Siheyuan, my new life

Yi Zhonghai took two puffs of his cigarette before he could barely suppress the desire in his heart. From the moment he realized that Jia Dongxu was acting to deceive him, he had already sentenced this traitor to death in his heart. As long as there was a suitable opportunity, Yi Zhonghai would never show mercy. He believed that as long as he was in Courtyard No. 95, the two widows of the Jia family, one old and one young, would be at his mercy.

Throwing the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground, Yi Zhonghai lit another cigarette. Now he had to think carefully about whether to help Liu Haizhong and others.

What Yi Zhonghai wanted to consider was the pros and cons of helping these people. He was not really worried about the elderly, the weak, women and children left behind after something happened to these people, nor was he really worried about the so-called mutual help among neighbors that he always talked about.

As for He Daqing's repeated reminders tonight, Yi Zhonghai did not take it to heart. The reason was very simple. Yi Zhonghai knew very well that he had no ability or way to help those neighbors who were arrested by the police station.

Although he did not have the ability to solve the problem, Yi Zhonghai believed that as long as he could persuade the deaf old lady to take action, with the old lady's connections, he would be able to get the neighbors in the courtyard out from the police station.

What Yi Zhonghai needs to consider now is how to persuade the deaf old lady to agree to help.

After carefully thinking about what to say to the deaf old lady, Yi Zhonghai stood up and walked to the door, put his ear to the door and listened carefully for a while. At this time, there was no more cursing and quarreling in the backyard. It was obvious that Liu Haizhong's wife ran home and immediately closed the door, and did not pay any attention to the neighbors' cursing outside the door. The people gathered outside Liu Haizhong's house shouted for a while, but when they saw that Liu Haizhong's wife was locked up, they did not dare to break in openly, and finally they had to go home cursing and angrily.

Yi Zhonghai quietly unbolted the door, pushed it open a tiny crack, and looked around, paying special attention to He Daqing's and Jia's houses across the street. He found that each family had fallen into silence, so Yi Zhonghai carefully walked out of the house, then walked silently into the backyard along the shadow of the courtyard wall.

Although there were lights on in several houses in the courtyard, there was no one in the yard. After confirming again and again, Yi Zhonghai tiptoed to the door of the main house in the backyard and knocked gently.

Yi Zhonghai believed that with such a loud commotion in the backyard just now, the deaf old lady must not have fallen asleep yet.

Sure enough, the familiar voice of the deaf old lady came from the room: "Who is it that's still awake in the middle of the night?"

Yi Zhonghai lowered his voice and said, "Old lady, it's me, Zhonghai."

The deaf old lady in the room responded and opened the door after a while. In the dim moonlight, one could vaguely see the deaf old lady in white silk pajamas standing quietly at the door.

Yi Zhonghai knew that disturbing the deaf old lady so late would definitely make her unhappy, but he couldn't delay what he wanted to discuss with her, so he had to bite the bullet and whispered: "Old lady, I'm sorry to disturb your rest so late. It's just that the matter is urgent. If we talk about it tomorrow, I'm afraid it will be too late."

The deaf old lady still didn't speak, but just leaned slightly to the side. Yi Zhonghai was delighted. What he was most worried about was that the deaf old lady would not give him a chance to speak tonight. Now the old lady let him in, obviously she was interested in what he wanted to say.

Yi Zhonghai walked into the house, gently closed the door, and did not turn on the light. Instead, he took out a match from his pocket and lit the candlestick on the eight-immortals table with familiarity. A dim candlelight immediately lit up in the living room.

As the power supply system in the capital is not stable, power outages occur from time to time. Nanluoguxiang is only able to have electricity for lighting because there are many factories around it. There are still many areas in the capital that still have no electricity, and most residents use kerosene lamps and candles for lighting.

At this time, the deaf old lady was already sitting upright in the main seat. Without hearing the old lady's request to give up her seat, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to stand respectfully in front of the eight-immortals table.

Obviously, the deaf old lady must be feeling uncomfortable that Yi Zhonghai came to disturb her rest so late, so she didn't ask him to sit down.

Yi Zhonghai quickly organized his words and said, "Old lady, I believe you already know what happened in the west wing tonight."

The deaf old lady hummed softly, and then said with a slightly sarcastic tone: "Why do you, the manager of No. 95 Courtyard, plan to take the lead in this matter?"

Yi Zhonghai smiled bitterly and said, "Old lady, I, Yi Zhonghai, know my own weight. Even Director Tang from the subdistrict office was arrested by Director Lin for trying to exonerate Liu Haizhong and his men. I am just a nobody in their eyes."

After hearing Yi Zhonghai's self-deprecating words, the deaf old lady smiled softly, then pointed to the chair next to her and said, "It seems that you have some self-awareness. Sit down and tell me what you want to do here so late at night."

Yi Zhonghai carefully sat down at the eight-immortal table and whispered, "Old lady, as soon as Liu Haizhong and his men left tonight, He Daqing called me to his house for a drink. According to him, the person living in the west wing is Lin Yu, the executive deputy director of the Dongcheng District Branch and the director of the Security Department of the Red Star Steel Mill. He has an administrative level of level 13, which is the same level as the secretary and director of the steel mill. According to He Daqing, Director Lin was accompanied by a deputy army commander and a deputy minister of the Municipal People's Armed Forces Department to take office at the Red Star Steel Mill today. However, Secretary Guo Sanhu and Director Song Jiefang of the steel mill intended to give the other party a head start, and did not hold a welcome meeting for the whole factory, but only convened the leaders of the factory at the section level and above to hold a welcome party in a small conference room; the welcome banquet at noon also ended in a bad mood. The deputy army commander and the deputy minister did not drink a drop of alcohol and just ate two bites of cold dishes and left directly. Director Lin did not give face to the factory leaders. He left the table with the people from the Security Department on the spot. According to He Daqing, Secretary Guo and Director Song looked very unhappy."

The deaf old lady snorted coldly and said, "Guo Sanhu and Song Jiefang don't even follow the basic rules of the officialdom. No wonder people don't give them face. Even if they don't welcome Director Lin, they dare to do this in front of a deputy commander and deputy minister. I guess these two will regret it in the future."

Yi Zhonghai smiled bitterly and said, "Old lady, I am just an ordinary worker. I know nothing about these things in the officialdom. You are really knowledgeable."

The deaf old lady waved her hand indifferently and said: "It is not good to know too much about some things. People should know themselves. It is what ordinary people should do to live a good life. Well, those things are too far away from us, so let's talk about the purpose of your coming here tonight. If it is to rescue Liu Haizhong, then I advise you to give up this idea as soon as possible. For the stupid things Liu Haizhong did tonight, he would definitely be beheaded in the past. Even in the new society now, he would at least be sentenced to prison. No official dares to risk offending all his colleagues in the officialdom to save him. Liu Haizhong is blatantly slapping the faces of all officials. This behavior must be severely cracked down."

Yi Zhonghai's heart sank. It was obvious that he had not thought that what Liu Haizhong had done was so serious before he came. He thought for a moment and said, "Old lady, since this is the case, we can't control Liu Haizhong. What I mean is that I would like to ask you to find some connections and see if those who followed Liu Haizhong to join in the fun can be given a lighter sentence? After all, it involves more than a dozen families in our courtyard. Once these people are held accountable, I am afraid that the factory will also fire them. If all these people are fired by the factory, then the houses they are living in now will definitely be taken back by the factory. With the current tight housing situation in Beijing, the vacant houses will soon be re-arranged for people to move in. In this way, our courtyard will have more than a dozen new residents. Old lady, I don't know if you have noticed that although I am the manager of the No. 95 courtyard, But due to He Daqing's cadre status, many residents in our courtyard now have the intention of following his lead. He Daqing is almost the uncrowned king of the No. 95 courtyard. If there are more than a dozen new residents, I guess I, the manager, will become a decoration. Moreover, with the departure of the original old residents, the old lady now has no idea that you, the ancestor of the courtyard, exist, and therefore lack basic respect for you. What I mean is that if you have connections to rescue these people who followed Liu Haizhong to join in the fun, this will not only enhance the prestige of you, the ancestor, but also take the opportunity to suppress He Daqing's limelight. I learned from He Daqing tonight that he would never look for connections to help smooth things over for these neighbors. Once you can rescue these people, won't these dozen families be grateful to you?"

The deaf old lady didn't speak, but frowned. After a while, she said, "It's impossible to rescue Liu Haizhong, but there is still some hope to rescue those people who are here to join in the fun. But Zhonghai, even if you rescue those people, it won't help you to completely control the courtyard. As long as He Daqing continues to live here, you can't surpass his prestige. After all, he is the deputy director of the steel mill cafeteria, and you are just an ordinary worker. Well, let's put this matter aside for now. Come early tomorrow morning and accompany me out."