Wang Dabao thought he was completely bewildered.
He blinked twice, frowned, and looked again. Sure enough, it was fire, and it looked like the fire was burning down the main house of Sha Zhu in the middle courtyard.
After thinking it over carefully, Wang Dabao realized that it was impossible for Sha Zhu to be setting fire to a house in the middle of the night. The fire was probably started by that brat Bang Geng. He never expected that Jia Dongxu's son would be so bold as to actually set fire to Sha Zhu's house after saying he would burn it down.
There was another knock at the door.
"Da Bao, it's me, Lao Liu. Something big has happened in our compound." Liu Haizhong's voice came through the door with a knock.
Wang Dabao was still peering out the window, using the firelight to assess the fire in the courtyard. He saw that the light outside Xu Damao's house had also come on. Then he saw Xu Damao, wearing a coat, rushing out the door like a warlord from the Republican era, seemingly heading towards his own house.
"Coming, coming, Lao Liu, wait for me to put on my clothes."
Wang Dabao shouted twice towards the entrance of the main room and began to put on his clothes.
Now that it's late autumn, the temperature is still okay around noon, but you can already feel the chill of winter in the mornings and evenings, not to mention the latter half of the night, which is the coldest time of day.
"Oh my, Second Uncle, you're really smart. You ran out wearing just a sweater. It seems your big body can really withstand the cold."
"Xu Damao, stop being sarcastic. You haven't even gotten married yet, and your health is already like this. What will become of you in the future!"
While Wang Dabao was getting dressed inside, Xu Damao and Liu Haizhong started arguing at the door.
Xu Damao still harbored resentment about the pain he felt when Liu Haizhong beat him so badly that he couldn't even eat. If it weren't for Wang Dabao, he wouldn't be paying any attention to Liu Haizhong right now.
Liu Haizhong also disliked Xu Damao's constant arrogance, and only paid attention to him out of respect for Wang Dabao.
Wang Dabao finished dressing, opened the door, and came out. The two brothers, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, also ran out of their homes, greeted Wang Dabao at the door, and stood respectfully behind Liu Haizhong.
Seeing this, Wang Dabao knew the two brothers were about to get a scolding again.
"Come on, Guangtian and Guangfu, have a smoke first."
Wang Dabao took out cigarettes and gave one to each of the two brothers, then gave one to Liu Haizhong and Xu Damao, glancing at the fire in the courtyard. "Let's have a smoke first, let the fire burn a little longer."
"Crack!"
Liu Guangtian lit a match and bent down to light Wang Dabao's cigarette.
"This fire definitely started at Sha Zhu's house. Do you guys remember what Bang Geng said about setting fire to Sha Zhu's house? I think it was definitely that brat who did it. I have to say, he's quite admirable."
Liu Guangtian, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, was doing his analysis.
Xu Damao chuckled: "No matter who ordered it, as long as Sha Zhu suffers, I'll be genuinely happy. I'm delighted!"
"Alright, Xu Damao, stop gloating. You're part of the compound too, don't be jealous of others doing well." Liu Haizhong squinted and began to lecture Xu Damao.
"Hey, Uncle, have you forgotten what happened the other day when you and he were rolling around on the ground together? He could do that to someone your age, is he even human?!"
Xu Damao got more and more excited as he spoke, "If you ask me, it would be better if his house were all burned down, so he wouldn't be making a fuss all day long and trying to pick a fight with everyone."
Liu Haizhong turned his head and glared at Xu Damao: "He's not human, but you are. You even know I'm old. You talk as if you've never laid a hand on me."
Xu Damao was taken aback. He turned his head and saw Liu Guangtian and his brother staring at him menacingly in the light. He immediately swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
"That's all in the past, why bring it up again? We've made up, otherwise we wouldn't be here talking about it."
Xu Damao blinked and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Alright, I was wrong before, Xu Damao. Don't hold it against me. What we need to do now is unite against external forces. We have to deal with Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai. You don't want to be second best forever, do you?"
"Xu Damao, watch your mouth, or you'll make us brothers beat you up."
Upon hearing his father being compared to a perennial runner-up by Xu Damao, Liu Guangfu, standing behind Liu Haizhong, was furious. He took the cigarette from his mouth, glared at Xu Damao, and prepared to attack him.
Liu Haizhong waved his hand to stop Liu Guangfu from speaking, and looked at Xu Damao: "What, do you have a way to deal with Yi Zhonghai?"
No, not at all.
Xu Damao curled his lip, "But I think that Third Uncle might not be content to stay in the third position forever. It's time for us to let Yi Zhonghai move up a bit, and you and Third Uncle can move up a position too."
Xu Damao's words hit Liu Haizhong right where it hurts; this was exactly what he had been dreaming of doing!
Wang Dabao chuckled to himself, a cigarette dangling from his lips. Xu Damao was really good with words; he'd managed to make Liu Haizhong all smiles in no time.
If Xu Damao were replaced by the main character in the original series, Sha Zhu would have been tormented by him a hundred times over.
And they have to be different each time!
"Old Liu, I think Da Mao's idea is pretty good. Yi Zhonghai has already become somewhat out of step with the ideology of our working class!"
Wang Dabao looked thoughtful, and after a moment he said, "He only cares about family ties, not reason. Old Yi's awareness is too low. How can someone like that manage the compound well?"
"If you ask me, it has to be someone like you to rise to the top. First and foremost, your character is guaranteed!"
“Look, let’s not talk about anything else, just take the Jia family’s incident in the first half of the night. You and Sha Zhu had a conflict, but you were able to see this sudden event from the perspective of the head of the compound. You didn’t make things difficult for Sha Zhu or collude with Yi Zhonghai. That’s the difference, you know?!”
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