Siheyuan: Xu Damao's New Life

"Captain Wang! It's your turn on duty today. I'm really sorry to trouble you during the New Year!" Xu Damao said.

"Chief Xu! Did you ask these two young comrades to call the police?"

"Captain Wang, I was the one who asked them to call the police. I'm the third uncle in charge of the hospital, and this is Mr. Yan Bugui, who is also the second uncle in charge. This matter is too big for us to handle, so we have to trouble our public security comrades." Xu Damao took the opportunity to introduce Yan Bugui.

"Oh? What happened on New Year's Day?"

"This is what happened." Xu Damao immediately recounted what he had heard from his neighbors and what he had seen. "The injured has been sent to the hospital under the organization of Liu Haizhong, a senior uncle in our yard. Jia Dongxu, who beat the victim, is also in the hospital with his mother Jia Zhangshi."

Wang Yanbing frowned as he listened. This was a very serious and vicious injury incident, especially one that happened during the Spring Festival which should have been peaceful and harmonious. If this matter was not handled properly, he would definitely be the one to suffer the consequences.

"Your compound handled the situation very promptly. If you encounter something like this, you must report it to the police. But we can't just believe your one-sided story. Now please take us to the crime scene to check it out. Xiao Liu, go find other residents in the compound to find out about the situation." Wang Yanbing is worthy of being an old policeman who has risen step by step from the grassroots. He has extremely rich experience in handling cases and his arrangements are orderly.

"Director Wang and public security comrades, please follow me. For such a big matter, I think we should call everyone to a meeting. They will be here soon to watch the fun anyway." Yan Bugui led the way in front and said the last sentence in a low voice to Xu Damao.

"Okay, Jiefang will go to the Intermediate Court and knock on the basin to notify everyone." To be honest, Xu Damao has been unhappy with this broken basin for a long time, and he wanted to take this opportunity to replace it with a gong.

Soon several people arrived at Sha Zhu's house. Xu Damao stood in the room and explained what had happened, while Yan Bugui organized a meeting in the yard to cooperate with the investigation and questioning of the public security officer named Liu.

The residents who arrived early from the Intermediate Court saw what happened clearly. Xiao Liu asked several people in a row, and everyone's answers were basically the same.

Qin Huairu, standing in the crowd, was trembling with fear. She was not afraid that something would happen to her mother-in-law, Jia Zhang. If something really happened, she would just be killed. It was just that it was a bit unlucky during the Chinese New Year! She was afraid that after something happened to Sha Zhu, her husband Jia Dongxu would also be finished. What would happen to the family? What would happen to herself and the children? Would they have to go back to the countryside and starve to death?

Soon Xu Damao finished explaining the situation and walked out of Sha Zhu's house with Wang Yanbing. "Captain Wang, since so many of you are here, please talk to us!"

Wang Yanbing nodded and walked to the table and stood. "First, let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Yanbing, and I am the director of the Jiaodaokou Police Station in charge of our area. This time I received a call and came to investigate the fight between He Yuzhu and Jia Dongxu, residents of our courtyard."

"I am very grateful to everyone for cooperating with our investigation. The hospital's manager handled the matter very decisively and promptly. I would like to state here that this vicious case will be dealt with seriously. Finally, I wish everyone a happy and peaceful Spring Festival!"

There was warm applause all around.

Wang Yanbing raised his arm and pressed it down. "Okay, we still have to go to the hospital to handle the case, so we won't bother you any more."

Yan Bugui said, "Don't leave yet, we still have things to discuss later." After Yan Bugui said this, he and Xu Damao sent the public security comrades out of the compound, and happened to meet Liu Haizhong and Yan Jiecheng who had returned from the hospital.

"Old Liu, you came back just in time. The public security comrades had just left, and the meeting in the hospital was still going on. It's a good opportunity for us to discuss the reunion and the remaining money in the provident fund." Yan Bugui said.

When Liu Haizhong heard that the police had just left, he regretted that he came back so late and missed the opportunity to get to know each other. "Okay, it's time to discuss it. Tomorrow is the first day of the Chinese New Year."

The four of them returned to the middle courtyard together. Liu Haizhong sat down at his seat and began to speak, "Let me first talk about the situation of Sha Zhu and Jia Zhang. Sha Zhu was hit very badly on the head. The doctor said it was a severe concussion. If he doesn't wake up within three days, he may become...become..."

Yan Jiecheng shouted from below: "A vegetative state!"

"Oh, yes, there is a possibility that he will become a vegetable, the kind that cannot move and has to lie in bed all the time. Jia Zhang's problem is not serious, he just needs to stay in the hospital for a few days to prevent tetanus." Liu Haizhong said.

This caused everyone to go wild.

"Shazhu was beaten so badly this time, that vegetable man might as well be dead."

"In my opinion, Shazhu deserves it. He's always the one beating this and that!"

"This Jia Dongxu usually looks quite honest, but I didn't expect him to beat Sha Zhu so hard this time."

"Jia Dongxu will probably go to jail, and maybe even have to eat peanuts!"

When Qin Huairu heard everyone's discussions, she collapsed to the ground. At that moment, she felt like the sky was falling in her house.

Yan Bugui stood up and said, "Okay, calm down. We have already called the police about the fight, and the police will handle it. Now let's discuss the affairs of our compound."

"As everyone knows, six needy families in our courtyard submitted applications before the New Year, and five of them were approved. Each family received 20 yuan in relief funds, and there are 228.5 yuan left. We still have a lot of provident fund left, and what we three uncles mean is that we should discuss together how to use this money!" said Yan Bugui.

As soon as Yan Bugui finished speaking, a buzzing sound was heard around him.

"What else is there to discuss? Just divide the money together."

"There should be quite a bit left, how about we buy some food together and divide it up?"

"Why not keep it and use it to help the needy next year?"

"I believe in the character of Uncle No. 1 and Uncle No. 2. They will definitely not make mistakes."

"Why don't we buy some food and have a meal together!"

"Okay, this is good!"

"That's it!"

Xu Damao and the other two listened to everyone's chatter and discussed in a low voice. After about five minutes, the discussion gradually died down.

Seeing this, Liu Haizhong picked up his big teapot and slammed it down on the table. "Ahem, we have heard everyone's opinions just now, and the three of us have discussed it. Now I will tell you our opinions, and you guys should listen to them, okay?"

"First of all, let's keep a hundred dollars as a backup, just in case something happens to someone's family."

Everyone nodded. After all, no one could tell what would happen in the future, so it was a good idea to keep some money for emergencies.

"Secondly, I want to use the money to buy a public cart for our compound. We can use it when we buy vegetables for winter storage or haul coal. And this time when Sha Zhu got into trouble, we had to go to the next yard to borrow a cart. This person's life is at stake and we can't afford to delay it at all. In short, this car is for everyone's convenience."

"Yes, last time I went to buy coal and went to borrow a truck, but they thought it was too dirty to haul coal and refused to lend it to me."

"What the uncle said makes sense. Besides, there are many pregnant women and elderly people in the hospital. It would be more convenient to go to the hospital with a car."

"Let's do it, we all support it!"