I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

Wang Defa's face flushed instantly, and he hurriedly protested, "I clearly put in two mao (0.2 yuan) just now, for the meat!"

"Who saw it? Who can vouch for you?" Sha Zhu spread his hands, acting like a rogue. "I only saw you put down a dime. Take it or leave it. If you don't want it, get lost!"

Xiao Ma, who had been watching the commotion from the back, immediately stepped forward and pointed at Sha Zhu, shouting sternly, "Do you know who this is? This is our new college graduate cadre in the sanitation team, Captain Wang Defa! Do you want to quit?!"

"Hey, what's wrong? You want to fight?"

Sha Zhu had been waiting for this opportunity. Upon hearing this, he immediately darted out from behind the food counter, ignoring the clamoring Xiao Ma, and charged straight at Wang Defa. He kicked Wang Defa hard in the stomach, knocking him to the ground and causing him to fall.

The seasoned sanitation workers, who hadn't gone far after getting their meals, saw there was something to see and immediately surrounded them, starting a commotion: "Good heavens, you dare hit our Captain Wang? You've gone too far!"

"Captain Wang, get up and fight him!"

But these people were just shouting; not a single one of them actually stepped forward. Seeing this, Sha Zhu raised his foot to kick Wang Defa, who was lying on the ground, a couple more times.

"What are you all doing! Making such a racket here, what kind of behavior is this!"

A sharp shout suddenly rang out, and everyone turned around. The group parted the crowd of onlookers, and the leader was Li Huaide, the deputy director of the steel rolling mill, followed closely by the canteen director and the head of the security department.

"What's going on? Sha Zhu, what are you doing here!" The cafeteria manager saw that it was Sha Zhu causing trouble and immediately stepped forward to question him sternly.

Sha Zhu, however, didn't care at all. He stuck out his neck and pointed at Wang Defa on the ground, saying, "This guy is deliberately causing trouble. He wants to spend the money for a 10-cent vegetable dish but get 20 cents worth of meat. I disagreed, and he's trying to make trouble!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Li Huaide looked at Wang Defa on the ground. Seeing that he was dressed respectably and didn't seem like an ordinary worker, he asked, "Which department are you from? Is he telling the truth?"

Wang Defa, clutching his stomach and coughing, slowly got up. His face full of resentment, he said, "I'm a newly assigned college graduate, currently working in the sanitation team. He's talking nonsense, trying to frame me! I clearly paid two cents for the meat!"

Li Huaide was secretly puzzled. How could a proper college student be assigned to the sanitation team? But he was too lazy to delve into the reasons. At the moment, both sides had their own version of events, and it was difficult to distinguish between them.

Just then, Chief Gou of the security department seized the opportunity, leaned close to Li Huaide, and whispered, "Director Li, I know this guy! He was originally at the First Guesthouse, but Li Jing'an sent him back because he was dishonest, stealing linens and supplies! I think this kid is a leopard can't change its spots; he's still not behaving properly at the steel mill. Don't bother with him, just hand him over to me. I'll definitely get to the bottom of this within a night!"

As he spoke, Section Chief Gou stared at Wang Defa with a sinister look in his eyes, secretly pleased with himself: Kid, you offended me before, now that you're in my hands, let's see how I deal with you!

Li Huaide nodded slightly, just about to hand the person over to Section Chief Gou, when Xiao Ma, who had been standing aside observing coldly, suddenly spoke up: "Sir, I know what happened. I've been following Captain Wang the whole time!"

"Yes, yes, Xiao Ma can testify for me!" Wang Defa looked at Li Huaide with hopeful eyes, as if grasping at the last straw, hoping that Xiao Ma could give him justice.

Sha Zhu immediately objected, saying, "Boss, he's in cahoots with Wang Defa! You can't believe him!"

Li Huaide raised his hand to interrupt the two, looked at Xiao Ma, and said in a deep voice: "Since you were here the whole time, tell me everything. I will make my own judgment. Remember to be truthful and do not bring personal grudges into it."

"Yes, sir, I promise to tell the truth. I'm an honest man and I never lie." Xiao Ma readily agreed and deliberately looked at Wang Defa, nodding slightly.

Seeing this, Wang Defa breathed a sigh of relief, then glared fiercely at Sha Zhu. Sha Zhu wanted to say something more, but Li Huaide waved him off, so he could only shut up sullenly, staring fiercely at Xiao Ma, silently threatening him not to talk nonsense.

Xiao Ma, however, remained unfazed. A faint smile played on his lips as he declared loudly, "I was following Captain Wang the whole time and saw him put a dime into the money box!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Defa's hopeful expression froze instantly. He turned to look at Xiao Ma in disbelief. Sha Zhu was also slightly taken aback, not understanding why Xiao Ma had betrayed him, but he was too lazy to investigate further and immediately revealed a smug smile.

Wang Defa was trembling with rage. He pointed at Xiao Ma, about to unleash a torrent of abuse, when Li Huaide sharply interrupted him: "Shut up, all of you! You continue!"

Xiao Ma didn't even glance at Wang Defa's pale face, and continued to embellish the story: "The cook gave Captain Wang a vegetarian dish, and he immediately became dissatisfied. Relying on his status as a cadre, he insisted that he had paid two cents and demanded a meat dish. He even argued loudly with the cook and tried to hit him. I advised him that cadres should set an example, putting hardship before enjoyment. As a cadre, he should be mindful of his influence in all things and not put on airs or seek special privileges."

Sha Zhu was overjoyed to hear this, but he immediately put on an indignant look as if he were the real victim.

"You're talking nonsense! That's utter rubbish!"

Wang Defa could no longer contain his anger. He pointed at Xiao Ma's nose and roared hysterically.

Xiao Ma was taken aback by his shout, then feigned grievance and retorted, "What did I say wrong? Which of my words was nonsense?"

"It's all bullshit! Every word is a lie!" Wang Defa roared angrily.

Xiao Ma's expression changed drastically, instantly turning into one of shock and anger. He pointed at Wang Defa and shouted to the surrounding crowd, "Everyone heard that! That last sentence wasn't mine, it was the leader's! How dare you say the leader is talking nonsense!"

After saying that, he turned to look at Li Huaide beside him, his face full of righteous indignation.

Li Huaide froze on the spot, while Wang Defa realized he had said something outrageous. He turned pale with fright and hurriedly waved his hands, trying to deny it: "No, that's not what I meant. I meant..."

Before he could finish speaking, Section Chief Gou, who had been waiting for an opportunity, stepped forward and delivered a resounding slap to Wang Defa's face, causing him to stagger and fall to the ground again.

"You little brat, you used to just have dirty hands, but now you dare to spout nonsense and say all sorts of rubbish. I think you're asking for death!" Section Chief Gou cursed angrily, and kicked Wang Defa twice more, settling old and new grudges at the same time.

The sanitation workers, who had initially just been watching the commotion, suddenly became agitated and shouted, "So he's a bad element!"

"This is a spy! An anti-Party element!"

"Hit him! Hit him hard!"

Several people rushed forward and punched and kicked Wang Defa on the ground, even pushing Section Chief Gou aside.

Amid the chaos, Xiao Ma stood outside the crowd, coldly thinking: Don't blame me for being ruthless; blame yourself for offending the wrong person. Originally, I only wanted to kick you out of the sanitation team, but you spoke without thinking and courted your own death. Thinking this, he even felt secretly pleased with himself, feeling that he had truly put his learning to good use and was quite clever.

This farce was quickly stopped by Li Huaide's stern voice. His face was gloomy and he was full of irritation. He immediately ordered Section Chief Gou: "Take the person to the security section immediately!"

After saying this, Li Huaide turned and left, deep in thought, and lost his appetite.

Sha Zhu, who had initially been a troublemaker, had completely transformed into a bystander watching the spectacle. He stood aside, watching with great interest, and kept muttering to the people around him, "I knew this kid was no good. See? I told you so! It's a pity I didn't squeeze in and kick him a couple of times. It wasn't satisfying!" His face was full of regret.