Courtyard House: From Bloodsucking Jia Zhangshi to Industrial Giant

Chapter 59 One-time compensation, bribing Liu Guangtian!

Old Ma's face darkened, but seeing everyone in the large office listening intently, he couldn't scold them, so he could only nod helplessly.

"Once I get my hands on first-class tea tickets, I'll personally deliver them to you."

He emphasized the words "deliver tickets" because he wanted to minimize his losses since he had already been extorted.

Zhang Chengfei persisted, "I've been extremely busy with work lately, so I'd really trouble you, Section Chief, to personally go to the store and bring the tea back..."

"Damn it!" Old Ma was completely speechless: "Fine, I'll personally deliver the tea to you."

He squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.

Zhang Chengfei turned his head to look at Da Liu, Lao Tian, ​​Zhao Xu, Nie Lan, and the others who were watching the commotion.

"Comrades, did you see that? Our section chief is a really good guy. As long as everyone does a good job, he says he'll get whatever you want out of his own pocket!"

Everyone cheered, and Zhao Xu shouted that once he accomplished something great, he would have the section chief personally make dumplings for him.

Nie Lan pouted: "It's not like we can't eat dumplings during the New Year. If it were me, I'd ask the section chief to treat me to Lao Mo's."

Zhao Xu retorted, "Old Mo doesn't have much to eat either, just big bread with sauce, it's awful!"

"It tastes awful and I won't let you eat it." Nie Lan was about to say a few more unpleasant things, but when she saw Zhang Chengfei turn his face away, she swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.

……

The courtyard house, the middle courtyard, next to the stone table.

Zhang Chengfei sat on a stone bench, legs crossed, holding a rattan cane in his hand, swaying it back and forth.

"Behave yourself and do your dictation, don't let me find out you're trying to be clever..." He suddenly exerted force, and the rattan cane lashed the stone table with a whooshing sound.

Across from her, Zhang Erya held a pencil, frowning as she silently wrote down "The Difficulty of the Shu Road." Every time she saw the vines swaying in front of her, Erya couldn't help but shudder.

She can throw a tantrum if someone else hits her, but Zhang Chengfei is her own uncle, so it's pointless for him to hit her!

It was already November, but beads of sweat were forming on her forehead.

The older generation in the courtyard watched the commotion from the sidelines. Even the deaf old lady made a point of coming out with her cane to stare at Er Ya.

Not far away, under the covered walkway, young people gathered together. Xu Damao was urging everyone to place bets, saying the current odds were 1 to 10.

Jia Dongxu quietly crept over, clutching two cents.

Xu Damao took the money: "You're betting on your mom to win?"

Jia Dongxu glanced at his mother's back as she hunched over her desk not far away and muttered to himself, "I bet my third grandfather will win."

The others immediately burst into laughter, with Sha Zhu giving a thumbs-up: "Brother Dongxu is awesome! You're a real son to your mother!"

Jia Dongxu blushed and said, "How could I, as her son, not know what my mother is like?"

The others nodded in agreement. Jia Dongxu asked Xu Damao curiously if anyone had bet on his mother winning.

Sha Zhu also said, "Definitely not. Only an idiot would bet on Aunt Zhang to win! We all bet on Da Fei to win. I bet 50 cents, Xu Damao bet 1 dollar, and even Yan Jiecheng bet 5 cents."

"Not a single one?" Jia Dongxu was speechless.

Xu Damao grinned mischievously: "There really is one, but I promised that person I'd keep it a secret, so I can't tell you who it is."

Sha Zhu's eyes widened immediately: "It can't be Da Fei, can it?"

Aside from Dafei, he couldn't think of anyone else who viewed Zhang Erya with such strong bias that they believed this old hag could win.

Xu Damao shook his head: "It wasn't him."

Who could it be? Everyone was puzzled and speculated about who it could be.

Liu Guangqi cast a suspicious glance at Sha Zhu, implying, "Sha Zhu, if we're talking about who's closest to Zhang Erya among our group, it's definitely you."

"You bastard, what did you say? I'll beat you to death!" Sha Zhu rolled up his sleeves.

……

Twenty minutes later, Zhang Erya finally finished her dictation and handed over her workbook with trembling hands.

Zhang Chengfei took it and looked at it carefully. Everyone in the courtyard immediately tensed up and held their breath.

People had been harassed by Zhang Erya for a long time. Putting aside the desire to see Zhang Erya get her comeuppance and return the money, if Zhang Erya failed this time, she definitely wouldn't follow Zhang Chengfei to learn to read anymore.

In this way, everyone will not have to worry about being woken up by her reading in the middle of the night and can get a good night's sleep.

Under the eager gazes of everyone, Zhang Chengfei put down his workbook: "All correct."

All correct? Everyone was shocked.

"No, how could it all be correct? Dafei, are you sure you didn't make a mistake?" Shazhu came over and shouted, asking Zhang Chengfei to re-correct it.

Zhang Chengfei smiled and said, "Brother Zhu, if you don't believe me, let a few of the managers in our compound confirm it again."

Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, and Yan Bugui were pushed forward.

Zhang Chengfei handed the notebook to Yan Bugui, and the Third Uncle and the First Uncle put their heads together to begin the inspection.

Liu Haizhong also tried to join in, but Sha Zhu scoffed, "Hey Second Uncle, you only graduated from elementary school, so don't bother coming along!"

Liu Haizhong panicked: "What? Primary school? I'm in upper primary school, upper primary school!"

The second aunt also complained, "My husband, Lao Liu, did attend fourth grade, even if it was only for one semester. Does that count as attending upper primary school?"

Sha Zhu chuckled sarcastically: "One semester? That's not even considered dropping out of elementary school."

Zhang Chengfei thought to himself, "At most, it's only half a step into the higher elementary school."

Liu Haizhong glared at Sha Zhu, then forced himself to look closer. After finishing, he felt a pang of anxiety. Wait, there were so many words he didn't recognize…

Could it be that he has replaced Zhang Erya and become the person with the lowest academic qualifications in the courtyard?

Perhaps sensing his panic, Yan Bugui reassured him, "Zhang Erya's literacy is definitely not as good as yours, Second Uncle."

Her recitation of "The Road to Shu is Hard" was rote memorization; she didn't understand its meaning or know any other words, she just memorized it by rote.

However, on the other hand, if one can keep memorizing by rote and learn more than a thousand characters, one can be considered to have basically become literate.

Liu Haizhong felt a little better and asked in a low voice, "So, did Zhang Erya get all the answers right in her dictation, Third Uncle?"

Yi Zhonghai also looked over silently, waiting for Yan Bugui's answer.

Knowing that neither of the two old men could recite "The Road to Shu is Hard," Yan Bugui felt a surge of pride. He cleared his throat and announced loudly, "Zhang Erya got everything right on her dictation this time!"

Before the words had even finished, a chorus of groans erupted from the crowd. Zhang Chengfei promptly produced the reward and handed it over. Er Ya counted the money seven or eight times, then squatted on the stone table eating a pork knuckle sandwich, successfully boosting Zhang Chengfei's negative emotional value.

Seeing the surge in negative emotions, Zhang Chengfei was secretly delighted, but he didn't show it on his face. He waved his sleeve and left without a trace.

Let's head to the public toilet at the alley entrance!

Liu Guangtian was already waiting at the entrance of the public restroom.

"Brother Dafei, here's the money you won." Liu Guangtian handed over ten yuan.

"You didn't let anyone know that I was the one who bet on Er Ya to win, did you?" Zhang Chengfei took the stack of money, but instead of putting it in his pocket, he held it in his hand.