Siheyuan: Struggle in the Red Era

After dinner, everyone in the compound gathered in the front yard early without being called. The thrones that usually belonged to the three uncles were carried over and placed by Liu Haizhong's two sons. Others stood on the corridor, while others brought stools and sat around the thrones, all waiting for Secretary Wang to come to the meeting.

The Chen family of four all came.

Because of Chen Datou's loud shout in the morning, no one in the yard wanted to pay any attention to him, so the couple sat on a long bench and chatted in low voices about what they needed to buy for the family recently.

Chen Guangzong was scared of being ambushed recently, so he snuggled up to his parents, holding a few dried sweet potatoes in his hand and eating them bit by bit.

Chen Zhaodi stood in the hallway and watched from afar, especially when she saw the two boys from the Liu family moving the three uncles' exclusive thrones. Yan Jiecheng from the Yan family stood nearby and did not take any action.

She thought to herself that Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui probably didn't know that this exclusive throne was moved to them by Liu Haizhong. If they knew, they would probably vomit blood.

So, it was obvious that there would be a big party today, but since she was short, she didn't come forward.

More and more people came, and soon, there was someone standing next to her.

Chen Zhaodi turned her head and saw that it was He Yushui. She called out politely, "Hello, Sister Yushui."

He Yushui also nodded: "Hello, Zhaodi."

The two people are three years apart in age, one lives in the middle courtyard and the other lives in the back courtyard, one is in the sixth grade and the other has never been to school. They have no interaction in daily life and are really not familiar with each other.

He Yushui's only brother usually goes out to learn cooking, and she goes to school every day. She doesn't know much about what's going on in the courtyard. This time, she was notified of a meeting, but she didn't know what the meeting would be about. She wanted to find someone to ask, but she didn't know who in the middle courtyard would tell her the truth, and she wasn't familiar with the others.

When I met Chen Zhaodi this time, I felt that she was young and I should tell her something real.

So he asked, "Sister Zhaodi, what is the purpose of today's meeting? Why haven't the three uncles come yet?"

Chen Zhaodi was surprised when she asked this question, as they had barely exchanged a few words.

However, He Yushui was the supporting actress in the TV series, so she still answered.

"Yesterday, Grandma Jia from the Jia family stole two plates of meat from Brother Li and refused to compensate him. Brother Li wanted to report it to the police. At a meeting in the evening, one of the uncles sided with the Jia family and blamed Brother Li for ignoring the interests of the compound. Brother Li got angry and reported it to the police this morning. The police demanded compensation from the Jia family. Secretary Wang from the Street Office believed that the three uncles had no power to prohibit Brother Li from reporting it to the police, so he called a meeting in the evening."

These words were too concise and He Yushui was still confused after hearing them. Just when he was about to ask for clarification, Secretary Wang and the three uncles had already entered the front yard and the meeting officially began.

Liu Haizhong rushed forward, bowed, and said humbly: "Welcome Secretary Wang, please take a seat." As he spoke, he led Secretary Wang to the throne. He did not notice that Yan Bugui and Yi Zhonghai were trying their best to shrink back, as if they wanted to stay as far away from the throne as possible.

As a result of this failure, Liu Haizhong got into trouble.

Chen Zhaodi wanted to laugh in her heart. Where did Liu Haizhong learn these words? How bold did he have to lead Secretary Wang to the throne?

As expected, Secretary Wang’s face turned dark, and he stared at the throne angrily.

Xiao Li added: "Secretary Wang, the throne over there is only brought out when a general meeting is held. The three gentlemen each have a seat, holding a teacup in their hands, high up on the throne. The others are either sitting below or standing in the back. Don't you think this looks a lot like the old-time officials judging cases in court?"

It was a very cold day and cold sweat broke out on Liu Haizhong's forehead. Yi Zhonghai and Yan Bugui didn't dare to hide anymore and hurried forward to explain.

"No, no, Xiao Li has only been here for a few days, but he held a meeting yesterday. I was too busy processing workpieces in the factory these days and was too tired. I wanted to take a break while holding the meeting so that I would not delay either. I didn't expect Xiao Li to misunderstand me."

Yi Zhonghai stepped forward to explain, and Yan Bugui followed up to explain: "I have to take notes during the meeting. I can't just stand there with a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other. In order to make it easier to take notes, everyone discussed and brought a table over."

Liu Haizhong came back to his senses and quickly agreed: "Yes, yes, my waist hurts, so I'm sitting down to rest."

Xiao Li laughed, "Haha," and didn't say anything else, but that "Haha" was enough.

The three uncles quickly asked people to move all the tables away, and they stood with Secretary Wang.

Secretary Wang also knew the current national conditions, so he did not argue any further and spoke to everyone in the compound.

"Good evening, everyone. I am sorry to interrupt your rest time. The main reason for holding this meeting today is that some people in your compound have expressed that they are not clear about the functions and responsibilities of the communicators in the compound. So, now, I will explain it to you in detail so that everyone can have a clear understanding of this in the future."

Chen Zhaodi listened carefully.

All she knew about this era was the passing introduction she read in novels, and she was completely clueless about the rest. The explanation given by the street office official was the most relevant to the times, and it was also her way of understanding current affairs, which enabled her to avoid making assumptions and doing things that seemed inexplicable to people of this era.

After explaining the matter of the messenger, Secretary Wang continued, "In addition to this, there are people in your yard who report that the traffic officer in your yard calls himself the boss and wants to take care of everything. He also wants to follow your will, right? Yi Zhonghai, tell me, is this true?"

Chen Zhaodi felt something was wrong. Didn't they say in the morning that they would read out the opinions on the handling of the correspondent? Why did they let Yi Zhonghai go up to explain himself now? What kind of explanation could he give? I didn't understand the document thoroughly. I'm old and I don't think the same as the young people. I'm doing it for the good of everyone in the compound. What reason can't I give?

Thinking back to the conversation between the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai that I eavesdropped on this morning, indeed, there was no sense of nervousness or urgency in either of their words. So, does this mean that there won't be any big problems this time?

So, is it related to Secretary Wang himself, or is it related to Secretary Wang’s superior?

Yi Zhonghai stepped forward, bowed to everyone in the compound, and said, "I'm sorry, everyone. Because of my limited education, I have a little deviation in understanding the spirit of the street office document, which has caused you to feel wronged. I'm sorry."

Yan Bugui also stepped forward and bowed, "I'm sorry, everyone. Most of the people in our courtyard are young people. We old men may have different ideas from the young people. It's inevitable that we may be a little too involved. Please forgive us."

Liu Haizhong was a step late. He finally stepped forward, grunted for a long time, bowed, and said, "I'm sorry, everyone. If you do something wrong in the future, please speak up in person. Don't hold it in."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. How could this be explained?