Courtyard House: Drunk and barging into the Xu family's house, I woke up numb.

"My bicycle is stolen, could you please help me look for it?"

Jiang Hai looked up at the person who spoke, and immediately recognized him as Xu Damao from He Yushui's compound.

He was the one who created the mess last time. It was because of his involvement with the Jia family that his marriage to He Yushui almost fell through.

If it weren't for my persistent persuasion to postpone the wedding until National Day...

He waited until things settled down with his father before getting married, and by now he's probably single.

Therefore, he didn't have a good impression of Xu Damao, and he had also heard that the kid had a problematic style and had caused quite a bit of trouble in the past month.

"Go to the back of the line. You're such a grown man, don't you know it's first come, first served?"

Xu Damao originally wanted to try and build a relationship, but the objections from behind him forced him to sheepishly join the queue at the back.

After about ten minutes, the person in front finally finished speaking, and Xu Damao stepped forward to repeat what he had said.

"Captain Jiang, I want to report a case."

Jiang Hai said without looking up.

"what is it call?"

Xu Damao pointed to himself.

"Captain Jiang, don't you recognize me?"

Jiang Hai slightly raised his eyelids and said.

Is there a conflict between whether I know you or not and asking you your name?

Do you know the case-handling procedures?

Xu Damao was speechless after being rebuked.

"My name is Xu Damao, and my bicycle has been stolen."

Jiang Hai continued to ask.

"Please explain the specifics."

Xu Damao said.

"My wife said it was still there last night, but we found it was gone this morning."

"The stolen bike is a Forever 28-inch bicycle. I bought it for 168 yuan and only rode it for a few years. You must help me find it."

Jiang Hai looked up at Xu Damao.

"One hundred and sixty-eight, that's quite a lot of money, it's four months' salary of mine."

Xu Damao chuckled awkwardly.

"Captain Jiang, you flatter me. I can't compare to you. I saved up for a year by living frugally to buy this."

Jiang Hai lowered his head and continued to ask.

"Did you bring your vehicle permit?"

Xu Damao took out the vehicle registration certificate from his pocket and put it on the table. Jiang Hai took it, opened the first page, copied down the stamp number, and then returned it to him.

After putting away the bicycle certificate, Xu Damao stood there waiting for a reply, but a minute passed and Jiang Hai didn't say a word.

"Do you have anything else to do?"

Xu Damao shook his head.

"870 is gone."

Jiang Hai pointed to the doorway.

"Then you can go out now, there will be other people waiting."

Xu Damao asked, his eyes wide.

"Is this the end?"

Jiang Hai leaned back against the chair.

"if not?"

Xu Damao said urgently.

"Captain Jiang, you need to go on a call and help me find my car."

"It's too late, what if they've already sold the car?"

"People's police serve the people, you must serve us."

Jiang Hai pointed to the calendar on the wall.

"Look carefully, today is Lunar New Year's Eve. I have a lot of things to do, I can't just serve you."

“You’re not the only one whose car was stolen during the Chinese New Year. There are over 4,000 households and nearly 20,000 people in the entire area, and the police station, including the leaders, has only about 20 people.”

"I've already sent people out to look for bicycles, are we even going to handle the other cases?"

Jiang Hai was telling the truth. In historical times, there were no more than ten police officers per 10,000 residents, and sometimes even fewer.

This is one of the reasons why the security departments of various factories have a great deal of autonomy and law enforcement power.

Xu Damao frowned and said.

When will I be able to find my bicycle?

Jiang Hai shook his head.

"Go back and wait for news. We'll let you know when we find it."

Seeing that Xu Damao was still lingering and refusing to leave, Jiang Hai said coldly.

"Aren't you leaving yet? What, planning to spend the New Year here?"

Xu Damao walked out of the police station and spat fiercely at the gate.

"What the hell are you? A bunch of good-for-nothings!"

............................................................

In the courtyard of the siheyuan (traditional courtyard house), Qin Huairu was washing clothes when He Yuzhu came out of the house.

"Sister Qin, how's your sister's situation?"

"When will you come to the city? It's about time we met."

Qin Huairu smiled.

"Look how anxious you are. I've taken care of it for you. You'll come on the second day of the Lunar New Year."

"But I can't guarantee whether it will work out or not, especially since you can't hide this from me now."

He Yuzhu said.

"Don't worry, I won't hide this from her."

"But don't make a mistake right away, let's get a little contact first."

Qin Huairu said.

"You can handle it yourself, but don't drag it out too long, or I won't be able to explain it to you."

He Yuzhu vouched for it.

"My dear sister, don't you trust me to handle things?"

"Hey, tell the kids we're going to make dumplings together tonight."

"I'll go buy a dollar's worth of minced meat and cook a few dishes so we can celebrate the New Year together."

　(bieg) Qin Huairu's face lit up with a smile when she heard this, and then she heard Yi Zhonghai's voice behind her.

“I’ll buy two yuan worth and I’ll contribute one yuan. Let’s call the deaf old lady over tonight, and the four of us can pool our money to live together.”

Qin Huairu's smile widened. With the four families celebrating the New Year together, the other meat and vegetables would naturally be prepared by Yi Zhonghai and He Yuzhu.

There are five people in their family, and the other three families, including He Yushui, also have no more than five people.

Although the family consists of five people, all of whom are women and children, they all have big appetites, especially the sturdy dog, who can hold her own against three opponents.

"Okay, then I'll take care of chopping the filling and kneading the dough."

He Yuzhu said.

"Alright, let's have all four families together and make a scene. That'll infuriate Xu Damao!"

After gritting his teeth and saying a few words to Xu Damao, he called out to Banggeng beside him.

"Banggeng, go run an errand and buy some minced meat."

Banggeng's eyes lit up at the mention of meat; the two ounces of meat he had that day weren't even enough to fill a tooth gap, and he had been craving it for a long time.

After taking the two yuan from He Yuzhu, Banggeng's eyes darted around and he reached out his hand again.

"Uncle, I can't let my legs have come all this way for nothing."

He Yuzhu patted the hand that was holding the stick.

"What, you're asking me for a tip just for running an errand?"