I am Jia Dongjin in the Siheyuan (Courtyard House)

Chapter 41 Concussion

Jia Dongjin rode his bicycle and followed the two men at a distance until he saw them call out to Wobo and ride a handcart to the steel mill.

He squinted until he saw the two men enter the steel mill before returning to his courtyard home.

"Mrs. Jia, please rest assured, we will handle this matter properly. There is no need to change houses, and I don't have any houses to change anyway."

Director Wang of the subdistrict office, with a dark face and bloodshot eyes, warmly received Jia Zhangshi in his office.

She was just about to go to the Jia family to mediate when the aggrieved party showed up at her door. This Jia Zhangshi started crying as soon as she entered the street office, saying that she could not live in the courtyard house and begged Director Wang to find a house for the Jia family. Even Xiaobanggeng started crying, completely disrupting the serious and earnest office atmosphere.

Director Wang had a solution for the crying child. She rummaged through the drawers for a long time before finding a piece of candy to shut the child up.

However, Director Wang said she couldn't help the Jia family's request to exchange houses for refuge. Housing in Beijing was becoming increasingly scarce, and she wasn't a miracle worker; she couldn't find a suitable house for the Jia family to exchange.

Director Wang knew very well that after the news spread, the reputation of No. 95 Civilized Courtyard had been ruined.

Everyone was talking about it. As the third uncle appointed by the street office, Yan Fugui was lawless and openly seized the house of the orphan and widow. Not only did the people in the courtyard not help, but they also prevented the Jia family from reporting to their superiors, led by the first uncle Yi Zhonghai. It was obvious that they were bullying the Jia family because they were weak.

"The 'civilized courtyard house' is anything but civilized!"

People were talking about it, saying that the people in the No. 95 courtyard house were a disgrace to the men of Beijing. If it weren't for the cleverness of the young man from the Jia family who knew to escape through the gap in the back wall, he might have been beaten to death.

Considering that just a few days ago someone reported the Jia family for speculation and profiteering, and that the people in the No. 95 courtyard are all black-hearted, no one wants to move to this courtyard.

Jia Dongjin spoke with conviction, accusing small business owners of oppressing poor farmers, escalating the matter to a very serious level. The nature of the matter suddenly became extremely serious, attracting the attention of higher authorities, who kept calling the street office to inquire. Director Wang was already overwhelmed and exhausted.

Not everyone is like Jia Dongjin, readily resorting to accusations. Some people are unwilling to make a big fuss, and Director Wang is one of them. For her, this is definitely not a good thing; at least her promotion prospects for the next few years are gone.

Finally, Director Wang received the call she wanted to answer.

"Director Yang, rest assured, we will definitely have a good talk with the other party. With the cooperation of the steel rolling mill, we will be able to handle the situation properly and it will not affect the overall situation."

"Erdan's Mom, I'm hungry!"

With all four adults in the family arrested by the police, Yan Jiekuang and Yan Jiedi were starving. Yan Jiekuang tried to cook something, but almost set the house on fire. Yan Jiedi had no choice but to go to the house of Erdan, with whom she had a good relationship.

"Jie Di, don't be afraid, it's alright. Auntie will take you to Uncle's house."

Liu Daneng has been arrested and hasn't returned home yet. His mother-in-law is crying and making a scene at the police station. Erdan's mother has no appetite to cook, and she's hungry herself, so she can only take the two Yan children to Yi Zhonghai's house.

However, Yi Zhonghai's family was also in chaos. Gao Cuilan had inside information and knew that things were unexpectedly troublesome and that Yi Zhonghai was in great danger this time. She was even more worried than Erdan's mother. In the end, she took the two young children of the Yan family to the backyard and asked Liu Haizhong's wife, Second Aunt, to take care of them.

When Aunt Er saw several people coming to the door, she knew it wasn't anything good. She rolled her eyes, stuffed the scrambled eggs on the table into the cupboard, and then warmly led the two children into the Liu family's house.

"Jie Kuang and Jie Di, Second Aunt's house is your house too, please don't be shy. I'll knead the dough now and steam some cornbread for you. There's also some cornmeal porridge in the pot, please have some to eat first."

After the two children finally finished eating and thanked Aunt Erda profusely, they returned home to rest. Just then, Erdan's mother saw them and quickly pulled them to the middle courtyard.

Erdan's mother was resourceful. She pointed to the Jia family's house in the west wing of the central courtyard and whispered, "When the neighborhood committee comes to mediate and wants the adults to go home, you should cry as hard as you can, the more heartbroken the better, and keep crying until they leave."

Seeing that Erdan was still being coy, Erdan's mother slapped him on the head. The three children were so frightened that they immediately started crying in unison.

Erdan's mother wasn't idle either. She plopped down on the ground and started crying, saying that without Liu Daneng, her family of four wouldn't survive.

Yan Jiedi was a girl, and she was indeed terrified, worried about the safety of her parents and brothers. The little girl's voice was sharp and high-pitched, and her crying was earth-shattering. The people in the courtyard were immediately attracted by the crying and gathered at the door of the Jia family, whispering and asking about the outcome of the mediation.

"You've all been neighbors for many years. The Yan family was indeed in the wrong. Since it has already happened, it's best to try to resolve the issue amicably."

Hearing the crying outside, Director Wang felt a pang of pity. The sudden arrest of the heads of three families in the courtyard was like the sky falling down for them. Both morally and logically, he had to properly coordinate and handle the matter.

Director Wang of the neighborhood office has clearly informed Jia Zhangshi that changing houses is impossible, and Jia Dongjin has no choice but to accept the suggestion to write a letter of understanding.

Knowing when to stop is wise; trying to accomplish something big out of thin air without sufficient strength is nothing but a pipe dream.

"Director Wang, I know the difficulties you face in your work. Removing Uncle Yi and Uncle San from their posts has already caused you a lot of trouble. I will listen to you about the compensation; whatever amount you say, I will accept. I will definitely not make a big fuss about it."

Jia Dongjin spoke earnestly, saying that he had only blurted it out in the police station and had no ulterior motives. He also understood that Yan Fugui was confused at the time and that Yi Zhonghai had simply mishandled the situation. He added that they had been good neighbors for many years.

Director Wang of the neighborhood office immediately felt relieved. She was always good at judging people and knew that Jia Dongjin was a capable young man. Now, she wanted to add the word "kind" to her evaluation of Jia Dongjin.

"Yan Fugui was transferred to the position of janitor by the school, and his monthly salary was reduced from 47 yuan to 27 yuan. We are prepared to make him pay 200 yuan in compensation. Yi Zhonghai was demoted to a level six worker and had three months' salary deducted. We are prepared to make him pay 100 yuan in compensation. He Yuzhu and Liu Daneng were demoted to level ten chef and level three worker, respectively. Since their responsibilities were relatively minor, they were exempted from the punishment of paying compensation."

"Ouch, my head hurts!"

Just as Jia Dongjin was about to agree, perhaps due to the noise of crying outside, he suddenly felt dizzy and had a headache. The intense headache was unbearable, so he could only cover his head and groan on the table.

"Oh dear, my good second son, you had a headache twice last night, and now you have one too. Did that little bastard Yan beat you up? I think you have a concussion, no, a cerebral concussion. Mom will take you to the hospital right now. Jingru, you brat, hurry up and borrow a cart to take Dong to the hospital to get his injuries checked. My God! You absolutely cannot get hurt. You're my only son. If anything happens to you, I won't want to live anymore!"

Madam Jia was devastated!

Instead of hugging her son, she searched the house for a rope.

Qin Huairu lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) unable to move. She looked weak and kept urging her mother-in-law not to do anything rash, and not to hang herself in a public place, so as not to disrupt the overall peace and stability.

"Peaceful and tranquil my foot! My only son has been beaten like this, how am I supposed to live?!"

"Dongjin, hurry to the hospital to get your injury checked. I'll go with you."

Cries and wails filled the house and the room. Director Wang had a splitting headache and her face was deathly pale. She personally helped Jia Dongjin onto the cart and urged him to hurry up so they could go to the hospital to get his injuries checked.

Jia Zhangshi didn't bring a single penny, and in the end, Director Wang had to pay for her belongings.

"Doctor, I'm fine, I just feel nauseous. Could I borrow your basin so I can throw up?"

"Young man, this is my lunchbox. The restroom is to the right after you go out." The old doctor snatched the precious lunchbox from him, waved for the nurse to help Jia Dongjin up, and told him to go to the restroom to take care of his business.

Jia Dongjin made a scene in the toilet, vomiting in the urinal for a while but nothing came out. Finally, he went to the squat toilet to vomit. The young nurse looked disgusted and stood far away watching the man's antics.

After finally resolving the problem, Jia Dongjin felt dizzy and lightheaded. He put his arm around the nurse's shoulder and stumbled back to the doctor's office.

"The patient experienced transient loss of consciousness, headache, nausea, and a strong urge to vomit. A concussion can be basically diagnosed. It is recommended that the patient stay in the hospital for a few days of bed observation, and the discharge time will be decided based on the situation."

At that time, without sophisticated instruments, the hospital could not make an accurate diagnosis and could only determine the injury based on the patient's symptoms. Jia Dongjin's symptoms were highly consistent with those of a concussion. Seeing that the nurse confirmed the patient was vomiting severely, the doctor quickly diagnosed the injury and wrote an injury assessment report.

"Comrade Jia Dongjin, rest assured, I will definitely stand up for you."

A concussion is no small matter, and Director Wang was on tenterhooks.