Courtyard House: She got anxious when He Yushui wasn't licked.

The policeman sized up Wang Lin, his lips twitching as he thought to himself, "I'm not much older than you! Calling me uncle is somewhat of an insult to my appearance."

When Jia Zhangshi saw that the police had really arrived, she happily stepped forward and interjected to the officer, "Officer! This little brat must have gone mad, he's not right in the head."

"Really?" The police officer looked at Wang Lin suspiciously. He looked fine and was dressed well, so the officer couldn't tell that Wang Lin was mentally unstable.

"Police officers! They ganged up on me, a family member of a martyr, and stole our rice and flour. They're not letting my siblings and me survive. This is bullying!" Wang Lin secretly wiped away her tears.

"Young man, you're a family member of a martyr. Tell us what's going on, and we'll definitely give you justice." Hearing this, the police officer insisted on handling the case seriously, determined not to wrong an innocent person or let a guilty person go unpunished.

Wang Lin pointed to the broken door and bricks and said to the police, "Here's what happened, officer. A friend of mine who went abroad gave me some premium rice and flour when he came back. It was stolen, but I didn't make a fuss because of the unity in the neighborhood. Now these people have teamed up and are trying to break down my door in broad daylight, intending to rob me."

The police officer went up to look at the door and then at the bricks. Inside the room, the two little monsters were huddled together, looking pitifully at the police officer.

One of the police officers asked, "Would you mind showing me the rice and flour your friend sent you when you went abroad?"

Wang Lin nodded and went back into his room. He carried out a sack of premium rice and handed a certificate to the police officer, saying, "Officer! Take a look."

Upon examining the certificate, the police officer noticed the official seal of a certain department, confirming it was genuine. He then opened the sack and exclaimed, "This is rice! It's so beautiful!"

Products from the system are guaranteed to be of high quality.

The rice, white as snow crystals, is very recognizable, and the bag even has English writing on it, so it's obviously not ordinary rice.

When Jia Zhangshi saw the bag of rice, her eyes lit up! Even with the police in front of her, she still muttered, "Such good rice should be given to my grandson! A good-for-nothing who can't get into university doesn't deserve to eat it."

Qin Huairu reached out and tugged at the dazed Jia Zhangshi, signaling with her eyes that the police were there and she shouldn't say anything out of line.

Although Qin Huairu was also envious of Wang Lin's bag of premium rice, she was not a brainless old woman like Jia Zhangshi!

Profits must be pursued gradually, like a silkworm swallowing a leaf, leaving nothing behind.

The older police officer, who had handled many cases, glanced around and noticed that Jia Zhangshi's greed was practically written all over her face; she was incredibly arrogant.

He Yushui stared blankly at the premium rice. Such beautiful rice must smell wonderful. Shaking her head, she realized the key was Wang Lin's connections—his friends who had returned from abroad!

In this era, leaders place great importance on foreign exchange!

If Wang Lin has connections, his future will definitely be bright!

He Yushui compared Wang Lin and Zhang Hao in her mind and found that Zhang Hao seemed to be really useless except for being a beat cop.

The worst thing about people is comparison. With this comparison, He Yushui suddenly felt that Zhang Hao, who was always so obedient to her, was no longer appealing.

Zhang Hao had no connections to arrange a job for her, nor the ability to provide her with a comfortable life.

Although Wang Lin has no parents, he has connections! If she gives Wang Lin a little something sweet, he might change his mind and become devoted to her.

The more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed! After all, Wang Lin had been very infatuated with her before, often waiting for her at the school gate all day long.

While He Yushui was envisioning the future, the three older women—the first, second, and third—had their eyelids twitching, as if something big was about to happen, and they felt very uneasy.

Because of Wang Lin's special status—a martyr's family member, someone with friends abroad, and an orphan—the older police officer said to his colleague with extreme sternness, "Go to the station and request reinforcements. This bullying incident must be severely punished this time."

"Don't worry!" The younger police officer turned and jogged away.

This displeased the women, who then began to suspect them.

An older woman frowned and said to Wang Lin, "Little Lin! I think we should send someone to inform your uncle about this!"

In the courtyard, most matters, big and small, were decided by the old man Yi Zhonghai. Suddenly, the police were involved, which seemed a bit like making a mountain out of a molehill.

The police officer looked at Wang Lin and asked, "Young man! Do you have relatives in this yard?"

Wang Lin explained, "He's the old man in charge appointed by the neighborhood committee! He usually abuses his power and runs the place like a dictator, and everyone is angry but dares not speak out."

"Just some busybody old man." The police officer understood immediately. He also lived in a courtyard house, but not on this street. He could handle neighborly harmony issues with those busybodies who didn't know the law, but he couldn't handle other matters.

Aunt Erda was displeased with Wang Lin's words and said, "What's wrong with the person in charge? My husband Liu Haizhong may only be the second uncle, but he was appointed by the neighborhood committee. Don't look down on such a lowly official."

Wang Lin laughed upon hearing this. He really wanted to give the second aunt a thumbs up. "You're such a terrible teammate! You're really something!"

The police officer's expression changed when he heard the words "petty official." He stared at the woman and asked, "Look at your arrogant attitude! It seems you've done your fair share of bullying your neighbors, haven't you?"

Aunt Er sensed something was wrong, so she quickly waved her hand and said, "No, no, we always make decisions democratically when we hold general meetings. There's absolutely no such thing as bullying our neighbors. We get along very well with our neighbors in the compound."

As the saying goes, the more you explain, the more it seems like you're trying to hide something.

The police officer was not going to listen to the second aunt's one-sided story. He said righteously, "Your words don't count. After we investigate and visit people, the truth will come out."

After waiting for a while, the young policeman arrived with seven or eight colleagues.

The first house searched was naturally that of the Jia Zhang family.

Wang Lin followed the police to the outside of Jia Zhangshi's house. He took 20 jin of premium rice to the spirit world and then placed it remotely in a cabinet in a storage room inside Jia Zhangshi's house.

To make Jia Zhangshi's theft seem convincing, Wang Lin also put some of the premium rice from the bag into a pot in the kitchen.

The police officers began their search.

As Jia Zhangshi watched the police search her, she felt no guilt and didn't try to stop them; after all, it was impossible...

"found it!"

One of the police officers found a clue in the pot that Qin Huairu usually used for cooking.

The rice inside is exactly the same as Wang Lin's premium rice.

Qin Huairu pushed through the crowd and stared at the rice the police had found, frozen in place.

When did her family start having this kind of premium rice?

Jia Zhangshi was completely dumbfounded! She looked at Qin Huairu in confusion, thinking that her daughter-in-law's methods were too amazing. She had already obtained Wang Lin's premium rice?

Qin Huairu was pale. She hadn't stolen anything, so why was Wang Lin's premium rice found in her own home?

Could it be a frame-up?

"Qin Huairu! Jia Zhangshi! You really stole Wang Lin's things?" An old woman looked at the evidence in front of her in disbelief.

"Sure enough! They steal from the young, they steal from the old, and they even steal from the old! It must be an ancestral skill! A thieving tradition passed down for three generations?"

"Absolutely! I suspect that the five cents in my house were stolen by that thief!"

“The needles and thread from the Jia Zhang family are exactly the same as the ones I lost. Isn’t that too much of a coincidence?”

Some women began to gossip, noticing that both Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu carried a heavy resentment.

"Just as I expected!" the older policeman said. "Keep searching. There might be more stolen items than this. Don't be careless and leave no corner unchecked."

The police officers continued their search. After ransacking the place, a young officer with a crew cut ran out and exclaimed, "Captain Zhou! Good heavens! A whole sack full, at least 20 pounds!"

The two policemen worked together to move the cabinet out.

When the sack hidden in the cabinet was opened, it was full of Wang Lin's unique premium rice.

This rice is so distinctive that no one could mistake it.

Damn it!

"Impossible! We didn't steal Wang Lin's premium rice! How could this rice be in her house?"

Qin Huairu collapsed to the ground, unable to believe that this premium rice had been found in their home.

"How come there's rice in this cabinet! Could it be that Old Jia's spirit in heaven saw how hard we orphans and widows were living? So he showed his spirit?" Madam Jia Zhang began to mutter to herself, her eyes gradually becoming excited.

Wang Lin shouted "Report!" and pointed at Jia Zhangshi holding up the newspaper: "Police officer, I'm reporting this old woman for engaging in feudal superstition and performing shamanistic rituals!"

"Cuff him!" Captain Zhou gave the order.

"Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, we now have both witnesses and physical evidence. Please come with us."

To Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi's utter bewilderment, a pair of silver bracelets appeared on their wrists.

In fact, even without Wang Lin reporting it, everyone present heard Jia Zhangshi's ramblings, including the police officers.

Qin Huairu immediately began to play the victim, feigning weakness as she said, "Officer! I'm innocent! How could a widow like me, who can't even kill a chicken, possibly steal Wang Lin's premium rice! Someone must have framed my family."

"Now that we have both witnesses and physical evidence, you still want to deny it!" The police officers were not going to be lenient, and they roughly handcuffed Qin Huairu.

Helpless, Qin Huairu could only anxiously shout to He Yushui, "Yushui, hurry to the factory and find your brother to save us!"

"Sister Qin!" He Yushui snapped out of her daze and turned to run.

Wang Lin watched He Yushui leave without stopping her. By the time He Yushui brought Sha Zhu back, the two beasts, one old and one young, were already in detention.

As Jia Zhangshi was about to be taken away by the police, her venomous eyes began to scan everyone—the older women, the second older women, the third older women, He Yushui, the deaf old woman, and the other women—before she went into a frenzy and started cursing, “Who framed our family! I’ll haunt you even as a ghost! I’ll make my old Jia come to your house every day! Haunt you! And take you to the underworld!”

Chapter 21 He Yushui meets Yu Haitang, promoting the "Silly Pillar" (a nickname for a character).

The women in the entire compound were terrified by Jia Zhangshi's frightening gaze.

Especially that old woman, Jia Zhangshi, who liked to stay up late at night burning paper money and kneeling in front of the portraits of her husband and son, a sight that sent chills down one's spine.

An elderly woman couldn't bear to see Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu being taken away by the police, so she went to Wang Lin and pleaded, "Wang Lin! We're all neighbors in the same courtyard, there's no need to be so ruthless."

“Auntie! The law cannot bow down to illegality!” Wang Lin was not a saint. Looking at this kind old woman, he sometimes felt sorry for her, having been brainwashed by Yi Zhonghai for so many years.

"Well said!" Captain Zhou felt his blood boil at Wang Lin's words!

"Young man, you're the person involved. Come with us to the police station to give a statement," Captain Zhou invited, his tone very monk-like.

"Cooperating with the police is everyone's duty!" Wang Lin nodded emphatically.

"If everyone were as sensible as you, that would be great." Captain Zhou shook his head and smiled bitterly. Not everyone they dealt with was so knowledgeable; most of them were illiterate, barely able to read a few characters, and full of fallacies.

Wang Lin cooperated with Zhou Bing to return to the police station to give a statement, which basically involved answering questions.

Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu were interrogated separately, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were not in the same room.

Wang Lin walked leisurely out of the police station and went back home.

As for Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, they're going to have a tough time after stealing other people's belongings; they'll likely face detention and imprisonment.

When Wang Lin returned to the backyard, the repairman there had already fixed the iron gate.

The craftsmanship of this era is truly reliable.

Wang Lin generously paid for the door repair. After seeing the repairman off, he put the key in his pocket and looked at the brand-new, heavy iron gate. He knew he could use the back door as he pleased from now on.

The backyard is quiet. The deaf old lady fell and couldn't get out of bed for ten days to half a month. Now she is lying in bed in the house.

Wang Lin would never visit the deaf old woman, after all, that old woman was very wicked and only had eyes for her mentally challenged grandson He Yuzhu.

The story of Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, stealing premium rice has spread like wildfire in the front yard, becoming the talk of the town.

The old woman felt that this matter was too big. Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu had been taken away, so she had to take care of the two sisters, Huaihua and Xiaodang, for Qin Huairu. As for Banggeng, he had gone to school and had not returned yet.