Courtyard House: Starting as an engineer, crushing a yard full of poultry

Page 184

As soon as you enter the courtyard, you see an older woman wearing an apron busily working, and the aroma of food wafts over you.

"Who knows what your uncle is up to? He made me cook first thing in the morning, saying he was going to entertain some important guests."

"Fengzi...you wouldn't happen to be the distinguished guest he was talking about, would you?"

An older woman complained with a displeased look on her face.

"I'm hardly a distinguished guest; the real distinguished guest is right here!"

"This is... I've never seen this child before..."

"That's right, we're old acquaintances, not worthy of being my master's honored guests. Alright, you go ahead with your work, we'll go find my master first!"

Zhang Feng acted pretentiously, as if the matter had already been accomplished.

"Master, I've brought Lin Fang back to you!"

"Long time no see, Lin Fang! Come in and sit down. I'm ashamed to say, this is your first time visiting my home!"

Yi Zhonghai stood up to greet him with a broad smile.

"This is indeed my first time visiting your home. I was in a bit of a rush after leaving the factory and didn't bring you anything. I'm so sorry..."

Lin Fang said politely that compared to Zhang Feng, who was usually impetuous and rude at the factory, he had a better impression of Yi Zhonghai, after all, he was an elder.

"How's it going at the factory lately, Xiaolin? I heard you guys have been pretty busy."

"We've been quite busy lately. We're processing a batch of parts in preparation for producing new equipment, and we're basically working overtime until around 9 p.m. every day."

Yi Zhonghai chatted with Lin Fang like an elder in the family.

"What? Working overtime until 9 PM? That's outrageous!"

Zhang Feng, who was standing to the side, almost jumped up and said, looking quite indignant.

"Yes, Xiaolin, I've heard that the factory exploits its workers severely, but I didn't expect it to have gone this far."

"Hey, our factory wasn't like this before. Ever since that Li Xiangdong came, everything in the factory has changed."

Yi Zhonghai echoed Zhang Feng's sentiments, while Lin Fang sat to the side, saying nothing.

"That Li Xiangdong is truly a sinner; he's caused me to lose my job!"

"Let's not talk about me. Let's talk about my master. He's a veteran in the steel rolling mill, but what happened? He was still dealt with without any mercy."

“Now that we’re all gone, all that’s left are you pitiful people. If you ask me, you should rebel against Li Xiangdong!”

Zhang Feng moved closer to Lin Fang and tentatively revealed his intentions.

"Lin Fang, you're still as introverted and quiet as ever. People with bad intentions like Li Xiangdong only pick on easy targets like you."

"I think Zhang Feng is right. As working people, we have to fight for our rights! Sometimes we can't be too easygoing, or we'll get bullied!"

Yi Zhonghai continued rambling on.

"Here's what we're saying, Lin Fang. I, Zhang Feng, truly consider you my brother. Leave this to me. How about I give you a good idea?"

Seeing that the groundwork had been laid, Yi Zhonghai gave Zhang Feng a wink, and Zhang Feng spoke directly.

“Um… Master Yi… Brother Zhang… I didn’t feel like I was bullied or wronged at the factory.”

Lin Fang smiled helplessly.

"Huh? You kid, have you been driven crazy by that Li Xiangdong?"

"Yes, we work overtime until nine o'clock every night, while others are at home with their wives and children and warm beds. When new equipment is finally developed, they will be the ones eating meat, while you lowly workers won't even get a sip of soup!"

Seeing Lin Fang's attitude, Yi Zhonghai and Zhang Feng immediately became anxious and continued to embellish the story.

"Perhaps you are not currently at the steel rolling mill and are not familiar with the current situation there."

"Section Chief Li doesn't exploit workers like you say. When we work overtime, he works overtime with us. He even arranged for the canteen to prepare a special 573 overtime meal for us. We eat more lavishly every day than we do at home during Chinese New Year!"

"Moreover, Section Chief Li gives us bonuses every day based on our workload, so even when we work overtime at the factory, we're working for ourselves. I heard that when the new equipment is completed, each of us will get a commission. How could they be bullying us?"

After holding back for a long time, Lin Fang blurted out his thoughts, praising the steel mill and Li Xiangdong in every word, completely contradicting Yi Zhonghai and Zhang Feng's intentions today.

"Um... it seems your teacher's wife cooked quite a lot of dishes. Let's go over and help her carry the plates and bowls, lest she throw a tantrum at me again!"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Yi Zhonghai planned to call Zhang Feng out to discuss other countermeasures.

"I'll go help out too. It's not really appropriate for someone to just sit around and wait to be served food on their first visit..."

"It's alright, it's alright. We know this place like the back of our hand. Brother Lin Fang, you're a guest, it's not right to make a guest do the work. Please sit and wait for us!"

Chapter 243 The Cunning Master and Disciple

Lin Fang had just gotten up and rolled up his sleeves when Zhang Feng pushed him back to his seat. The master and apprentice sneaked into the house next to Yi Zhonghai's.

"Master, I don't think Lin Fang will cooperate with us. Look at him, he's more affectionate towards Li Xiangdong than his own father!"

"It's such a shame about the meal my master's wife cooked. I should have told him beforehand that we could only invite him home for dinner if things went smoothly... Now we've really lost both our efforts and our reputation..."

"Let me think of someone else in the factory who's quick-witted. If this doesn't work, shall we let Lin Fang go and call someone else?"

Zhang Feng said angrily.

"You're just too impatient!"

“Li Xiangdong isn’t just good to Lin Fang; he treats every worker in the factory the same way. So it’s no use finding ten thousand more people. No one will cause trouble for Li Xiangdong on our behalf.”

Yi Zhonghai shook his head and sighed.

"What should we do then? Li Xiangdong has bullied us like this, are we really just going to suffer in silence?"

"Here's what you'd like to do: get a bottle of wine from my kitchen cabinet and try to get Lin Fang drunk during dinner."

"Will this work? If we get him drunk, he won't be able to help us at all?"

"You've worked in a workshop before, haven't you? The most important thing when working in front of machine tools is to stay calm and focused. Think about it, if he's drunk half a jin of liquor, he'll definitely have to pretend to be sober and keep working in order not to affect his salary and bonus. It's one thing if machine parts break down, but how many times have you seen people accidentally get their hands caught in the machine?"

Yi Zhonghai narrowed his eyes slightly and said in a serious tone.

"Master, it has to be you! This is a great idea! If something goes wrong, let's see how much energy Li Xiangdong will have left to develop new equipment."

Zhang Feng, who was standing to the side, quickly flattered him, thinking that as long as he could get Li Xiangdong dealt with, that would be enough.

"Hey, where are they? The food's all ready, where did they go?"

An older woman, exhausted from a busy morning, came in carrying groans of vegetables, only to find Lin Fang sitting alone in the room.

"Um...they said they went to serve you the dishes..."

"None of them are reliable, Xiaolin, right? You eat first, don't worry about them!"

"That's what the older woman said helplessly."

"Look at what you're saying! We were figuring out what kind of wine to give Kobayashi!"

No sooner had the old woman finished speaking than Yi Zhonghai walked in with a bottle of wine and a beaming smile, followed closely by Zhang Feng.

"Master Yi, I have to go to work at the factory this afternoon, so I can't drink alcohol."

“How can you entertain guests without preparing wine? If word gets out that you did this, people will think that I, Yi Zhonghai, am so old that I don’t understand anything!”

After saying that, Yi Zhonghai took out three cups from the drawer. Lin Fang was an honest man and not good at refusing, so he had no choice but to join Yi Zhonghai and Zhang Feng in exchanging toasts.

As it was almost time for the afternoon shift to start, the master and apprentice finally let Lin Fang leave. Lin Fang, who had drunk seven or eight ounces of baijiu, was dizzy and had difficulty even walking.

"What's wrong with you two? You know the kid has to go to work this afternoon, how can he get any work done after drinking so much?"

Yi Zhonghai and Zhang Feng stood at the gate of the courtyard, looking at Lin Fang's swaying figure and wanted to laugh. They ignored the old lady who came over and scolded them.

"Try going to the factory again this afternoon when you have some free time, and let me know if you hear anything."

"Don't worry, Master, I'm going back to get some sleep. This wine really has a strong effect!"

Seeing that Lin Fang had already walked away, Zhang Feng waved his hand and went home to sleep.

After lying in bed at home for several days, Xu Damao felt his health was improving, so he got up and tried to walk slowly. He felt that if he continued to lie down like this, he would be tortured to death by Lou Xiao'e sooner or later.

"You...you're here again!"

"Didn't I tell you? Your brother-in-law is home these days. We can talk about it when I get back to my parents' house!"

"Besides, there are too many gossipy people in this dilapidated courtyard. If some busybody sees this and tells your brother-in-law, my life will be over!"

Just as Xu Damao staggered to the window, he bumped into Lou Xiao'e talking to a young man in the corner of the yard. This man was none other than his brother-in-law, Lou Sheng.

Lou Xiao'e's eyes and tone were extremely flustered, as if she were afraid of being discovered while having an affair, and she scolded her younger brother Lou Sheng in a low voice.

　(Wang's) "Sister, I really have no money left, otherwise I wouldn't have come to you..."

"Xiaoyue's family said that she's their only child, and if she wants to get married, they need a bride price..."

Lou Sheng said eagerly that this was also his parents' idea, hoping that he could get more money from his sister and brother-in-law.

“My family has no money right now. Your brother-in-law lies at home all day without earning a penny. All I do is take care of him. My wife and I are practically starving. How are we going to get you a wife?”

"Xiaoyue's family is really audacious! They're so poor they're practically begging, yet they have such high demands! What era are we living in? Are they trying to get rich by selling their daughter?"

Chapter 244 Sibling Thieves

"If you ask me, you should have some backbone as a man. Don't reject her just because she's asking for such an exorbitant amount. I'll introduce you to a better one!"

After saying that, Lou Xiao'e quickly pushed Lou Sheng out of the courtyard gate, her eyes glancing around from time to time, but she didn't notice Xu Damao standing at her window at all.

"Sister, I love Xiaoyue the most, and I will marry no one but her in this life!"