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

Chapter 28 Master and Disciple's Night Talk
She has a whole repertoire of pretty words.

The same applies to Yi Zhonghai when he was an old man.

Anyone can say polite words, but it's best not to have any expectations of whether they can actually do them.

Seeing that Xu Fugui was emphasizing to everyone that he had been "promoted" to an old man, Li Hongbing almost laughed.

These so-called "Grandpa" and "Grandpa" titles were just something that Yi Zhonghai and a few other senior members of the School of Management came up with internally. They were never officially recognized and were purely for their own amusement.

However, in the eyes of Yi Zhonghai and Fu Gui, this was simply a distinction between the head and deputy head of a position, or the top two leaders, symbolizing their power, status, and influence within the institute, and even their hierarchy.

These people in the courtyard really take them seriously.

If it weren't for this, Yi Zhonghai wouldn't have become so arrogant as to try to intimidate and subdue Li Hongbing by using his so-called "power" as an old man, which led to his "demise" today.

However, Li Hongbing didn't care about these things. As long as Xu Fugui and Liu Haizhong didn't deliberately cause trouble, Li Hongbing wouldn't bother them either.

With Xu Fugui and Liu Haizhong delivering their "promotion declarations," the plenary session came to an end.

back home.

After closing the door, Li Hongbing looked at Li Hongmei, who was clearly worried, and asked directly, "Sister, are you worried about Brother Weiguo?"

"how do you know?"

Upon hearing this, Li Hongmei was taken aback.

After going to the factory today, Li Hongmei took the initiative to approach Zhao Weiguo and secretly asked him about Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu being put in sacks. As a result, Zhao Weiguo did not hide it from her and admitted it directly.

Tonight, although Yi Zhonghai's position as the head of the management team was removed, he and Jia Dongxu are going to the police station tomorrow, which means the police will get involved in this matter.

This is not good news for Li Hongmei.

"Judging from your expression, I can roughly guess that it was Brother Weiguo who knocked Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu unconscious."

Li Hongbing spoke with absolute certainty.

They had some speculation and discussion about this last night.

Out of concern, Li Hongmei would definitely ask Zhao Weiguo when she went to the factory today. But ever since Jia Dongxu reported the case at the meeting, and Officer Yang asked him and Yi Zhonghai to go to the police station tomorrow to explain what happened, Li Hongbing noticed that Li Hongmei's reaction was not right, and he already had the answer in his mind.

Li Hongmei sighed and said helplessly, "It was indeed Wei Guo who did it, but he did it to avenge us. He has friends in the security department of the steel rolling mill. Yesterday, when they were leaving work, he deliberately found an excuse to stop Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, making them come back later. Wei Guo and his men waited for them on the way, choosing a secluded spot..."

Li Hongbing couldn't help but laugh as he listened to Li Hongmei recount the process and details of the incident.

Having served in the military and seen battles, Zhao Weiguo even employed tactics in something as simple as a surprise attack. The key was teamwork; it was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Li Hongbing didn't feel there was anything wrong with Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu being beaten up.

For what they did, a beating would be too lenient.

"Sister, with the methods of Brother Weiguo and his group, killing a Japanese soldier would be more than enough. Dealing with Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu would be a waste of their talents and would not leave any hidden dangers."

As you said, no one else definitely saw it at the time, and Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu both claimed to know nothing when questioned, so an investigation wouldn't uncover anything. Just relax and don't overthink it.

Li Hongmei knew that her worries were useless, but hearing Li Hongbing's comforting words made her feel much more at ease.

……

the other side.

Just as Li Hongbing was putting Li Hongmei's mind at ease, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, the master and apprentice, also gathered together.

Knowing that the father and son were going to talk, Yi Zhonghai's wife, Wang Guihua, prepared some snacks for them to go with their drinks, and then, as usual, went back to the inner room.

As for Sha Zhu, he obviously hadn't yet entered Yi Zhonghai's inner circle of retirees, so he wasn't included in this drinking session.

“Master, Li Hongbing is too arrogant. We need to find a way to teach him a lesson.”

Jia Dongxu poured Yi Zhonghai a glass of wine first, then filled his own, slammed the bottle on the table, and said indignantly, "Treatment?"

Yi Zhonghai's face darkened. He glanced at Jia Dongxu and asked coldly, "How do you treat it? What will you use to treat it?"

If Jia Dongxu had said this before today, Yi Zhonghai might have considered it, but now that he's lost even his position as an elder, there's no point in talking about it anymore.

"Master..."

Jia Dongxu wanted to say something, but Yi Zhonghai raised his hand to stop him, saying with a somewhat forlorn expression, "Things are different now. I'm no longer the old man in the courtyard."

Yi Zhonghai regrets it!
He didn't regret his mistake, but rather that he underestimated his opponent.

He should have taken it seriously as early as when Jia Zhangshi was sent for reform.
But he didn't. As before, he treated Li Hongbing as a greenhorn and failed to figure out his methods in time.

So when the meeting was held yesterday, he completely failed because of this.

Some red lines must not be crossed.

Unfortunately, he brushed the line without realizing it, which gave Li Hongbing leverage to deliver a fatal blow.

That kid is too cunning; he's impossible to guard against, and every move he makes is completely unexpected.

If time could turn back to a day earlier, he would still have a way to properly compete with Li Hongbing, but the problem is there are no "ifs".

Yi Zhonghai finally realized where he had gone wrong, but it was too late.

"Master, Li Hongbing sent my mother to re-education and caused you to lose your position as a senior figure. Are we just going to let this go?"

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai seemed somewhat discouraged, Jia Dongxu became anxious.

"What's the harm in not counting it?"

Yi Zhonghai glanced at Jia Dongxu and said in a slightly deep voice, "Don't even mention you, even your master can't beat him now."

"Can't this be done?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu looked at Yi Zhonghai in disbelief.

Is this still his all-powerful master?

"Sigh, after what happened today, not only have I lost my position as a big shot, but from now on, if I don't avoid Li Hongbing when I go out, I'll have to bow down to him."

Even if you're unwilling to accept it, the winner takes all, and that's an indisputable fact.

When he was an old man, he couldn't beat Li Hongbing.

Now that even that advantage is gone, there's even less they can do anything about Li Hongbing.

"Dongxu, listen to my advice. In the future, if you are not absolutely certain of success, do not easily provoke Li Hongbing. This person is not simple and is far more difficult to deal with than you imagine."

Knowing that Jia Dongxu was young and impetuous and would definitely be unconvinced, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to continue: "Li Hongbing is educated and is the most knowledgeable and cultured among the young people in the institute. If he hadn't gone to Fengzeyuan as an apprentice halfway through his career, he would very likely have been the first college student in our institute."

The more books a person reads, the broader their knowledge becomes, and the deeper their thoughts become. When they really start scheming against others, it's impossible to guard against them.

Just like yesterday's college-wide meeting, similar practices have been done before, and there have never been any unexpected incidents.

When the method was applied to Li Hongbing, problems immediately arose. Think about why.
The problem is that we lost this time. If we continue to pester Li Hongbing, it will appear to outsiders that we are deliberately causing trouble and that we are already in the wrong.

"What will the people in the compound think of us then? Do you think you'll come out ahead?"

Yi Zhonghai's words released all the pent-up anger that Jia Dongxu had been holding in.

Seeing that Jia Dongxu had lost his fighting spirit, Yi Zhonghai frowned again and earnestly advised, "A person can't be successful forever. You never know when you'll fall on hard times. Let's focus on living our own lives well first. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

Dongxu, your master will teach you a saying today: "Flowing water doesn't strive to be first, but rather to flow continuously. Impatience will not lead to great achievements..."

(End of this chapter)