Chapter 139 His face was ashen.

The courtyard fell silent instantly. Everyone turned to look at the entrance.

Uncle Liu Haizhong squeezed through the crowd, his face grim: "Director Li, you're finally back!"

"What does this have to do with me?" Li Jianguo was a little confused. He hadn't been in the yard for the past few days, so how could this be related to him?

"It has nothing to do with you." Liu Haizhong wiped his sweat. "But everyone won't listen to me. I'd like to ask you to make a decision for me."

Li Jianguo understood. After the old man left, Liu Haizhong took his place, but no one in the courtyard respected him. That's why they came to him as soon as something happened.

"Alright, tell me, what's wrong?"

He turned and said goodbye to Deputy Director Zhang. Deputy Director Zhang was a little worried: "Should I go in with you?"

"That's great!" Liu Haizhong's eyes lit up.

Li Jianguo waved his hand and said, "Deputy Director Zhang, go ahead and do your work. I can handle this little thing."

Deputy Director Zhang didn't insist, nodded, and left.

Liu Haizhong watched Deputy Director Zhang walk away, somewhat disappointed, but dared not say anything. He followed Li Jianguo, saying as they walked, "It's about the deaf old lady's house. The Third Uncle's family had just moved in when a relative of the neighborhood committee director came and said the house had been allocated to their family. The two families started arguing."

Li Jianguo frowned: "A relative of the street office director? Who is that?"

"I'm not too sure. I heard that she came from the countryside, graduated from university, was assigned to work here, got married, and the factory dormitory wasn't suitable, so they were given an apartment. As a result, she immediately took a liking to our compound."

Li Jianguo listened and felt that something was wrong.

He looked up and his eyes met those of the stranger.

The man was in his early twenties, with a handsome appearance and clear eyes. He walked over and extended his hand: "Are you Director Li? Hello, I'm Chi Cheng, a newly assigned engineer from the heavy machinery factory."

Li Jianguo shook hands: "Comrade Chi Cheng, what's the story with this house?"

Chi Cheng sighed and pulled out a few sheets of paper from his pocket: "The school assigned me to the heavy machinery factory. I submitted a report, and Secretary Jiang said that the housing would be arranged soon. So I went back to pick up my family, and when I came back and found the house at the address, I discovered that someone had occupied it." He handed over the certificate, "This was issued by the factory, and it also has the seal of the street office."

Li Jianguo took it and looked at it. The documents were complete and the stamps were clear.

Just as he was about to speak, a woman rushed over from the side—an older woman—and reached out to snatch the papers.

Li Jianguo reacted quickly, dodging to the side.

"Third Auntie, what are you doing?" His voice turned cold. "Trying to cover up the crime?"

The three women were stunned, their hands frozen in mid-air.

Li Jianguo looked at her and said again, "Want to be the second deaf old lady?"

The words "deaf old lady" were like a bucket of cold water, making the middle-aged woman shudder. She withdrew her hand, took a step back, and then plopped down on the ground, wailing, "We've waited so many years, finally got a house, why should we give it to this young man! My life is so miserable, everyone bullies our whole family!"

She wailed and cried.

Li Jianguo ignored her and continued looking at the documents in his hand. After finishing, he looked up at the old man's family: "They have proof. What about yours?"

The old man was stunned.

The three aunties stopped howling.

"It was...it was the neighborhood committee director who told us we could stay in this house..." The old man said, then suddenly slapped his thigh, "Damn bastard! I gave him so much money, and he played me!"

Everyone understood. The Third Uncle's family gave the money, and the director verbally agreed, but then promised the house to someone else. Now that person has the proof, the truth has come out.

Li Jianguo turned to Xu Damao and said, "Go and fetch the director of the subdistrict office."

"Alright!" Xu Damao took off running.

Seeing that the problem couldn't be resolved quickly, Chi Cheng stood next to Li Jianguo and started chatting with him. Not far away, a young woman holding a child stood quietly; she was probably his wife.

"Director Li, we had heard of you before we were assigned to the heavy machinery factory," Chi Cheng said. "None of us students in this year's class didn't admire you."

Li Jianguo was a little surprised: "I don't know any of your classmates either."

"I don't know you, but I know Jiang Min." Chi Cheng smiled. "Jiang Min is the school beauty. Everyone thought she wouldn't date in school, but as graduation approached, someone beat her to it. The boys in school were furious, but they calmed down when they found out it was you."

Li Jianguo was both amused and exasperated: "My name has this effect?"

"Absolutely," Chi Cheng said. "The cars you led the team to build have been featured in the newspapers. Professors at the university have praised you countless times. When we graduated, we left the school hearing your name on the campus."

Li Jianguo smiled, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind: maybe he really should go to the university to give lectures.

"You must be a good student, why didn't you take the postgraduate entrance exam?"

"My family is from the countryside, and I want to come out and work first to help support my family," Chi Cheng said. "My teacher also said that I can work and study at the same time, and then take his graduate entrance exam."

Li Jianguo nodded, having a good impression of the young man. Being assigned to the heavy machinery factory meant he was capable; he spoke and acted steadily, his eyes were clear, and he was a smart man.

"Do a good job," he said.

As the two were talking, Xu Damao came in with his men.

The man was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. He walked with the air of a soldier and looked around as soon as he entered the room.

"Which one of you is Director Li?" He saw Li Jianguo and walked straight over. "Hello, I'm Li Bin, the new director of the subdistrict office."

Li Jianguo shook hands: "Director Li, were you just transferred here? What happened to the previous director?"

"After so many incidents, he was dismissed from his post," Li Bin said.

Li Jianguo looked at Xu Damao. Xu Damao quickly explained, "Director Li, when you led the security department to raid that casino, it was later discovered that it was related to the director of the street office. He was dismissed long ago."

Li Jianguo then remembered. He nodded and said to Li Bin, "Could you please handle this matter? Comrade Chi Cheng has proof that the house was allocated to him. The other family also says that the house is related to them."

Li Bin had already heard about the situation from Xu Damao on the way. He nodded: "I know. The former director took money to do things, and he's still explaining the issues. This matter will be handled according to the rules."

Upon hearing this, the third uncle's face turned green: "We paid for it! Why shouldn't we have anything to do with the house?"

They had saved up for a long time to buy this room, and then gave it all away. Finding a place in Beijing is incredibly difficult; they finally had this opportunity, but who would have thought that after spending the money, they'd lose the room?

Li Bin gave him a cold look: "Openly offering bribes, I haven't settled accounts with you yet."

"As for the money..." he said, "Let's see if we can get some back after the former director finishes his review."

"Can it be?" These two words basically mean it's hopeless.

"From today onwards, this house belongs to Comrade Chi Cheng," Li Bin said. "If your family meets the housing allocation criteria, go to the subdistrict office to register and queue up, and follow the rules."

The old man's face turned ashen after hearing this.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly walked to Li Bin's side and lowered his voice: "Director Li, may I speak to you in private?"

Li Bin frowned and followed him to the side.

"Director Li, we don't want the house anymore," the old man said. "But I know that after the casino incident a while ago, a lot of houses were vacated in the neighborhood. Do you think we could be moved forward a bit? Could you please allocate a house to us this time? It's really unbearable for the whole family to be crammed into that small house."

As he spoke, he pulled out a wad of cash and bills from his pocket and stuffed them into Li Bin's hand.

Li Bin almost laughed out of anger.

He had just finished talking about bribery, less than two minutes later, and this person dared to slip money to him in public?

He glanced at Li Jianguo not far away, then at the neighbors watching in the courtyard, his voice turning eight octaves colder: "If your family meets the criteria, then it's your turn. If not, just wait. Don't bother with this useless nonsense."

He pushed the money back without even glancing at it.

"I don't think your family is in a hurry," he said. "You can be at the back of the queue."

The old man was dumbfounded. He held up the money, his hand frozen in mid-air, unsure whether to take it or continue to give it to him.

"Director Li, I... I'm being offered more money than the previous director..." he stammered, "I just want to cut in line and get a room sooner..."

Li Bin's face turned ashen.