The conspiracy of the courtyard

After Deputy Director Zhou finished speaking, he waved everyone away, leaving Chen Ping and a few others alone.

"Chen Ping, although we have known each other for a short time, we are colleagues after all. I have to give you some advice. We are all neighbors and there is no big conflict.

How about this, let Lao Yi and his friends host a meal some other day, and we'll have a meal together, and this matter will be over, right?"

Deputy Director Zhou saw that Chen Ping did not respond, so he could only continue to persuade

"Lao Yi and the others went to you to ask for the baby's milk powder, which was indeed a bit too much, and they were severely punished.

You should stop holding on to it. There is no need to make a big deal out of it. We all live in the same courtyard and we will have to help each other out in the future. As a party member and cadre, you should be more generous and stop getting on with the masses."

Deputy Director Zhou saw that Chen Ping still had a dull expression and tried to persuade her.

"Deputy Director Zhou, if you want to be a farmer who lives in harmony with snakes, please don't drag me into this. I also advise you not to advise others to be kind without experiencing their suffering.

If you want to be a qualified Party member, please first learn not to take a single needle or thread from the masses.

If you want to be a noble cadre, please first learn not to eat a single grain of food from the masses.

If you think that maliciously snatching a reward from a meritorious person is an exaggeration, I suggest you learn what the law is.

If you think that banditry can be offset by a meal, please review what morality is.

It is your freedom to get close to villains, please don't persuade me to go along with them. Thank you!

The child is sleepy, I'm sorry I can't keep you company, please do as you please."

After saying that, Chen Ping strode away with Lu Zixuan. He Yuzhu and his sister also went home directly after receiving the signal.

Deputy Director Zhou clenched his fists, his face darkened, and he squinted his eyes to stare at Chen Ping's departing back, his teeth almost breaking.

"This Chen Ping is too arrogant. After all, you are her leader, yet she doesn't give you face.

I thought she was used to being domineering in the courtyard, but I didn't expect that she would dare to be so arrogant in front of you.

She is too arrogant. We must not indulge her bad habits any longer. We must find a chance to dampen her arrogance."

Seeing Deputy Director Zhou's gloomy face, Yi Zhonghai immediately instigated...

As soon as Chen Ping returned home, she collapsed, with a hint of regret in her tone.

"Oh, I thought he was going to say something bossy like he did in the neighborhood office. I even prepared my rebuttal, but I didn't expect him to be the peacemaker. I don't understand why he insisted on getting involved."

Seeing that Chen Ping was not in a good mood, Lu Zixuan no longer wanted to play.

"I guess Yi Zhonghai and the others were being rather vague about the situation, so he just said it casually. Didn't you see that he didn't mention any substantive conditions at all?

I'm not stupid. Why would I disrespect a big golden Buddha like you and support a bunch of powerless little ghosts?

I guess their relationship is just like that, it's just a face-saving favor. Today he announced in public that he has restored his mastership, I guess that favor has been almost restored."

Seeing that her son didn't want to talk about it anymore, Chen Ping changed the subject.

"Who cares what the situation is? Director Wang wants us to go with her to see Chen Bangguo. Should we go?"

Lu Zixuan understood that Chen Ping wanted to change the subject, so he just continued talking.

“I don’t really want to go. Now is the best time to destroy them. If they want to maintain their position, they must win over the other residents in the courtyard.

I guess they don't dare to use intimidation anymore, so the only option left is inducement. I want to take advantage of this opportunity to give them another heavy blow so that they will be quiet for a few more years.

If you want to go, you can treat it as a New Year's travel, but you have to be prepared to sit on the train for a long time. I don't know if there are sleeper berths on the trains at this time. If not, you have to be prepared..."

Chen Ping was a little confused and immediately spoke out to stop him.

"It's not just me who has to go, it's both of us who have to go. The director has asked me to do something important, and I definitely can't go alone. It's not urgent to deal with them, but the director's matter is urgent."

Lu Zixuan gestured to the bed, then looked up to the sky and sighed.

“Then we have to change our plan. These villains are quite resilient, so let’s just give them some time.

Just go, we are where we are today thanks to their protection, we can't be so busy that we forget the fishing net. We don't have anything to do during the New Year, it's not far away, we can get there in one day by train.

I heard that he was seriously injured. Considering Director Wang's concern for us, we should go and say hello.

Just bring the peanut candies we made ourselves and the pure cornmeal we ground. They are much better off than us, so we can only give them some rare and cheap goods as a token of our appreciation."

"Son, why do you think Chen Bangguo didn't want his daughter to live with the old couple? When he went to the front line, my sister-in-law was the only one working. It must have been hard for her to take care of the child."

Talking about Director Wang's family affairs, Chen Ping started gossiping again.

"How come his daughter doesn't look like him and his wife at all? They don't look the same at all.

Do you think it is possible that among those real and fake daughters you mentioned, the wrong children were taken away on purpose?

I think it’s possible. My sister-in-law brought her children back a few years ago. Do you remember?

On the surface, my sister-in-law seems to be very nice to that girl, but I feel like there is a lack of closeness between them. She treats us better than she does.

Well, the more I think about it, the more likely it is..."

A few days before leaving, Chen Ping repeatedly told He Yuzhu to take good care of her sister, and left a lot of food for He Yushui before reluctantly boarding the train heading north.

Lu Zixuan really overestimated the speed of the train at that time and expected it to arrive in one day, but it ended up taking a whole day and night to reach the station.

When Chen Ping saw her sister-in-law, whom she had been thinking about for a long time, her boredom finally dissipated. She shared interesting stories along the way, complained about the unpleasant smell on the train, and the loneliness of having no one to communicate with.

After another 6 hours of riding on a GZ truck, we arrived at a family compound. The house assigned to Chen Bangguo and his wife was a separate small courtyard with three bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen.

After the three of them washed up and had their meal, it was only 4 o'clock in the afternoon when they started to catch up on their sleep.

It was already the next evening when Director Wang saw Chen Bangguo, who was leaning against the door frame and in a daze, leaning on a cane. Director Wang first asked about Chen Bangguo's injuries, and after learning that he was not seriously injured, he went to care for his precious granddaughter, whom he had missed for a long time.

Chen Bangguo said that he would be back soon, and then he took Lu Zixuan to see his spoils. There were short blades, long boots, canned food, and...

After Lu Zixuan selected a few pieces of roughly wrapped chocolates and came out to eat, he found that Chen Zhibang's wife Du Qiao and daughter Chen Qi were already sitting around the dining table with Director Wang and Chen Ping.

During the conversation, they talked a lot. Because of Chen Ping's doubts, Lu Zixuan paid special attention to the eyes, movements and communication methods of Chen Bangguo and his wife. He had to admire Chen Ping's sixth sense. It was obvious that Chen Zhibang and his wife were just trying to please each other.

After dinner, Chen Ping returned to her room. She could no longer suppress her curiosity and could not wait to share the news with her son.