Me! A high-ranking official!

Upon hearing this, Li Yushan's face immediately turned ugly, feeling greatly humiliated. He stubbornly refused to budge and dismantle the eaves. Seeing that Li Yushan wouldn't back down, Lao Heizi also firmly stated that the Pixiu was welded there and he would never dismantle it.

"Fine! You won't listen to me even when I speak properly, huh?"

Zhao Jianguo, enraged, laughed and shoved the two men back into the crowd. He then picked up two shovels from the ground and handed them to Li Yushan and Lao Heizi respectively.

"Here you go! Take this! Both sides are here, and I, the Party Secretary, am not going to mediate today! Go ahead and fight! Hit your heads with shovels!"

Zhao Jianguo pointed at the two men's noses and cursed, "Go ahead and fight! Weren't you all so cocky and tough just now? If you don't kill one or two of them here today, I won't respect you! It would be best if someone died! I'll personally witness the court sentence you to death, and I'll even be a witness when you're executed!"

The two men were completely stunned by the shout. Holding shovels, they were caught between a rock and a hard place, unsure whether to throw them or hold them. The two groups of relatives also looked at each other, wondering who would dare to actually kill someone.

"Why did you stop fighting? Weren't you yelling and screaming just now?!"

Zhao Jianguo sneered, "Since you don't have the guts to kill anyone, then let's just forget about each other. Li Yushan, keep pouring water into Lao Heizi's yard from your eaves. Lao Heizi, you two pixiu can keep an eye on Li Yushan's roof every day! Let's just wait it out like this. In three or five years, when something unfortunate happens to Li Yushan's family and he gets sick, don't blame the bad feng shui. Blame yourself for not being willing to spend the money to fix the eaves!"

Li Yushan believed in feng shui, and upon hearing Zhao Jianguo's words, the thought of two wild beasts devouring his family's fortune every day sent a chill down his spine. He cried out in alarm, "Secretary, that won't do!"

"No? If you don't like it, then go up there and smash him to death with a shovel!" Zhao Jianguo retorted without any mercy.

Li Yushan held the shovel, hesitated for a long time, his face turning red, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Seeing that the time was right, Zhao Jianguo pointed at Li Yushan and issued an ultimatum: "I'll ask you one last time, are you going to fix that lousy roof or not?! If you fix it today, I'll personally have Old Heizi smash those two things! If you don't fix it today, I'm leaving right now, and your two families can live in this disgusting state for the rest of your lives!"

Li Yushan glanced at the rainwater gushing from the roof into the stone Pixiu's gaping mouth, feeling both angry and frightened. Finally, like a defeated rooster, he threw the shovel to the ground and gritted his teeth, uttering, "I'll change it! I'll change it right away!"

"At least you're not completely stupid!"

Zhao Jianguo snorted coldly and turned to look at Lao Heizi: "Lao Heizi, what about you?"

Old Hei Zi had achieved his goal and decided to stop while he was ahead: "If he just wants to change the water flow, I'll move the stones down right now!"

"Good!" Zhao Jianguo clapped his hands and pointed to the groups of relatives and friends watching the commotion on both sides, shouting, "No need to go back! While both sides of your relatives are here today, strike while the iron is hot and do it now! No one can back out today!"

Under Zhao Jianguo's forceful leadership, a potential bloodshed was averted. Li Yushan, looking displeased, called to his brothers and relatives, brought a ladder, and braved the rain to flatten the eaves that extended beyond the boundary. On the other side, Lao Heizi was equally decisive, finding two men to wield sledgehammers and quickly smashing down the guardian beast on the wall.

The farce came to a complete end in the torrential rain.

The rain poured down, and Zhao Jianguo stood like an iron tower in the rain, personally supervising Li Yushan's family to knock down the extra section of the eaves, and watching Lao Heizi's family smash the two stone Pixiu and carry them away. He watched the two families grumble and curse but helplessly disperse, and only then did he turn around and return to the village committee with satisfaction.

As soon as he entered the backyard of the village committee, he saw the light on in the storage room. Liu Zhijun was limping around inside, busily arranging the oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, soap, and towels he had just bought, one by one. Not only were the items neatly arranged, but he also found a few clean pieces of cardboard to put under the rice and noodles to prevent moisture. It was clear that he was an extremely meticulous person.

He took off his dripping raincoat outside the door and walked in with a smile: "Brother Zhijun, don't rush to do these things. Take your time. You're not feeling well, so please make sure you get some rest."

Hearing the sound, Liu Zhijun turned around and saw that he was soaked to the bone. He asked with concern, "Secretary, why are you so wet? What's the situation outside? Has a fight broken out?"

"Hey, it's all taken care of." He said casually, wiping the rain off his head with a towel. "Li Yushan obediently had someone knock down the eaves, and Lao Heizi was quick to do the same, smashing those two Pixiu statues. Both families went back to their houses, and everything's fine now."

"They knocked?" Upon hearing this, Liu Zhijun breathed a long sigh of relief, but then a strong sense of curiosity welled up inside him.

These kinds of neighborhood disputes and homestead conflicts in rural areas are the most troublesome and stubborn problems. Not to mention the newly arrived secretary, even Luo Shuishan, who has been a local tyrant here for more than ten years, can only try to smooth things over when he encounters such a situation. He can't persuade either side. How did Secretary Zhao manage to make the usually arrogant Li Yushan obediently admit defeat and knock down the newly built eaves of his house without lifting a finger, all in the time it takes to have a meal?

Just as Liu Zhijun was racking his brains, a burst of barely suppressed excitement suddenly came from the courtyard outside: "Secretary Zhao! Is Secretary Zhao inside?"

He peeked out and saw Old Heizi, wearing a plastic raincoat, sneaking towards them through the rain.

"It's Uncle Hei!" He smiled and waved, "Why did you come all this way in this heavy rain? Come on in and let's talk!"

Old Heizi strode into the house, closed the door behind him, lifted his raincoat, and carefully pulled out a tightly wrapped plastic bag from underneath. As soon as he untied it, a rich aroma of meat wafted out.

Old Hei Zi, his face beaming, chuckled and said in a low voice, "Secretary, the method you taught me... hey! It was brilliant! I've been arguing with that old bastard Li Yushan about the dripping water for half a year, and he wouldn't budge like a dead pig. But after you used this method, his face turned green today, and he actually obediently knocked down the eaves! Seeing his humiliated look today really made me feel so much better!"

As he spoke, Lao Heizi placed the bag he was holding on the table and said, "Secretary, please accept this!" After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.

Zhao Jianguo reacted quickly, stopping Lao Heizi and shoving the bag into his hands. He said sternly, "Uncle Heizi, this won't do! I'm the village secretary. It's my duty to help us villagers solve our problems and mediate disputes. Take this with you; I don't accept gifts!"