Mrs. Jia was burning with anger and had nowhere to vent it. After finishing dinner and taking advantage of the gathering dusk, she waddled over with her plump waist and scurried straight into Yi Zhonghai's house.
Yi Zhonghai was sitting by the eight-immortal table, holding an enamel mug and leisurely sipping tea.
His wife, Chen Guihua, was mending clothes nearby. When she saw Mrs. Jia walk in, she didn't even lift her eyelids. While her hands kept moving with the needle and thread, she greeted her politely: "Oh, Elder Sister, what a rare visitor! Is something the matter?"
Mrs. Jia plopped down onto a stool, slapped her thigh, and started complaining: "Old Yi! You have to stand up for me! That Su Changshun in the front courtyard—how many days has he even been in the factory? His tail is already sticking straight up in the air! Not only did he show off by buying meat today, but he even pinned labels on me in public, saying I was slandering the working class! Can you believe this? What kind of working class is he, just a temporary worker? Isn't this sheer bullying?"
Yi Zhonghai frowned. He knew the score inside and out—if even one out of ten sentences out of Mrs. Jia's mouth was true, it would be a miracle.
However, he didn't rush to state his position. He simply took another slow sip of tea, raised his eyes, and asked, "Oh? What did he say?"
Exaggerating wildly, Mrs. Jia recounted Su Changshun's words, placing special emphasis on how he was undermining neighborhood harmony and inciting young people to disrespect their elders. Finally, she lowered her voice and added a mysterious postscript: "Old Yi, you don't realize this, but now all the youngsters in the courtyard—Shazhu, Xu Damao, and even Yan Bugui's half-grown boys—are starting to listen to Su Changshun! If things keep going this way, I'm afraid your authority as First Uncle is going to be hollowed out!"
"Bang!"
Yi Zhonghai slammed his enamel mug down heavily onto the table, splashing a few drops of tea.
Mrs. Jia jumped, thinking she had said something wrong.
Yi Zhonghai's expression turned gloomy, but his gaze sharpened.
He didn't care whether Mrs. Jia had suffered a grievance, nor did he even care if Su Changshun's tail was truly sticking up. What he cared about was that the young people in the courtyard were starting to band together!
This was no trivial matter!
He had gone to great lengths to get a grip on Shazhu, making the boy obey his every word and occasionally dispensing relief food to the Jia Family.
If Shazhu was led astray by Su Changshun, who would listen to Yi Zhonghai in the future?
More crucially—he hadn't given Shazhu a single penny of the living expenses He Daqing mailed back! He had taken such a huge risk precisely to show favor to Shazhu and keep him obedient. If the boy got led astray, wouldn't all his efforts go to waste?
At this thought, Yi Zhonghai's heart tightened, but on the surface, he remained completely composed. He simply let out a heavy sigh and said with righteous sternness, "Elder Sister, don't you worry! This matter cannot just rest here! In our courtyard, what we value above all is mutual aid and respect for the old and love for the young! Su Changshun's behavior must be severely criticized!"
Hearing this, Mrs. Jia's eyes lit up, and she quickly chimed in, "Exactly, exactly! Old Yi, you really need to straighten him out!"
Yi Zhonghai nodded, turned to Chen Guihua, and said, "Wife, go make the rounds. Tomorrow after work, we'll hold a full courtyard meeting! The theme—opposing label-pinning behavior and safeguarding courtyard unity!"
Wu Xianglian's needlework paused. She looked up at Yi Zhonghai, caught his meaning instantly, and nodded. "Alright, I'll go notify every household shortly."
Mrs. Jia left fully satisfied, already plotting how to make Su Changshun lose face at tomorrow's meeting.
As soon as she was gone, Chen Guihua lowered her voice and asked, "Old Yi, are you really going to make an example of Su Changshun?"
Yi Zhonghai sneered. "That kid is a thorn in the side; we need to knock him down a peg early! Otherwise, if all the youngsters in the courtyard start copying him, how am I supposed to manage the place?"
Chen Guihua nodded, then offered a reminder: "Still, Su Changshun is the red-hot favorite at the rolling mill right now. Section Chief Zhao and Director Yang both value him. If we come down too hard, won't it..."
Yi Zhonghai waved a hand dismissively, completely confident. "Don't worry, I know my limits. At tomorrow's meeting, we won't target him directly. Instead, we'll criticize label-pinning behavior and make him admit his own mistake! Once he backs down, he'll naturally know who he ought to listen to in the future."
Chen Guihua smiled. "You always think things through thoroughly."
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The next evening, in the open space at the center of the Quadrangle Courtyard, every household had long since brought out their small benches and sat in a circle.
Yi Zhonghai sat squarely in a chair right in the middle, looking grim and holding his enamel mug. Taking sips from time to time, he put on full airs as the First Uncle.
Liu Haizhong sat beside him, sticking out his belly with the expression of an inspecting leader, coughing loudly every now and then to signal everyone to keep quiet.
Yan Bugui sat off in a corner, holding a small notebook and pretending to take meeting minutes, though he was actually calculating whether the time lost to tonight's meeting could be converted into work points.
Su Changshun and Shazhu sat together, while Xu Damao hid behind the crowd, wearing the look of someone waiting for a good show and hoping for maximum chaos.
Yi Zhonghai cleared his throat and began, "I've called everyone to a meeting today mainly to address some recent unhealthy trends that have popped up in our courtyard!"
He swept his gaze around, letting it linger on Su Changshun for a second, and continued, "Our courtyard has always been about unity, mutual aid, and respecting the elders! But lately, certain individuals, relying on the fact that they have some modest skills, have started sticking their tails up in the air and even casually slapping labels on their neighbors! Behavior like this must be severely criticized!"
Mrs. Jia immediately chimed in with a sarcastic tone, "That's right! Some people have only been in the factory for a few days, and already they've forgotten who they are!"
A smile still lingered on Su Changshun's face, but his eyes grew cold. He knew Yi Zhonghai was gunning for him! But he was no pushover!
He slowly stood up. His voice wasn't loud, but every word was crystal clear: "Master Yi, you're entirely right! Our courtyard certainly needs unity, and nobody should be slapping labels on others at random!"
Yi Zhonghai was taken aback, never expecting Su Changshun to simply go along with his opening premise.
Before he could feel pleased, however, Su Changshun changed the subject, asking with a slight smile, "However, I have a question I'd like to put to you—if someone slaps a label on somebody else first, is the person who got labeled not even allowed to talk back? Do they just have to take it lying down?"
Yi Zhonghai's expression stiffened.
Without waiting for an answer, Su Changshun continued, "Yesterday, Auntie Jia claimed I was indulging in a bourgeois lifestyle. If that kind of talk reaches the factory, the best I can hope for is a reprimand, and the worst is having my future ruined! When I talk back a couple of times, how on earth does that become undermining unity?"
He swept his gaze across the courtyard neighbors, speaking with sincere earnestness: "Neighbors, judge this for yourselves—just who is slapping labels here? Who is the one undermining unity?"
The courtyard instantly fell silent. Everyone turned to look at Yi Zhonghai.
Yi Zhonghai's face turned livid, his fingers gripping the enamel mug so tightly they went white. He hadn't expected that not only did Su Changshun refuse to admit fault, but he had turned the tables and thrown the problem right back at him!
If he stubbornly persisted in criticizing Su Changshun now, it would only make him look biased toward Mrs. Jia and completely unreasonable. The neighbors would start questioning his fairness as First Uncle.
Just as the atmosphere reached an impasse, the Deaf Old Lady, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly tapped her cane against the ground and said slowly, "Enough! What kind of big deal is this? Isn't it just a couple of bickering people? Was there any need to call a full courtyard meeting? Scatter, scatter!"
Knowing the old lady was giving him a way out, Yi Zhonghai seized the stepping stone and announced, "Meeting adjourned!"
Su Changshun smiled faintly and turned to leave. He knew Yi Zhonghai would never let this rest. The good show was yet to come!
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Yi Zhonghai sat by the eight-immortal table at home, his expression so dark water could have been wrung from it. He hadn't touched a single drop of the tea in his enamel mug, tapping his fingers on the tabletop with a rhythmic *tap, tap, tap*, his eyes shifting with dark uncertainty.
Chen Guihua sat across from him, mending an old piece of clothing. Glancing up at him from time to time, she lowered her voice and asked, "Old Yi, are we just going to let this go?"
"Let it go?" Yi Zhonghai sneered. "That punk Su Changshun is ten times harder to deal with than Xu Damao. Xu Damao is just a cowardly loudmouth, but Su Changshun—not only is his tongue venomous, his mind is nimble! At today's meeting, he trapped me up there with just a few words. If the old lady hadn't bailed me out, I wouldn't even have been able to step down with any dignity!"
Chen Guihua frowned. "Then what do we do? We can't just let him lead the youngsters in the courtyard in a clique! Shazhu is practically being led astray by him now, and Yushui hardly comes over to our place to do homework anymore."
Yi Zhonghai narrowed his eyes and said slowly, "No rush. You can't use brute force against this kind of person; you have to wear him down slowly."
He picked up his enamel mug and took a sip of the cold tea. "Didn't he just enter the factory? Isn't he the darling of the Propaganda Section? Fine, we'll just make sure he stops shining!"
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At noon the next day, at the rolling mill, Su Changshun was carrying the Propaganda Section's paint bucket just as he reached the entrance of the section. He overheard a few workshop workers whispering as they pointed at him: "Hey, look at him. He paints everything looking so pristine—where in our workshop is it ever that clean?"
"Exactly, it's all flashy fluff! Leaders just love this kind of superficial garbage!"
Su Changshun paused in his tracks and narrowed his eyes. "Hoh, Yi Zhonghai, starting already, are you?"
He didn't have time to bother with small fry. Humming a little tune, he carried the paint bucket toward the publicity bulletin board.
Yesterday, Section Chief Zhao had patted him on the shoulder and said, "Little Su, Director Yang specifically praised your blackboard newspaper." That praise had been as sweet as honey, keeping him from getting a solid night's sleep.
"Well, if it isn't our master painter!"
A sarcastic shout drifted over from the entrance of the Fitter Workshop.
Wang Tiehuz and three or four apprentices were squatting on the steps gnawing on steamed corn bread. Seeing Su Changshun walk by, Wang deliberately cranked his voice up like a broken gong: "Hey brothers, take a look! This guy's painting gig is way more glamorous than us swinging sledgehammers!"
Su Changshun didn't break his stride. Lifting his eyelids, he chuckled. "Master Wang, if you're jealous, how about we trade places? You come paint a couple of strokes, and I'll go swing the hammer for you?" As he spoke, he actually set the paint bucket down on the ground and made a show of rolling up his sleeves.
"No, no, no!" Wang Tiezhu was caught off guard, spraying corn bread crumbs everywhere. "We're rough guys; how could we ever compare to someone fancy like you who holds a pen!"
The surrounding apprentices chimed in: "That's right! In your paintings, we workers look like heavenly soldiers and generals, but what are we really like?" He raised a hand covered in thick calluses. "Take a look—these are hands that do real work!"
Su Changshun wasn't annoyed in the slightest. He bent down, picked up a piece of chalk, and scratched a quick *swish-swish* across the concrete floor. In the blink of an eye, a sledgehammer-wielding worker came to life right on the ground, complete with bulging muscle-bound arms and distended veins—the spitting image of Wang Tiezhu.
"Look, aren't these hands that do real work?" Su Changshun tossed the chalk stub aside and winked at the dumbfounded Wang Tiezhu. "Or... should I add a pair of red underwear for you? Like a New Year's picture—very festive!"
The surrounding crowd burst into a roar of laughter. Wang Tiezhu's face flushed crimson, and just as he was about to start cursing, the workshop director's whistle suddenly shrieked: "Wang Tiezhu! Are you done with the molds? Stop standing around shooting your mouth off!"
Su Changshun picked up his paint bucket and strolled away, leaving the sound of Wang Tiezhu getting chewed out echoing behind him.
He gave a light whistle, thinking to himself that this old fox Yi Zhonghai only had this little trick up his sleeve? Sending a simpleton to disgust people?
Life was too boring, especially in this era without computers or cell phones. Aside from work, things were genuinely a bit empty and lonely. It looked like he'd have to arrange a matchmaking session for himself.
Still, before that, having someone around to entertain him and put on a big show was a nice way to kill time. He just hoped Yi Zhonghai had some actual substance, just like in the original story; otherwise, he wouldn't have much fun playing this game.