sinovels Chapter 69 Zhang Xiaoquan's Regret
Chapter 69 Zhang Xiaoquan's Regret
Celebrating the Lunar New Year is really just that. He Yushui is a child who can buy firecrackers and set them off with her girlfriends.
He Yushui has money, so she can buy whatever she wants.
Xu Xiaoling has moved to another place with her parents.
In the courtyard, He Yushui and Li Xiaoman were the closest. Recently, Zhang Panpan came to play with He Yushui and Li Xiaoman again.
The main reason was that Zhang Xiaoquan had been targeted by Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady. Only then did Zhang Xiaoquan realize that He Yuzhu and Li Tieniu were the ones who were truly awake.
The cause was simple: one time, the Zhang family was eating meat, and he secretly ate it behind closed doors.
The deaf old lady came to the door after smelling the aroma, but Zhang Xiaoquan and his family pretended they weren't home.
The deaf old lady smashed a window in their house, which angered Zhang Panpan's mother, who then cursed at the deaf old lady.
The other party hit Zhang Panpan's mother with a cane, and Zhang Xiaoquan was so angry that he wanted to go to the neighborhood office to file a complaint.
They were stopped by three uncles and a general meeting was held.
At the meeting, Yi Zhonghai spouted a bunch of fallacies and heresies, and also threatened Zhang Xiaoquan, saying that he should apologize to the deaf old lady and make her a braised pork dish the next day.
This finally made Zhang Xiaoquan realize that he had been afraid of the deaf old lady taking her anger out on him.
Choosing to actively distance oneself from He Yuzhu is such an idiotic act.
He originally thought that by distancing himself from He Yuzhu and Li Tieniu, he could avoid being targeted by the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai.
I never expected that even though he was so honest, they would still come to bully me. Looking back at He Yuzhu, Li Tieniu, and Xu Damao's families now, I realize that they are smarter than me.
Now, the three families of He Yuzhu, Li Tieniu, and Xu Damao in the courtyard are sticking together and are not afraid of Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, or the deaf old lady at all.
In several conflicts, Xu Damao tried to reason with He Yuzhu, but He Yuzhu used force to intimidate him.
Li Tieniu adopted an attitude of "I'll fight back if anyone dares to bully an honest person."
They managed to shut the three old men up completely, leaving them utterly helpless.
The deaf old lady bullied everyone in the courtyard, but she dared not cause trouble for these three families.
Xu Damao is a real scoundrel. When the deaf old lady came to eat meat, he dared to spit in her food. This infuriated the old lady; she truly couldn't eat that kind of meal!
The deaf old woman wanted to hit Xu Damao, and he threatened to call the police. The others were afraid of the deaf old woman, while Xu Damao always acted like a rogue.
The deaf old lady could only avoid him, even though she knew he was having a good meal inside, she didn't go looking for trouble.
When Li Tieniu encountered a deaf old woman causing trouble, he would send his wife to scold her. If the deaf old woman dared to raise her cane, Li Weiguo would dare to step forward and fight.
A teenager assaulted someone, and the police station couldn't do anything about it. This is essentially using a child to deal with a shameless old man; this method was suggested to Li Tieniu by He Yuzhu.
Not to mention, after several attempts, the deaf old lady returned empty-handed once again. They've already planned their escape routes; what can you do? As for Yi Zhonghai's moral blackmail, he'll have to face Li Tieniu's beatings with a wooden stick.
Yi Zhonghai found that his moral high ground seemed unable to withstand the wooden stick in the other party's hand, and he could only retreat once again.
He Yuzhu went even further; if a deaf old lady dared to knock on his door, he would threaten to beat up Yi Zhonghai.
I can't hit you, you deaf old lady, but I can't hit Yi Zhonghai either.
Anyway, you all say I'm a fool, does a simpleton like me need a reason to hit someone?
Yi Zhonghai did retaliate; after being beaten once, he went to the police station, whereupon He Yuzhu directly stated that the other party had started the verbal abuse.
Yi Zhonghai said he didn't, while He Yuzhu said he did.
None of the residents of the courtyard dared to offend the two men, so they could only pretend not to know. After all, Yi Zhonghai was the eldest son of the household, and He Yuzhu was the war god of the courtyard, as well as its only leader.
They dared not offend Yi Zhonghai, nor did they dare offend He Yuzhu!
As long as they don't take sides, Yi Zhonghai has no way to prove himself.
In a situation where both sides have their own version of the truth, and given that He Yuzhu was very measured, he only slapped her twice, causing no serious injury; it was purely meant to insult her.
In the end, the police station had no choice. Hitting someone was wrong, and swearing at someone seemed unacceptable, so they simply handed the matter over to the steel mill's security department.
Arriving at the steel rolling mill's security department felt like coming home for He Yuzhu. Not only did he have a good relationship with the head of the security department, but he was also always willing to help out at other people's homes when they had a banquet or something similar.
Everyone else pays ten yuan a table, but when it comes to them, you can at least save them two yuan. That's what face is. Yi Zhonghai is a level seven worker; what does he have to do with their security department?
It goes without saying who the leader will favor.
Besides, the matter originally involved a deaf old lady; Yi Zhonghai and his group were in the wrong.
Knowing full well that the two families have a bad relationship, you still insist on coming to their door to steal their meat. The steel mill leaders will not tolerate Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady.
When Deputy District Chief Zeng learned of this incident, he regretted even more for acknowledging the deaf old woman's life-saving grace.
This is just as despicable as bandits and thugs. These days, nobody is well-off, and to come to someone's door and forcibly eat them is truly hateful.
Now, even the deputy district head can't directly sever ties with the deaf old lady, but it's certain that he will rarely take care of her anymore.
I've seen gluttons before, but I've never seen an old lady this greedy. It's escalated to the point of outright robbery—is this some kind of bandit or tyrant?
Deputy District Chief Zeng seriously doubted who the deaf old lady was in the past.
In other words, as a cadre, and with the life-saving grace still attached, he would have really dealt with the other party.
Wang Shuhua, the director of the neighborhood office, had long known that neither the deaf old lady nor Yi Zhonghai were good people. She usually ignored them, since they were always making small mistakes but never committing any major ones.
She had dealt with the case of Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady scheming against He Daqing. Back then, Director Wang knew those two old hags weren't good people.
This is also why Director Wang never gives face to the deaf old lady or Yi Zhonghai, and why they are most afraid of someone going to the neighborhood office to complain.
It turns out that the deputy director of the subdistrict office was privately scolded by the deputy district head, and only then did the man realize that he had made a mistake in trying to curry favor with the deputy.
Later, the other party stopped paying attention to the deaf old lady, otherwise she would have started making trouble again.
The current situation is that Deputy District Chief Zeng cannot fail to repay the life-saving grace, but he also does not want to get too involved with the deaf old lady.
As long as the deaf old lady and Yi Zhonghai and his gang don't cause too much trouble, Deputy District Chief Zeng can only grit his teeth and bear some minor inconveniences.
Of course, Deputy District Chief Zeng also hoped that the people in the courtyard could collectively file a complaint, so that he could reluctantly execute Ma Su.
Deputy District Chief Zeng felt that if he encountered a deaf old lady like her in his compound, he would have reported her long ago.
But none of the birds in the courtyard wanted to be the bad guys; they all waited for others to lose their temper before they could finally get their due.
Therefore, their herd mentality gave Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady room to maneuver.
Zhang Xiaoquan must have been filled with regret when he discovered the truth at that time.
If he hadn't distanced himself from He Yuzhu and Li Tieniu back then, and had instead allied with those three families, how could he have been bullied by Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady?
Zhang Xiaoquan took the initiative to ease tensions. He Yuzhu, Li Tieniu, and Xu Damao looked down on this opportunist, but based on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, they accepted him.
However, in terms of concrete actions, Zhang Xiaoquan must first establish his own position; otherwise, the three families would not take the initiative to help him.
Initially, Xu Fugui was like Zhang Xiaoquan, but it was only after Xu Damao took the initiative to help Li Tieniu and He Yuzhu fight against Yi Zhonghai and his group that he gained their approval.
This is called a pledge of allegiance; you can't just say a few words and expect us to believe you. It would be so embarrassing if we fought for you on the front lines and then you surrendered.
It's unbelievable that such a small courtyard house could be the setting for various scenes from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
He Yuzhu, on the contrary, used it to add fun to his boring life. As long as the other party did not provoke him, he was happy to watch how the birds fought among themselves.
Besides studying, He Yushui also loves gossip and often tells He Yuzhu about the things that happen in the courtyard when she gets home.
He Yushui spends every day in the courtyard house, so naturally she sees a lot of things.
He Yuzhu would always remind her not to talk carelessly and to be careful that the other party might scheme against her.
If you just stand up for yourself, those petty scoundrels won't dare to mess with you.
He Yuzhu, Li Tieniu, and Xu Damao were all tough guys. They were like hedgehogs, ready to prick you if you touched them, which is why the three old men avoided them.
Pick on the softest persimmon; nobody is born shameless and enjoys constantly running into walls.
The three old men discovered that as long as they didn't intentionally harm the interests of He Yuzhu, Xu Damao, and Li Tieniu, the other men wouldn't interfere.
This way, both sides have a tacit understanding; neither will provoke the other unless they are absolutely certain of victory.
He Yuzhu and his group were only concerned with self-preservation, while the three old men were thinking about establishing their authority as much as possible. Both sides were looking for weaknesses in the other, hoping to kill the other in one fell swoop.
However, He Yuzhu, Xu Damao, and Li Weiguo's reputations in the area have become even worse.
Li Tieniu was already married and had children, so ruining his reputation was useless; instead, others retaliated against his son, Li Weiguo.
Li Tieniu smiled bitterly in anger, but He Yuzhu and Xu Damao comforted him, saying, "We've been infamous for years, and we've still made it through."
Li Tieniu also knew that there was no way to explain this situation; the residents of No. 95 Courtyard and the surrounding alleys had long been known to be villains.
They used to spread bad things about He Yuzhu, so He Yuzhu retaliated against the entire courtyard, dragging everyone down with him.
In any case, the matchmakers in the neighborhood don't dare to easily take on jobs at No. 95 Courtyard.
This is also why He Yuzhu was so surprised when a matchmaker came to propose marriage last time.
This shows that anyone with eyes can see the truth about this courtyard.
In fact, the rumors they spread are not worth scrutinizing at all.
They said He Yuzhu hit someone, but they didn't say why he hit someone.
You can't just stand by and do nothing when someone bullies you.
To say he is unfilial to his elders is ridiculous. He Yuzhu's mother died and his father ran away. Even if he wanted to be filial to his elders, he should at least have elders to rely on.
It's true that he had an affair with the young woman in the courtyard, but since no one knows about it, it's not true.