Siheyuan: Survival Guide for Courtyard No. 95

At around 6 o'clock in the evening, Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui's children began knocking on doors from house to house.

"Director Wang is here. He's going to hold a hospital-wide meeting. Everyone needs to be present. It's cold outside, so please wear more clothes."

Zhao Shanhe, who had been prepared and was about to fall asleep from waiting, took a stool and strolled towards the central courtyard. When he arrived, most people in the courtyard had already arrived. He found a corner sheltered from the wind, sat down, pushed his hat down, put his hands in his pockets, and waited for the meeting to start.

Seeing Zhao Shanhe coming, Xu Damao also moved his stool over.

"Shanhe, do you know why Director Wang came here today? I heard that the people from the street office came before 6 o'clock and have been visiting every household. I was still waiting for the people from the street office to come to my house, but I didn't expect that they would go straight to a meeting."

Zhao Shanhe could only play dumb at this time. He couldn't tell Xu Damao that Director Wang came today to deal with Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhang. Xu Damao was such a big mouth that he couldn't hide anything at all.

"I don't know either. I'm having dinner at home. You know I've been running around the countryside all day long. I'm so tired. How can I care about other things?

Just wait, whatever it is, Director Wang will definitely tell you when the meeting starts."

A few minutes later, Director Wang and two staff members from the street office walked to the table in the middle of the yard. Usually, three old men sat here, but today they were replaced.

Director Wang sat down on the chair in the middle and glanced at the entire audience. The voices of the people in the courtyard gradually died down. This was the power of Director Wang. She had worked in Nanluoguxiang for so many years and her reputation was still very loud.

"Dear residents of No. 95 Courtyard, some of you already know the main topic of this meeting I am holding today, but some of you still don't know because our street office staff cannot ask you one by one due to time constraints. Let me explain it to you here.

This morning, someone went to the subdistrict office to report in real name that Yi Zhonghai, a big uncle in Yard 95, was trying to restore feudalism in the yard and had the final say. They said that ever since he accepted Jia Dongxu as his apprentice, he began to seriously favor the Jia family in the Middle Courtyard and was unable to be fair and just as a big uncle in charge. Also reported was Zhang Cuihua, who was said to have extorted money, stolen things, and engaged in feudal superstition in the yard.

Through our staff's visit just now, we have confirmed that part of the reported content is true. Yi Zhonghai, Jia Zhangshi, do you two have anything to say?"

After Director Wang finished saying these words, before the old man could even open his mouth, Jia Zhang started howling first.

"Director Wang, I am innocent. How could I be accused of being a feudal superstitious person? How could I be accused of extortion? Who stole something? Ask him if he dares to confront me.

There must be someone in the courtyard who is jealous of our Jia family. Director, you can't just listen to one side and believe it."

Jia Zhang still thought that her previous tactics would still work, but she never expected that someone would actually jump out and confront her today.

Then Zheng Heping and his family stood up and pointed at Jia Zhang.

"Ms. Jia Zhang, you don't think that the extortion of money from my family a few days ago is over, do you? I'm telling you clearly that I reported you under my real name. The leader has said that the eyes of the masses are sharp. Don't you want evidence? I guess Director Wang should have a lot of information, right?"

Director Wang looked at Jia Zhang with a stern face and said.

"Ms. Jia Zhang, through the visit of the street staff just now, we have a lot of evidence that you are practicing feudal superstition. What happened in your family and Zheng Heping's family a few days ago is not an exaggeration to accuse you of extortion. As for the theft, according to our investigation, some things are often lost in your yard. Although the amount of money is not large, it is also against the law. It doesn't matter if you deny it. Anyway, the police station only accepts evidence."

After talking about Jia Zhang, she looked at Yi Zhonghai again.

"Old Yi, don't you have anything to say?"

Yi Zhonghai was much smarter than Jia Zhang. He knew that it was useless to resist. The subdistrict office had been there for such a long time, and many people in the courtyard had probably been asked the same question, so he changed his tactics.

“Director Wang, I admit that I was slightly biased towards the Jia family when something happened in the courtyard, but I was absolutely public-spirited and did not have any intention of seeking personal benefit.

As you said, there was a conflict between Zheng Heping and Jia Zhang a few days ago. At that time, Jia Zhang asked Zheng Heping to pay 10 yuan in compensation. I mediated and in the end the Zheng family only paid two yuan in compensation.

This not only prevented the Jia Zhang family from pursuing the Zheng family's involvement in the incident, but also reduced the Zheng family's losses. I personally think that what I did was not wrong."

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai dared to refute, Director Wang asked in a heavier tone.

"Then did you know that it was Bang Geng who went to Zheng Heping's house first and grabbed the meat without his permission? Because of this, the child of Zheng Heping's family pushed Bang Geng."

Yi Zhonghai raised the corner of his mouth slightly, seizing the loophole in Director Wang's words and spoke.

"Director, it was Zheng Heping's family members who said Bang Geng went to Zheng Heping's house and grabbed meat with his hands. No one else can prove it.

Bang Geng was pushed out of Zheng's house and fell to the ground. Only Jia Zhang herself said she saw it, so I think the testimonies of these people cannot be used as a reference, but it is always a fact that Bang Geng fell to the ground, right?

You just said that evidence is needed."

After Yi Zhonghai said this, Director Wang was a little speechless, so he had to change the topic and continue asking Yi Zhonghai.

"We'll discuss this later. I have other reports against you. Two years ago, Xu Wood's birthday was in the backyard. Jia Zhang came to ask for a chicken but failed. In the end, she blocked the door and cursed at him for more than an hour. How did you deal with this matter in the end?"

To be honest, Lao Yi had almost forgotten about this matter a long time ago. People generally don't care too much about things that don't cause them any harm. Only hatred and pain will be deeply remembered.

Finally, it was after an old lady’s reminder that Lao Yi finally remembered.

"Director Wang, to be honest, I don't remember clearly what happened two years ago. After all, it has been so long. I seem to remember that Xu Damao came out to scold Jia Zhang at the end. This seriously affected the spirit of respecting the elderly and loving the young, and respecting and helping each other that our courtyard advocates. If young people treat the elderly in this way, how can our courtyard be called an advanced courtyard?

So in the end I asked Xu Damao to come out and apologize and give the chicken to Jia Zhang as compensation.

Of course, it was wrong for Jia Zhang to block someone's door and curse at them. I also severely criticized her afterwards. If Director Wang thinks that criticism and education are not enough, then you can continue to punish her."

There is no way to wash away this matter. It happened too long ago, and it is unlikely to change the confession. Moreover, there were quite a lot of onlookers in the yard at that time. It is estimated that the street staff already had a lot of more detailed information. Yi Zhonghai saw that Director Wang came today just for him and Jia Zhang, so he could only push everything onto Jia Zhang. It would be better for me to let my friend die than for myself.