Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 730 A True Account of the People Breaking Through Their Defenses in the Courtyard

After finishing two bottles of sorghum liquor, the group was all slightly tipsy.

Before the end-of-get off work bell rang, Li Kailang went to the warehouse to retrieve the contingency plan he had just written.

"Deputy Section Chief Li!"

Upon seeing Li Kailang approach, the people in the warehouse immediately called out.

When the title "Deputy Section Chief Li" first pierced through the slightly noisy warehouse and clearly reached Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong's ears, time seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Ok!"

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from inside, making the two of them pause for a moment.

The two looked in the direction of the sound at the same time, and saw a young figure walking in with steady steps. Who else could it be but Li Kailang?
"Li Kailang has become a leader?!?"

When the warehouse manager saw Li Kailang enter, he immediately put down his things and put on a very respectful smile.

"Deputy Section Chief Li, is there anything I can help you with?"

That shout was earth-shattering.

Yi Zhonghai felt a buzzing in his head, and he almost dropped the material requisition form.

Liu Haizhong's eyes widened instantly, and his mouth opened slightly without him noticing.

The two seemed to be frozen in place, stiffly turning their necks and staring straight at Li Kailang. They glanced at each other, both seeing disbelief, shock, and bewilderment on each other's faces.

Li Kailang? Li Kailang!
Wasn't he a driver? How did he become a deputy section chief and a leader? What a joke!
Li Kailang clearly hadn't expected to run into these two as soon as he entered.

He paused, a fleeting look of surprise crossing his face, but quickly regained his composure and smiled.

He nodded to the warehouse manager, then walked straight into the warehouse without even looking at Yi Zhonghai and the others.

"Deputy Section Chief Li?!"

Liu Haizhong finally spoke, his voice sharp and cracking, as if he were asking Li Kailang, or perhaps the warehouse manager.

The warehouse manager, who was watching Li Kailang enter the office, turned around upon hearing this, looked at the two "veteran workers" who were considered big shots in the factory, and his face showed a belated sense of apprehension:

"Oh? Master Liu, Master Yi, you two don't know yet? Section Chief Li, oh no, Deputy Section Chief Li, has been transferred to our Materials Department for almost half a month now! He's really capable!"

"He accomplished a lot as soon as he arrived," the warehouse manager said, recounting many of Li Kailang's deeds.

Almost half a month?!

Yi Zhonghai's heart sank, overwhelmed by a sense of humiliation at being completely kept in the dark and feeling like a fool.

Li Kailang's rise to leadership was completely unexpected and beyond his control!

They've lived in the same courtyard for over ten years! They see each other every day! How could he not have heard a word about something so big?
"Li Kailang has become a leader?"

Liu Haizhong felt a surge of anger rush to his head, accompanied by intense sourness and jealousy.

The only hope for the Liu family, his son Liu Guangqi, went to great lengths, "pulling strings everywhere," to barely secure a warehouse manager's position.

This warehouse is under the jurisdiction of the Materials Department, right? And the deputy head of the Materials Department is actually Li Kailang?!

Doesn't this mean that Liu Guangqi, whom he regarded as the hope of his entire family, actually has Li Kailang as his boss?!

In the blink of an eye, Li Kailang became the Deputy Section Chief Li whom his son Liu Guangqi needed to curry favor with.

The stark contrast between the roles made Liu Haizhong feel his blood surging and his vision blurring.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness, Guangqi is gone. Li Kailang is not Guangqi's boss."

Liu Haizhong was relieved that Liu Guangqi had gone far away and hadn't fallen under Li Kailang's thumb, thus saving face for him.

But this feeling is even worse than being hit on the head with a blunt object!
Liu Haizhong clenched his fists so tightly that his palms turned white and were faintly bleeding, yet he still didn't feel it.

His face flushed red and then turned pale, and his plump body trembled slightly.

Yi Zhonghai's feelings were equally complex and difficult to describe.

His status as an eighth-grade fitter was once his pride and confidence in the factory and in the courtyard house.

But the words "deputy section chief" instantly made him feel an invisible barrier.

This is a cadre now! A cadre who has moved beyond the front lines and entered the "leadership level"!
Watching Li Kailang calmly walk into the office, Yi Zhonghai felt a sense of "distance" from this younger colleague for the first time.

The two men received the materials in the warehouse, looking dejected, without saying another word.

Almost the instant the two stepped out of the warehouse, the explosive news that Li Kailang had become the deputy head of the materials department spread throughout the courtyard.

"What the hell?! Li Kailang has become the deputy section chief?!" Sha Zhu couldn't sit still when he heard the news in the kitchen.

"Li Kailang... He's become an official? The deputy head of the Materials Department?" Qin Huairu learned of this from Yi Zhonghai and was equally incredulous.

"Bullshit! Impossible! Li Kailang? As deputy section chief? Him? He must have been bribed! He must have been bribed big!" Xu Damao began to make all sorts of dark speculations.

No one would believe that a driver could be transferred to the materials department and even become the deputy section chief.

Although their salaries are similar, one is a junior employee and the other is a manager who oversees people.

Li Kailang's name seemed to have grown wings and flew into everyone's ears in the courtyard.

"Tsk tsk, this is truly a case of a carp leaping over the dragon gate!"

"Half a month? This family really hid it well!"

"I don't know what kind of luck they had."

"Sigh, we toil away our whole lives and never even get to become an official."

Envy, jealousy, curiosity, disbelief, and sour teasing—all sorts of opinions surged forth like a tide.

Jingle Bell--

The workday bell rang.

The residents of the entire compound knew that Li Kailang had been promoted to deputy section chief.

No one had time to cook; everyone gathered in small groups to discuss the matter.

"My goodness! My goodness! That kid Li Kailang is really capable! He's become a deputy section chief?" Yan Bugui slapped his thigh, looking like he was in a dream.

“Uncle,” someone nearby immediately asked, “You live in the front yard, so you really didn’t hear a thing?”

Yan Bugui waved his hands repeatedly: "No! Absolutely not! Li Kailang is exactly the same as before, going to work and going to school."

"Who knew he'd suddenly pull such a big surprise! No, a real shock! Haha!"

His laughter at the end of the sentence was noticeably dry, but his eyes gleamed with a sharp light, showing no trace of his usual calculating and stingy nature.
He was making his own calculations.

Deputy section chief! A proper cadre!
His eldest son, Yan Jiecheng, was still struggling to get a ticket seller job at the bus company. Compared to the deputy head of the materials department, this job was like heaven and earth!
Yan Bugui grew increasingly excited as he thought about it: An opportunity! This was a tremendous opportunity!
Li Kailang has just been promoted and hasn't settled into his position yet, so he needs his own people.

Yan Jiecheng was about the same age as him. Although they were in the same hospital and their relationship wasn't the closest, it was still better than that of outsiders, right?

I'd ask him to pull some strings and get Jiecheng a job at the factory as a warehouse manager or a junior clerk!

Doesn't that mean I've secured a stable job? Even though I can't get into the factory yet, I've already built connections. When the steel rolling mill is looking for people, I can just get in directly.

As for what price to pay, Yan Bugui's eyes darted around, and he already had an idea in mind.

Since I'm so familiar with Li Kailang, when he comes back, I'll bring him my treasured Xifeng wine and have a couple of drinks with him. That should make things pretty much settled.
Yan Bugui was calculating his own scheme.

Madam Jia Zhang was also squeezed into the crowd, her triangular eyes drooping, her lips pursed, grumbling: "Hmph, an official? What kind of official is he? Can he control what I eat and what I wear?"

"I think he must have done something to become a cadre, maybe he gave some gifts to the leaders?"

Jia Zhangshi's voice wasn't loud, but it was full of sarcasm and jealousy: Why could Li Kailang become a leader, while her son Jia Dongxu was dead!
Qin Huairu listened from the side, her head down, her mind in turmoil.

What would have happened if he hadn't married Jia Dongxu but instead married Li Kailang?
The wife of a college student, and also the wife of a leader, has a bright future ahead of her.

The Liu brothers, Guangtian and Guangfu, didn't have that many thoughts.

Now that Li Kailang has become a leader, they'll have a powerful backer. Let's see how Liu Haizhong can beat them up now.

Bai Xiuwen and Cui Yuan coldly observed the various expressions on everyone's faces.

Both of them sincerely admired Li Kailang for being promoted to a leadership position.

Compared to everyone else's scheming, they naturally know how to be content and happy.

The murmurs of the crowd reached their peak the moment Li Kailang stepped through the hanging flower gate, then eerily fell silent within half a second.

Li Kailang was dressed in clean blue overalls, deliberately not wearing his cadre uniform, and there was some oil stain on his shoulders.

With his appearance, no one would guess that he is a leader.
Li Kailang was startled by the dense, dark wall of people in front of him, and almost lost his balance on the handlebars.

"Little Li, oh no! Section Chief Li!"

Yan Bugui was the first to react, rushing to Li Kailang with a fawning smile on his face.

"Oh my! Section Chief Li! Congratulations! We just heard about your news! This is a huge joy for our courtyard! Why didn't you tell Uncle San? We should have set up a few tables to celebrate!"

He spoke hurriedly, his spittle almost splashing onto Li Kailang's face.

Xu Damao, always eager for drama, said, "Yeah, Li Kailang, why keep something this big from everyone? We're all from the same compound, neighbors, like family!"

The crowd surged forward like a floodgate opening, chattering and creating a chaotic scene.
"Master Li... no, Section Chief Li! You really are a hidden talent!"

"Oh my! Tell me quickly, when did this happen? How did you suddenly become a candidate?"

"That's right, that's right! Why haven't we heard anything? Section Chief Li, please tell us so we can all learn something!"

"Section Chief Li, what's your job in the Materials Section? Is that where I pick up things from next time?"

"Brother Li! Congratulations!"

All eyes were focused on Li Kailang's face like searchlights, and he was completely overwhelmed by the surging enthusiasm.

Seeing everyone's anxious look, Yi Zhonghai chuckled.

He could guess what everyone was thinking. Now that things had been exposed, he had to make things clear first.

"Cough cough~"

"Everyone, be quiet!"

Li Kailang's voice was soft, but it instantly drowned out everyone else's voices, and everyone immediately fell silent, their gazes becoming even more focused.

"I was transferred to the Materials Department because Director Yang asked me to go there to learn from his experience. I was only going to stay for a short time before leaving. It wasn't like what everyone thought, where he had absolute power."

"As for why I didn't say anything about staying here for half a month, it wasn't because I intentionally kept it from everyone. I just took over the job and had to learn everything. I was too busy and things were too chaotic, so I didn't have time to say anything."

Upon hearing this, the believer immediately lost his previous enthusiasm.

Those who don't believe it won't be discouraged; who would be transferred to the materials department as deputy head?

Li Kailang said clearly and deliberately, "But—I can roughly guess what everyone is thinking. Here, I, Li Kailang, will make my point clear first."

Immediately, he straightened his back and his tired eyes sharpened instantly.

"The factory has its rules. My position is not a lucrative one, nor is it a place where you can do whatever you want by accepting gifts and pulling strings!"

"If it's someone else's child's job problem, they should contact that person directly. If you want to ask someone for a favor or help with personal matters, don't even bother asking!"

“We’re all from the same compound, and everyone knows what kind of person I am. I don’t have any power, so don’t expect me to give you any special treatment.”

"I'm putting these words out there today!" His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a thunderclap, exploding in the ears of everyone with ulterior motives.

In an instant, the air in the entire courtyard seemed to be sucked out, plunging into a deathly silence.

The crowd, which had been so enthusiastic and chattering like a boiling pot of soup, froze instantly.

Each face, whether filled with flattery, expectation, or jealousy, froze on the spot, leaving only the rustling of the wind through the courtyard through the locust tree leaves and their heavy or suppressed breathing.

Jia Zhangshi's already pursed lips curled up even more, and the gloating in her triangular eyes was almost overflowing.

She smacked her lips dramatically and muttered in a low but loud enough voice for those around her to hear, "See? What did I tell you? Now that you're an official, you look down on people, don't you?"

"They've already treated us like beggars and kicked us out of the courtyard before we've even done anything! We ordinary folks can't afford to associate with them, so let's go!"

As she spoke, she deliberately shoved aside the person blocking her way with her shoulder, humming a tuneless tune as she shuffled toward her house.

His posture was like that of a victorious general, and the murmurs behind him subsided, but also gained some strange agreement.

"Exactly, so what if you're an official?"

"Showing no mercy whatsoever, that's too selfish!"

"You ungrateful wretch! Have you forgotten who didn't help their family back in the day?"

"I'm just not a team player. They're aiming for promotions, what am I to them?"

These hushed whispers, like the buzzing of mosquitoes, crept into Li Kailang's ears.

His face remained calm, without rebuttal or anger.

He just watched quietly until everyone left.

As they walked, everyone whispered and complained about Li Kailang being unsociable and an ingrate.

Only Yi Zhonghai, Yan Bugui, and a few others were well aware of Li Kailang's actions; he was simply trying to protect himself.

Yan Bugui was still scheming and didn't care at all about what Li Kailang had just said.

The front yard, which was just a moment ago packed with people, was soon left with only Li Kailang standing there, holding his bicycle.

He exhaled a long, silent breath.

"As expected."

After exchanging glances and nodding with Cui Yuan and Bai Xiuwen, Li Kailang went home.

(End of this chapter)