Courtyard Houses: Longevity Since the War of Resistance

"Wait, Comrade He Yuzhu, this chicken, I'm afraid you didn't steal it, did you?" All eyes turned to Li Feng.

The cunning frog keeps touching your belly.

"First of all, there's the issue of the chickens. Xu Damao, what kind of chickens did you lose?"

His wife, Lou Xiao'e, quickly replied, "Mother hen, we're keeping it to lay eggs. Da Mao and I can't bear to eat it."

"Very good," Li Feng nodded, turning to Sha Zhu's stove, "But everyone, take a close look at the chicken Sha Zhu stewed."

This reminder made everyone take a serious look at the chicken in the pot. Upon seeing it, they immediately understood.

"That's a rooster!" Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses. "Look at the comb, the skeleton, it's clearly a rooster."

"That's right!" Uncle Liu Haizhong slapped his thigh. "Silly Zhu, who are you taking the blame for?"

Xu Damao flew into a rage: "You idiot Zhu! You almost fooled me! Tell me, who stole it?"

Li Feng picked up the thread, "This is also the second point I wanted to make: Sha Zhu's attitude. He initially denied it, but then suddenly admitted it, which means he was taking the blame for someone."

The people in the courtyard weren't fools either. Xu Damao immediately realized that there were only two families in this courtyard who would let the reckless Sha Zhu take the blame: the Yi family and the Jia family.

If the Yi family is rich, they wouldn't steal a chicken, so that leaves only the Jia family.

"Qin Huairu!" Xu Damao turned his head sharply. "Did someone in your family steal it?"

Madam Jia immediately flew into a rage, plopped down on the ground, slapped her thigh, and cried out, "Oh my god! Xu Damao, you heartless bastard! How dare you slander our family? Do you know how hard it is for us, a widow and her orphans?"

Just as Jia Zhangshi was throwing a tantrum to attract everyone's attention, Li Feng had already quietly circled around to the front of the Jia family's house. By the time Jia Zhangshi realized what was happening, Li Feng had already come out, grabbing her by the collar.

"Thirdly, everyone, please look," Li Feng pointed to the oil stain on Bang Geng's chest, "was this oil stain freshly applied?"

Xu Damao rushed forward, grabbed Bang Geng's collar, and sniffed: "That's right! It smells like roast chicken! Where would your Jia family get the money to buy chicken? You must have stolen it from us."

"It wasn't me! It was Shazhu who stole it!" Banggeng shouted in fright.

Shazhu quickly stepped forward, "Yes, yes, I stole it! Banggeng didn't know anything!"

When he heard that Shazhu had admitted it, Banggeng was unhappy instead.

"I don't need your fake kindness! I stole the chicken, so what? Xu Damao's chickens roam around in his yard every day; I've wanted to eat them for ages!"

When the truth came out, the courtyard erupted in chaos.

Xu Damao was so angry he jumped up and down: "Pay up! You have to pay up! My hen lays one egg a day, the egg can hatch into a chicken, and the chicken can lay more eggs."

Yi Zhonghai stepped in and interrupted Xu Damao's endless loop, saying, "How about this, Qin Huairu's family will compensate Xu Damao five yuan, and we'll call it even."

Qin Huairu looked at Sha Zhu with teary eyes: "Zhu Zi, look at this..."

Without a word, Sha Zhu pulled five yuan from his pocket and stuffed it into Xu Damao's hand: "Here you go! Keep a close eye on your chickens from now on!"

Everyone thought the matter was over, but unexpectedly Li Feng spoke up again.

"Hey, tell me, where did you get the seasoning for your roast chicken?"

Banggeng said nonchalantly, "I got it from the steel mill! So what?"

"What's wrong?" Li Feng's face darkened. "Before, when you stole things from the factory, it wasn't my problem. But now..."

He raised his voice: "I'm the deputy head of the security department at the steel rolling mill! You've stolen state property; I have to handle this!"

Yi Zhonghai quickly tried to smooth things over: "Section Chief Li, the child is still young and doesn't understand. Could you please make an exception?"

"No!" Li Feng said firmly. "A country has its laws, and a factory has its rules. Starting tomorrow, Bang Geng must go to the steel rolling mill for labor reform every day after school. This will only end when he realizes his mistake!"

Madam Jia started wailing and crying again: "This is outrageous! Old Jia, come up here and take them all away! These people are bullying us, a widow and her children!"

Qin Huairu also pleaded tearfully, "Section Chief Li, please forgive Bang Geng this time! I promise he'll never dare to do it again!"

Sha Zhu clenched his fists, wanting to step forward, but when he met Li Feng's eyes, he couldn't help but shiver.

How to describe it? Those were eyes that had seen blood, so cold they were terrifying.

"That's settled then." Li Feng looked around the room. "Bang Geng should report to the steel rolling mill security department at 5 PM tomorrow."

As soon as the meeting ended, the Jia family was in an uproar.

Jia Zhangshi's curses, Qin Huairu's weeping, and Bang Geng's defiant retorts mingled together. Not long after, Yi Zhonghai, carrying an enamel mug, knocked on Li Feng's door with the airs of an old man.

"Li Feng, open the door. I'm your uncle, let's have a chat."

The lights were on inside, but no one answered or opened the door. Yi Zhonghai stood at the door for a long time before finally leaving dejectedly.

Immediately after, Qin Huairu arrived. She didn't dare to knock loudly, but instead knocked gently, pleading in a tearful voice, "Section Chief Li, Section Chief Li, please have mercy, Bang Geng knows he was wrong, please give him a chance..."

There was still no response from inside the house.

The next day, Li Feng went to get off work and left work as usual, as if nothing had happened. He waited at the security office until 5:30, but Bang Geng did not come.

A cold smile, as if he had expected it, crept onto Li Feng's lips. This was exactly the result he wanted. He went directly to the factory director's office and reported the situation to Director Yang and Deputy Director Li.

"Factory Director, this is the situation. Jia Geng stole factory property, which is a serious offense, and his refusal to reform has had a very negative impact. I request that the factory support the Security Department's work and deal with this matter seriously as a warning to others."

Upon hearing this, Factory Director Yang slammed his fist on the table: "This is outrageous! Stealing public property and daring not to come and receive education? Comrade Li Feng, the factory fully supports you in this matter; it must be dealt with seriously!"

Deputy Factory Director Li chimed in, "That's right! We absolutely cannot allow this kind of unhealthy trend to continue! Section Chief Li, go ahead and do it; we'll back you up!"

With the factory leader's approval, Li Feng felt more confident. He rode his bicycle back to the courtyard house, went straight to the Jia family's door, and kicked the door open with a bang, giving the people inside no time to react.

The Jia family was eating around a small table when the loud noise startled them. Jia Zhangshi was about to start cursing when she saw it was Li Feng, whose face was ashen, and the words stuck in her throat.

"Jia Geng, what did I tell you yesterday?" Li Feng's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling edge.

Banggeng was so frightened that he shrank behind Qin Huairu.

"Section Chief Li, my son knows he was wrong. He will definitely go tomorrow." Qin Huairu hurriedly stood up and blocked her son's way.

"Tomorrow?" Li Feng sneered. "A factory has its rules, not a marketplace for haggling!"

As he spoke, he stepped forward, bypassed Qin Huairu, and picked up the stick from behind the table like a chick.

"Ah! Grandma! Mom! Help me!" Bang Geng screamed in fright.

Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi screamed and lunged forward, trying to scratch Li Feng's face with her fingernails: "You bastard! Let go of my grandson! I'll fight you to the death!"

Li Feng didn't even look, and delivered a crisp slap with his backhand.

Snapped!

Jia Zhangshi was spun around by the slap, staggered a few steps, and fell to the ground, covering her face in shock.

The commotion had already alerted the neighbors. Sha Zhu had just returned from outside when he heard the crying and commotion in the courtyard and rushed in. He immediately saw Jia Zhangshi lying on the ground, and Qin Huairu sitting slumped to the side.

Suddenly, a surge of heat rushed to his head, and lust surged into his brain, transforming into the nuclear power that caused the mosaic to expand.

"Li Shan! You dare hit someone?!" Sha Zhu grabbed a rolling pin from the corner and charged forward, yelling, "Fuck your grandpa!"

Facing the rolling pin that Sha Zhu swung at with all his might, Li Feng neither dodged nor avoided it. He simply turned to the side, raised his leg, and stomped, his movements as fast as lightning.

A foot stomped right on Sha Zhu's stomach. Sha Zhu felt a tremendous force coming from him, as if he had been hit by a truck, dump truck, or big truck. He flew back seven or eight meters and crashed to the ground. The rolling pin slipped from his hand. He curled up in a ball, clutching his stomach, and gasped for breath in pain. He couldn't get up for a while.

The entire venue fell into a deathly silence!

No one expected that Sha Zhu, the most capable fighter in the courtyard, couldn't even withstand a single move from Li Feng!

Yi Zhonghai's face was ashen. Pointing at Li Feng, his hand trembled with rage: "This is outrageous! Outrageous! Openly committing violence! Lawless! Go to the neighborhood office and fetch Director Wang!"

Seeing that someone was backing her up, Jia Zhangshi started sitting on the ground again, wailing, "They're killing people! There's no law!"

A short while later, Director Wang from the neighborhood committee rushed over. Yi Zhonghai immediately went to greet him, and angrily denounced, "Director Wang, you've finally arrived! Look at this Li Shan! He brazenly kicked down the door and broke into a house, beating the elderly and children! He's simply a violent criminal! He must be severely punished!"

Director Wang frowned and looked at Li Feng first: "Comrade Li Shan, what's going on?" Facing Director Wang, Li Feng calmly took out a document with a red seal from his pocket.

"Director Wang, this is the official disciplinary decision from the steel rolling mill's security department and factory office. An investigation has revealed that Jia Geng has repeatedly stolen from the steel rolling mill, and the evidence is conclusive. Based on the principle of prioritizing education, the factory has decided to have him undergo labor reform. However, he has refused to comply, which is egregious. I am here today to carry out the factory's decision. As for taking action," Li Feng coldly glanced at Jia Zhangshi and Sha Zhu, who was still lying on the ground.

"They violently resisted the law and obstructed the execution of official duties; my actions constituted legitimate self-defense. If they believe I did something wrong, fine, then we'll handle it officially and report Jia Geng's theft of state property directly to the police station. Do you want us to handle it internally within the factory, or treat it as theft of public property and send him to the appropriate authorities?"

Upon closer inspection of the approval document, the steel mill's red stamp was clearly visible. Director Wang had come today to support Li Feng; now that Li Feng was in the right, she could finally get revenge for the trouble she had caused her before.

Director Wang's face immediately darkened. He turned to Yi Zhonghai and the Jia family, his tone stern: "Yi Zhonghai, you're making a scene! I think Comrade Li Feng did the right thing. Bang Geng stealing things from the factory is stealing state property! Don't you understand what kind of problem this is? The factory gave him a chance, letting him undergo labor reform, which is to save him! And you, not only do you not cooperate, but you even dare to physically obstruct him?"

She pointed at Jia Zhangshi and said, "Yi Zhonghai, I think your days are numbered, and so are you, Zhang Xiaohua! If you keep throwing a tantrum like this, the neighborhood committee will send you straight back to the village."

Is this the end of an old man's life?

Send them back to the village?

Liu Haizhong and Qin Huairu's eyes lit up. Could it be that Dan Dan was having an affair? Director Wang, please have mercy and get rid of him/her!

Upon hearing the news of returning to the village, Jia Zhangshi's wailing caught in her throat, and Aurang ran home with a shout.

My grandson is important, but not as important as myself.

Upon hearing that the old man was about to die, Yi Zhonghai quieted down, scratched his head, and went home.

Director Wang then said to Li Feng, "Comrade Li Shan, you continue to implement the factory's decision. Moreover, not only the factory, but the neighborhood committee will also punish Bang Geng; I entrust you with the full responsibility for this punishment."

After saying that, Director Wang glared at everyone in the courtyard before turning and leaving.

Only after seeing Director Wang leave did Sha Zhu dare to get up; he knew he had been beaten for nothing.

Li Feng looked at Bang Geng, who was sprawled on the ground, pale with fright, and said coldly, "This beating today is to teach you a lesson. Report to the security office at 5 PM tomorrow. If you dare to try anything again, you know the consequences."