Chapter 8

People have pretty much all arrived, right? Now we convene the courtyard-wide meeting. Please invite our venerable elder to speak. The opening remarks are always made by Liu Haizhong.

Today we've gathered everyone for this courtyard meeting; there are a few things I want to emphasize. Yi Zhonghai said slowly and deliberately, then after finishing he picked up his teacup and took a sip, looking every bit the leader.

Our courtyard is a civilized compound; we value respect for elders, neighbors helping each other, and of course, without rules nothing can be square— the state has its laws, and our courtyard has our rules. Yi Zhonghai always puts respect for elders first at meetings; he constantly tries to instill that idea in everyone, fundamentally because he has no children and fears that when he grows old no one will respect him. Thus Yan Butgui's little schemes are nothing before Yi Zhonghai.

Li Bin, I ask you: your brother came to live at your place—did you greet us three Household Managers? You know the Military Control Committee created the Household Manager post to prevent enemy agents, yet now a stranger has moved into your home and you didn't utter a word, nor did you greet us—you're simply outrageous. Yi Zhonghai said this and then slammed his teacup down hard on the table.

Li Bin and his brother never expected that Yi Zhonghai's calling this courtyard-wide meeting was aimed at them; Li Bin was about to speak when Li Qiang grabbed him.

May I ask, sir, with such authority, what rank official are you? Li Qiang asked.

Yi Zhonghai, asked by Li Qiang, truly didn't know how to answer—the Household Manager is just a voluntary worker, with no pay and no administrative rank; Li Qiang's question felt like a verbal attack aimed at the heart.

Do I have to report to you just for staying two days at my older brother's place? Are you the police station or the Military Control Committee? Or are you saying these two departments have regulations that require relatives staying over to register with you Household Managers, and only with your permission can they stay? I'd like to ask the neighbors: doesn't anyone ever have relatives or friends come over? Li Qiang asked.

Yeah, what's it to you if someone's younger brother comes to stay at his older brother's house?

Yeah, like a dog catching mice—meddling in other people's business.

I think they're just idle, looking for trouble to show off their Household Manager status. The neighbors, hearing Li Qiang say that, began to gossip. Currently Yi Zhonghai's prestige isn't as high as in the original story; he's only slightly above Liu Haizhong and Yan Butgui, so the neighbors really aren't afraid of the three Household Managers.

Yi Zhonghai's face turned livid with anger upon hearing the neighbors' gossip, yet he couldn't find any reason to rebut.

Then I ask you: who approved your private repairs to the west wing? Don't you know housing in the courtyard is tight? You actually want to occupy three rooms all by yourself—that's outright greed. Yi Zhonghai could only change the subject.

So what do you mean? Li Qiang asked with a smile.

From the start I said our courtyard is a civilized compound; neighbors should help each other. One person can't possibly need three rooms—the Jia family of three lives in just one room. I decided you should take one room and give the other two to the Jia family, after all the Jia's daughter-in-law is pregnant; once the baby arrives they'll need even more space, so one room is plenty for you. Yi Zhonghai spoke with utter righteousness.

What do you mean you get to decide? Who do you think you are? I said why the rush to call this courtyard meeting—it's obviously so your disciple's family can seize my house, and why do I need your approval to repair my own home? Li Qiang sneered.

Li Qiang, stop being shameless—don't you dare think I won't throw you out of this courtyard? Yi Zhonghai flew into a rage; no one had ever dared to speak to him like that in front of so many people, it was a huge loss of face.

Exactly, not only kick him out, but also evict Li Bin's whole family. Jia Zhangshi immediately chimed in.

Captain Hu, please explain to everyone why I'm occupying three rooms and who authorized you to come repair the house. Li Qiang now relied on reason against Yi Zhonghai.

Good day, neighbors, I'm Hu Changming, captain of the Repair Team under the Housing Section of Yagangchang. I've come under the order of Factory Director Yang of Yagangchang to repair the house of Section Chief Li. Li is the Section Chief of the Security Section; by rank he should be assigned to the cadres' building, but he voluntarily gave up that housing to live nearer his brother Li Bin, so the factory decided to allocate the west wing of the rear courtyard to him. I don't know whether in your courtyard the Household Managers outrank Factory Director Yang, or if you treat the courtyard as an independent kingdom where the Household Managers are the local emperors and everything needs their approval—don't forget that Courtyard No. 95 is under joint jurisdiction of the Military Control Committee and Yagangchang. Captain Hu said slowly, adding that most of the residents of Courtyard No. 95 work at Yagangchang, and later the superiors assigned the courtyard to the factory to house its workers.

The neighbors hearing Captain Hu's words all sucked in a breath of cold air—they hadn't expected that Li Bin's brother was actually the Section Chief of Yagangchang's Security Section, that the west wing had been allocated to him by the factory, and that he had voluntarily given up cadres' housing; to ordinary folk, living in the cadres' building is a big deal.

What, Li Qiang is actually the Section Chief of the Security Section? Upon hearing Captain Hu's words, Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong felt a huge wave surge inside. As longtime workers at Yagangchang they of course knew the weight of that post; they themselves were merely intermediate technicians, and there are scores of people like them at the factory, yet they had actually offended the Section Chief of the Security Section.

In 1952 the eight‑grade worker system hadn't been implemented yet; Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong were still intermediate technicians—Yi Zhonghai a fitter, Liu Haizhong a blacksmith.

Section Chief Li, it's a misunderstanding, all of it Yi Zhonghai's fault—he said you came to the courtyard and didn't even greet this elder, how arrogant! Tonight's courtyard‑wide meeting was his idea. Liu Haizhong immediately stabbed Yi Zhonghai in the back, as the saying goes, "comrades in death, not in poverty." Liu Haizhong clearly saw that Yi Zhonghai and Li Qiang were on completely different levels, so without hesitation he chose to side with Li Qiang. In Liu Haizhong's mind, as long as he got on good terms with Li Qiang, a word to the leadership would be enough—he could even hope to become an official, even a mere squad leader would do.

Liu Haizhong... Yi Zhonghai couldn't believe Liu Haizhong had so directly sold him out; he pointed at Liu Haizhong, too angry to utter a word.

Section Chief Li, although I'm one of the three elders of this courtyard, I truly didn't know about convening the courtyard‑wide meeting—it was Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong who decided and then informed me. I also didn't realize they were targeting you today; had I known I would have warned you in advance. Yan Butgui's attitude was more frank. In fact Yan Butgui wanted to get on good terms with Li Qiang; never mind that as a Section Chief Li Qiang would surely have good things coming his way—if he stayed on Li Qiang's good side, his son could get a job at Yagangchang with just a word from Li Qiang. Taking advantage of opportunities has always been Yan Butgui's principle; even if he had to betray his own father, as long as the stake was big enough he could do it.

You... Yi Zhonghai couldn't believe that both of them had stabbed him in the back one after another?

Pfft—Yi Zhonghai spat out a mouthful of blood and went limp on the ground.

The elder was frightened into vomiting blood! the neighbors shouted, loving the spectacle.

Qiangzi, what do we do? Don't let anyone get killed, Li Bin asked anxiously.

It's fine, he's just overcome with anger; it's not serious, Li Qiang said.

Old Yi, what's wrong? an old lady saw Yi Zhonghai faint on the ground and rushed over.

Press the philtrum, or if not, splash some cold water on his face, Li Qiang reminded.

I'll do it, Liu Haizhong said, then ran straight to the faucet—who knows whose laundry basin was still there, he filled a basin with water and splashed it on Yi Zhonghai's face; it was early spring, and even in the capital the nights were still chilly.

Yi Zhonghai was brought to by the basin of cold water.

Old lady, help me home, Yi Zhonghai said weakly; the old lady helped him up and they walked slowly toward his house.

Seeing there was no more spectacle to watch, the neighbors didn't wait for the meeting to be adjourned—they all went home.