The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

Li Kaixin opened the door and led the two officers into the house.

When Officer Xu and Officer Sun looked up, they saw the crisscrossing black handprints on the wall and both frowned slightly.

When they heard Li Kaixin's description at the neighborhood office, they initially thought it was just a simple case of trespassing.

It seems that we should probably add the charge of intentionally damaging other people's property.

The two cautiously went to check another room and found the situation to be just as bad.

After they had roughly inspected the two rooms, Li Kaixin finally spoke, his tone tinged with helplessness:

"Officer Xu, Office Director Sun, as you both see, this is the situation. I was planning to move in here in the next couple of days, but now I really don't know what to do."

"Comrade Li, rest assured, we understand the situation and will handle it seriously," Officer Xu said solemnly.

Officer Sun nodded with a serious expression.

"Thank you, Officer Sun and Officer Xu," Li Kaixin said sincerely.

"You're welcome, it's what we should do." Officer Xu waved his hand, then paused briefly, his gaze sweeping over the handprints: "By the way, Comrade Li, do you have any suspects at the moment?"

Li Kaixin did not answer immediately, but remained silent for a moment before slowly analyzing:

"Officer Xu, the doors to these two rooms have been open for the past few days, but people from the outer courtyard shouldn't be able to get in because the neighbors are watching over them."

"So you suspect it was someone from the institute who did it?" Officer Sun chimed in.

Li Kaixin nodded and offered his opinion:

"Why don't we have everyone in the courtyard compare these handprints and footprints? If they all match, then it's definitely him."

"Your method works."

Officer Xu agreed, and then asked, "Comrade Li, do you know who's in charge of things in the institute? Let's ask him for help to gather everyone in the institute together."

"I know," Li Kaixin nodded in response. "I'll take you two there right away."

After saying that, he led the two officers toward the door.

As soon as they stepped outside, the three of them saw Aunt Lu hanging clothes to dry in the front yard.

Officer Xu immediately stepped forward and greeted him warmly: "Comrade Lu, hello."

"Hello! Officer Xu, what can I do for you?" Aunt Lu put down the clothes she was holding.

Officer Xu didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point: "Comrade Lu, you live across from Comrade Li. Have you seen anyone enter his room these past few days?"

They didn't rush to ask about the situation because they wanted to see the actual condition inside the house first.

"Ah! This..." Aunt Lu immediately became stammering, her eyes involuntarily glancing at Li Kaixin not far away.

Following her gaze, Officer Xu immediately understood.

Just now, Aunt Lu spoke to Li Kaixin alone, so it's clear they both know who did it. Most likely, Li Kaixin promised Aunt Lu something, which is why she used that suggestive approach in her reply.

On second thought, this is a courtyard house with so many households, and no one wants to be the first to offend anyone, so I felt relieved.

"No need to say anything more, I understand." Officer Xu waved his hand to interrupt.

Hearing him say that, Aunt Lu visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Officer Xu walked back to Li Kaixin and Officer Sun. Officer Sun leaned closer and whispered, "Old Xu, did you get any results?"

"No, but we'll figure it out soon."

As he spoke, Officer Xu looked at Li Kaixin with a meaningful gaze, "Comrade Li, you're not exactly being honest!"

Li Kaixin smiled awkwardly:

"If someone helps me, I can't just drag them down with me and get them involved in this mess, can I?"

"Officer Xu, don't you agree?"

Officer Xu was slightly taken aback, and couldn't help but think more highly of Li Kaixin.

Sun, the clerk standing to the side, was completely bewildered: "What kind of riddles are you talking about? I don't understand a single word."

"Alright, alright." Officer Xu patted him on the shoulder. "I'll explain everything to you in detail when we get back. Let's get down to business first."

When they arrived at the door of Aunt Ye's house, who was in charge of the backyard, Li Kaixin took the initiative to knock on the door.

With two "thump-thump" sounds, the door opened from the inside.

"Oh, it's Kaixin! What do you need me for?" Aunt Ye looked up and saw Li Kaixin, her face beaming with smiles.

Although she had only met Li Kaixin a few times, the bag of beef jerky and walnuts from last time left a deep impression on her.

"Aunt Ye, I need to trouble you with something."

Li Kaixin stepped aside to make way for the two officers behind him and introduced them:

"These two are Officer Xu and Officer Sun from the subdistrict office."

"There's a problem with the two rooms I was assigned. I'd like to ask you for a favor and get everyone in the compound to come over."

At this moment, Officer Xu, who was behind him, also stepped forward, his tone serious:

"Comrade Ye, the walls of Comrade Li's house have been maliciously damaged. Our initial assessment is that it was done by someone in the courtyard. We need everyone's cooperation to verify this."

"What? Is that even possible?"

Aunt Ye was startled at first, then looked troubled. "Officer Xu, many people in the compound have gone to work and haven't come back yet. What do you think?"

"It's alright," Officer Xu said dismissively. "Just invite everyone currently in the compound over."

Judging from Li Kaixin's confident demeanor, he guessed that the person who did this was most likely among those who hadn't yet left the house.

"Okay! Officer Xu, I'll go and greet everyone right away." Aunt Ye quickly agreed.

Then, Aunt Ye walked into the courtyard, cleared her throat, and raised her voice, calling out, "Everyone at home, come and gather in the courtyard! The comrades from the neighborhood committee have some questions for you!"

Her voice was loud and clear, and it instantly carried throughout the entire courtyard.

Before long, people who hadn't gone out started poking their heads out and looking in Aunt Ye's direction.

Seeing that there were indeed two unfamiliar male comrades standing to the side, they all came out one after another.

Before long, more than a dozen people gathered in the backyard.

The crowd whispered amongst themselves, trying to find out what had happened.

Only Aunt Lu, who knew the truth, remained silent and stood quietly to the side.

Aunt Ye glanced at the crowd: "Is everyone who's home here?"

Everyone looked at each other, and no one spoke for a moment.

Just then, a voice rang out from the crowd: "Sister Ye, Zhu Xiaohua from the front yard hasn't arrived yet."

It was Aunt Lu who spoke up, the one who hadn't said a word until now.

Upon hearing this, Aunt Ye frowned and instructed a woman standing near the front yard, "Guifen, go and call Zhu Xiaohua."

The woman named Guifen immediately nodded and turned to go to the front yard.