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

Chapter 75 Yi Zhonghai's Strategic Plan (Please continue reading)

After seeing Sun Youtian off, Gao Xiaosheng accompanied He Yushui in the kitchen, busying themselves with cutting meat, washing and preparing vegetables, and making two dishes, one meat and one vegetable.

Just as they were about to eat, they heard that Yi Zhonghai from the Intermediate People's Court was up to something again. The two exchanged a glance and quietly went to the window to watch the commotion.

"Zhu Zi, open the door, the old man needs to talk to you."

"Uncle, what's the rush? I'm eating right now," He Yuzhu asked as he opened the door.

"These past few days, your aunt has been bringing food to the old lady in the backyard. She's gotten a little tired of the same old food and wants to try your cooking."

"Go to the old lady's house after get off work tomorrow and show her your skills. Just bring some seasonings with you; she's prepared all the ingredients."

He Yuzhu scratched his head, and after a while reluctantly nodded, "Okay, I'll go tomorrow."

"Yes, that's right. Living in our compound, you can't just think of yourself; you have to learn to respect the elderly."

Yi Zhonghai's plan succeeded. He patted He Yuzhu on the shoulder and raised his voice to say loudly.

The swelling on his face has gone down in the past few days, and no one in the factory or the yard is talking about him being beaten anymore. Although the old man in charge has almost no authority left, as long as he has enough skin, he can still put on airs.

As for how to restore his former prestige, Yi Zhonghai also has plans.

He can no longer uphold the banner of fairness and justice, so he can only focus his efforts on respecting the elderly and caring for the young.

He Yuzhu was his first target for capture.

When doing things, you always have to start with the easy and move on to the difficult. Who told He Yuzhu to be the easiest to fool?

To secure a successful start, Yi Zhonghai spared no expense, spending a "huge sum" to buy the old lady two ounces of meat and a pound of vegetables, just to prevent He Yuzhu from refusing outright.

"Oh, by the way, you and the old lady can have dinner together tomorrow night. There's enough food." Before leaving, Yi Zhonghai reminded him as if he had just remembered.

"Oh? Okay, don't worry, I guarantee she won't be able to put down her chopsticks."

He Yuzhu was taken aback, and his attitude became much more enthusiastic than before.

Even if he's not the brightest, he can still tell the difference between being seated at the table and not being seated at the table.

They do the work but don't eat it, and they don't get paid. It's okay to do it once or twice out of respect for Yi Zhonghai, but if it happens too often, even a fool would know something's wrong.

But when you eat together, the situation is different; that's called neighborly mutual assistance, where one person contributes money and the other contributes their cooking skills.

"Haha, that's good. The old lady always complains that you, an older woman, can't cook well. I'll have to trouble you a lot in the future."

""

Yi Zhonghai was even happier than He Yuzhu; the first step of the "boiling frog in lukewarm water" strategy had been successfully completed.

According to her godmother, she was the oldest in the family, seventy years old by the traditional Chinese age reckoning, and was considered an ancestor in the wealthy household.

Since we're going to play the filial piety card, why not adopt godparents one by one, starting with He Yuzhu?

Spend two months getting to know each other, and once the godchild is accepted, not only will the old lady's meal problem be solved, but it will also set an example for others in the neighborhood. Then, you can slowly persuade others to join in.

If everything goes smoothly, within a year or two at most, most of the residents in the compound will be from the same family, and Yi Zhonghai, the eldest son, will naturally become the undisputed "patriarch."

.

Well, although the old lady's method takes a long time and is slow to show results, it is indeed reliable and has a high success rate.

He Yuzhu is brainless, but the deaf old lady is too kind and asks him a few words of concern. It's almost certain that she'll recognize him as her god-grandson.

The Jia family faced no obstacles either. Despite Jia Zhangshi's constant complaints and grievances, she was incredibly submissive in front of the old lady. With Yi Zhonghai's encouragement, it was a piece of cake for her.

Xu Fugui certainly didn't want to acknowledge the old lady as his godmother, but since Yi Zhonghai held a grudge, he had to bow down at least outwardly. What he really thought was irrelevant.

The two families that are more troublesome are Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong.

Although Yan Bugui needed his status as a resident supervisor to bolster his courage and was also responsible for the old lady's "target boat," he was too stingy. It would be impossible for him to give the old lady any gifts.

Even the deaf old lady herself didn't dare to expect Yan Bugui to bring her food; at most, she would call him "godmother" a few times.

Even so, Yan Jiecheng and his children might still have to come over to ask for New Year's money during holidays.

It's fine if he does it alone, but the main problem is that it's easy to set a bad example. If other residents follow suit, wouldn't the deaf old lady become a fat sheep in the yard, and anyone could take advantage of her?

But compared to Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong is the toughest nut to crack.

That old man is stupid, dull, and stubborn. Getting him to be the old lady's godson is harder than climbing to heaven.

Yi Zhonghai and the old lady chatted together several times, but they couldn't come up with a good solution.

Ultimately, the only target they could find was the Liu brothers, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu.

In the old lady's words, since the two children have recognized each other as godmothers, whether Liu Haizhong calls her godmother or not doesn't change anything.

It must be admitted that, under certain conditions, the "Ah Q-style winning strategy" can still be useful.

As for Gao Xiaosheng and Sun Youtian, the old lady thought it would be best to win them over, but she didn't care if they became adversaries.

With so many families becoming godparents, how could two younger generations possibly cause any trouble?

Even a single spit from each of them is enough to ruin their reputation.

What? Gao Xiaosheng's reputation in the surrounding alleys is already ruined?

Wu Guizhen, Li Caiyun, Yang Ruihua, and Jia Zhangshi, those four old women, have never stopped their smear campaign.

Then make it even stinkier, so stink that even dogs shake their heads at the smell.

As people age, they become cunning and horses grow old; the deaf old lady's seventy years have certainly not been wasted.

She turned a simple act of filial piety towards her elders into a triple win.

If these ideas can be successfully realized, and the title of the ancestor of the family is confirmed, then not only will there be no need to worry about the family line being wiped out, but everyone will also respect, worship, and honor them, and they will live a very comfortable life.

Yi Zhonghai's position was firmly established, making him the most important person under the old master. While he might not have been able to command a large following, he was at least the one who had the final say in the courtyard.

At the same time, it can completely resolve the irreconcilable conflict between Yi Zhonghai and Gao Xiaosheng.

The old lady saw right through Yi Zhonghai. What kind of moral gentleman was he? That was all for show. Her eldest son was a truly petty and vindictive scoundrel.

Being slapped in the face by Gao Xiaosheng in public means that this grudge will never be resolved, not even in a year or two, but in eight or ten years. Given the chance, Yi Zhonghai will definitely make things difficult for Gao Xiaosheng.

The big pie the old lady drew for him just happened to fulfill Yi Zhonghai's wish.

As long as the long-term residents of the compound form an unbreakable alliance and work together as one, Gao Xiaosheng, this outlier, will be the negative example of "disrespecting the elderly," and Yi Zhonghai can criticize him at every now and then during the residents' group meetings.

It is said that a short pain is worse than a long one; a quick death is nothing compared to prolonged torment.

To be honest, the old lady's suggestion really hit Yi Zhonghai where it hurt.

The logic is sound and there are no obvious flaws.

The implementation is not difficult, and even if there are some obstacles, they will not have a negative impact.

Even if the best results are not achieved, it can still maintain the prestige of the steward and suppress the troublemaker Gao Xiaosheng with overwhelming force.

It is absolutely beneficial and without any harm; to hesitate for even a second is to insult one's own intelligence.