Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 771 - 772: 60s Siheyuan 20_1

Chapter 771: Chapter 772: 60s Siheyuan 20_1

Zhang Yu heard Director Wang’s voice, "Hello, Director. I’m reporting Yi Zhonghai for condoning Jia Dongxu’s violent behavior. Just now, when Jia Dongxu was causing trouble, someone—I heard Yi Zhonghai calling out Jia Dongxu’s name."

"At that time, he was still kicking at the gate of my family’s courtyard."

"Which proves he was on the scene. He watched the whole time as Jia Dongxu kicked the door and barged into my home."

Zhang Yu glared at Yi Zhonghai with fury, "As First Elder, you always show favoritism towards the Jia Family."

"If a person like him continues to be First Elder, it’s just allowing the Jia Family to act with impunity in Hongxing Courtyard."

Xu Damao kept shouting from the side, "Right."

Several neighbors, too, had come out to watch the commotion and, having heard from the Yan Family what had happened, were truly astonished.

They knew today’s incident left the Jia Family without face and had considered that Lady Jia Zhang might make trouble afterwards, but they hadn’t expected the ruckus to start before even a night had passed.

They were even screaming about taking someone’s life, "The Jia Family is really so overbearing."

"Their overbearing behavior is because they have Yi Zhonghai’s support."

Most of the residents in the courtyard worked at the steel mill, but there were still some who did not.

They had not come forward because they were wary of Yi Zhonghai being First Elder, but now that he was effectively laid off, was there any need for them to continue fearing him?

As for the prospect of continuing as First Elder? They weren’t scared, since Director Wang had said that if anyone was dissatisfied with how the Steward handled things, they could go to the community office to report their situation.

When the time came, they would just do that and see how Yi Zhonghai could continue to play favorites.

Emboldened by this thought, people unhesitatingly revealed some of the things Yi Zhonghai used to do in the courtyard.

"Anyone who doesn’t obey, who doesn’t follow Yi Zhonghai’s orders, gets beaten by Sha Zhu."

"Exactly. Never seen such an Elder. It’s not only the Jia family that’s having a hard time in the courtyard, but apart from them, who has Yi Zhonghai ever helped?"

Xu Damao laughed, repeating what Zhang Yu had just said, "A ’fair’ First Elder would look after the Jia Family in all kinds of ways, besides the fact that Jia Dongxu is his apprentice."

"Surely, in order to have Jia Dongxu support him in his old age, he’s naturally going to look after him in all kinds of ways."

Aside from the parties involved, only Second Elder, Third Master, the Xu Family, and the Zhang Family knew about Yi Zhonghai’s intentions within the courtyard.

The others had always thought it was simply because Jia Dongxu was his apprentice, not expecting this to be the reason.

"He just doesn’t want to spend money but still wants to be seen as a good person, so we’re the ones who suffer."

Xu Damao jumped around, talking about how awful Yi Zhonghai was. Initially, his goal was just to topple Old Yi and prevent him from continuing as an Elder of the courtyard.

But later, he pondered that with Old Yi’s departure, a position as Steward would open up, so why shouldn’t he strive for it?

No one realized the thoughtfully active and jubilant Xu Damao harbored such aspirations.

Director Wang had not expected the biased Yi Zhonghai to have such thoughts; indeed, not even a master would be this partisan.

But if it was to ensure care in his old age, it made sense, "Old Yi, oh Old Yi, look at what you’ve done."

"You really are..." The more he thought about it, the more Director Wang felt Yi Zhonghai absolutely should not become a Steward.

Out of his own self-interest, he had caused so much trouble in the courtyard; if left unchecked, who knew how much resentment would accumulate.

"So that’s it. No wonder Yi Zhonghai, that old brute, doesn’t seriously teach his apprentices. It turns out he’s taking on an apprentice for the sake of his own old-age care."

"If the apprentice isn’t intended for supporting him in old age, he doesn’t even bother teaching."

"Exactly, no wonder that worthless Jia Dongxu, no matter how poor his skills, always gets earnest tutelage from Yi Zhonghai."

"I’m going to the factory director tomorrow. With such a master, I can’t dare to let my son continue learning from him."

"Right," someone expressed in anger.

Yi Zhonghai hadn’t expected that not only was his reputation in the community office spoiled, but was his image with the factory leadership going to be tarnished too?

Even if he became a Level 8 Worker in the upcoming gradation exam, in the leaders’ eyes at the unit, he would still be seen as a selfish person, and they would definitely promote another Seventh-Level Fitter.

He knew the best thing to do now was to make a promise in front of everyone.

But by doing so, wouldn’t he be admitting that he had previously failed to properly pass on his skills, making himself a target of scorn?

Yi Zhonghai decided not to apologize, deciding instead to start teaching his apprentices properly from tomorrow.

Without taking any action, several apprentices’ family members, seeing that he still hadn’t shown any intent to apologize, all felt that it was better to find a new teacher.

Since the issue was currently in the spotlight, everyone knew that Yi Zhonghai was a biased master. Asking to change the master wouldn’t harm their children’s reputations if word got out.

If they brought it up later, it would simply be said that their children weren’t good enough. Of course, such action required a united front to approach the factory leadership.

As for the Director, forget it. The Director saw Yi Zhonghai as a Seventh-Level Fitter on the verge of becoming Level 8 Worker and treated him panderingly.

Right now, Yi Zhonghai just wanted to resolve today’s issue; otherwise, it would be really troublesome.

While he was in a daze, the police had already fully understood the situation at the Zhang Family’s home, "There are no drag marks."

This meant Jia Dongxu couldn’t claim that Zhang Yu had dragged him into the house, as robbery within a residence carried a different charge than one outside a residence.

Some police had already begun to visit the residents of the courtyard and people from the surrounding courtyards.

Even though the people from the adjacent courtyard weren’t at the scene and didn’t witness the events, they had heard Jia Dongxu’s arrogant voice.

Soon enough, all the evidence was gathered. The officers had dealt with many disputes before, but a family as brash as this one was something they hadn’t encountered often.

Having come to her senses, Lady Jia Zhang incessantly cried out that she was wronged, "It was Dongxu who came looking for trouble with them after hearing Zhang Yu beating me."

"But you were the one who hit first," Zhang Yu retorted coldly, "Grandson hits, the old witch hits, the son hits."

"Really, with a tyrannical master like you, comes a tyrannical apprentice. A perfect match," Zhang Yu said rudely.

Again with ’tyrant,’ Yi Zhonghai heard this label once more, how could he admit to it, "Zhang Yu, watch your language."

"Isn’t it tyrannical? You condone the Jia Family’s seizure of property and even told me my home is too spacious and the Jia Family has housing difficulties, suggesting I swap houses with them."

"My home is privately owned and has its own deed. The Jia Family’s house belongs to the steel mill and requires paying rent. Is this an equal exchange?"

"Director Wang, I suggest that since Yi Zhonghai thinks the Jia Family’s house isn’t big enough and feels sorry for them—since it’s just him and his wife—why don’t they swap houses?"

Humph, mentioning it in front of Director Wang, "So he stops always talking about how his apprentice’s family has it hard."