My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 61: Instigating Jia Zhangshi

The argument between Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui gradually attracted the attention of the people in the courtyard.

Some people already knew about it when Director Wang came before, and they even saw him accepting Yi Zhonghai's silver ingots at the Intermediate People's Court.

More and more people gathered to watch. News of the silver ingots being confiscated spread, and everyone knew about it.

However, Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui were still arguing, and everyone else just stood by and watched the spectacle.

Of course, Zhang Lei was also among the onlookers.

Upon hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Zhang Lei sensed that Jia Zhangshi was indeed somewhat cunning.

He then said, "Mrs. Jia, you're not afraid of Yi Zhonghai, are you?"

Jia Zhangshi blurted out, "What? You think I'm afraid of Yi Zhonghai?"

But she shut her mouth as soon as she finished speaking. She was indeed a little afraid of Yi Zhonghai, after all, her family had relied on him for support for so many years.

At this moment, Zhang Lei looked at Jia Zhangshi and lowered his voice, saying, "Jia Zhangshi, I'll tell you a way to get Yi Zhonghai to pay up. Do you believe me?"

Madam Jia quickly pressed, "What method?"

Zhang Lei leaned closer and said, "Why don't you just call everyone to come with you? If you go alone, he'll think you're targeting him. But if everyone goes together, he won't be able to do anything, right?"

Zhang Lei continued, "Besides, the law doesn't punish everyone. Even if you're in the wrong, he won't do anything to you. And since you're in the right now, what are you afraid of?"

After thinking about it, Jia Zhangshi realized that Zhang Lei was absolutely right. So she quickly got to work, going here and there, explaining her request for money.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately looked at Jia Zhangshi with new respect. Soon, everyone surrounded Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui, who were still arguing.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui saw that the crowd had completely surrounded them, and they dared not argue anymore. Their faces showed panic.

Madam Jia stepped forward, looked at the two men, and said loudly, "Uncle, Uncle, don't you two have to give us an explanation?"

Yi Zhonghai frowned and asked in a deep voice, "Jia Zhangshi, what are you doing? Trying to cause trouble?"

Jia Zhangshi retorted, her neck stiff with arrogance, "Yi Zhonghai, we're not trying to cause trouble. What about the money you promised us? We all want to know how we're going to get that money back! Right?"

"Yes!" "Exactly! Give us an explanation!" The crowd immediately chimed in, putting pressure on Yi Zhonghai. "You were the only one with that silver ingot before, and now it's been taken away. Shouldn't you give us a solution?"

Yi Zhonghai, sweating profusely under pressure from the crowd, quickly waved his hands and explained, "Listen to me, everyone! Director Wang took the silver ingot. I believe some of you saw it. There's nothing we can do about it!"

At this moment, Madam Jia Zhang stepped forward and said, "Yi Zhonghai, that's no excuse! If you had distributed the silver ingots earlier, this wouldn't have happened. Don't you all agree?"

Everyone immediately nodded in agreement: "Yes!" "Uncle, before Director Wang came, you distributed the silver ingots to us, and the matter was settled, wasn't it?"

Yi Zhonghai looked at Jia Zhangshi and felt that she was acting unusually different today, as if she was deliberately trying to antagonize him. He quickly changed the subject, saying loudly, "Everyone, this matter can't be blamed on me! Blame it on Third Uncle's family!"

When Yan Fugui heard Yi Zhonghai steer the conversation towards him, he immediately retorted, "Yi Zhonghai, don't try to pin all this filth on our family!"

Yi Zhonghai glared at Yan Fugui and said, "Yan Fugui, don't try to shift the blame! It was your son Yan Jiecheng who reported this to the neighborhood committee. Otherwise, how would Director Wang have known?"

Upon hearing this, everyone turned to look at Yan Fugui. Yan Fugui blushed with embarrassment and waved his hands frantically, saying, "Yi Zhonghai, don't talk nonsense! My Jie Cheng would never do such a thing!"

Yi Zhonghai sneered, "Oh? You don't think so? If it weren't for him, why did Director Wang say before he left that we two should learn from your Yan Jiecheng in this matter? If it weren't for him, how could this silver ingot have been taken away? Everyone should blame Yan Fugui!"

Yan Fugui glared at Yi Zhonghai and said angrily, "Yi Zhonghai, what makes you say that it was Jie Cheng from our family who did it? Don't just talk nonsense; if you have the guts, show me the evidence!"

Yi Zhonghai glared back at Yan Fugui without backing down: "Evidence? If you're so capable, bring your Yan Jiecheng out for a confrontation!"

As everyone watched Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui start arguing back and forth again, they all wore expressions of amusement.

Remembering what Zhang Lei had taught her beforehand, Jia Zhangshi cleared her throat and said loudly, "Yi Zhonghai, Yan Fugui, you two stop right now!"

The two turned to look at Jia Zhangshi upon hearing the sound. Yi Zhonghai frowned and asked, "Jia Zhangshi, what's wrong?"

At this moment, Madam Jia coughed and raised her voice, "Yi Zhonghai, Yan Fugui, we don't care who lost the silver ingot because of whom, but the responsibility definitely lies with you two, don't you all agree?"

Everyone immediately chimed in, "Yes! The responsibility lies with the two of you!"

Then Jia Zhangshi continued, "Since the responsibility lies with you two managers, we cannot lose money because of your mistake."

Upon hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Zhang Lei's mind went blank.

The original statement should have been, "We cannot pay the price for your mistakes," but after thinking about it, Zhang Lei felt that what Jia Zhangshi said was pretty much correct, so this way of putting it also worked.

At this moment, Yan Fugui looked at Jia Zhangshi in disbelief. He did not expect that Jia Zhangshi could say something so reasonable.

Everyone echoed Jia Zhangshi's words, "Yes! Why should we lose money because of the mistakes you two managers made?"

Soon, everyone was arguing with Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui.

Zhang Lei then quietly pulled Liu Haizhong to the side.

Liu Haizhong looked at Zhang Lei and asked in confusion, "Zhang Lei, what are you doing?"

Zhang Lei said with a smile, "Second Uncle, don't you want your prestige to surpass that of Yi Zhonghai?"

Liu Haizhong thought for a moment, then replied without hesitation, "Yes! Do you have a way?"

Zhang Lei then said with a smile, "Second Uncle, look at Yi Zhonghai and Yan Fugui right now, aren't they as anxious as ants on a hot pan? If you could step in and solve this problem, and satisfy everyone, don't you think that would both strike a blow against Yi Zhonghai and increase your prestige?"

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, Liu Haizhong immediately became interested and eagerly stepped forward, saying, "Really? Quick, tell me!"

Zhang Lei smiled and kept everyone in suspense: "Second Uncle, this kind of opportunity doesn't come often, and this idea took me a lot of brain cells to come up with, so shouldn't you give me something in return?"

Liu Haizhong frowned, looking puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

Zhang Lei rubbed his hands together and grinned slyly: "Second Uncle, I won't ask for much, just five yuan."

Upon hearing the words "five yuan," Liu Haizhong paused for a moment, then blurted out, "What? Five yuan for just one idea?"