Chapter 463: The Rescuers Have Arrived

Lu Jingzhang is right; the fiery‑clan status does not grant immunity from death, and anyone who makes a mistake should be treated the same.

That's correct; if anyone has difficulties in life, as Revolutionary Comrades we can offer help, but Laimao really is out of line, and I've long wanted to give him a lesson.

Laimao, you were on night duty last night, so you must have been drinking again! I noticed that whenever it's your turn on night duty, the Heating never gets hot, and it has woken me up freezing several times in the middle of the night…

No wonder; I kept wondering why it's cold every few days, and it turns out you were slacking off on duty.

You really deserve a lesson…

For a moment, everyone started scolding Laimao, and Youcai and Da Hai didn't know what to say either.

Mainly, everyone already had grievances against Laimao; previously, out of consideration for his fiery‑clan status, they had tolerated him.

But today, with a leader emerging, they were no longer intimidated by Laimao's fiery‑clan status, and the pent‑up emotions erupted.

Seizing the moment of high spirits, Lu Cheng immediately said: "Verbal admonition alone is useless; if we want to reform a person, we must completely transform both mind and body, so that they can be reborn.

So, let him stay shackled here, let him reflect, and once he fully realizes his mistake, I'll release him."

When Lu Cheng finished speaking, everyone unanimously agreed; not a single person felt sorry for Laimao.

We still have to make breakfast, so the commotion ends here.

Watching everyone disperse, laughing and chatting, Laimao was truly panicked.

"Hey, don't all leave, I'm still being shackled here, let me go…".

Being shackled here is the lesser evil; the real problem is that Lu Cheng just doused me over the head with two buckets of water, soaking my clothes.

Laimao could only feel his whole body shivering from the cold.

He despises Lu Jingzhang, because others hadn't even begun to respect his fiery‑clan status, yet this Lu dares to treat him this way.

Anger made his body no longer feel cold, and Laimao shouted loudly: "Fine, you all leave; I'll just make a bigger fuss, get it into the leaders' ears."

These relatives may not respect him, but the superiors, recalling his father's meritorious death in service, will surely side with him.

In fact, just as Laimao thought, in a place like the Family Courtyard, any family's little incident spreads quickly throughout the Grand Courtyard.

The news of Laimao being shackled also quickly reached the General Affairs Section.

That department mainly handles the Family Courtyard's food, drink, sanitation, and sleep, plus house repairs, road maintenance, and labor insurance.

That morning, Lu Cheng thought he couldn't just eat for free, so he helped the inconvenienced Mei Ju carry up a hundred coal lumps, then sat in the corridor chatting with neighbors.

Room 306, next to Mei Ju, was also a newly‑wed couple; the husband worked in the Railway communications department.

The wife taught at the Railway elementary school; both were cultured and spoke very politely.

Room 305, however, was different: a stout woman with two children, a mother‑in‑law, a younger sister‑in‑law, and her husband, six people cramped into one room.

Mei Ju said that family liked to take advantage, so she told Lu Cheng to limit contact with them.

Lu Cheng hadn't taken it seriously; as a single man who rarely stayed here, he had no coal stove, no pots and pans, no oil, salt, sauce, or vinegar…

Even the bedding he slept on last night was provided by Mei Ju, so that family couldn't take advantage of him at all.

But Lu Cheng still underestimated the stout woman's determination to take advantage.

Everyone was chatting happily, when the stout woman surnamed Fang suddenly changed the subject.

"Hey, Junior Lu Jingzhang, listen, this house isn't scary to live in, but it's scary when it's empty; living in it won't ruin it, but leaving it empty makes it prone to termites."

"So, since you don't live here much, why not let my mother‑in‑law move in; that way the house won't decay and you'll also gain some 'popularity'."

"Ah, speaking of popularity, it's really crucial; a house without foot traffic is like a haunted house—people who enter feel cold sweat on their backs."

That woman surnamed Fang was so talkative that Lu Cheng couldn't get a word in.

When his gaze fell on the woman's room, Lu Cheng couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.

He saw the mother‑in‑law the woman mentioned, appearing to be over eighty, apparently with some chronic ailment.

At that age, who knows when she might suddenly pass away.

If Lu Cheng agreed to the woman's proposal and let that mother‑in‑law move into his house, the house would truly become a haunted dwelling.

"How about it, Junior Lu Jingzhang? Rest assured, if you ever come back to live, I'll have my mother‑in‑law move out temporarily, and when you leave we'll move her back in, so it won't affect your life."

Lu Cheng let out two chuckles; this isn't a small favor, it's a huge one.

Even Wu Laoshi, the stingiest resident in the courtyard, couldn't claim his home was too cramped to ask to borrow someone's room.

Being neither kin nor close, this Fang dama really dared to speak up.

Since he barely knew the other party, Lu Cheng certainly couldn't agree.

Moreover, in his previous life he had seen many cases of houses being seized by others.

Because houses haven't entered the commodity‑housing era yet, they can't be bought or sold freely; they're built and allocated uniformly by the unit.

The ownership of these tube‑type buildings belongs to the unit and the collective.

Later, when demolition comes, those who lent their houses to friends or relatives begin to argue, even fight, over the huge stakes.

He said the house was allocated to him by the unit back then, and now they want to reclaim it.

Another person said, I've lived here for decades; the neighbors all know this is my house and can testify for me.

In the end it turned into a messy, historically‑leftover case that's hard to litigate.

Lu Cheng wouldn't feel sorry for such people, so he tossed out a random excuse to brush them off.

He said, "Fang dama, I'm only staying at my mother's for now, but I'm about to get married, so I'll definitely move in to create a little world for two."

With Lu Cheng saying that, it instantly became a marital home; even if Fang dama's skin were thick, she couldn't appropriate someone else's happy house.

"Ah, well, okay then, Big Aunt just thinks your house being empty is a pity, just mentioned casually…"

Lu Cheng smiled and said nothing more.

At that moment, in front of the iron pole where clothes were drying downstairs, Laimao suddenly shouted with joy.

"Song Director, you finally came, hurry and save me, I was shackled by a Turtle and almost froze to death."

Song Director of the General Affairs Section is in charge of heating for the Family Courtyard.

Laimao is a worker under him, and when he heard someone say Laimao had been shackled by Railway police, he didn't believe it.

Even if Laimao said a few things they shouldn't have, you still can't handcuff a person here, in the bitter cold, and even pour water over them.

"What's wrong with you, Laimao, are you throwing away people from our General Affairs Department!" Song Director hurried up to check, tugged at the handcuffs a few times, trying to free Laimao.

Otherwise, keeping them handcuffed here while relatives come and go would only give the General Affairs Department more jokes.

But tugging a few times didn't open it at all; instead it made Laimao cry out in pain.

These are handcuffs; without a dedicated key they can't be opened, and the iron pole next to them used for hanging clothes is also very sturdy.

The base is filled with cement; unless you dig a big pit, you can't pull the handcuffs out along the pole.

But even if you pull it out, it's useless, because the other end of the handcuffs is still shackled to Laimao's arm; in the end, you still need a key to open them.

"Stop screaming, who actually shackled you? I'll go find them!"

Laimao immediately pointed with the other hand to the opposite third floor: "Song Director, it's him, you see, he still has the face to chat with people there, you hurry up and go find him, slap him a few times."

"Train Police think they're great, but I'm still the workers' big brother!"