Chapter 224: Yi Zhonghai to be carried out five days later

Please Director He say a few words.

Applause sounded.

Regardless of false affection.

Or perhaps feigned intent.

At the very least, this applause, the neighbors gave Shazhu enough face, the drums booming loudly.

According to Shazhu's wishes, he didn't actually want to be this elder, but thinking of the neighbors' behavior, he decided to thicken his skin and say a few words.

No other meaning.

Want to publicly state his stance.

What he was like before, he'll stay the same; becoming canteen director won't make him put on a show of one person achieving Dao and chickens and dogs ascending to heaven for the neighbors.

Want to pour some cold water on the neighbors.

When Liu Haizhong just revealed the good news that Shazhu had become Yagangchang canteen director, the neighbors who didn't know this suddenly had their eyes fill with a vampiric longing.

Shazhu, reborn in this life, knows this look all too well.

In his previous life.

When Qin Huairu was sucking Shazhu's blood, it was this kind of vampire gaze: "You can help me, you must help me, if you don't help me I can't live."

No one can fall twice in the same place in a row.

Want to shape an upright, impartial image for himself before the neighbors.

Under the neighbors' suspicious gazes.

Shazhu squeezed out of the crowd.

He walked up to Liu Haizhong, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and scanned the neighbors.

The Second Elder proposed that I say a few words; if I don't say a few words, I'm worried the neighbors will scold me, saying I'm just a petty canteen director, yet you let me speak a few words and you're putting on airs; to prevent the neighbors from stabbing He Yuzhu in the back, I reluctantly say a few words.

The atmosphere on site.

Had eased considerably.

Shazhu's joking opening remarks eased many neighbors' hearts; at first, they all worried Shazhu would try to intimidate them.

For example, Qin Huairu.

Again, for example, Liu Haizhong.

They are people who don't get along with Shazhu.

They didn't see Yi Zhonghai become a Level 8 Technician at Yagangchang, still showing off his might in the courtyard.

Moreover, Shazhu became director.

Actually, they overthought it.

First, I declare one point: what I was like before, I'll still be like that afterward; becoming Yagangchang canteen director won't separate me from the broad masses of neighbors, which is wrong and mistaken. In the compound, I'm just an ordinary resident; for small matters, the head elder decides; for big matters, the street office and police station comrades handle them.

Liu Haizhong's heart.

It landed.

He most feared that Shazhu, relying on his position as canteen director, would vie with him for the head elder's authority in the courtyard.

Canteen director and Level Seven Technician.

How to choose.

Even a fool knows to choose the former.

If Shazhu really competed with Liu Haizhong, Liu Haizhong could only obediently admit defeat.

Just now someone said I became canteen director, which is a fact; this afternoon Yagangchang announced the appointment; when I was the squad leader of the second canteen, I served all the workers who went to eat there; as canteen director, I oversee the management of ten canteens; I serve all Yagangchang workers; becoming canteen director won't make me glorified in some way, it won't!

The tone shifted.

The tone grew heavier accordingly.

The neighbors all know what kind of person I am; I again declare that I will not engage in favoritism and lawbreaking; to avoid troubling the neighbors, let them keep their mouths shut—public is public, private is private; I'd rather the neighbors scold me for being unsentimental than fail to keep things even, to live up to the four words 'fair and just'.

Well said.

A cheer.

Came from the doorway.

It interrupted Shazhu's speaking rhythm and also drew the neighbors' gazes.

Looking in the direction of the sound.

He discovered that the person cheering was actually Director Wang of the street office, accompanied by two comrades.

The neighbors' hearts.

In an instant, they hung midair.

Recently these past two days.

The courtyard folk were panic-stricken.

Adults have adult worries, children have children's cares.

Each time the comrades appeared, they took someone away from the courtyard: first Yi Zhonghai, then Jia Zhangshi and Bangeng.

Seeing the director lead comrades to the door, everyone wildly speculated whether this time they'd take Qin Huairu away.

With the exposure of the letter, Qin Huairu bumped her head against a pole for nothing, and the neighbors all knew she was performing a bitter ploy.

Mainly, Qin Huairu broke down last night.

The neighbors, unable to see the letter's contents, could only imagine and mistakenly thought that Jia Dongxu's leftover letter explained how Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai were cavorting, how she was deceiving herself, and that in the incident where Yi Zhonghai might have killed Jia Dongxu, Qin Huairu might even be the mastermind behind the scenes.

The neighbors had heard the tale of Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian, and knew that Wu Dalang was sent off by a bowl of poison from Pan Jinlian.

Yi Zhonghai is Ximen Qing.

Pan Jinlian is Qin Huairu.

Jia Dongxu is Wu Dalang.

Too bad.

Jia Zhangshi is not Wu Song; she can even discard the evidence her own son gave her—she's nothing short of a stupid pig.

The neighbors all thought Qin Huairu's affair had been exposed.

Their gaze quickly fell on Qin Huairu; among the twenty-odd households, the one who most hoped Qin Huairu would get into trouble and be taken away by the comrades was undoubtedly the Yan family in the front courtyard.

Qin Huairu's scheming had become a nightmare hanging over the Yan family.

In Yan Fugui's own words, as long as Qin Huairu doesn't die, the Yan family will never have peace.

Really strange.

Passing up a perfectly good young lady, Yan Jiecheng insists on marrying a widow who brought a green hat to her husband's family and lacks womanly virtue.

It would be best if the comrades came for Qin Huairu and took her away.

They didn't even let the person speak.

Yan Fugui rushed forward to meet them.

"Director, comrades, you're here for Qin Huairu, right?"

They couldn't wait for Qin Huairu to die soon.

He pointed his hand at Qin Huairu from afar.

"She's over there—did the director come to find him himself, or did I round up a few people to summon Qin Huairu?"

Qin Huairu's face turned deathly pale.

The Yan family's farce.

As the party involved, she naturally knew.

Deep in her heart.

She also thought the comrades were coming for her; yesterday she even recalled that before Jia Dongxu's death, they had argued and he had cursed Qin Huairu as an immoral scoundrel.

Bitterness welled up endlessly in her heart.

She didn't know how to face these people before her.

Just as she hesitated about whether to confess.

Director Wang spoke up.

"Yan Fugui, you're the Siheyuan's Second Steward and a schoolteacher—how can you engage in such groundless speculation? Who said we're here for Qin Huairu?"

From hell to heaven.

A hair's breadth away.

Qin Huairu had already decided in her heart how she would die.

She inexplicably felt a surge of pride.

Her back straightened up considerably.

It wasn't aimed at her.

Then who was it aimed at?

Could it be Shazhu?

After all, the letter was found rummaging through Shazhu's home.

Worry for her future welled up; despite Shazhu's earlier grandiose words, Qin Huairu still wouldn't give up.

She was thinking about how to profit from Shazhu's benefits.

If this damn thing gets taken away, the cafeteria director will surely be in trouble.

What will she do then?

"It's not Qin Huairu," Yan Fugui said dejectedly. "Then who is it?"

"Eldest Aunt, we've come to find you."

Eldest Aunt sprang up in a fluster.

"Looking for me?"

"Regarding Yi Zhonghai's matter, a conclusion was reached this afternoon; he will be sent away in five days."

This departure.

Not that departure.

Meaning death.

The neighbors within the courtyard.

Each feeling a mix of emotions.

This also includes Shazhu, who admits he is not an emotional person; Yi Zhonghai remains his rival, and since his rebirth they have been estranged—even if Yi Zhonghai thick‑skinnedly seeks reconciliation, Shazhu gives him no pleasant face; upon suddenly hearing that Yi Zhonghai will be sent away in five days, Shazhu's feelings are indescribable, and he stands frozen in place.

People like Liu Haizhong, Yan Fugui, and others.

They more or less share this sentiment.

Who is Yi Zhonghai?

A Level 8 Technician at Yagangchang and the Head Steward of the Siheyuan—these two titles left the courtyard's neighbors with no grounds to complain, and they had suppressed Liu Haizhong for over twenty years.

Such a figure is about to die.

Four days ago.

Four days ago, Yi Zhonghai was still in the courtyard, convening a general meeting in his capacity as Head Steward, focusing on grain conservation and aiding needy households; at the meeting he also listed the Jia Family as one of his assistance targets.

Four days later.

Yi Zhonghai is to be sent away for having killed Jia Dongxu's murderer, acting against Qin Huairu's wishes, and having killed the deaf old lady.

Such a tremendous contrast.

That is the real reason the neighbors feel uncomfortable.

No one had expected it.

Within four days.

Yi Zhonghai not only lost his reputation and status, but also had no way to make a living.

Ah!

In the crowd.

A sigh was heard.

It's unclear whether it's lamenting Yi Zhonghai's death or regretting that he couldn't survive.

"What does he want from me?"

"He said he wants to settle his affairs; please come with us."

"Okay."

The elder woman followed the director and comrades away.

Liu Haizhong gestured as if to announce the meeting's end.

Yan Fugui unexpectedly raised his hand.

"Old Liu, don't break up the meeting yet; I have something to say, something concerning our neighbors' common interests."

The crowd that was about to disperse.

Gathered together again.

Everyone wanted to hear what matter concerning them Yan Fugui was going to say.

At the courtyard meeting.

Yan Fugui rarely speaks up.

It's always Liu Haizhong and Yi Zhonghai showing off.

"Recently, especially these past four or five days, many shocking things have happened in our courtyard; I don't need to say, the neighbors have already guessed."

Yan Fugui counted on his fingers.

He listed them one by one.

"The deaf old lady was beaten and killed by Yi Zhonghai; I thought it was just one matter, but who would have thought it also involved Jia Dongxu's death and the mystery of Huaihua's background—the Huaihua surnamed Jia is actually surnamed Yi. Others don't mention it, but I myself, when I go to school to attend class, students ask, teachers ask, even students' parents ask."

Shazhu understood Yan Fugui's meaning.

Pressed by Yan Jiecheng.

We must eradicate the threat at its root.

Once and for all drive the Jia family out of the courtyard.

With the Jia family gone, Qin Huairu gone, Yan Jiecheng no longer causing trouble, the Yan family's disgraceful threat also disappears.

Pondering.

What Yan Fugui said makes sense.

Many things start with the Jia family or revolve around it: Jia Zhangshi's shrewishness, Jia Dongxu's death, Bangeng's sneaky behavior, and the right and wrong between Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai.

If the Jia family were truly gone.

These petty trifles would also disappear.

The problem is.

Carrying this out presents some difficulty.

Qin Huairu is a worker at the steel mill; the Jia family's house belongs to the mill, so as long as Qin Huairu works there a day, the Jia family has the right to use and reside in the house.

Unless Qin Huairu is fired by the steel mill and the mill reclaims the house's usage and residency rights.

The big show of crashing into the pillar.

Plus Yi Zhonghai's grand undertakings.

Qin Huairu is now in the role of victim.

In the letter left by Jia Dongxu, it's unknown whether it exposes Qin Huairu's secrets; based on the comrades' earlier search for the elder woman, yet they didn't take Qin Huairu away, we can analyze.

The letter left by the short‑lived ghost is basically worthless.

Therefore Yan Fugui's proposal can only be empty talk.

"I feel embarrassed to answer, but regarding this child Bangeng, I'll ask our neighbors: which family hasn't been harmed by Bangeng? The Xu Daming family, the Shazhu family, also suffered Bangeng's vicious hands—small theft needles, big theft gold. If this continues, our courtyard will be seen as a den of thieves in outsiders' eyes. How will the girls marry? How will the young men take wives? I, Yan Fugui, am determined to play the villain; I propose to drive the Jia family out of our courtyard. The house belongs to the steel mill, no doubt, and Qin Huairu is also a steel mill worker, no doubt. But I want to tell the neighbors: everyone gather firewood to make the flame high; as long as we unite, the street office cannot ignore us. Those in agreement, raise your hand."

Yan Fugui raised his hand high.

Liu Haizhong hesitated a moment.

He also raised his arm.

Once the Jia family is driven out of the courtyard, the neighbors can all profit.

The first to benefit is the house.

Liu Guangfu, as a child of a steel mill worker, has already entered the mill as an apprentice; once he becomes regular staff, he will be eligible for housing.

Liu Haizhong knows housing is scarce.

Driving the Jia family out of the courtyard invisibly adds an extra house.

The meat rotted in the pot.

Even if Liu Guangfu doesn't get a share, other steel mill workers can.

Originating from self-interest.

The neighbors all raised their arms.

Passed unanimously.

Qin Huairu was completely dumbfounded.

The backing has collapsed, prospects are grim, and now even the house in the Siheyuan cannot be retained.

「I object; this house was allocated to our Jia Family by Yagangchang, and I disagree. 」

「Qin Huairu, don't worry; the house allocated to you by Yagangchang, Yagangchang naturally has the right to reclaim it; your Jia Family staying in our Siheyuan is really unsuitable, rest assured, after Yagangchang takes back your house, they will definitely allocate a new house to you, possibly even an apartment building where you don't need to go outside to use the toilet. 」

Going to the grave to burn paper money.

Stirring up trouble in the lake.

Those who received apartment buildings are people who made outstanding contributions to Yagangchang: advanced individuals in the workshop, labor models in the factory, and some technical innovation experts.

Qin Huairu is still a hundred and eight thousand miles away from being an advanced individual, a labor model, or a technical innovation expert.

He slacks off every day.

Countless people despise him.

Such a person.

Does he deserve to receive the factory's commendation apartment?

「Qin Huairu, it's not easy for you as a widow and orphan; in this freezing weather, you're still washing clothes outside, your hands frozen red; if you moved into the apartment building, you wouldn't need to go out to wash clothes, nor queue to use the toilet. 」

Yan Fugui smiled disgustingly.

Looking at him, he's almost like a thousand-year-old fox.

「Qin Huairu, you've hit the jackpot—an apartment building where the toilet is inside the home. 」