Seeing that Jia Zhangshi had been defeated, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.
"Weihua, how can you be so stingy? You know the Jia family's situation; the five of them are still crammed into a house of less than 20 square meters. What's wrong with letting them live there for a few years?"
“It’s not that I, as an elder, am criticizing you. Our courtyard is a big family where we love and help each other. Your behavior is unacceptable. You live in three rooms in front of us all by yourself, while the Jia family of five only has one room.”
“I did this so that you could take better care of the old lady. Your parents took such good care of her when they were alive. But now that they're gone, how have you become so selfish?”
After saying that, Yi Zhonghai lightly stepped on the deaf old woman's shoe. The deaf old woman knew it was time for her to act.
“Hua Zi, I brought this up with Yi Zhonghai. The old lady is over 70 now and has no close relatives around her. Your parents and I had a good relationship before they died, and I have always treated you like a grandson.”
“The old woman knows she doesn’t live much longer, so she wants to get closer to you. I won’t let you take care of me for nothing; I’m a recipient of the Five Guarantees, so I have some income.”
"And I assure you, if you are willing to take good care of me, everything I own will be yours after I die. This is just a suggestion, you can consider it yourself."
Hearing the deaf old woman's words, many people were actually willing to do the job. However, everyone knew that whether or not the deaf old woman was well cared for was entirely up to her. Even if you took excellent care of her, she could still give the things to someone else if she said you hadn't taken good care of her.
“Weihua, I’ve been good to you, haven’t I? The old lady is a recipient of the Five Guarantees, and her family is quite well-off. You don’t have to give much at all to get a house for free. If it weren’t for the fact that you’re a recipient of the Five Guarantees, I would have given this opportunity to someone else long ago.”
“Both of you are relatives of martyrs, so you should take care of the old lady. This is the only way to show the unity, friendship, and mutual help among neighbors in our courtyard.”
Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui, who had already received a promise from Yi Zhonghai, also stepped forward at this time.
“As the second uncle, I also think this is quite reasonable. The old lady usually likes Weihua the most, and Weihua can’t live in such a big house by himself.”
"It would be better to let Weihua go to the backyard temporarily to take care of the deaf old lady's daily needs. Once Weihua gets married, he can move back to the front yard."
"Weihua, just bear with it for two or three years. We'll help you move back after you get married."
Hearing Liu Haizhong's words, Yan Bugui secretly gave Liu Haizhong a thumbs up. The Jia family occupying the house was their business; he had no reason to do such a thing for two jin of meat coupons and ten yuan.
Wei Hua is, after all, a martyr's family member. If he goes too far, he might get into some unnecessary trouble. If it attracts the attention of the neighborhood committee, even this old man like himself will be in deep trouble.
“Since both Uncle One and Uncle Two think it’s feasible, I, Uncle Three, can’t really voice any objections. But what Uncle Two just said does make sense. Wei Hua is already 18, and he should be getting married in two or three years.”
"It would be unreasonable to let Weihua live in the backyard then. People who don't know the situation might think we are bullying the orphan of a martyr."
"Out of respect for the elderly and care for the young, and considering the deaf old lady's actual situation, Weihua, you should move to the backyard!"
"However, before you move, we will make sure the Jia family signs a written agreement stating that they must move out of your house unconditionally when you get married."
"Since this was proposed by the eldest uncle, he should write the guarantor's statement himself. If the Jia family doesn't move, you can take the statement to the eldest uncle."
“Third Uncle is right. Since First Uncle proposed this, he should be the guarantor. If the Jia family doesn’t move, this will turn into a house robbery.”
Upon hearing Yan Bugui's words, Yi Zhonghai glared fiercely at Yan Bugui. After glaring at Yan Bugui, he then glared fiercely at Liu Haizhong.
But now the die is cast, and there's no turning back. The only option now is to have Wei Hua move to the backyard. Then we'll figure out a way to steal the documents back. Once we have the documents, we can bully Wei Hua however we want.
As for getting the Jia family to move out, that's practically impossible. No one knows Jia Zhangshi's character better than Yi Zhonghai.
"Hahahaha! I'd like to see who dares to bully me today! Do you really think that just because my parents are dead, I can let you bully me?"
"The Jia family's house isn't big enough, so why should I have to move? You, Yi Zhonghai, clearly have two houses, so why not give one to the Jia family?"
“You’re saying this old woman is my grandma? I don’t believe it. My grandma’s portrait is still hanging on the wall.”
Upon hearing Wei Hua's words, Yi Zhonghai immediately stood up and tugged at Jia Dongxu's sleeve. Jia Zhangshi also glanced at Qin Huairu in the distance.
Qin Huairu, having received a hint from Jia Zhangshi, immediately began to cry beside Sha Zhu. Although Sha Zhu longed to eat the dumplings made by his sister-in-law, he was still quite sensible in this matter.
He had no grudge against Wei Hua, and Wei Hua's parents had just died. It would be going too far to bully him at this time. If anything happened, he would be condemned by everyone. Especially since Wei Hua was a martyr's family member.
Seeing that Sha Zhu remained unmoved, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to step in personally. As he spoke, he even gave Jia Dongxu a meaningful look.
The meaning is quite clear: if words aren't enough, then you'll have to take action. If anything goes wrong, I'll figure out a way to smooth things over for you.
"Wei Hua, do you have any sense of collectivism? We're doing a good deed. If you don't agree, I'll have to exercise my rights as an elder."
Hearing Yi Zhonghai's words, the others were somewhat worried. After all, Yi Zhonghai was a respected elder in the courtyard house. The common people believed that one shouldn't fight against officials, so they generally tried to be tolerant.
Yi Zhonghai's words are only good for fooling ordinary people; an old man like him has absolutely no power. At most, he can mediate disputes among ordinary people. And that can only happen if both parties are willing to accept mediation. If one party disagrees with mediation, there's nothing Yi Zhonghai can do.
"Yi Zhonghai, who do you think you are! Tell me, who gave you this right? The house was allocated to our family of three by the steel mill. Besides the steel mill and the neighborhood committee, who has the right to kick us out?"
"What rights do you, this so-called 'old man,' have? Tell me, what rights do you, this 'old man,' actually have?"
Seeing that Wei Hua dared to talk back to him, Yi Zhonghai could only keep giving Jia Dongxu meaningful glances. But Jia Dongxu, who had received his mother's signal, didn't make a move.
Seeing Yi Zhonghai constantly winking at him, Jia Dongxu involuntarily looked at his mother again. Considering the current situation, Jia Zhangshi decided to wait and see.
Before anyone else has entered the fray, he can't let his son make a move. Even if he were to intervene, he'd have to wait until things have stabilized.
Seeing that no one responded, Yi Zhonghai gently stepped on the deaf old woman's foot again.
The deaf old woman was now somewhat helpless. If she didn't help Yi Zhonghai, she would be caught in the middle and offend both sides. She had already offended Wei Hua. Now, the deaf old woman had no choice but to bite the bullet and go along with it.
"You brat! How can you not know any respect for elders and care for the young? Yi Zhonghai did this entirely for the sake of the whole group. If it weren't for your parents, I wouldn't even look at you."
"Am I doing you a disservice by asking you to serve the ancestors? Do you have even the slightest bit of selflessness? Can you manage living in three rooms all by yourself?"
"How dare someone as selfish as you stay in our courtyard house?"
Hearing the deaf old woman's words, Wei Hua tried hard to control his expression, deliberately appearing hesitant. But secretly, he had already accepted the reward from last time.
No sooner had the award been received than a battalion-level officer arrived at the street office with more than a dozen of his subordinates. They immediately presented the death notice for defending the country and the medal for first-class merit.
The entire neighborhood committee was shaken upon seeing this. Director Wang even personally led a group, banging drums and gongs, to the courtyard. This kind of thing had to be made known to everyone. This was practically a monumental political task.
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