Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 19 The Art of Face Changing
"Sister, let's go back."

Yi Zhonghai wanted to put on a grand show, but Li Hongbing had no interest in performing with him.

A general meeting of the entire college?

In Li Hongbing's eyes, it was nothing.

Let's not even talk about that. Even the three senior managers of the college, Yi Zhonghai, Xu Fugui, and Liu Haizhong, are nothing special.

So what if he's an old man from the management school?
Even if their superiors sometimes need their assistance and tacitly allow them to help mediate neighborhood disputes, they are only allowed to speak and persuade, but they do not have the right to investigate or interrogate others on their own.

Who gave them the audacity to set up their own court?

Li Hongbing might tolerate others, but he wouldn't tolerate them.

"stop!"

Before he could even announce the end of the plenary session, Li Hongbing and Li Hongmei were about to leave, which infuriated Yi Zhonghai.

Yesterday was fine, after all, Jia Zhangshi's case had already been settled and there was no chance of turning things around. Moreover, the intervention of Officer Yang and Public Security Officer Qian made Yi Zhonghai dare not make a fuss about it, and he couldn't do anything about Li Hongbing either.

Today's situation is completely different.

This was especially true since he became the head of the management department, the first time he had been sacked and beaten up.

It wasn't just anger, it was humiliation.

At today's hospital-wide meeting, Jia Dongxu stepped forward to draw attention, while Yi Zhonghai, who was also one of the parties involved, stood aside and acted as a neutral observer.

It seemed like there was no problem, but in reality, the blame was still being directed at Li Hongbing.

Whether it was Jia Dongxu or Yi Zhonghai, Li Hongbing was the prime suspect in this sack incident.

Li Hongbing's current lack of cooperation has further solidified Yi Zhonghai's suspicions.

"Li Hongbing, things haven't been cleared up yet, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Are you hiding something?"

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, and having just been called out by Li Hongmei and Li Hongbing, Yi Zhonghai could no longer hide it and simply brought it up in public.

"Ghosts? Sir, even you're getting into feudal superstitions now?"

Li Hongbing stopped and turned around to look at Yi Zhonghai, a mocking smile on his face.

Yi Zhonghai had naturally witnessed Jia Zhangshi's fate yesterday. Now that Li Hongbing had pinned this label on him, he couldn't help but panic. However, he quickly calmed down and retorted on the spot, "Li Hongbing, don't talk nonsense. It's useless to nitpick over words here. You know that's not what I meant. What are you feeling guilty about?"

"I've made myself perfectly clear. If you're so capable, go to the police station and report me to the police station so they can arrest me. Don't waste my time here. What kind of bullshit meeting is this?"

With a cold laugh, Li Hongbing spoke without any mercy.

Unexpectedly.

Before Yi Zhonghai could even get angry, Liu Haizhong, who was standing to the side, was already furious.

"presumptuous!"

Liu Haizhong slammed his hand on the table, making the teacup on the table shake three times. He immediately shouted at Li Hongbing, "Li Hongbing, what kind of attitude is this? How dare you talk to an old man like that?"

The entire college meeting isn't even over yet, and you're already trying to leave? Who do you think you are?

"And you dare to spout such arrogant words, defying the entire hospital assembly and ignoring us three elders? Are you trying to rebel?"

Regardless of whether Li Hongbing was wronged or not, just based on his contempt for the entire hospital assembly, Liu Haizhong had already sentenced him to death.

"Tsk tsk tsk, what a big mouth Third Uncle has."

Seeing that Liu Haizhong was acting like a bureaucrat again and was taking the initiative to put on his official airs, Li Hongbing immediately laughed and directly questioned, "Second Uncle, let me ask you, what is this whole-court meeting for?"

Who established the system of the academy-wide assembly?

And who granted the plenary assembly what power?
Investigations and interrogations are the work of the police. Even if you are the big shots in the college, you don't have the right to set up your own court.

This is a new society now, what kind of rebellion am I making? I just want to ask you three old men, do you want to be the local tyrants of this courtyard, ruling the world with one hand?

Li Hongbing absolutely adores this fat guy with bangs.

He doesn't speak unless he's absolutely sure of it, but when he does, it's a game-changer.

This isn't launching an attack; it's clearly handing them an assist, deliberately handing them a knife to stab them in the heart.

Our own mole, lurking in the enemy's territory—what a brilliant "teammate"!

When Li Hongbing said this, everyone was stunned. The three old men, Yi Zhonghai, Xu Fugui, and Liu Haizhong, were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat and almost lost their souls.

“Hongbing, this has nothing to do with me. Today’s meeting was organized by Uncle Yi. I didn’t know about it beforehand and I never intended to do anything to you. You need to understand that!”

Xu Fugui, the second uncle, was the first to react and immediately distanced himself from the situation. He was shocked but also extremely relieved.

Fortunately, he wanted to see Yi Zhonghai make a scene, so he didn't say much from the beginning, otherwise it would have been really hard to explain.

Li Hongbing's words were really harsh.

If word gets out, it will be even more serious than what happened to Jia Zhangshi yesterday. None of the three uncles will be able to escape unscathed.

To avoid being implicated and becoming a mere bystander, Xu Fugui decisively stated his position.

“Li…Li Hongbing, you can’t say that…you can’t say that. I have no grudge against you, and I didn’t mean to target you. I’m just stating the facts…”

Liu Haizhong was so frightened that he stammered.

This term "local tyrant" is not a compliment.

Before and after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Liu Haizhong had seen many bullies eating peanuts in public, and he did not want to become one of them.

Liu Haizhong knew perfectly well that this hospital-wide meeting was actually organized by a few old men, and had no real power whatsoever, not even official recognition.

Initially, it was just to facilitate the transmission of notices from above or to mediate disputes within the court, so everyone was gathered together. Gradually, this became a tradition of holding court-wide meetings.

With the tacit approval of the authorities, and because Yi Zhonghai and his associates had previously acted fairly in the institute, they gradually gained some prestige. But slowly, they started to really act like big shots.

In reality, they don't have any real power.

With Li Hongbing's blow, they were forced to face this reality.

“Li Hongbing, you can’t just say things like that, it could kill someone.”

Yi Zhonghai had already panicked. With Xu Fugui's betrayal, Liu Haizhong was stunned. He no longer cared about doubting or investigating Li Hongbing's matter. His heart was ice-cold.

Yi Zhonghai had already witnessed it yesterday. Li Hongbing was someone who dared to cause trouble and did things without considering the consequences. If Li Hongbing got hold of this weakness, he would be finished.

Some things seem insignificant on the scale, but once weighed, they can feel incredibly heavy.

This matter can be big or small.

Key point is that Yi Zhonghai is also aware that he did indeed have the intention of using his power to intimidate others by holding this hospital-wide meeting today.

Moreover, as Li Hongbing said, they have overstepped their bounds and usurped the power of the police.

This is taboo.

The issue is.

They've tried similar approaches before, but in the end, nothing went wrong, and the matter was resolved satisfactorily, resulting in a happy ending for everyone.

But now that it's with Li Hongbing, it's not only ineffective, it's become a ticking time bomb that could detonate them at any moment.

“Hongbing, I understand you’re upset. Anyone would feel the same way in this situation.”

The atmosphere on the scene was almost frozen. Yi Zhonghai, who had been tense, suddenly stepped forward with a forced smile and explained to Li Hongbing, "Actually, the reason we held this hospital-wide meeting was to clarify things. Now that we've clarified, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with you, so you can rest assured..."

(End of this chapter)