In the evening, just after dinner, Liu Guangtian was seen going door to door in the backyard, announcing that a general meeting of the courtyard was about to be held!
He Yucheng knew exactly what was going on and said to He Yushui, "Yushui, let's go see the excitement!"
So many things had happened in the courtyard recently. In the past, a general meeting would happen at least seven or eight times a day, but with regards to Yi Zhonghai, that old man wouldn't say a word. Who else in the courtyard had the authority to call a general meeting?
Just as he was curious about the follow-up to the events of the morning and noon, Liu Haizhong suddenly jumped out.
One by one, they finished their meals, grabbed their stools, and headed to the central courtyard!
Yi Zhonghai initially wanted to sit in the main seat, but Liu Haizhong spoke up, "Old Yi, you need to switch seats today. The main topic of this meeting is about you!"
Yi Zhonghai naturally understood Liu Haizhong's intentions and cursed him silently in his heart. However, he also knew that he had committed too many sins recently and was down on his luck. If he didn't clarify things, he really wouldn't be able to keep his position!
Seeing that Yi Zhonghai remained silent, Liu Haizhong directly sat down next to the first aunt, coughed a couple of times to signal for silence, and then spoke in an official tone, "This general meeting is a tradition of our courtyard. So many things have happened in the past couple of days, let me say a few words first!"
Everyone was eager to hear how Liu Haizhong would summarize things, and the crowd quieted down.
"First of all, let's talk about the Jia family's fraudulent donation! This has caused our courtyard to lose the title of 'Civilized Courtyard'!"
As soon as the Jia family was mentioned, Jia Zhangshi stood up and shouted, "Liu Haizhong, you dog, what nonsense are you talking? What do you mean we committed fraud? Did I rob the money from you? Besides, didn't we return that money? If you want to talk about donations, then return the donation money to us, and I'll let you speak!"
Jia Zhangshi was the notorious troublemaker of the courtyard; if anyone displeased her, she would unleash a torrent of curses! If anyone dared to lay a hand on her, they would find themselves in a world of trouble!
Hearing Jia Zhangshi curse Liu Haizhong, Yi Zhonghai couldn't help but smirk! In the entire courtyard, only he could handle Jia Zhangshi through Jia Dongxu. As for others? Forget it! If Liu Haizhong wanted to make an example of him and drag the Jia family into it, he would just be making a fool of himself!
He had already given a heads-up to the deaf old lady, and when the time came, if she stirred up trouble again, Liu Haizhong would be like Zhu Bajie looking in a mirror—neither human nor pig!
Before he could even show off his authority, he was already humiliated by Jia Zhangshi's barrage of insults. Liu Haizhong's plump body trembled as he pointed at Jia Zhangshi, resembling a phone on vibration mode.
But his mouth was already clumsy; he couldn't articulate his words smoothly. How could he possibly keep up with the streetwise Jia Zhangshi? That would just be asking for trouble!
With his own old man failing to assert himself, the second aunt was unhappy and stood up, pointing at Jia Zhangshi, shouting, "Isn't that right, Jia family? If you didn't commit fraud, why would you return the money?"
"You're talking nonsense! Your family is the one making a fuss! Let me tell you, as long as I'm here, don't even think about causing trouble for us. Yesterday, Director Wang was here, and this matter has already passed. Why are you bringing it up again? What can you do to us?"
This remark caught Liu Haizhong off guard. Yes, when Director Wang was here yesterday, he had made the Jia family return the donation. Now that he was bringing it up again, what could he do? Even if the Jia family admitted to the fraudulent donation, what could he do to them?
At that moment, someone in the crowd said, "So what if we lost the title of 'Civilized Courtyard'? As long as we aren't forced to donate money again, that's fine. The money we donated was enough to earn us several rewards for being a 'Civilized Courtyard'."
"Exactly! Next time there's a meeting, don't bring up the 'Civilized Courtyard' again. Thinking back, we bought that title with our money. When the Jia family caused a ruckus, a few of the elders just smoothed things over. The Jia family profited while we all suffered. If anyone causes trouble again, we'll just call the police!"
"Right! If the elders in the courtyard are unfair, we'll call the police! I don't care about the measly rewards for being a 'Civilized Courtyard'!"
This time, not only Liu Haizhong but also Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui's expressions turned sour.
Especially Yi Zhonghai, who wished he could strangle Jia Zhangshi to death. If it weren't for that old hag, he wouldn't have ended up like this, becoming the target of everyone's ire in the courtyard!
He Yucheng was having the time of his life, loving the spectacle of dogs biting dogs!
Meanwhile, Yi Zhonghai was sneering in his heart! "A jumping clown!"
He heard Liu Haizhong stammering, "Since this matter has already been handled by Director Wang, I just want to say that what your family did is wrong. You need to recognize your mistakes!"
But seeing Jia Zhangshi's defiant expression, everyone knew it was like talking to a brick wall.
However, in order to keep the general meeting running smoothly, Liu Haizhong continued, "Now let's talk about what happened this morning. This morning, our courtyard's elder Yi Zhonghai set a very bad example by getting into a fight with Jia Zhangshi! Such behavior is extremely reprehensible!"
Before Yi Zhonghai could say anything, Jia Zhangshi jumped up again, "Who said we were fighting? Old Yi is Dongxu's master; we were just joking around!"
"Hahaha~"
Jia Zhangshi's comment about joking around made everyone in the courtyard burst into laughter.
Joking around to the point of sending Yi Zhonghai to the hospital? That kick was no joke!
"Was that really just joking around? Does joking around involve sending two people to the hospital?"
"Of course it was joking around! What are you going to do about it? Besides, this is a matter between our two families. Why are you bringing it up? Director Wang said yesterday that it's the elder's duty to mediate only with the consent of the parties involved. We don't want you to mediate right now; what can you do?"
Goodness, this infuriated Liu Haizhong to no end. Yes, if they didn't want him to mediate, he had no way to intervene.
"You, you're being unreasonable!"
"Who is being unreasonable? Who is being unreasonable? Director Wang said it himself yesterday. If you forgot, I can go find Director Wang and have him tell you again!"
Liu Haizhong had originally aimed for the position of the elder in the courtyard, but now he had already left a bad impression on Director Wang. If he brought Director Wang over now, not only would he lose the position of elder, but even the position of second elder would be in jeopardy.
"Old Yi, you, you tell us, was it really just joking around this morning?"
Yi Zhonghai found it amusing. Was Liu Haizhong's head kicked by a donkey? He wanted to use him to establish his authority in the courtyard, aiming to become the elder. Yet, he was targeting him and still expected him to speak up for him?
Now, the common enemy between the Jia family and Yi Zhonghai was Liu Haizhong! What else was there to think? Everyone knew it was Jia Zhangshi causing the ruckus, but they couldn't admit it.
"Yes, we were just joking around! It was just a small bump; everything's fine now."
Liu Haizhong was furious, his chest heaving up and down! His whole body trembled, and his face turned beet red.
He Yucheng was secretly amused. It seemed that being an elder in the courtyard was a high-risk job; who knew when someone might just die of anger?