Courtyard house: Just the right amount of pressure, leaving you bewildered but not brain-damaged.

Yi Zhonghai had already figured out how to make excuses.

If Gao Xiaosheng wants to argue about right and wrong, he will never willingly walk into a trap, but he can use the argument that "there are no bad elders, only bad juniors" to refute him.

There's a saying that goes, "No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes."

Elders are human too, and they may occasionally do foolish things or make small mistakes. This cannot be a reason for Gao Xiaosheng to take action against Jia Zhangshi and Yan Bugui.

Jia Zhangshi was born in 1906, and in two years she will be a 50-year-old lady. Yan Bugui was born in 14 and will be 40 this year.

As a young man in his early twenties, Gao Xiaosheng should at least show some respect to the two of them.

Forget about resorting to violence, you shouldn't even utter a single swear word. You have to calmly and rationally reason things out.

But when Liu Haizhong interjected, he immediately fell into Gao Xiaosheng's narrative logic.

"Old Liu, calm down, have some water, I'll talk to him."

Yi Zhonghai quickly tried to appease Liu Haizhong, with only one goal: to shut him up and make him behave as a spectator.

"It's alright, Lao Yi, I'm not thirsty."

"This kid doesn't take our manager seriously at all. Look at his attitude, does he even look at us properly? I'm going to have a good talk with him."

Liu Haizhong was furious, and Yi Zhonghai couldn't possibly calm him down.

Liu Haizhong didn't care at all whether Gao Xiaosheng paid compensation or admitted his mistake. What angered him was that Gao Xiaosheng dared to go against the manager, which he absolutely could not tolerate.

The title of "Manager" is the most dazzling and awesome one in Liu Hai's head. He relies on this status to put on airs, so how could he let a young man ruin it?

"Come on, continue. Who are the thieves and robbers in our yard? If you can't give a clear answer, then honestly admit your mistakes and apologize. From now on, when you see us, the old men in charge, you should greet us properly."

Liu Haizhong found Gao Xiaosheng increasingly unpleasant to look at. He had no posture, standing with his arms crossed in a 3/7 stance, and his eyes were constantly darting left and right, looking around without any semblance of decorum.

This is a hospital-wide meeting, not some rural opera performance.

"Okay," Gao Xiaosheng grinned, but it looked like a sarcastic remark.

"Jia Zhangshi occupied the street office without permission..."

"I suspect she also moved the furniture out of the house without my permission."

"Yan Bugui blocked the gate and forcibly demanded an inspection. How is this any different from highway robbery?"

In front of everyone, Gao Xiaosheng recounted the two conflicts in detail.

"Hehe, they did move it, didn't they? That wardrobe was so big, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law carried it home."

Xu Damao, sitting in the corner with his parents, was enjoying the spectacle.

"Shh, don't interfere. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll have your mom sew your mouth shut."

Xu Fugui slapped his son on the back of the head and warned him in a low voice.

He dares not offend Yi Zhonghai now and must keep a low profile.

The courtyard was completely silent.

Sun Youtian looked at Gao Xiaosheng with admiration, while He Yuzhu tightly covered his sister's mouth, resolutely forbidding her from supporting Gao Xiaosheng.

The others lowered their heads, pretending they hadn't heard anything.

Yi Zhonghai scanned the entire room and sighed inwardly.

He originally intended to use neighborly affection and the order of seniority to counter Gao Xiaosheng's insistence on legal principles. Although it was suspected of being sophistry, the people in the courtyard bought into it.

Now, I've been completely ruined by this terrible teammate, Liu Haizhong.

The truth is laid bare, and everyone knows who is right and who is wrong, even if they don't say it aloud.

There is only one way at present—to help relatives regardless of right or wrong, and to use power to suppress people and force Gao Xiaosheng to bow down.

Fortunately, his godmother had planned ahead and had a long-term vision, which enabled him to continuously strengthen the authority of the steward.

Over the years, the results have been very noticeable.

Of the three disobedient families, Liu Haizhong was recruited as the second eldest uncle, Xu Fugui was treated like a rat crossing the street, and even the most troublesome He Daqing was tricked and driven away.

Yi Zhonghai simply refused to believe that Gao Xiaosheng could cause such a stir when the referees and witnesses were all his men.

"Old Yi, what's going on? They didn't say that inside the house."

Liu Haizhong looked at Yi Zhonghai with a blank expression, his eyes clear and foolish like a college student.

People's mouths have two faces; the same thing can be said in completely different ways depending on the perspective.

At Yi Zhonghai's house, Liu Haizhong heard Gao Xiaosheng's arrogant and domineering attitude, saying that he didn't treat the old residents of the courtyard as human beings at all.

In the morning, they smashed the lock on the Jia family's house and broke some items. When Jia Zhangshi tried to stop them, she was slapped twice and pushed to the ground.

In the afternoon, because Yan Bugui blocked the road, he slapped me several times.

Strictly speaking, these are all facts, but the focus has been shifted to the minor details, ignoring the underlying causes.

"Alright, Lao Liu, you can't handle this, I'll take care of it."

If everyone hadn't been there, Yi Zhonghai would have loved to give this idiot a good dressing down.

During meetings, Liu Haizhong always tries to steal the spotlight. He can't even speak clearly, but he always likes to show off, which often leads to jokes.

Today was even worse. Without considering their own capabilities, they dared to stand up for themselves, needlessly fueling Gao Xiaosheng's arrogance.

"Gao Xiaosheng, even if I take everything you said as true, it doesn't mean that hitting someone is right."

Yi Zhonghai set the tone from the outset, even omitting the word "comrade".

"You just moved in today and don't know the rules of the compound yet, but you're already being so harsh on long-term residents. Aren't you afraid the neighbors will have something to say about you?!"

"Now, on behalf of all the residents, I'm giving you a chance to sincerely apologize and provide adequate compensation."

"Otherwise, the hospital might find it difficult to accept you."

Yi Zhonghai's move was several levels above Liu Haizhong's.

The meaning behind his words was clear: he no longer cared about right or wrong; he simply wanted to manipulate the public opinion of all the residents to give Gao Xiaosheng a hard time. If he didn't admit his mistake today, he would definitely not have a good life in the future.

"You can't tolerate me, huh? Fine!"

Gao Xiaosheng still had that same annoying smile, unchanged.

"I'm going to the police station to report that Jia Zhangshi has illegally occupied public housing and that Yan Bugui is extorting money and demanding bribes."

"Go to the neighborhood office again and ask to change houses. Move overnight. Let's break up and see who regrets it."

"No, we can't report it to the police!" Jia Zhangshi was so anxious she was jumping up and down.

"Let the courtyard handle its own affairs, that's our rule. We can't bother the police station officers, or the neighbors will laugh at us. Sha Zhu, you should stop them."

Yan Bugui was relatively better off, barely managing to hold it in, but his face grew increasingly pale, as if he had swallowed a dead rat.

"Gao Xiaosheng, it's not that I don't want you to report the case, it's just that it won't do any good. It will only make everyone have more complaints about you."

Yi Zhonghai remained calm. He had long guessed that Gao Xiaosheng would use the police station as leverage, just as Sun Youtian had done the same thing last time.

"You said that Jia Zhangshi encroached on public housing, and I admit that."

"But the fault doesn't lie with Jia Zhangshi. It was us three stewards who, seeing that her living conditions were too cramped, agreed to let her temporarily use the vacant rooms as a warehouse."

"Even if it goes to the police station, at most it's considered a good deed gone wrong, it's not a big deal."

"In addition, the three of us are not only the janitors, but also active members of the community security team."

"Yan Bugui's decision to stop you from entering is a responsible one. He set up a checkpoint to prevent any suspicious persons or items from entering the compound."

"This is a task assigned to us by the community security committee."

Yi Zhonghai, with a series of swift and decisive moves, not only regained the initiative but also left everyone in the courtyard stunned.

If that's the case, it seems that Gao Xiaosheng really shouldn't have hit him.

"You're having a meeting? What's wrong? Has the neighborhood security committee gotten a new assignment?"

Before Gao Xiaosheng could refute, an uninvited guest arrived in the courtyard.