The conspiracy of the courtyard

Chapter 211: Gathering to Attack

The door of the deputy director's office of the Dongcheng District Grain Station in Sijiu City was suddenly pushed open with great force, startling Chen Ping who was reading a newspaper. He looked up and saw Xiaohua, who was sweating profusely. He pushed the large teapot forward, frowned and asked:

"Hua, is there something wrong? Don't worry, drink some water and talk slowly."

Xiaohua picked up the teacup and gulped down a few mouthfuls. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and nodded.

"Sister Chen, something serious has happened. The gate of our courtyard has been blocked. Please go back and take a look. I saw too many people and dare not ask too specific questions. I only heard many people shouting that someone has died in the hospital."

Chen Ping immediately packed up her office stuff, put on her bag, said hello to the stationmaster, and followed Xiaohua to the courtyard. When she passed the police station, she changed her mind and walked straight in.

When Director Zhou heard that a mass incident had occurred, which might even involve loss of life, he did not dare to slack off and quickly called four police officers to take Chen Ping to the courtyard.

With the police clearing the way, Chen Ping and Xiao Hua entered the courtyard smoothly, and pieced together the whole story from the mouths of the group of onlookers in front of the canteen.

In the afternoon, a number of people came to the hospital for treatment for diarrhea. The patients were all nearby residents. Although I didn't know their names, I felt that their faces were familiar and we soon became friendly.

From the symptoms of the disease to food poisoning, from survival in famine to ways to fill hunger, the common topics increased. Soon some people envied the comfortable life of the residents of No. 95 Siheyuan. Not only did they have surplus grain at home, but they could also open a canteen. However, the meal tickets were too expensive, which made people daunted. This topic aroused heated discussion among everyone.

After an in-depth discussion, I learned that the fellow patients were regular customers of the canteen and basically took their lunch home from the canteen. This made me suspicious. The nurse also told me that two people had been taken to the operating room due to food poisoning after eating out and were in critical condition. I was terrified.

They asked their accompanying family members to find a doctor to confirm their condition, and then decided to go to the small canteen together to find out the details. Passersby heard that there was something exciting to watch and kept joining in. By the time they arrived at the courtyard, the accountability team had grown from a dozen people to a huge crowd.

Chen Ping was about to ask the people around her for more information when she heard Jia Zhang's sharp and hoarse voice coming from the small cafeteria:

"What does their diarrhea have to do with us? We eat the same food, how come nothing happened? Do you want to accuse us of poisoning people? I said you were jealous and wanted to extort money from my family."

Then Jia Zhang rushed out of the door, sat down on the ground and started howling:

"I can't survive this. God, please open your eyes. These people rely on their numbers to bully us orphans and widows, and wrongly accuse our Jia family.

Lao Jia, please come back soon, your wife and children are about to be wrongly accused to death..."

At this time, Yi Zhonghai shouted from behind the crowd:

"Everyone make way for me. I am the most powerful man in the courtyard."

This shout not only opened up a narrow and winding road lined with people, but also suppressed Jia Zhang's singing, reciting, acting and fighting. Yi Zhonghai quickly walked to the door of the canteen and comforted Jia Zhang in a low voice.

"Sister-in-law, please get up first. The ground is cold. If you have anything to say, let's talk inside."

When Jia Zhang saw Yi Zhonghai coming, she stood up quickly and brushed off the dust on her body. Yi Zhonghai turned around and bowed to everyone in the courtyard and shouted:

"My dear friends, it's just some minor family disputes. It's nothing serious. Please give me some favors and go away."

The crowd, who were originally whispering, suddenly raised their voices and loudly accused Yi Zhonghai after hearing his words.

"The police are here, and it's just a small matter? They didn't really poison anyone, did they?"

"Come on, Lao Yi, you are an eighth-level worker, and you are good in the workshop. Why are you here? Grandma!"

"It doesn't matter who wants to watch. If it weren't for someone dying, I wouldn't bother to watch."

"I think this is a guilty conscience. If you don't do anything wrong, then there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Poisoning people? Jia Zhang is so greedy that she wouldn't dare to do that. At most, the food in the cafeteria is not clean."

"What kind of official is a master? Is he higher than our brigade secretary?"

"..."

These words, whether they were contemptuous, teasing, or speculative, irritated Yi Zhonghai so much that he could no longer maintain his kind smile. His dark red face showed a signature expression of anger, the corners of his mouth drooped, he gritted his teeth, narrowed his eyes, and glanced at everyone.

Chen Ping thought that Yi Zhonghai was showing this hostile attitude and was going to beat everyone up by himself, so she unconsciously reached into her pocket...

He grabbed a handful of melon seeds and shared them with Xiaohua beside him.

Unexpectedly, Yi Zhonghai's words almost made Chen Ping drop the melon seeds in her hand.

"Sister-in-law, you keep an eye on it first. I'll go call Director Zhou."

Then he strode directly into the cafeteria.

Chen Ping glanced at the few people who had taken the lead in refuting and saw them all exhaled a breath, and couldn't help but roll his eyes.

In less than two minutes, Director Zhou walked out the door and announced loudly:

"Everyone, please stop arguing. We have basically figured out what happened, but there are still some details that need to be understood. We need to have the people who know the facts go to the police station with me to make a statement. Since everyone knows the details of the case, let's go together. I will compile a list of names first."

As he spoke, he picked up a pen and paper and took two steps forward, ready to take notes. Everyone shook their heads and stepped back. The huge and bustling crowd scattered in an instant, leaving only a few people standing in the yard.

When the crowd had dispersed, Yi Zhonghai walked out of the canteen with his hands behind his back and a smile on his face. Before he could approach Director Zhou to thank him, Xiaohua rolled her eyes and sneered at him, shattering his smug look.

"That's all? I thought he was so capable, but he just filed a complaint. My son knew this when he was about to leave."

Seeing Yi Zhonghai's smile frozen on his face, Chen Ping quickly tried to smooth things over, frowning and scolding:

"Xiaohua, stop talking nonsense. I've told you so many times not to tell the truth when there are many people around. It's easy to make people hate you.

Remember, people only complain when they are cowardly. Your son was trying to win the support of his leader. Don’t talk nonsense next time.”

Director Zhou was stunned by Chen Ping's serious ridicule. He glanced at Yi Zhonghai who stopped in front of him, then he put away the corners of his mouth, clenched his fist to his mouth and coughed lightly, then turned to Chen Ping and said in a serious tone:

"Chen Ping, no matter what, you are a people's cadre and the manager of the courtyard. You privately run the canteen and sell meal tickets to the public. This is a typical capitalist mistake. How can you allow it to develop? This is a matter for the Commerce Bureau. Let's not talk about it for now. Let's talk about the food poisoning of so many people first."

Chen Ping helplessly curled her lips and explained:

“It’s true that I’m a cadre, but I can only command the abacus beads and I can’t really control anything else.

Besides, I haven't been the manager for half a year. The manager has the final say in the small canteen and I cannot overstep the line. The big pot meals in the courtyard were completely cancelled after the Chinese New Year. As for selling meal tickets and private operations, I knew nothing about it.

The current manager is Yi Zhonghai, who was personally selected by Director Liu. You can ask him for details. "

Upon hearing this, Director Zhou fell into deep thought and seemed to understand what Chen Ping meant. He did not give Yi Zhonghai a chance to argue and directly ordered his men to bring him and all the Jia family members back to the police station for interrogation...