My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 40: Reactions from Various Parties After the Conference

In the backyard of the Liu family's house, Liu Haizhong slammed his fist on the table in anger, cursing incessantly, "That Zhang Lei is utterly lawless! Don't let me catch him again, or I'll teach him a lesson about the authority of our steward!"

Hearing this, the second aunt said with a puzzled look, "Old Liu, shouldn't you be scolding Jia Zhangshi? It's clearly her who disrespected you and took away the ten yuan our family donated."

Liu Haizhong glared at the second aunt and said irritably, "What do you know, you woman? The Jia family has Yi Zhonghai backing them up, so it's normal for Jia Zhangshi to disrespect me. But Zhang Lei is just a junior; look at today's meeting, he didn't give me any face at all!"

Seeing this, Liu Guangqi quickly stepped forward to advise, "Dad, you've got it wrong. Zhang Lei's main target should be the Jia family and Uncle Yi."

Liu Haizhong looked at his most prized son and said in a deep voice, "Guangqi, you can't just look at the surface when you do things. On the surface, he offended Jia Zhangshi, but in reality, he's damaging our steward's prestige! Although I've always disliked Zhang Lei, he can't embarrass me like this in front of everyone in the courtyard!"

These words left Liu Guangqi completely bewildered, his face expressionless. He clenched his fist and couldn't help but retort, "Dad, today's events are mainly Yi Zhonghai's fault! He organized this fundraising event without even mentioning it to you two other managers, and then directly started arranging it for the Jia family."

Liu Haizhong nodded in agreement with Liu Guangqi's words and said, "Guangqi, you're right. Yi Zhonghai is getting more and more domineering, relying on his status as the eldest uncle. I'll have to have a good talk with Old Yan another day. If this continues, people will only know him as the eldest uncle, and no one will know about the second and third uncles!"

Listening to Liu Haizhong's words, Liu Guangqi thought to himself that his father was only thinking about these empty titles and didn't think about anything practical.

Liu Guangqi, however, saw through Yi Zhonghai's actions very clearly. He looked at his father, Liu Haizhong, and said, "Dad, Yi Zhonghai never has good intentions when he helps the Jia family. This matter won't benefit us either, so don't get involved, lest you be used as a pawn by Yi Zhonghai."

Aunt Erda, listening to Liu Guangqi's words, chimed in, "Yes, Lao Liu, look at all the times there's chaos in our courtyard, isn't it all because of the Jia family? And Jia Zhangshi from the Jia family is like a leech, once she's stuck to you, you can't get rid of her, and Yi Zhonghai always protects them."

Liu Haizhong listened to the mother and son's conversation but waved his hand dismissively: "What you're saying are minor matters. The most important thing now is the damage to the prestige of us three stewards. I've never seen Zhang Lei so eloquent before, and he dared to embarrass me in public. It's infuriating!"

Liu Guangqi was speechless after hearing this. He hadn't expected his father to still be so fixated on the prestige of officialdom, refusing to listen to any advice.

But after thinking about it, what could he do? Liu Haizhong was his father. So he patiently said, "Dad, Zhang Lei has changed a lot lately. He offended both Yi Zhonghai and the Jia family today. You don't need to worry about him at all. Just watch the Jia family and Yi Zhonghai deal with him. We'll just watch from the sidelines and not offend either side. Let them fight it out."

At this moment, Liu Guangtian suddenly stood up and said, "That's right, Dad. After the two of them fight to the death and are both exhausted, you, as their second uncle, can step in to take charge. That way, Zhang Lei will know how powerful you are, and Yi Zhonghai's prestige will be damaged. It's a win-win situation."

At this moment, Liu Guangfu also stood up and quickly chimed in, "Yes, Dad, maybe you and Yi Zhonghai will switch places then. You'll be the eldest uncle, and he'll be the second eldest uncle."

After listening to Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu's words, Liu Haizhong raised his hand and slapped each of them hard across the face, angrily shouting, "You two are good at nothing but hindsight! Why didn't you speak up for me at the meeting today!"

Liu Guangqi was startled to see his two younger brothers each receive a slap in the face. Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu had intended to continue their conversation and flatter Liu Haizhong, but they hadn't expected Liu Haizhong to still strike them without any mercy.

After Liu Haizhong finished beating the man, he turned to look at Liu Guangqi. His anger had subsided considerably, and he said with a smile, "Guangqi, you're right. I'll just wait for them to fight to the death and then reap the benefits."

Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu covered their stinging faces, their hearts filled with grievance and resentment. A thousand curses ran through their minds. The same words, spoken by your eldest son, are considered golden advice, but when we say them, we get slapped. Why is that?

Meanwhile, at Yan Bugui's home in the Intermediate People's Court, Yan Bugui was smugly telling his family about and analyzing what had just happened at the court-wide meeting. Yan Bugui, chin raised, said, "How about that? You all saw it today, right? If I hadn't been quick-witted, my family would have lost those two yuan for nothing."

The three aunties quickly chimed in, praising, "Old man, it has to be you! The Jia family is really despicable. They're clearly so rich, yet they tricked everyone into donating to them."

Yan Bugui curled his lip, looking like he knew everything: "Do you really think this is something the Jia family could have accomplished on their own? If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai manipulating things behind the scenes, could the Jia family have organized the donation so smoothly? But after Zhang Lei's outburst today, it's basically impossible for the Jia family to gain any advantage under the guise of donations in the future."

Yan Jiecheng quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, after Zhang Lei's outburst, everyone in the courtyard knows that the Jia family is not poor at all! I saw it clearly today; Yi Zhonghai's face turned black with anger."

Then, Yan Jiecheng changed the subject and chuckled, "But Dad, Zhang Lei's wife and her two younger sisters are really beautiful."

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui immediately glared at him and said in a deep voice, "Jiecheng, you should keep a closer eye on Zhang Lei's wife and her two younger sisters from now on."

Yan Jiecheng looked at Yan Bugui with a puzzled expression: "Dad, why?"

Yan Bugui retorted irritably, "Do you think Zhang Lei is still the same easy target he used to be?"

Yan Jiecheng said nonchalantly, "So what? Besides, Zhang Lei only married one woman; I wouldn't even consider the other two!"

Yan Bugui's face immediately darkened, and he shouted sternly, "You're telling me to think about it? What makes you think you can think about it? Don't even think about it! You deliberately caused trouble when Zhang Lei was introducing his family today, do you really think I didn't know? And didn't you see the look in Zhang Lei's eyes then?"

Yan Jiecheng pursed his lips and retorted, sticking his neck out, "So what? Does he want to mess with me?"

Yan Bugui looked at his good-for-nothing son and said with exasperation, "Deal with you? Dealing with you is a piece of cake! Didn't you see how Yi Zhonghai was made to lose face today? Don't you know your own limitations?"