Courtyard House: Starting with a 28-inch motorcycle

—Deputy District Chief Li's face is far more valuable than his own.

Deputy Director Zhang's eyes darkened; he had already realized there was more to the story.

Qian Youde froze for a long time before finally managing to squeeze out, "Deputy Director Zhang, Comrade Lou Xiao'e, this matter... is probably a misunderstanding."

"A misunderstanding?" Lou Xiao'e sneered. "My friend has already called the district. Let's ask the higher-level organization to investigate and clarify this. Otherwise, I, a 'reverse Dong faction,' might have infiltrated the Party ranks and corrupted the atmosphere."

Her words were like knives, leaving Qian Youde's face burning with embarrassment.

He suddenly turned his head and glared at Yi Zhonghai, his eyes full of resentment—if it weren't for this old guy stirring things up, would he have come to the courtyard on the weekend to embarrass himself?

"Yi Zhonghai!" Qian Youde's voice tightened. "You declare this meeting adjourned!"

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat; he immediately realized he had stepped on a landmine. He hurriedly cleared his throat and shouted to everyone, "Meeting adjourned! Everyone, disperse!"

"Huh? Why did they disperse so quickly? Grandpa, what happened?"

"Yes, Director Qian hasn't finished speaking yet..."

"Sir, what message is this conference trying to convey?"

Yi Zhonghai wrung his hands anxiously: "Disperse! Everyone go home! If anything happens later, I'll notify each household!"

As he spoke, he winked at Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui. The two immediately understood and echoed in unison, "Let's call it a day! The meeting is over!"

They each kicked their sons again before turning and leaving.

The deaf old woman slowly got up, leaning on her cane, waving her hand as she walked away: "That's enough, that's enough, no more shows to watch, go home and rest!"

When the neighbors saw that the three old men had all left, and even the oldest deaf woman in the courtyard had departed, none of them dared to stay any longer, fearing they would be remembered. They were just ordinary folks; they couldn't afford to offend these three powerful figures.

As the crowds gradually dispersed, the courtyard slowly emptied out.

Only the three members of the Wang family remained standing still—Old Wang clutched his cigarette, the ash piling up long, his eyes fixed on Lou Xiao'e, as if afraid the neighborhood committee staff would suddenly turn around and launch a surprise attack.

As for whether offending the neighborhood committee would cost him his job, Old Wang didn't care at all—even if he were fired, he could simply go back to his old ways and live a stable life.

They might not earn less than those with secure jobs.

After the people in the courtyard dispersed, Qian Youde pulled Deputy Director Zhang aside and hid under the wall to mutter about the matter, his words full of "purely accidental injury" and "a trivial friction".

Deputy Director Zhang didn't verbally agree, but he was inwardly hesitant. However, he couldn't resist Qian Youde's repeated bows and humble pleas, and finally nodded, agreeing to put in a good word for him. After all, Qian was a street office director, and who knew, he might be transferred to the district to be his partner someday. They had even met in a meeting years ago, so he had to give him face.

Deputy Director Zhang straightened his collar, strolled over to Lou Xiao'e, and said with a smile, "Comrade Lou Xiao'e, Director Qian just spoke with me, saying that there might be a small misunderstanding between you two?"

"Misunderstanding? Not at all."

Lou Xiao'e gently shook her head, her tone calm yet uncompromising: "If it really was just a misunderstanding, he shouldn't have brought the security team to the courtyard today, yelling about arresting people. If I had seen my name on the district's list of outstanding individuals on Monday, I could have calmly moved on. But now—my friend just hung up the phone, and Yu Zhu's boss's landline is probably burning hot right now! Before leaving, he personally told me: 'If anyone dares to touch a hair on your head or your child's head, call this number immediately!' And guess what? Director Qian's face..."

"Right now, the deputy mayor's desk is probably about to collapse from the shaking of the phone!"

This statement is half true and half false. Li Huaide's father-in-law from the Ministry of Industry did indeed quickly dial the hotline of a deputy mayor in Beijing after Yu Li called, but he didn't go through the district level at all—the district leaders weren't considered important enough in his eyes.

The old man cut to the chase, his voice low, but his anger was palpable: "Our people are on-site at a top-secret project, and their families are being treated like dissidents and brutally persecuted? What rule says that?!"

"If the label of 'returning to the Dong faction' is truly confirmed, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Trade will investigate together! We'll dig deep, inch by inch, from beginning to end!"

The deputy mayor felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing the words "Ministry of Foreign Trade".

How could they not hear that this was a blatant act of disrespect? They immediately apologized, patted their chests, and promised to investigate, report, and hold those responsible accountable within three days.

As soon as he hung up, he immediately called the district office back, skipping all the pleasantries and launching into a tirade:

"Comrade Jiang Pengfei! If you can't handle this properly, then submit your report! I'll assign someone else to take over—so I don't have to be caught in the middle and get yelled at! They're guarding a classified project for the country, and their families are being used as targets by you? Is this what you call 'serving the people'? Let me make this clear: if you can't do a good job, step down as soon as possible! That's the message from every angle!"

With a crisp "snap," the phone was hung up cleanly.

The district chief on the other end had a layer of fine sweat on his forehead and his palms were sticky.

He was still sitting in his office when the blame fell on him, making him see stars.

He immediately convened an emergency meeting with several key officials in the district and immediately asked about He Yuzhu and Lou Xiao'e's matter—he was completely clueless and was scolded by the deputy mayor, who wanted to replace him. He felt that even Dou E's cries of injustice were not as unjust as his.

The deputy district head in charge of awarding Lou Xiao'e the title of "Advanced Individual" quickly spoke up: "District Head, I handled this matter! I just issued the certificate yesterday. She worked for three years without keeping a single penny of her salary, donating it all to the neighborhood nursing home and disaster relief efforts. She meets all the evaluation criteria perfectly... This should be correct, right? Is this what Deputy Mayor Yan was talking about?"

The district head waved his hand: "It's definitely not that kind of good news."

"Then call Director Wang from the district office. She used to be Lou Xiao'e's direct supervisor, so she knows the details best."

At the deputy district head's signal, the secretary turned to invite him.

Director Wang pushed open the door and saw the room full of leaders sitting upright. He was taken aback at first, but after hearing the reason, his heart skipped a beat: so Lou Xiao'e had such a powerful backer! Then he thought again—He Yuzhu was so young and yet at the same level as her, it was normal for him to have connections.

She didn't mince words, revealing in detail how Qian Youde had repeatedly made things difficult for Lou Xiao'e, even listing the donation details and the evaluation process clearly.

After listening, the district chief slammed his hand on the edge of the table, his knuckles turning white: "Nonsense! Lawless!"

His voice was strained, and he forced back the urge to shout. He turned to his secretary and yelled, "Xiao Li! Get Qian Youde and Ma Huaisheng here right now! If the neighborhood committee can't find them, go to their houses and block their doors!"

Those two bastards almost ruined his ten-year career! If this isn't suppressed, how can he face the deputy mayor?

In the courtyard, Lou Xiao'e completely ignored the offer of leniency from Deputy Director Zhang. Qian Youde, seething with anger, left dejectedly.

He lowered his head and smiled apologetically, but the other party pressed him even harder!

But the certificate of outstanding individual that the deputy district head had just awarded him made him uneasy; with Deputy Director Zhang still present, what if he sent the security team to arrest him? That would be like walking into the line of fire—if Deputy Director Zhang reported back, his job would probably be gone.

In the end, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and retreat with their tails between their legs.

After everyone left, Lou Xiao'e nodded to Old Wang: "It's alright now."

He turned and called to He Yushui, "Go back inside and put up the award certificates!"

A short while later, Yu Li rushed back, anxiously asking, "Xiao'e, the call is over! They told me to come back and wait for news. Did they give you any trouble?"

At this moment, Lou Xiao'e was standing on tiptoe, gesturing to the empty space on the wall of names—the wall was full of certificates of merit accumulated by He Yuzhu. It was finally her turn to have one, and she was wondering whether to put it next to Yuzhu's "Model Worker" or under "Technical Expert".

When Yu Li asked, she smiled and pressed the certificate against the wall, saying casually, "Afraid of him? What can a street office director do to me? If I wasn't afraid of causing trouble for Yu Zhu, I would have called his boss long ago."

"Alright, stop with the explanations. I need to tell Vice Mayor Yan the whole story you came up with, word for word."

The district head picked up the enamel mug, slowly sipped his tea, and remained calm.

If it weren't for years of self-restraint, that teacup should have been smashed in Qian Youde and Ma Huaisheng's faces long ago.

The official's hat was almost kicked away by two incompetent fools; just thinking about it makes me shudder.

After a few seconds of silence, Qian Youde stammered, "District Chief... this matter... there's really a misunderstanding..."

"Comrade Qian Youde, if you continue to play dumb, then don't blame the organization for acting according to the rules; to put it bluntly, you are deliberately framing the family of a meritorious person, forcibly labeling them as a 'retrograde' or 'capitalist roader'? You're quite adept at political maneuvering, but unfortunately, you've run into a tough nut this time."

The district head's lips curled into a sneer, and he added in a deep voice, "The top-secret project that Director He Yuzhu was involved in wasn't even reported to Vice Mayor Yan—and you guys, you've teamed up to target his family. Fine, since you're unwilling to tell me the truth, then just wait for the organization's investigation."

As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved for the two men to leave. These two were neither his confidants nor had any personal relationship with him, so there was no need for formalities.

Follow the procedures as required, act in accordance with the rules, and do not deviate from them in any way.

As soon as the door closed, the district head immediately dialed Vice Mayor Yan's number and clearly explained the whole story. He then sat down at his desk and quickly wrote a well-written investigation request, which was ready to be submitted the next day.

The report was submitted, and the investigation into Qian Youde and Ma Huaisheng officially began. The words I just spoke were meant to leave room for maneuver—after all, Qian Youde's framing had not yet been finalized, and there was still a chance for maneuver.

But since the other party wouldn't take the bait, he wasn't going to offer them another way out.

As soon as Qian Youde and Ma Huaisheng left the office, they turned around and headed backstage.

It's not that I don't want to humble myself and plead, but we've never had any dealings with each other before, and forcing my way in would just seem awkward. Rather than getting a cold shoulder, I'd rather ask someone I know to pull some strings.