Chapter 129: The First Confrontation

"By the way, which room is Old Lady Yang's? We should go over and have a word with them later."

The two brothers, one named Yang Hu and the other Yang Bao, both took their mother's surname. They were in their twenties and never had a decent job.

"Weiguo, you must not get into a conflict with them. You're no match for them."

The Third Aunt pointed out the location of Old Lady Yang's place to them, then hurried away, clearly wanting nothing to do with the matter.

Xiao Weiguo finally understood why Courtyard 98 never received the title of "Model Courtyard." The competence and sense of responsibility of these neighborhood elders were far inferior to the likes of Silly Zhu and his peers from the neighboring courtyard. Their control over the courtyard was practically non-existent.

Never mind, he wouldn't dwell on it. Xiao Weiguo only wanted to live his own life well. If anyone dared to come and disturb him, they would have to face his retaliation.

He had to speak with the household of Old Lady Yang first. The house had been allocated to him; it was now his property, and he had full authority over it. Besides, there was a slim chance that the family might be reasonable.

He told Officer Xiao Liu to accompany him to negotiate with the Yang family. Liu Xiaoning, however, was quite straightforward; she followed Xiao Weiguo right over, seemingly unafraid of that family at all.

Xiao Weiguo knocked on the door and said, "Is Old Lady Yang home? I have something to discuss with your family."

A raspy voice drifted from inside: "Who is it?"

Xiao Weiguo pushed the door open and stepped in. The room was terrifyingly filthy, like the lair of a beggar. The pots and bowls on the floor looked as if they hadn't been washed in a week. A stench of rancid food mixed with the smell of elderly excrement hit him, making him recoil.

Xiao Weiguo already regretted stepping foot in this place. For all he knew, the filth in Old Lady Yang’s pockets could have been days old.

He forced himself to speak: "Old Lady Yang, the neighborhood office has allocated those two rooms to us. I see they are filled with your clutter, so you need to move it out as soon as possible, or we can move it out for you. We need to move in urgently, so how do you want to handle this?"

"What? Is it raining while the sun is out? I want to eat meat buns," Old Lady Yang croaked in a hoarse voice.

Xiao Weiguo was speechless. How could one communicate with someone who answered a question about the east with something about the west? He didn't know if she was faking it or truly mentally ill.

"Old Lady Yang, where are your sons? We should talk to them instead."

"Who's looking for us?"

Just then, two young men walked in. They looked like hoodlums, their clothes hanging loosely, their eyes filled with disdain, and their posture suggesting they were ready to brawl at any moment. They had to be Yang Hu and Yang Bao—a waste of such decent names.

Xiao Weiguo wondered when the "Strike Hard" campaign was coming; these two would certainly be on the list. But he still had to communicate. He repeated the matter of the house.

Yang Hu, one of the two, said, "Those two rooms are ours. We don't recognize any neighborhood office. If you dare to move any of the things inside, we'll calculate the damages. Hmph."

Yang Hu thought he had come up with a brilliant excuse, and a smirk appeared on his face. His brother, Yang Bao, gave him a thumbs-up in admiration. *My not-so-bright brother actually came up with an idea; now they won't dare touch that pile of junk.*

After a few more rounds of unproductive discussion, with Officer Liu trying to intervene, the other party remained completely immovable.

Xiao Weiguo's patience finally wore thin. "Listen, I'm here to inform you, not to negotiate. If that pile of junk isn't moved by 2:00 PM, we will move it for you. Let's go."

"Don't move it! I'll make you so mad! You actually dare to occupy our house? You've got some nerve!" Yang Bao shouted at their departing backs.

Once they were clear of the house, Officer Liu said apologetically, "Weiguo, I'm truly sorry. That family is a bunch of incorrigible rogues; it's really hard to deal with them right now. I’ll report their situation to the director when I get back. Personally, I don't think such pests should be allowed to exist here!"

Xiao Weiguo offered a silent prayer for that family. Offending him was one thing—a beating would be the worst of it—but they had dared to offend a government official. There would be plenty of ways to deal with them later.

He asked Officer Liu who to contact for renovations, as the two rooms would definitely need work before they were habitable. Officer Liu recommended a Master Zhang, named Zhang Shunde, from the neighboring courtyard, who worked with the neighborhood office’s construction team.

After thanking Officer Liu and seeing her off, Xiao Weiguo and Xiao Pingle stood staring at each other.

"Dad, let's go home and cook. After we eat, we'll wait until two o'clock. You'll need your strength then, so make sure you're full."

"Weiguo, you just give the order. Those two little runts? I'll knock them out with one punch each."

Xiao Weiguo found this version of his father quite unfamiliar. He couldn't recall who it was that had been bullied so thoroughly by his stepmother's family before.

Xiao Weiguo made a simple cabbage and meat soup with noodles. They slurped it down, and to his surprise, Xiao Pingle ate two bowls. He really had an appetite.

"Weiguo, we should save a bit. We've only been here half a day and already had meat twice. Even a landlord's family couldn't afford to eat like this."

"Dad, if we don't eat it, it'll just go bad. Once this piece of meat is gone, we'll stick to vegetables. Don't worry, the hard times are yet to come."

Xiao Pingle thought about it and agreed; letting it spoil would be more wasteful than eating it. Besides, the only other time they had food like this was during the Lunar New Year—well, and at the big cafeteria. It was just a shame the cafeteria hours were so short.

"Dad, don't just sit there. Go wash the bowls, and I'll brew some tea for you."

"Right."

Xiao Pingle agreed readily, but when he looked at the bowls, he didn't know where to start. He had never washed a dish in his life; hadn't Hongmei or Lianxin always done it?

Xiao Weiguo watched his father’s clumsy attempts at washing the dishes without the slightest intention of helping. His father needed to be trained. If you don't train him, how would you know he couldn't do it? He hoped his father would become a "dragon" starting today—right from washing the dishes.

The groundwater in the capital was quite bitter, so he had to brew it with jasmine tea from Zhang Yiyuan to make it palatable. That was the core competitiveness of the Zhang Yiyuan tea house in this city.

The two stole a moment of peace, sipping tea until two o'clock. There wasn't a peep from the Yang household.

Xiao Weiguo finally unleashed his father.

"Dad, go ahead. Throw everything from those two rooms right onto their doorstep. Don't leave a single thing behind. That place will be your home from now on. The sooner we get it cleared out, the sooner you can move in. Good luck."

Hearing this, Xiao Pingle felt a surge of energy and rushed inside.