swearing.

As Li Hongbing explained his reasons for taking action, they roughly understood the cause and effect.

It involves feudal superstition!

The assault wasn't the main issue; the main issue was feudal superstition!

on the surface.

Li Hongbing was recounting his own "crimes," but in reality, he was exposing Jia Zhangshi's rampant feudal superstition.

This is something that has been explicitly forbidden by higher authorities.

In fact, Li Hongbing's matter does not yet constitute a crime; at most, it is a neighborhood dispute, and he has a legitimate reason for doing so, which is why he dared to come here to "turn himself in."

What Jia Zhangshi did was far more serious than what he did.

As for Yi Zhonghai's alleged bias, Li Hongbing didn't mention it; grasping the main contradiction was the key.

What seems like no one cares is often the one that delivers the fatal blow.

Superstition may not be a capital offense, but if investigated, it will certainly not go unpunished.

That foul mouth of Jia Zhangshi should have been disciplined long ago, to stop her from making a racket all day long.

"Is that right?"

"Huh? Officer, what did you just say?"

"..."

After learning about the situation from Li Hongbing, the police naturally sought confirmation from Jia Dongxu immediately. However, he was still terrified and hadn't recovered yet, so he didn't even know what the police were asking.

Helpless, the police had no choice but to repeat what Li Hongbing had just said about the situation and what had happened.

"I……"

Jia Dongxu wanted to defend his mother, but he was too scared to lie to the police. He couldn't even downplay the severity of the situation and could only stammer.

The police understood immediately upon seeing his appearance.

At this point, they basically understood the situation.

"Isn't Xiao Yang in charge of that area?"

"Old Qian, immediately call Xiao Yang and go with them to further verify the situation." "If that's really the case, then deal with it properly. It's been several years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and they're still clinging to feudal superstitions. Do they really think this is still the old society?"

"Those who need education should be educated, and those who need reform should be reformed. This kind of bad trend must not be tolerated!"

"..."

The incident escalated to the point of coming to the police station, and almost resulted in a shooting. Naturally, it alarmed the station's leadership, who then intervened and issued a statement.

As for Li Hongbing's problem, no one has mentioned it anymore.

The main reason is that Li Hongbing took the initiative to confess and showed a good attitude in admitting his mistakes.

There is another point, which is also the most important.

If everything Li Hongbing said is true, then his actions can be considered understandable.

To some extent, Li Hongbing was also actively fighting against feudal superstition and had become more aware of his own beliefs.

Compared to Jia Dongxu, who had just wet himself in fear, the police officers present actually had a better impression of Li Hongbing.

"Chief, these two men are acting suspiciously. I suspect they are spies."

Before they could even set off, Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi, who were secretly observing the situation nearby, were arrested and brought over as spies.

"No, we are not spies."

"It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding, you've got it wrong."

"Officer, we were actually with them."

“That’s right, we’re neighbors in the same courtyard, they can vouch for us!”

"Li Hongbing, Jia Dongxu, say something!"

"..."

Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi, who were arrested as spies, were utterly devastated.

If they had known this would happen, they wouldn't have been hiding there spying.

Fortunately, Li Hongbing and Jia Dongxu confirmed their identities, and the officer in charge, Yang, also knew them, so they escaped a disaster.

then.

The team, which originally consisted of four people, now had two more unlucky guys, Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi.

Throughout the journey, Officer Yang's expression was not good.

After all, such a problem occurred in the area he was responsible for, and it even escalated to the point of involving the police station, which means that he had seriously failed in his duties.

Instead of taking his anger out on Li Hongbing, Officer Yang pointed the finger at Jia Zhangshi, a feudal superstitious person with backward thinking.

This is also what Li Hongbing wanted to see.

Actually, he took a gamble.

However, Li Hongbing believed it.

In this era, most cadres are full of enthusiasm and cannot tolerate any wrongdoing, so they are not likely to provoke a confrontation with them and therefore have little gambling mentality.

At least in my memory, Officer Yang was a decisive and upright person.

The group of six soon arrived at Nanluoguxiang, where the courtyard house was located.

only.

Before even entering the front yard, Li Hongmei's angry voice could be clearly heard from inside, giving Li Hongbing a rather ominous premonition.

"That damned Jia Zhangshi! I was only gone for a short while, how dare she?"

"Hongmei, Hongmei, don't be impulsive!"

"Jia Dongxu and his men wouldn't dare do anything to Hongbing. Hongbing will definitely be alright and will come back safely."

"Everyone's gone, how am I supposed to stay calm? Who knows what might happen to them now?"

"She used to gossip everywhere, causing Hongbing to drop out of school and run off to become an apprentice without a word. I didn't even hold her accountable for that. Now she's stirring up trouble again while I'm not around. Does she really think I, Li Hongmei, am made of clay?"

"Aunt Yan, get out of my way, I'm going to fight Jia Zhangshi..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)