Courtyard House: Starting by inheriting the tradition and suppressing the barbarians.

After dinner, it got completely dark.

In the open space of the courtyard, an old eight-immortal table has been set up.

An elderly man named Yi Zhonghai sat in the very middle.

Second Uncle Liu Haizhong and Third Uncle Yan Bugui stood on the left and right respectively.

Each person had an enamel mug in front of them, exuding an air of prestige.

The neighbors from each household brought their own stools and sat in a circle around.

They whispered amongst themselves, their eyes occasionally drifting towards the backyard, waiting to see tonight's main character make his appearance.

In this era of limited entertainment, such a college-wide assembly was more lively than a grand opera performance.

"Ahem!"

Yi Zhonghai cleared his throat, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and surveyed the room with an authoritative gaze.

"Is everyone here?"

"Where are the Li family members? Why haven't they arrived yet?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Xuan was seen pushing the brand-new dark green chariot.

He walked out of the backyard at a leisurely pace with his mother, Su Yun, and his younger brother and sister-in-law.

He parked his car in the most conspicuous spot and didn't even find a chair to sit on.

He simply stood on the outer edge of the crowd, a half-smile playing on his lips.

"Uncle, with such a big fuss, anyone who didn't know better would think they're about to interrogate a criminal."

"Get to the point. We need to go home and rest."

Yi Zhonghai frowned, inwardly cursing the kid for not knowing the rules.

But for the sake of his next plan, he suppressed his anger and put on a serious expression.

"Now that everyone is here, I'll say a few words."

Yi Zhonghai put down his teacup, placed his hands on his knees, and began his familiar moral blackmail.

"Our No. 95 compound has always been an advanced collective praised by the subdistrict office. What's the secret to that?"

"It all comes down to the mutual help among neighbors; when one is in trouble, everyone lends a hand!"

"A close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. We live in the same courtyard, so we're family."

"If anyone is having a hard time, everyone should lend a hand. That's the warmth of our socialist family!"

At this point, Uncle Liu Haizhong immediately chimed in, "Old Yi is right!"

"This is also the spirit of those above! We must carry it forward!"

Uncle Yan Bugui also pushed up his glasses: "From an economic point of view, resource sharing is the most cost-effective."

Having laid the groundwork, Yi Zhonghai changed the subject, his gaze fixed on Li Xuan.

"Today, a joyous and significant event occurred in our hospital."

"The Li family in the backyard bought another bicycle!"

"This shows that the standard of living in our facility has improved, which is a good thing!"

"However, we must also recognize that there are still many households in our facility facing difficulties."

"For example, the Jia family, Dongxu has a long commute to work and has difficulty walking."

"There are other neighbors too, and sometimes if you urgently need a car, you can't find one."

Yi Zhonghai paused for a moment, then revealed his true intentions!

"So, after discussing it, the three of us old men decided to respond to the call for mutual help."

"We suggest, Li Xuan, since your family has two cars, why not take one of them..."

"For example, that old-fashioned 28-inch motorcycle can be used as a public vehicle for our institute."

"It's usually kept in the middle courtyard, and anyone who has an emergency can ride it."

"Especially Dongxu, he is currently injured and needs a means of transportation to and from get off work."

"Of course, the car is still yours; we're just borrowing it. It's to help you show your good manners!"

These words caused an uproar in the room.

Although everyone had already guessed that the three old men were up to no good, no one expected them to be so shameless!

This is outright robbery!

However, many neighbors without cars became interested when they heard there were free bikes to ride, and they all chimed in:

"Yeah, the two bikes are just sitting there anyway, why not let everyone borrow them for a bit?"

"That old man is right, that's called resource utilization!"

Madam Jia Zhang jumped out, pointing at Li Xuan and shouting, "Li Xuan! Did you hear me?"

"An old man asked you to bring out your bike so my Dongxu can ride it!"

"Your family is so rich now, why would you care about this beat-up car?"

"One shouldn't be too selfish!"

Jia Dongxu sat beside him, his eyes filled with greed and smugness.

Once this car gets into his hands, it's like throwing good money after bad!

You want it back?

dream!

Faced with this courtyard full of "moral blackmail" and greedy faces, Su Yun was so angry that he trembled all over.

Just as he was about to argue, Li Xuan gently pressed down on his shoulder.

Li Xuan stepped forward, and the smile on his face vanished instantly.

Instead, there was only icy cold.

"Are you done talking?"

Li Xuan stared coldly at Yi Zhonghai. "Yi Zhonghai, you just said this was the result of your three uncles' discussion?"

"That's right!"

Yi Zhonghai held his head high, thinking Li Xuan was scared. "This is a collective decision!"

"What a great collective decision!"

Li Xuan suddenly shouted, startling everyone.

"Yi Zhonghai, I think you're getting senile!"

"Or are you trying to act like a local tyrant in this courtyard house?"

"You... what nonsense are you talking about!" Yi Zhonghai's expression changed.

Li Xuan didn't give him a chance to interrupt, and bombarded him with questions:

"The bicycle is my family's private property, purchased with real money and ration coupons!"

"Protected by national laws!"

"By what right, Yi Zhonghai, can you confiscate my private property with just a word?"

"Are you the director of the neighborhood committee? Or the president of the court?"

"Who gave you the right to dispose of my things?"

"Using the guise of mutual help to commit robbery! What do you call that?"

"This is extortion! This is a violation of citizens' legitimate rights!"

"you..."

Yi Zhonghai was rendered speechless by the rebuttal.

He hadn't expected Li Xuan to be knowledgeable about the law, and to have such a serious accusation leveled against him.

"And you all!"

Li Xuan turned to look at Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui, his eyes like knives.

"Second Uncle, didn't you want to be an official the most?"

"Do you even know that arbitrarily imposing taxes and appropriating public funds are serious violations of discipline?"

"If the factory's security department finds out about this, will you still be able to keep your position as team leader?"

Liu Haizhong was so frightened that his hand trembled, and he spilled tea all over his crotch. His face turned pale instantly.

His biggest fear was not becoming an official.

"Uncle, you are a teacher, dedicated to educating and nurturing students."

"Is this how you teach students?"

"If you see someone else has something good, you band together to steal it?"

"That's fucking shameless!"

"If this gets back to schools, how will you be able to stay in the teaching profession?"

Yan Bugui was so frightened that he shrank back and waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "This...this has nothing to do with me."

"This was Lao Yi's suggestion..."

In an instant, the "elderly alliance" that had been so united just moments before crumbled.

Li Xuan finally fixed his gaze on Yi Zhonghai's face, pressing closer step by step.

"Yi Zhonghai, you keep saying the Jia family is in trouble."

"If you have money, why don't you take out your family's savings and give them to the Jia family?"

"You own a house, why don't you vacate it for the Jia family to live in?"

"Why don't you donate your entire monthly salary to the Jia family?"

"What kind of skill is it to be generous with other people's money?"

"If you really want to be a saint, then cut off your own flesh and feed it to the eagles!"

"Don't use my hard-earned money to save face!"

"I..." Yi Zhonghai's face turned a deep purplish-red, and his chest heaved violently.

He pointed at Li Xuan, speechless for a long time.

He was stripped naked in front of the entire hospital by a junior colleague, leaving him with nothing but his underwear.

He has completely lost face!

"Alright, we don't need to hold this meeting anymore."

Li Xuan looked around, and the neighbors who had originally wanted to take advantage of him all lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze.

"I'm putting my words here."

"This car was bought for my mom. If anyone dares to have any ulterior motives or try to use any lame excuse to morally blackmail me..."

"Tomorrow morning, I'll go to the neighborhood office to find Director Wang and to the police station to find Captain Xu!"

"I really want to ask you, is this courtyard house still a society governed by the rule of law?"

"Are these three old men trying to restore feudalism?"

"No! Don't go!"

Upon hearing that they needed to find Director Wang and the police station, the three old men completely panicked.

If this blows up, they really will lose their hat!

"Meeting adjourned! Meeting adjourned!"

Liu Haizhong was the first to stand up, grab his teacup, and run off.

Yan Bugui slunk back to the front yard.

Yi Zhonghai sat alone at the table, watching Li Xuan's tall and straight back.

Looking at the strange looks from his neighbors, he felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He knew that his prestige in this courtyard had been completely destroyed tonight.

"Mom, let's go home."

Li Xuan pushed the cart, leading his proud mother and adoring younger siblings, and strode back to the backyard under the watchful eyes of everyone.

All that was left was a mess of chicken feathers and a group of bewildered beasts.

......