Power and Wealth - C.1614

Afternoon.

Around one o'clock.

Inside the courtyard.

Dong Xuebing bought some Juewei duck necks from outside for lunch, and that's what he nibbled on, passing the time. He was in the study on the east side, watching a movie while eating duck necks.

Knock knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

Outside the courtyard, someone shouted loudly, "Xiao Dong, are you home?"

Dong Xuebing quickly removed the plastic gloves and wiped the oil off his hands. As he kicked open the door, he shouted, "I'm here, Auntie Zheng, just a moment, I'll be right there."

The courtyard was naturally spacious, but the only drawback was the long road. He had to walk through the long courtyard, turn a corner, and walk a few more steps to reach the door. He even thought about installing an electric gate like in a villa, but it wasn't feasible. It would ruin the atmosphere of the courtyard, and besides, this area was a protected zone. If he wanted to remove the wooden door, the government wouldn't allow it. He thought about it and decided the simplest solution was to leave the courtyard gate unlocked when someone was home. That way, visitors could push the door open.

At the courtyard gate.

The door creaked open.

Dong Xuebing smiled, "Auntie Zheng, Sister Ci, come in."

Sister Ci smiled, "Are you taking a nap?"

"No," Dong Xuebing waved his hand. I just finished eating duck necks. I got my hands all oily, so I had to wipe them with tissue before opening the door."

"Why didn't you eat properly? Can duck necks count as a meal?" Auntie Zheng complained.

Dong Xuebing said, "Hey, it's just me. I have to make do."

Auntie Zheng held his hand and placed a lunch box on it, "I happened to bring you some beef. My husband stewed it. It's delicious. Our family likes salty food. It might be a bit salty for you. It's best with noodles. A bowl of beef noodles is so fragrant on a day like this."

"Thank you and your husband," Dong Xuebing said gratefully.

Auntie Zheng said, "We're neighbors; no need to be polite."

"Okay, I'll return the lunch box to you after I finish. Thank you," Dong Xuebing said, making way for them, "Please come in, please come in."

Auntie Zheng chuckled and went in.

Sister Ci also looked curiously inside and followed into the courtyard.

"You two, please sit down. Let me pour you some water," Dong Xuebing went into the north room, sprinkled tea leaves, poured water, and brought it out.

Auntie Zheng and Sister Ci were pointing and talking in the courtyard.

"How nice."

"Yes. The layout is much better than ours."

"It's not just much better. Look at the size of this courtyard. Our little courtyard is not even one-tenth of this. Look at this north room; it's spacious."

"This is the best courtyard in our alley."

"Absolutely. Look at the size, it's even bigger than the combined size of our two courtyards. And the house itself is in good condition. Oh, the east room is turned into a study."

"It seems like there's also a bathroom there."

"That room seems to be a guest room. Everything's complete."

Auntie Zheng and Sister Ci admired it for a while. Indeed, it was different from their own courtyard. The area was spacious, to say the least. Not to mention the north or west rooms, even the kitchen in the south, was comparable to the house Auntie Zheng's family lived in. The kitchen might even be a little bigger. One was a whole family squeezed into a kitchen-sized room. The other was one person occupying a large courtyard. The difference was significant.

Dong Xuebing smiled and placed the water on the stone table, "You two, have some water and fruits."

"Xiao Dong, your house is nice," Auntie Zheng sincerely said, "If I had a courtyard like this, I'd be content for life, hehe."

Sister Ci sighed and said, "Look at this courtyard. Even the kids can play soccer here."

Dong Xuebing knew how good his home was, but obviously, he couldn't say that, so he immediately said a few humble words. Before long, the three of them sat under the shade of the Chinese toon tree in the courtyard's center, drinking tea and chatting. Dong Xuebing was idle and anxious but was also happy to chat with the neighbors.

They were chatting happily.

Beep beep beep, the sound of car horns rang out.

Immediately after, there was another long string of horn blasts.

Since the courtyard had no roof, the sound came directly in, which was very piercing. Dong Xuebing even felt his eardrums ringing, and he couldn't help but furrow his brow.

"Let's go inside."

"Yeah, it's a bit noisy."

The three of them went into the northern room and continued chatting.

But as they started talking, car horns rang out again, this time with a feeling of overwhelmingness, as if four or five cars were honking together, with faint curses mixed in.

"How did they park?"

"It must be those cars again."

"Who else could it be besides them, the bastards?"

"Yeah, they have no morals at all."

The curses continued, and it sounded very lively outside.

Dong Xuebing didn't understand the situation very well. "Sister Ci, Aunt Zheng, what's going on?"

Aunt Zheng's face didn't look good. "It must be those government officials' cars blocking the road again. This has happened several times in the past few months."

Sister Ci angrily said, "Let's go out and look."

The three of them went to the door and opened the courtyard gate.

As soon as they looked out, Dong Xuebing furrowed his brow. The entire alley seemed to have been blocked. Five or six cars, along with tricycles, electric bikes, and even bicycles, were squeezed together, making it difficult to pass through. They had to squeeze through the gaps between the cars. And when he looked at the front causing the congestion, it turned out to be three Audi cars. Dong Xuebing was very clear about the license plates, knowing that these three cars belonged to the district government of the western city. The three Audis were parked at the mouth of the alley, with one car almost blocking the courtyard entrance and the other two parked side by side, leaving only enough space for a bicycle to pass through. Cars definitely couldn't pass through. It was as if they had almost blocked the entire alley.

"Why did they park like this?" Dong Xuebing said, "There's no space in the alley. They should find another place to park. Who blocks the road like this?"

Aunt Zheng said, "There are few parking spaces here, and it's the same outside. There's an office nearby, and every time they have a meeting, they park indiscriminately and block everything. It's especially infuriating. We old residents complained to the neighborhood committee early on, but government officials owned those cars, and the neighborhood committee couldn't do anything about it. We've communicated with them several times, but it's no use. Those people who park indiscriminately are even more arrogant than each other."

Sister Ci snorted, "They must be having another meeting today, those people."

Dong Xuebing said, "It's been half a day, and no one has come to move the cars."

Aunt Zheng said, "Last month, they reluctantly moved the cars, but later, they pretended not to hear anything. They only moved the cars after the meeting ended, as if nothing had happened."

An old man nearby, leaning on a cane, angrily said, "It's too immoral. My legs and feet are not good, and I can't get out. I have to go around the alley from the back."

Sister Ci said, "Someone should do something about them. This is bullying."