Chapter 95: Whoever Reneges Is a Turtle

It's rare that Lu Cheng didn't make a mess, and Wu Guiwen was very pleased.

"Lu San'er, you've grown up; you can now contribute to our courtyard, not bad, not bad."

Lu Cheng laughed, "Teacher Wu, you're a cultured person; if you know how to praise, give me more praise, I love hearing it."

Wu Guiwen was startled for a moment, then looked at Lu Beitang: "Beitang, if we talk about enlightenment in our courtyard, you're the highest; you're often rated by the Steel Factory as an outstanding worker, and your family leads the demolition of illegal constructions, so you should have no objections, right?"

Wu Guiwen truly lived up to being a teacher; a few sentences pinned Lu Beitang down.

Lu Beitang opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing; however, Chen Xianglan was no soft peach, and immediately tossed the half‑torn Woolen Pants, stood up, and voiced her displeasure.

"Teacher Wu, what do you mean! You're a teacher, I respect you, but the way you handled this today is not proper; everyone else has illegal constructions, why didn't you let others be demolished first?"

Wu Guiwen was awkward for a moment: "When the heads of the household discuss matters, you, Comrade woman, should not get involved."

Chen Xianglan, upon hearing that, jumped up: "Whoa, what's wrong with women? Women can also hold up half the sky; Teacher Wu, weren't you born a woman?"

"You... you..."

"My old Lu didn't take a stance, that was out of respect for you, but you still can't bully an honest person!"

Chen Xianglan waved her hand, clearly adopting a stance of, "If you dare demolish my Chicken Coop, I'll fight you to the end."

Regarding the illegal constructions, Zhao Daye was reluctant to take a position, and Wu Guiwen, seeing this, could only soothe.

"Xianglan, try not to get worked up; this isn't targeting only your family, everything will be dismantled gradually. Let me do some ideological work; you start the first step, and the rest will be easy to take down!"

Chen Xianglan, still angry, wanted to speak, and Lu Cheng handed the finished bowl and chopsticks to his sister.

"Mom, Mom, don't get worked up; anger harms the body."

"You stinky brat, why is your elbow bent outward!"

Chen Xianglan was very dissatisfied; Lu Cheng gave her a reassuring look, and only then did Chen Xianglan sit down skeptically.

"Teacher Wu, you just became the decision‑maker today; we ought to support your work," Lu Cheng paused, then continued.

"Then as you say, in our Grand Courtyard we should plant some trees and such; let's just give up the Chicken Coop, and you pay to buy a pomegranate tree to plant."

When asked what use a pomegranate tree would have, Chen Xianglan straightened her back, only to be pressed down again by Lu Cheng.

"Teacher Wu, as a teacher and as the decision‑maker, you keep saying it's for the good of our courtyard; you should have that level of enlightenment, right?"

Wu Guiwen began scratching his head; he just wanted to take responsibility for the various courtyard affairs, grab a bit of petty authority, and wondered how to raise the money.

"Hehe, fine then, as long as you're willing to demolish the Chicken Coop, I'll pay for a pomegranate tree, consider it a contribution to everyone."

Lu Cheng quickly took over: "Everyone be a witness; whoever backs out is a Turtle!"

Wu Guiwen began hesitating; he always felt that Lu San'er had no good intentions, but the conversation had already reached this point, so he could only give his word.

"No problem, I'll buy it, I'll buy it, but we must agree that your family's Chicken Coop must be demolished."

Getting a steel rooster to pull a single feather isn't easy.

Lu Cheng immediately said, "The Chicken Coop will definitely be demolished, but I thought, look, there are so many children in our courtyard; for the pomegranate tree to grow strong, shouldn't we fence it off and protect it?"

Wu Guiwen unconsciously nodded, "That should be protected, but how?"

Lu Cheng pretended to think, then suddenly tapped his forehead: "Teacher Wu, see, my mother thought ahead, already fenced it with wooden sticks, only missing your pomegranate tree, so we won't have to demolish, nor rebuild later."

Wu Guiwen finally caught on, "Hey, isn't this a Chicken Coop?"

"How can this be called a Chicken Coop? If you plant a pomegranate tree there, it becomes a flower bed."

"Flower bed?"

"Yes, the greening along Jingcheng Main Road is done like this: first it serves protection, second it's aesthetic."

Wu Guiwen got impatient, "Isn't this you? Turning the Chicken Coop into a flower bed?"

Lu Cheng said confidently, "Ah, isn't this exactly what you asked for? Doing greening in our courtyard, not off‑topic!"

Below, Pang Ya and Sun Yan Hong could no longer hold back their laughter; Lu Cheng was teasing Teacher Wu.

Wu Guiwen also realized something was off, "Then, will you raise chickens in the flower bed later?"

Lu Cheng thought for a moment, "I think, for the tree to grow better, it needs fertilizer. So, since Teacher Wu is paying for the tree, my family will take a small loss, pay for chickens, and later the chicken droppings can serve as fertilizer for the tree."

Isn't this still a Chicken Coop? It's just a different wording, now it's raising chickens in a flower bed.

When Lu Cheng spoke, others, not wanting to fall behind, said, "Then Teacher Wu, if you pay for several more trees, we'll make more flower beds; we're willing to pay for chickens, fertilize the trees properly, and make the courtyard's greening beautiful."

Wu Guiwen paced a few steps, angrily saying, "What flower beds? You all really just want to raise chickens! Let's adjourn, we'll talk later."

Lu Cheng stood there, "Teacher Wu, don't forget to buy the pomegranate tree."

Chen Xianglan grabbed her son, "I'm not after his pomegranate tree."

"It's fine, Mom, once a pomegranate tree is planted inside, when it bears fruit we'll have a waterside pavilion, and in summer the shade will protect the chickens from sun—two birds with one stone."

Chen Xianglan, thinking it made sense, immediately shouted toward Wu Guiwen's back, "Teacher Wu, don't forget the pomegranate tree you promised; otherwise who's the Turtle, we have a flower bed, not a Chicken Coop."

Wu Guiwen waved his hand and hurried back inside.

Being the decision‑maker, the Chicken Coop wasn't demolished, yet a tree was planted for nothing.

This Lu San'er just knows he can't hold his gas.

A perfectly fine Chicken Coop was turned into a flower bed, making it impossible to demolish.

The courtyard people laughed and dispersed; Lu Cheng walked to the front, sat down, and took out a pack of cigarettes.

Zhao Daye took a cigarette, "Yo, this is a special‑supply smoke; you kid are doing well now, keep it up, don't embarrass your dad."

Lu Cheng exhaled a puff, "Zhao Daye, regarding today's matter, I wasn't targeting Teacher Wu, so don't be angry with me."

Zhao Daye waved his hand, "No, no, Teacher Wu probably got used to being a teacher and thinks everyone here is his student; say a word and others have to listen. But think about it, our courtyard houses all kinds of people, like a Little Jianghu; if you want to demolish, demolish everything, if you don't, don't single out any family first, otherwise who would agree!"

But in this courtyard, once Zhao Daye steps back, only Teacher Wu is suitable to be the decision‑maker.

Wu Guiwen was also willing; seeing retirement near, accustomed to being respected at school, after retiring he wanted to seize the decision‑maker role to continue being respected in Da Za Yuan.

Wu Guiwen is also willing to do it, seeing that retirement is imminent; having become accustomed to being respected in the school, after retiring he wants to quickly get the decision‑maker in his hand, so that he can continue to be respected in Da Za Yuan.

Lu Cheng stood up, "Sister Qing Yan, you're back, I have something to ask you. Zhao Daye, I'll go back to my room now."

Lu Cheng stood up: "Qing Yanjie, you're back, I have something to ask you. Zhao Daye, then I'll go back to my room first."

Zhao Daye waves his hand: "Hey, get some rest early."

It's still about his sister Lu Ying; with these few days off and time on his hands, he must hurry to find that damn famous poet.

To avoid it turning into affection, everything is already too late.