Chapter 39: Playing Tricks
He Daqing pretended to be confused and asked, "Yi Zhonghai, why don't I understand what you are saying?"

Yi Zhonghai threw the lunch box on the windowsill outside the window and pointed at it and asked.

"Do you really not understand, or are you pretending not to understand? Is there anyone who serves food like you?

You shook out half of a spoonful of vegetables, and there is only this little left. Who can eat it?"

He Daqing looked nonchalant and sneered, "I only have so much food here. If it's not enough, buy a few more. A good dog doesn't block the road. Get out of my way."

"you……"

Yi Zhonghai was extremely angry.

At this time, the people around him also urged,

"Master Yi, can you please hurry up? We are almost starving to death."

"That's right. I've been working for the whole morning and I'm so tired that my stomach is almost stuck together. We are not level 7 fitters. You work so lightly."

The discussions became louder and louder, and Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to open the window.

But the more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he just couldn't swallow this anger.

So Yi Zhonghai went directly to the guesthouse and found the logistics director who was in charge of the canteen.

"Director Huang, look, this is the dish that Chef He from the cafeteria prepared for me. He shook the spoonful of food a bit, so there's only a little left."

"I worked so hard all morning, who can eat this little food?"

Yi Zhonghai is a level 7 fitter after all, so Director Huang from the logistics department takes his words seriously.

He stood up and said, "Master Yi, don't worry. I'll go to the cafeteria with you to ask what's going on."

The two returned to the cafeteria.

It was Li Jiandong's turn to serve the food.

As soon as Yi Zhonghai entered the room, he said loudly, "Stop for a moment, go to another window to get food."

"He Daqing, come out and explain to Director Huang why you shook off so much food when you served it to me just now?"

The workers who were queuing up to get their food suddenly became excited, knowing that something exciting was going to happen.

Director Huang also walked over and said seriously:
"Master He, Master Yi said that your hands were shaking badly when you served him food. What's going on?"

He Daqing, this bastard, was not afraid at all when he saw his immediate superior, Director Huang.

He smiled and said: "Director Huang, you don't know that Yi Zhonghai and I are from the same hospital.

This guy is always playing dirty tricks behind our backs, deliberately bringing shame to our hospital."

"When I saw him, I was so angry that I wanted to hit him, so my hands started shaking violently."

Director Huang understood that this was mixed with personal grudges.

Although he is a cadre, these days, cadres are not necessarily awesome.

We all have a stable job. If we don't give you face, you will still be scolded even if you are the factory director.

So, he said to He Daqing in a gentle voice,
"Master He, this is where you're wrong. You two shouldn't bring your personal grudges into work. How about this, you give me some face and give Master Yi a little more. If there's any conflict, we can resolve it after get off work."

"Okay, then I'll give Director Huang some face."

He Daqing chuckled and waved to Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai was dissatisfied and felt that Director Huang's handling of the matter was too light-hearted.

He Daqing didn't suffer at all.

However, eating is more important right now.

So, he snorted and put the lunch box back in front of the food window.

He Daqing placed the spoon in the vegetable bowl and lightly skimmed it, scooped out a leaf and put it in Yi Zhonghai's lunch box.

He smiled provocatively and said, "Yi Zhonghai, this is enough for you to eat, right? Look how much face I give Director Huang, take it back and eat it quickly."

"You..." Yi Zhonghai's lips were trembling with anger. He had been making trouble for so long, and you only gave him one more vegetable leaf.

Who are you insulting?

Director Huang also saw it and quickly stepped forward to hold Yi Zhonghai.
"Master Yi, since Master He has already given in, I think we can just forget about this. Come with me to my office. I have a bag of pickled mustard tubers that a friend gave me. I'll give you one."

"Director Huang, this is not just about a bag of pickled mustard tubers. No one would bully others like that." Yi Zhonghai was furious.

"Okay, I get it, let's go."

Director Huang forcibly dragged Yi Zhonghai out of the cafeteria, and the onlookers were laughing at Yi Zhonghai for embarrassing himself.

He Daqing scooped up another large spoonful of vegetables and put it into Li Jiandong's lunch box, saying proudly,
"How about it, Old Li? Is it enough to make you feel better? If the old bastard dares to come to the cafeteria to get food again next time, I will continue to disgust him."

Li Jiandong smiled and said, "Daqing, you are quite bad, but I like you."

He Daqing was recognized and laughed out loud.

After a busy week of work, tomorrow is the weekend again.

In the past few days, Jia Dongxu has resumed work.

However, occasionally, symptoms of lovesickness may appear.

On Saturday, on his way home from get off work, he couldn't help but ask Li Jiandong.

"Master, tomorrow is the weekend. Do you remember what you told me about going to the East Suburbs last time?"

"Look at how ambitious you are. You think like this after just a few days of separation?" Li Jiandong couldn't help laughing.

Jia Dongxu grabbed his head and smiled awkwardly, but couldn't help but say,
"Master, I won't hide it from you. I don't know what happened either. It's like I'm possessed. You don't understand that feeling. Anyway, I really want to see her as soon as possible."

Yan Jiecheng realized it later and said, "Brother, who do you want to see? Is it Liang from the machine repair factory?"

Jia Dongxu said unhappily, "It's Liang Ladi. Ladi is such a common name, you can't remember it, do you have a pig brain?"

Yan Jiecheng chuckled.

"Don't tell me, my dad always says I have a pig's brain. But if you ask me to count money, I can do it better than anyone else."

The group came to the tavern and had a few drinks before returning to the courtyard.

In the evening, Li Jiandong and Qin Huairu said they wanted to go to the eastern suburbs.

Qin Huairu has opened a pub recently and has become a bit like a strong woman.

He no longer focused on Li Jiandong all day long. When he heard him say that, he just gave him some advice.

The next morning, when the sun had just risen and it was not very hot yet.

Li Jiandong rode on his scooter and took Jia Dongxu on the road.

The two took turns riding, and it took them an hour and a half to reach the East Suburb Machine Repair Factory.

The machine repair shop is also closed today, but there are people on duty.

Workers like Liang Ladi, who have no relatives at home, live in the dormitories of machine repair factories all year round.

Ding Qiunan also lives in the dormitory because his home is quite far away, and he only goes home during the holidays.

Li Jiandong drove the car directly to the dormitory of the machine repair factory

The car is not stable yet.

Jia Dongxu shouted impatiently: "Liang Ladi, I'm here to see you."

The door of a dormitory in front was suddenly opened.

Liang Ladi ran out with disheveled hair and face, and when she saw Jia Dongxu, she cursed in surprise,
"Just come if you want to. Why are you shouting so loudly? Are you afraid that others can't hear you?"

Jia Dongxu chuckled foolishly, forgetting even that his master was beside him, and walked forward to hold Liang Ladi's hand.

At this time, the door of another dormitory next door was also opened.

Ding Qiunan walked out in work clothes and stood in front of Li Jiandong.

"Master, you are here. Please come to my room and sit for a while."

Li Jiandong asked: "How many people are in the same dormitory?"

Ding Qiunan was slow to respond and said, "We have dormitories for two and four people. I live here permanently, so I live in a single dormitory."

Li Jiandong said: "Then I won't go in. It will have a bad influence on you if others see you."

Ding Qiunan finally reacted and her pretty face turned red.

Li Jiandong asked her to go back to the room and get the book.

Then, the two of them taught in the shade under a big tree in front of the dormitory building.

On the other side, Jia Dongxu and Liang Ladi went straight into her dormitory.

These two people are in love and plan to get married, so they don't care if they are seen by others.

At noon, Liang Ladi cooked.

Li Jiandong and Ding Qiunan both ate in her dormitory.

After dinner, I continued teaching until the evening.

Ding Qiunan is a somewhat dull woman.

However, she has strong listening ability.

After returning from the steel mill, I fumbled around on my own for several days but made almost no progress.

However, she learned very quickly what Li Jiandong taught her.

Before leaving, Li Jiandong checked the disciple-recruiting system.

It was discovered that Ding Qiunan's Russian and medical skills had improved a lot, and his medical skills had finally reached level 11, surpassing Ding Qiunan and becoming a formal doctor.

In addition, Li Jiandong's teaching expertise has also reached level 9, and he has gained an extra buff that can increase students' concentration during teaching.

"Master, I want to marry Ladi, do you agree?" On the way back, Jia Dongxu suddenly plucked up the courage and asked Li Jiandong.

Li Jiandong glanced at him and said, "You'll have to ask your mother."

Jia Dongxu was a little discouraged and said,

"Master, you know my mother. She looks down on country girls."

"If I told her that I wanted to marry a country woman, she would definitely not agree."

"My mother is the only one who respects you in the courtyard. Master, can you help me tell my mother that I really like Ladi?"

In fact, Li Jiandong was not optimistic about Liang Ladi either.

It’s not because she is a rural woman, but because this kind of woman is too strong.

Jia Dongxu is not a weak person, so if two people live together, conflicts are likely to occur frequently.

However, Li Jiandong only has a vague understanding of matters of the heart, and he is not arrogant enough to interfere with other people's feelings at will.

After thinking for a while, he said, "I can help you talk to your mother, but I can't control whether she listens or not."

Jia Dongxu immediately laughed: "Master, thank you."

After returning home, Li Jiandong specifically looked for Jia Zhang and told her about the mutual affection between Jia Dongxu and Liang Ladi.

Jia Zhang was strongly opposed at first.

It was not until Li Jiandong told her that although Liang Ladi had a rural household registration, she was also a worker, a third-level maintenance worker, and earned as much as Jia Dongxu.

When Jia Zhang heard that the other party was so good at making money, her tone immediately became less refusal.

In the end, after much persuasion from Jia Dongxu, she finally agreed to the marriage.

The next day was another working day.

Li Jiandong was still at work when he heard someone coming outside to look for him.

When I went out, I saw that it was the street official Liu who had gone to the tavern to check the accounts last time.

"Secretary Liu, why did you come to our office today? Did someone report our tavern for speculation again?"

Li Jiandong made a joke.

Secretary Liu also smiled and said, "Master Li, please stop making fun of me! However, this incident is really related to the tavern."

Secretary Liu's face straightened and he continued,
“It’s like this, after I left your tavern last time.

I reported the matter of the study corner to Director Zheng of our street.

Director Zheng highly appreciated this and wanted to establish our No. 40 courtyard as an advanced courtyard for literacy.”

"So, I came here today just to tell you."

"In the evening, after get off work, go to the street auditorium and hold a meeting of all the elders from the various hospitals. Director Zheng will give you a big red flower and a silk banner at that time."

Many of the old men living in the courtyards of Nanluoguxiang Street work in steel rolling mills.

Secretary Liu also had to notify the other uncles, and then left after explaining things to Li Jiandong.

Li Jiandong waited until after get off work and took Jia Dongxu and Yan Jiecheng to the tavern.

Then, I walked to the street auditorium. As soon as I reached the door, I saw Deputy Director Dai standing at the door, talking to an old man from another hospital.

When he saw Li Jiandong, the smile on Deputy Director Dai’s face disappeared instantly.

Li Jiandong walked past him and neither of them greeted each other.

Li Jiandong found a place to sit in the auditorium.

After a while, people started coming up one after another.

The street official was testing the speakers. No one knew where he got these second-hand speakers from, but they sometimes worked well and sometimes not. The tester tried to tune them for a long time but there was no sound.

"Master Li, you're here quite early."

An old man next to him took the initiative to greet Li Jiandong.

Li Jiandong also responded with a smile: "It's OK, I just got here too."

There were people chatting and time passed quickly.

After waiting for about ten minutes, almost all the uncles had arrived, and the street leaders lined up and walked onto the podium.

One of the gray-haired old men is the street director Zheng He.

He blew twice into the microphone to test the sound and then said,

"Good evening, comrades. We are all very busy people. We have gathered here today mainly to discuss one thing."

Without any opening remarks, Director Zheng got straight to business.

This style shows that he is a capable leader.

"Today's issue is the literacy document issued by our street some time ago. The higher-ups attach great importance to this literacy campaign and have held several meetings to study this issue. Our street also attaches great importance to this literacy campaign."

"But even though our street and higher-level leaders have repeatedly stressed the importance of literacy."

"There are still some people here who don't take this matter to heart, and I think this is very bad."

Director Zheng named several hospitals where literacy work lagged behind the others and gave them criticisms that were not too harsh but not too insignificant either.

Then he suddenly changed the subject and said:
“There are institutes where work is not being done properly, but we also have institutes with a very positive work attitude.

For example, Comrade Li Jiandong from our No. 40 Courtyard!

Under his leadership, not only people in his own hospital actively participated in the literacy campaign.

He even opened a study corner in his own tavern.

Let the educated comrades in the compound give lectures to the uneducated people during the time when the most people drink. "

"The superior leaders spoke highly of Comrade Li Jiandong and their No. 40 Courtyard.

And, we asked our street to call on everyone to learn from Li Jiandong and No. 40 Courtyard, put our literacy work in the forefront, and do better. "

"Now, please invite Comrade Li Jiandong to come to the stage to accept the medal issued by the superiors, as well as the banner issued by our street for Courtyard No. 40."

"Everyone is welcome."

After Director Zheng finished speaking, he stood up and led the applause.

Others also applauded and stood up from their seats.

Li Jiandong walked up to the podium amid applause and accepted the personal medal and the banner of the Advanced Institute for Literacy presented to him by Director Zheng.

Director Zheng looked at Li Jiandong and said with a kind smile:

"Comrade Li Jiandong, please say a few words to us and tell us about your good experiences in literacy work."

Li Jiandong was not nervous and nodded.

"Thank you Director Zheng, thank you to all the street leaders, and thank you to the superiors who care about us."

"In fact, it's nothing to talk about experience. As the saying goes, those who are eager to learn are not good at business. Literacy work cannot force people to learn, but people must beg to learn."

"So, my experience is that if you want to eliminate illiteracy, you must first eliminate the idea that learning is useless. That's all I have to say."

"well said."

Director Zheng said with a gratified expression: "Comrade Li Jiandong, your words really woke me up!"

"Yes, if we want to eliminate illiteracy, we should first eliminate the idea that learning is useless! This is a great saying!"

"From now on, everyone should follow this sentence to carry out literacy work and learn from Comrade Li Jiandong and No. 40 Courtyard."

"Once again, we give a warm round of applause to thank Comrade Li Jiandong for sharing his experience."

Li Jiandong stepped down from the stage amid applause, and then the leaders spoke a few more words, and the meeting ended.

Back in the courtyard, Li Jiandong took out the banner.

When Yan Bugui saw this, he stepped forward and asked:
"Old Li, what's this? Our hospital was rated as an advanced hospital? They just gave us a banner, but no substantial reward?"

Several residents in the front yard also came forward and looked at Li Jiandong expectantly.

Li Jiandong said: "Old Yan, you are not illiterate, don't you understand that it says "Illiteracy Advanced Compound"?
It is not the same as the advanced courtyard selected at the end of the year. Where should we hang the banner?"

Yan Bugui was a little disappointed, smacked his lips and said,
"I think it would be better to hang it in the tavern, so it can attract more customers. Or hang it in the courtyard, so outsiders can't see it?"

Li Jiandong was speechless.

Yan Bugui is indeed the best planner in Siheyuan. Even a silk banner can attract customers.

"Forget it, let's just hang it under the gate! This is an advanced compound, not an advanced tavern. It won't make sense to put it at the door of a tavern."

"Besides, this thing is mainly used to inspire the collective sense of honor of the people in our hospital. If no outsiders see it, no one will look at it."

Li Jiandong said this and asked Yan Jiecheng to get the hammer and nails.

Then he stood on a stool and nailed the banner under the gatehouse.

This banner is a small triangular banner. After it is nailed on, only one corner hangs down under the door frame. It can be seen at a glance without hindering people's communication.

When the residents learned that the compound was praised by the street office and superiors and was presented with a banner, they all ran out to see.

Yi Zhonghai also glanced at him from a distance, then retreated expressionlessly.

That night.

It was eleven o'clock at night, the moon was dark and the wind was strong.

A dark figure walked out of the yard, stood at the door, stretched out his arms, and pulled down the banner.

Then, he walked out of the alley and threw it outside.

(End of this chapter)