Courtyard House: The Chef's Intelligence System

Yan Bugui is anxiously awaiting his promotion announcement.

Yi Zhonghai has entered the factory director's office again, this time with a letter of complaint.

Yes, he went to see Yang Ligong again.

Yang Ligong wasn't annoyed; on the contrary, he was a little curious:

"Xiao Yi, is it not settled yet regarding your apprentice's wife? Did Li Jiuzhou block it for you?"

Yi Zhonghai waved his hands repeatedly to explain:

"No, sir, I'm here on another business."

Yi Zhonghai, fearing that Yang Ligong would find it annoying, quickly explained again:

"Boss, this should be considered a small matter."

Yang Ligong became interested:

"Then tell me."

Yi Zhonghai took out the letter of complaint he had written from his pocket, opened it, and handed it to Yang Ligong.

Yang Ligong took it with a puzzled look and examined it.

"Xiao Yi, are you going to report this guy named Yan Bugui?"

Yi Zhonghai nodded:

"Yes, boss. I don't get along with him. If he gets promoted, he'll be the one to shit on my head."

"I can't take it anymore, so... Boss, is this thing possible?"

Yang Ligong looked at Yi Zhonghai with a half-smile:

"Why can't we do it? We already have a complaint letter. So tell me, should we handle this openly or covertly?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai felt somewhat embarrassed, after all, he was a human being, but what he was doing was not human:

"Boss, it's best to do these things discreetly. On the surface, Yan Bugui and I are still good neighbors."

"Openly confronting neighbors can easily strain relationships."

Yang Ligong almost laughed after listening to Yi Zhonghai's story.

The power struggles between petty people bored him, but Yi Zhonghai was one of his own, so he could handle this small matter.

Yang Ligong didn't even need to take action himself; he could simply give the whistleblower letter to his subordinates.

What will the factory's organization department do after it finds out that the whistleblower letter came from the factory director?

We must get it done as quickly as possible!

It's nothing to a mere deputy section chief; plenty of people want to do favors for the factory director.

That's how Yi Zhonghai got things done so easily.

Even Yi Zhonghai felt some regret when he left the factory director's office.

I regret going to Liu Haizhong; I could have done it myself.

It wasn't that Yi Zhonghai didn't want to drag Liu Haizhong into the mess; what he feared was that Liu Haizhong would botch things and expose the scheme.

It doesn't matter if it's exposed, Yi Zhonghai is more afraid that Liu Haizhong won't be able to keep his mouth shut.

Actually, that's not the case. Liu Haizhong wasn't stupid; he asked people to submit reports to him multiple times.

By going down layer by layer, they still can't trace him back to his origin.

After the two met, Liu Haizhong also told Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, secretly marveling that Liu Haizhong wasn't stupid.

The progress at Hongxing Primary School is very fast. The former principal directly nominated Yan Bugui, and the recommendation letter was also sent to the steel rolling mill and the education bureau.

Now we just wait, wait for the political review.

Yes, it's a political background check, but the old principal is still confident.

Soon, people from the Organization Department came down, splitting into two groups. One group went to the primary school, and the other group went to the courtyard house at No. 95.

The neighbors are already used to the people from the organization department coming down to visit.

They'd seen it before; Li Jiuzhou, Sha Zhu, Xu Damao, and others had all experienced it.

The neighbors knew that government officials had come, so they didn't say anything negative.

Liu Haizhong spoke eloquently to the people from the Organization Department:

"Old Yan is an upright man, knowledgeable, and has a very good relationship with his neighbors."

Yi Zhonghai listened with great interest, wanting to laugh but holding it back. When it was his turn, he also gave Yan Bugui a genuine compliment:

"Professor Yan is a man of noble character, erudite and well-read. I enjoy discussing academic issues with him very much."

Yan Bugui also learned of Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai's evaluation of him, and felt a mix of emotions, even a little guilty.

I feel like I've been judging others by my own petty standards, and I'm even wondering if I went too far.

But his guilt vanished in an instant, and he would do the same thing again if it happened again.

"No poison, no manhood," as the saying goes. "It's better to step on them than to let them get promoted and then drag them down."

After the people from the Organization Department left, Yan Bugui clasped his hands in thanks to the two men.

"Thank you both for your kind words. I'll set up a table tonight, and the three of us can have a few drinks."

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong exchanged a glance and then both broke into bright smiles, their unspoken understanding unspoken.

He was even secretly pleased with himself, thinking, "I'll eat his food and drink his drinks, and then I'll give him a big one later. Why am I getting happier and happier the more I think about it?"

Yi Zhonghai remained relatively calm:

"Hey, Lao Yan, we're neighbors in the same courtyard. It's a good thing that the Organization Department sent people down this time. I saw that you'll be the vice principal of Hongxing Elementary School in a couple of days. Congratulations!"

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui could no longer hide the joy on his face. With people from the Organization Department already here, he believed that his promotion to vice principal was a done deal and there would be no more surprises.

"Old Yi, what's there to celebrate? It's all about serving the people."

"I'm not saying anything more, we're drinking until we drop tonight."

At this point, Liu Haizhong interjected, making a request in a somewhat joking manner:

"Old Yan, can you get something good tonight? I want to smoke Zhonghua cigarettes, drink Moutai, and also eat roast duck!"

Yan Bugui hesitated after hearing this.

Seeing this, Liu Haizhong immediately adopted a strategy of retreating to advance:

"Oh, I was just saying, Lao Yan. If it's inconvenient for you, just pretend I didn't say anything..."

Yi Zhonghai immediately stepped in to stir things up:

"Old Liu, this is outrageous. What kind of conditions do you expect to have people smoking Zhonghua cigarettes and drinking Moutai? This is just asking the impossible."

"Old Yan, don't listen to Old Liu's nonsense, just make something simple."

Seeing the two of them singing and dancing, Yan Bugui was essentially put on hold.

However, given the joyous occasion, Yan Bugui didn't mind indulging in a little extravagance:

"Yes, we must smoke Zhonghua cigarettes and drink Moutai. Old Liu said we'd get everything tonight at dinner."

Liu Haizhong was immediately excited upon hearing this:

"I know our Principal Yan is a very generous person, but it would be even better if we could eat at Fengzeyuan Restaurant."

Yi Zhonghai's face twitched after hearing Liu Haizhong's words, and he thought to himself:

"You're really targeting him, that's going a bit too far."

Although Yi Zhonghai thought so, he didn't stop him at all. After all, if Yan Bugui agreed, he could also enjoy it, right?

Only a fool would refuse.

When Yan Bugui heard Liu Haizhong call him Principal Yan, he immediately felt that the air in the courtyard was sweet.

But when he said he wanted to eat at Fengzeyuan Restaurant, Yan Bugui couldn't stand it, and his face immediately darkened.

"Old Liu, my family just makes some ordinary home-cooked dishes. If you, Deputy Director Liu, don't like them, that's fine."

"Old Yi and I are fine with just drinking and chatting. Your presence makes no difference, and your absence is no problem either."

Liu Haizhong realized he had gone a bit too far, and immediately put on a smiling face:

"Old Yan, look at what you're saying. I was just joking. I'm fine with eating anything."

"Without me at night, there's one less of us three liaison officers, which would be so boring."

Yan Bugui snorted coldly:

"Hmph, you're smart to be sensible, old man."

After the three parted ways, Yan Bu had to get things done. He had to find Da Hu, because only Da Hu could arrange the purchase of Zhonghua cigarettes and Moutai liquor.

Da Hu could only go to Li Jiuzhou and earn a dozen yuan with tears in his eyes.

In less than half a month, he had earned over a hundred yuan from Yan Bugui and his son. He's definitely a great guy.