Courtyard House: Ten-year-old Master Zhu reorganizes the entire courtyard

Before dawn, a layer of white frost had already formed on the gate of the steel rolling mill.

At this time of day, the early shift whistles would usually sound, and the roar of the machines would shake the ground.

But today, it's quiet.

A deathly silence.

Hundreds of workers, dressed in tattered cotton-padded coats and wearing dog-skin hats, sat in a dark mass on the open ground of the factory area.

No one spoke, no one shouted slogans.

They just sat there, their necks stiff, not moving an inch.

The factory manager stood behind the window on the second floor of his office, looking down at the scene below, the sweat on his forehead impossible to wipe away.

"Rebellion! They've all fucking rebelled!" He slammed the phone receiver back down. "Where are the police? Why haven't they arrived yet!"

Section Chief Ma stood to the side, looking equally disgruntled. He had thought that catching a few troublemakers would settle things, but he hadn't expected these peasants to be so determined this time. They hadn't even started the machines, and the entire factory was completely paralyzed.

He gritted his teeth, his face grim.

"Factory manager, don't panic. Commissioner Li said that if they dare to make a move, we have a reason to open fire."

But the workers wouldn't lift a finger.

They just sat there. When they got hungry, they would take out half a hard, dry flatbread from their pockets and take a couple of bites; someone had secretly brought it to them the night before. When they got thirsty, they would grab a handful of snow and stuff it into their mouths.

Master Wu sat at the very front, cross-legged, with his eyes closed, like a deity in a temple.

Just then, the sound of police sirens came from afar.

Three trucks drove recklessly to the factory gate, and dozens of men in black uniforms jumped out, carrying batons and Mauser pistols. Leading them was the police chief, a man with a menacing face.

"Get up, all of you!" the captain roared, grabbing a tin megaphone. "Illegal assembly! Disturbing the peace! You have three minutes to disperse, or don't blame me for being ruthless!"

The workers stirred slightly, but no one stood up.

Section Chief Ma emerged from the building, pointed at Master Wu, and shouted, "That's him! That old bastard was the ringleader! Arrest him first!"

Several policemen received orders and rushed into the crowd with their batons.

A hair's breadth away.

On the outskirts of the crowd, behind an inconspicuous pile of scrap metal, He Yuzhu was huddled up. He was clutching a slingshot in his hand; the rubber band was specially made and extremely strong.

swoosh~

A pebble flew past with a whoosh and landed squarely on the captain's wrist.

"Ouch!"

The captain's hand trembled, and he lost his grip on the tin megaphone, which fell to the ground with a thud.

The crisp sound drew everyone's attention.

Taking advantage of the chaos, He Yuzhu made a hand gesture to a young man named Shunzi in the crowd. Shunzi was Master Wu's apprentice and was very clever.

Shunzi suddenly stood up and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Why are you arresting people! We just want to eat! We want to see Commissioner Li!"

That shout ignited the anger in the workers' hearts.

"Yes! We want to eat!"

"No pay raise, no work!"

A roar suddenly erupted, the voices of hundreds of people merging together, forcefully silencing the police officers who wanted to arrest people.

Section Chief Ma, enraged, pointed in Master Wu's direction and shouted, "Ignore everyone else! Arrest that guy surnamed Wu!"

But when the police looked over there again, they were completely dumbfounded.

Master Wu, who was just sitting there, was gone. In his place was a burly man with a pockmarked face, staring at them with bulging eyes.

It turned out that during the earlier commotion, the workers nearby had already helped Mr. Wu to the back and replaced him with someone else.

"Damn it! This is a ghost!" Section Chief Ma stomped his feet in anger.

Stalemate.

The stalemate lasted from dawn until sunset.

The police tried to rush in several times, but were pushed back by the workers' reckless spirit. Adding to this, He Yuzhu kept pulling stunts around the perimeter – the police tires would suddenly burst, and Chief Ma would unexpectedly get a bump on his forehead.

Although these men had guns, none of them dared to fire the first shot when faced with hundreds of bloodthirsty workers. If that shot were fired, it would ignite a popular uprising, and no one could bear the responsibility.

On the third day...

If the factory's boilers don't start operating soon, this entire order will be lost. Specialist Li's phone kept ringing, giving the factory manager a thorough dressing-down.

Outside, reporters from Ta Kung Pao, having somehow gotten wind of the situation, were standing guard at the door with their cameras.

The factory finally couldn't hold on any longer.

At the negotiating table, the factory director's face was contorted, looking worse than if he were crying.

"Fifteen percent! That's the absolute maximum!" He slammed his fist on the table. "Any more and I'm closing down!"

The person who went to negotiate on behalf of the workers wasn't Master Wu, but a young man named Shunzi. His legs were trembling, but when he looked back at his brothers behind him, he gritted his teeth and nodded.

"Okay! But on one condition: no settling scores later! No firing anyone!"

The agreement has been signed.

When the bright red notice was posted, the entire factory area erupted in excitement. The workers hugged each other, some crying, some laughing.

Yi Zhonghai stood on the roof of the boiler room in the distance, watching this scene.

He held the leave slip in his hand; the edges of the paper were soaked with sweat and burned his palm.

He saw the light in the workers' eyes. It was something that someone like him, who only knew how to calculate and protect himself, could never grasp in his entire life.

"Old Yi, oh Old Yi," he chuckled self-deprecatingly, "that's all you've accomplished in your life."

After the crowd dispersed, Mr. Wu found He Yuzhu in a quiet alley.

The old man's eyes were red-rimmed, and he held onto He Yuzhu's hand tightly.

"Zhu Zi, this time, we really owe you a lot. Without that batch of dry rations, we wouldn't have made it to today. And that day, if it weren't for that stone you threw, this old man of mine would be in the police station right now."

He Yuzhu smiled and withdrew his hand: "Uncle Wu, you're too kind. I just can't stand those people bullying us men."

"We'll remember this kindness," Master Wu said solemnly. "From now on, just say the word, and we brothers in the steel rolling mill will never hesitate to help."

Looking into the old man's determined eyes, He Yuzhu felt the steel mill's land on his mental "power sandbox" turn a solid, deep green.

This is what he wanted.

What is money? In this chaotic world, the human heart is the most valuable currency.

……

By the time we got back to the courtyard house, it was already completely dark.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, I saw Yan Bugui leaning against his window, counting the pickled vegetables he had accumulated over the past week by the moonlight.

"Hey, Zhu Zi's back?" Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses, his shrewd little eyes darting around. "I heard there's trouble at the factory? And wages went up?"

"That's what people risked their lives for." He Yuzhu didn't stop walking and went straight to the Central Court.

The lights in Yi Zhonghai's house were off.

As He Yuzhu passed by, he heard a long sigh coming from inside the house.

A slight smile played at the corners of his lips.

This strike not only increased workers' wages and embarrassed bureaucrats, but also shattered Yi Zhonghai's ambition to become a moral saint.

The sky in this courtyard is becoming more and more interesting.