Siheyuan: No One Can Be Left Behind

After the final bargaining, Xu Damao agreed to pay 220 yuan to the Jia family. This was all his belongings. He had been planning to marry a wife, but now it seemed that his plan was in jeopardy.

It was agreed that the money would be paid in two days, so Xu Damao went home dejectedly.

Seeing that a major issue was successfully resolved, Yi Zhonghai regained some confidence and felt that he still had a lot of prestige in the courtyard. So he said to the people in the courtyard who were watching the excitement: "Dear neighbors, since this happened to the Jia family, we should show some respect. After all, when everyone's family had problems in the past, the Jia family didn't stand by and watched, right?"

"Come on, uncle. Last time we had a banquet, the Jia family only paid fifty cents. A family of four came to the banquet. We had 10 dishes, half of which were meat."

"That's right. It happened to us last time. We paid 50 cents for take-out. Jia Zhang and Bang Geng took away all the meat dishes on their table. No one else got to eat much."

"We dare not even think about the Jia family's feast. We have seen seven people and two dishes."

Everyone in the hospital was talking about it, but no one was willing to pay.

Ahem, Yi Zhonghai also coughed twice awkwardly, and first discussed with Jia Zhang in a low voice for a few words, and then said: "Just now, the sister-in-law of the Jia family promised that the table will also have ten dishes, and five of them will be meat. Everyone has nothing to worry about now, right?"

"Then we'll pay fifty cents and the whole family can come and eat." A neighbor shouted.

When Jia Zhang heard this, she got furious. She put her hands on her hips, pointed at everyone present and cursed: "What are you all thinking? We have such a good banquet, but you want your whole family to come and eat for only 50 cents. Go eat shit. 50 cents per person, eat if you want."

Yi Zhonghai felt that he had been a little reckless just now. The Jia family should not be judged by common sense. He quickly said, "Sister-in-law Jia was just joking. It doesn't matter how much you give, it's all a token of your appreciation. It's reasonable for everyone to come in any number of people."

As he said this, Yi Zhonghai glared at Jia Zhang, meaning that you only care about money and not shame, right? If you do this, it will be strange if you, an orphan and a widow, will have a good life in the courtyard in the future.

Jia Zhang curled her lips and did not refute Yi Zhonghai, simply because he had just helped her family extort more than 200 yuan from Xu Damao.

"Dongfang, you take the lead." Yi Zhonghai signaled Li Dongfang to quickly take out the money.

Li Dongfang looked at Yi Zhonghai in surprise, wondering if he had lost his mind. What kind of relationship did he have with the Jia family? Why would he pay a dime? He definitely couldn't give him face, so he refused directly, "I don't want to eat at the banquet, so I don't have any money."

Yi Zhonghai took a deep breath. He couldn't force it, otherwise how would others see him? So he turned his head and said, "Zhu Zi, you will help the Jia family prepare the banquet when the time comes."

Sha Zhu looked at Li Dongfang, then at Yi Zhonghai, and after a pause he said, "I don't have any money, and I don't want to eat at banquets. You can let me cook, but... I have to pay."

Sha Zhu is now a well-known chef. He occasionally prepares banquets for people outside, which also brings in a small income. It is reasonable for him to charge for his work.

"If you help with the banquet, you won't have to pay the discount. Do you think this is okay?" Yi Zhonghai frowned.

Before Sha Zhu could say anything, Jia Zhang suddenly became unwilling and said, "No, you must give me fifty cents, or you can't even think about having a meal."

Jia Zhang's shout directly solved Sha Zhu's problem. He had to think of a reason before, but now he doesn't have to think about it anymore. It's just right!

I'll make two dishes at Li Dongfang's house and drink a little wine to feel refreshed. I'd like to have a feast at your Jia family's house. Are you kidding me?

Sha Zhu grinned and shrugged at Yi Zhonghai, saying, "My craftsmanship is not worth this little money in the eyes of others. You should find someone else."

After saying that, Sha Zhu pulled Li Dongfang back to the Central Courtyard.

Now, the neighbors who were originally prepared to pay saw that Sha Zhu and Li Dongfang were not paying, so they certainly would not pay either. What if Li Dongfang was happy and treated them to a meal again? Then those who had paid would be at a loss. It would be more than just a few cents, so everyone ran away in a flash.

There were only three uncles and a few people from the Jia family left on the scene. Yan Bugui sighed in his heart, feeling that the three uncles in the courtyard seemed to be standing on the opposite side of the masses.

It was still a quiet but tiring night. Li Dongfang was woken up by Sha Zhu again. Li Dongfang knew that if Sha Zhu couldn't get in the jeep he had been longing for today, he would have to complain again.

When he arrived at the steel rolling mill, Li Dongfang first visited Deputy Director Zhang who was about to arrive. After all, the director was willing to vacate his position in advance, so of course Li Dongfang had to express his appreciation.

The two had a very pleasant conversation. Deputy Director Zhang said that as long as the documents came down from above, he could take over immediately, and enthusiastically introduced the work of the logistics and security departments to Li Dongfang.

Li Dongfang originally thought that the deputy factory director would be in charge of a lot of things, but he didn't expect that if he didn't interfere in the work below, the deputy factory director would still have a lot of free time. The work was arranged, and the logistics department and the security department basically had their own leaders to complete it. He, as the deputy factory director, still had a lot of free time. Of course, if something went wrong, he couldn't escape the responsibility. How to do it specifically depends on what he thinks.

At noon, Deputy Factory Director Zhang and the leaders of the Logistics Department and the Security Section, who would be Li Dongfang's future subordinates, were invited to have lunch together in the small cafeteria. Li Dongfang barely knew the people in the Logistics Department and didn't care too much about them. As for the Security Section, this was a powerful department that Li Dongfang had always cared about and he had to keep a tight grip on it. Fortunately, Section Chief Liang was an acquaintance and they had a similar temper, so they should be able to get along well in the future.

In a blink of an eye, a few days passed and Jia Dongxu's funeral was handled smoothly. Most people in the hospital paid money to help under Yi Zhonghai's lobbying, and the steel rolling mill also sent people to send wreaths and condolence money.

Zhao Juan was also discharged from the hospital and returned, which was considered as her final farewell to Jia Dongxu.

As for the Jia family's banquet, given Jia Zhang's stingy character, the promised meat dishes were not even seen, and dishes made with lard were considered meat dishes...

Li Dongfang's appointment document was officially issued to the steel rolling mill a week later. Although Li Dongfang would not take office until next month, everyone knew that Deputy Director Zhang was no longer in charge. With the support of Director Yang, Li Dongfang easily took control of the power.

Although the news had not been officially announced, many well-informed people had already known about it. When they returned to the courtyard in the evening, there was a constant stream of people coming to congratulate them.

Unlike the last time when Li Dongfang was promoted to deputy section chief, this time he is deputy factory director, basically second only to the president. This is a large factory with tens of thousands of employees, and in an instant the entire compound benefited from it. Factory leaders who were usually not seen were lining up to come, and the neighbors in the compound were also proud of it.

The next day, Li Dongfang came to Liu Lan's yard after get off work and sat at the table in high spirits like a master, with Liu Lan and Ding Qiunan sitting on both sides of him respectively.