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

Xu Fugui frowned, his gaze shifting back and forth between Yi Zhonghai and Gao Xiaosheng.

Although Yi Zhonghai's main target was not him, Xu Fugui understood the importance of being prepared for danger even in times of peace.

That's a ruthless move; it could work on anyone.

If they can control Gao Xiaosheng today, they can make Sun Youtian suffer tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow it might be the Xu family's turn.

The key is how to break the deadlock.

A head-on confrontation is not the best strategy. After all, Yi Zhonghai was implementing the Patriotic Health Campaign Committee's policy, which, although strict, did contain the phrase "leaving no blind spots."

You can say he's nitpicking and demanding, but you can't say he did anything wrong. Otherwise, a huge accusation of "confronting superiors' policies" would be too much for anyone to handle.

Compromise is not an option either.

If we back down this time, Yi Zhonghai will take advantage of our weakness and might even crawl on the ground with a magnifying glass to examine us tomorrow. If we keep backing down, we'll eventually be completely crushed.

"Resident Supervisor Yan, I have a question for you. Does mutual inspection and cross-inspection mean that all residents can be inspected, or is it only permitted for resident supervisors to inspect others?"

Gao Xiaosheng ignored Yi Zhonghai and turned to look at Yan Bugui.

"Uh, well..."

Yan Bugui was taken aback by the question. He looked at Yi Zhonghai, then at Jia Zhangshi and Wu Guizhen, who were known for targeting the most vulnerable spots.

"What? Even Yan Juguan doesn't understand the documents he himself conveyed?"

"No, how could I not know? All residents are fine, no mention was made of the neighborhood management."

Gao Xiaosheng nodded. "Yi Zhonghai, I admit that my house wasn't cleaned properly and there were some hidden corners."

Yi Zhonghai was overjoyed, his tense nerves instantly relaxing. He had been really afraid that Gao Xiaosheng would disregard everything and throw two big punches at him.

"Good, as expected of someone from the military, you're brave and responsible."

"Since you've admitted it, hurry up and clean this afternoon, and we'll come back after get off work tomorrow."

While praising Gao Xiaosheng, Yi Zhonghai also firmly warned him that an inspection would be conducted tomorrow, making sure to eliminate any excuses.

According to his plan, the sanitation inspection rope could keep Gao Xiaosheng in check for several years, but it shouldn't be tightened too much all at once.

"Let's talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow. I'll go check out your places first and learn from your cleaning experience."

Gao Xiaosheng waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"What are you checking? What's there to check in my house?" Yi Zhonghai was taken aback and immediately became flustered.

His wife, Wu Guizhen, was not a diligent person. Although their house looked decent, it was nowhere near as clean as Yushui's house after a whole morning of hard work. It wasn't even as clean as Gao Xiaosheng's house.

"Not just your house, I need to check everyone in the yard, and several other nearby yards too, I need to check them one by one."

"In your words, this is strictly implementing the Patriotic Health Campaign Committee's policies."

"Don't worry, Yi Zhonghai, I will explain it to the neighbors. This is your intention."

After Gao Xiaosheng finished speaking, he headed straight for the Intermediate People's Court.

"Hey, hey, Gao Xiaosheng, stop right there. I haven't let you into my house yet."

Yi Zhonghai and Wu Guizhen hurriedly followed behind, trying to stop Gao Xiaosheng.

Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, and the others all went outside with the intention of watching the excitement, while Xu Fugui stood in place, sometimes nodding and sometimes shaking his head.

This counterattack was indeed fierce, but it was not suitable for the Xu family, and he dared not use it.

Gao Xiaosheng dared to overturn the table without restraint because his greatest advantage was that he was upright and had no leverage over others.

Even if he offends everyone in the courtyard and even the entire neighborhood, at most he'll be criticized behind his back, which won't cause much harm.

If Xu Fugui dared to do that, he would probably die a terrible death.

Although he hadn't done many bad things while working for Boss Lou, he had a few. If any one of them were brought up, it would be enough to give him a hard time.

Moreover, Gao Xiaosheng is a bachelor, he only has himself to eat and no one else to worry about, and he has no weaknesses.

The Xu family has Da Mao as their only son. If he angers the neighbors and they turn against Da Mao, wouldn't Xu Fugui end up like Yi Zhonghai, with no descendants left?

Thinking of this, Xu Fugui slowly shook his head as he watched Yi Zhonghai's retreating figure.

Old Yi, why did you provoke Gao Xiaosheng? He's young, strong, has no relatives or friends, and has a clean background and impeccable credentials. Why would he be afraid of an old silver coin like you?

"Yi Zhonghai, open the door, I need to inspect the cleanliness of your house."

Gao Xiaosheng held Yushui's small hand and stood at the door of the east wing of the central courtyard.

"Gao Xiaosheng, don't go too far."

Yi Zhonghai stood in front of the door, and seeing everyone gathered around, he lowered his voice and warned them.

He really didn't expect Gao Xiaosheng to respond this way.

It can only be said that the people in the compound are too honest, and the only troublemaker, Xu Fugui, doesn't dare to cause any trouble.

Over time, this inevitably leads to a fixed mindset, where he can only find fault with others, and anyone who dares to complain is considered disobedient.

Yi Zhonghai had never encountered someone like Gao Xiaosheng, who not only decisively launched a counterattack but also dared to cross the 38th parallel.

"Yi Zhonghai, mutual inspections are a right and responsibility granted to all residents of the compound by the Patriotic Health Campaign Committee. Are you going to publicly defy the policy from higher authorities?"

Gao Xiaosheng loosened his small hands from the rain, interlaced his fingers, stretched out his arms, and his knuckles made a crackling sound.

He hoped Yi Zhonghai would continue to be stubborn and give him a chance to accumulate lottery chances.

"You, you..."

Yi Zhonghai couldn't find a suitable reason to stop it, and he was unwilling to open the door for inspection, so he was caught in a dilemma.

"Uncle, Gao Xiaosheng is right. Open the door quickly and let him check. We'll go check the neighbor's yard in a bit."

He Yuzhu rubbed his hands together excitedly; that's the simple, unpretentious joy of a fool.

"Hey, Lao Yi, the key is with your wife, right? She's here."

Yan Bugui stepped forward, touched his cheek, and began to offer advice.

It wasn't that he wanted to get involved; it was mainly because Gao Xiaosheng had forced him to tell the truth, which led to the current situation.

If we don't come out and ease the tension, what if Yi Zhonghai holds a grudge against us?

He doesn't have Gao Xiaosheng's indestructible body. The small business owner status is the Yan family's Achilles' heel, and they're all counting on Yi Zhonghai's support.

Yi Zhonghai immediately understood Yan Bugui's gesture of touching his face.

There's no way I don't understand. Ever since Gao Xiaosheng moved in, there have been three victims in the courtyard: Yan Bugui, Jia Zhangshi, and Jia Dongxu.

"Guizhen, open the door and let Gao Xiaosheng check."

Yi Zhonghai clenched his fist, his nails digging deep marks into his palm, and glanced at Jia Zhangshi with a hint of resentment.

How could I have believed her back then?

They promised to put a leash on Gao Xiaosheng, but now they're in a bind.

Inspecting his house for cleanliness isn't a big deal; at most, it'll make him look bad in front of the neighbors. Besides, we're all pretty much the same, so no one should laugh at anyone else—neither of us is particularly clean.

The key is to avoid cross-inspections, especially since Gao Xiaosheng wants to use his name to inspect neighboring courtyards, which would offend everyone.

At that time, Yi Zhonghai will no longer be a "moral gentleman" and will definitely be scolded as a petty person who uses his position to curry favor with the Patriotic Health Campaign Committee and the Street Office.