Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

"Why is he using this as a condition to pester you? It's not uncommon for high school students to date, so it's understandable."

"Judging from his attire, he's clearly not from our social class, and nobody knows him, meaning he couldn't possibly live in the neighboring tenement. Where did he get his information?"

"He looks infatuated, but he's calculating in every way. He won't act until he gets something out of you, and he seems to know everything about your family situation."

"A high school student making it a condition that he'll propose to you if you get into university, and then they'll pay off your family's debts together after graduation—that's too calculating. Do high school students really consider that much when they're dating?"

"Furthermore, since you have the ability to repay it, and if you truly care about your own well-being, why not repay it after proposing marriage, instead of waiting until after graduating from university and starting work? How much will that money multiply in those four years? Isn't this just creating unnecessary trouble for yourself?"

"He already said he'd only propose after you got into university, and even said it was the optimal solution. This guy is obviously very shrewd; he wouldn't make such a mistake, would he?"

"If there's nothing wrong here, I'd never believe it even if you beat me to death!"

As Zhang Dabiao spoke, he wrote and drew. After he finished speaking, he slammed his pen on the table. Everyone looked at the diagram of relationships and seemed to see an unknown net that had locked Mu Wanqing firmly inside.

Mu Wanqing's face turned pale, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.

Even the most clueless among us now realize that something is definitely up!

Liu Guangqi immediately swore: "What the hell? Da Biao, what's wrong with your brain?"

"You can analyze this much about something as simple as paying back debts?"

Zhang Dabiao shook his head: "My mind is perfectly normal, I'm not much smarter than the rest of you."

"It's this diagram, a mind map, that helps me analyze and break down the clues. Let's leave that aside for now and tackle each problem one by one until we've figured out all the information."

"Then it becomes clear who set up this scheme and what their purpose was."

Actually, there was one more thing he didn't say—whoever ultimately profits the most is the mastermind behind it all.

They've inexplicably burdened an orphan and widow with a debt of 500 yuan, and then confiscated their bicycle...

Are there really such good loan sharks in this day and age?

Zhang Dabiao didn't believe it!

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation!

Mu Wanqing was also very flustered and her thoughts were in a mess, but she forced herself to calm down and explained one by one according to the question marks on the mind map.

------------

Two years ago, at the end of 58, during the Great Leap Forward, the air quality was terrible. Coupled with her physical condition, Aunt Mu's bronchitis flared up. It eventually developed into pneumonia, and when it seemed her condition was deteriorating, the doctor who came to her door said that she absolutely needed penicillin, but their hospital was out of stock and they had to submit a report to apply for it.

They're not qualified to go to the staff hospital, and other hospitals are not only far away, but they probably don't even have the capacity.

Moreover, Aunt Mu couldn't delay any longer, so she could only try her luck at the black market.

Anyway, the situation is rather sudden and extreme. We need to get the medicine quickly, otherwise we'll have to wait until the neighborhood office opens tomorrow to apply for a referral letter and go to a big hospital...

I wonder if Aunt Mu can hold out until then.

So Mu Wanqing borrowed money in the tenement, but they were all urban poor. Those with some skills could get housing in the factory, so who would live here?

The neighbors naturally had no money, but Mr. Huang next door gave Mu Wanqing a suggestion: borrow money from loan sharks or sell the car to buy medicine.

That man is in the alley ahead; his name is Ma Da San, or Master Ma.

Yes, that Mr. Huang is the one who instigated the neighbors to pressure them to pay off their debts when we went to collect our rations that day.

Zhang Dabiao frowned, wrote down the word "Huang" on the paper, and marked it as someone suspected of reporting him for speculation.

Why?

No one in courtyard number 95 would do such a thankless task, and they were afraid of being retaliated against by Zhang Dabiao.

If the guests at Liu Guangtian's wedding were to report someone, shouldn't they report Liu Guangqi or Liu Pangpang? Yes, they have already reported it, and Director Wang has already criticized them.

So, someone who had a conflict with you, knows about things in your yard, and lives in the next yard—that makes Master Huang a prime suspect.

Let's make a note of this for now.

Mu Wanqing continued speaking.

She found Master Ma and originally wanted to buy the bicycle directly, but he said he could only give her 30 yuan. Mu Wanqing was about to grit her teeth and sell the bicycle to raise as much money as she could, but when he heard that Mu Wanqing wanted to borrow money to buy medicine on the black market to save someone, he thought...

He didn't take the bicycle away, and generously lent her 200 yuan to buy medicine, saying that saving lives was the priority. He also kindly told her that she could buy penicillin by contacting that person, and that mentioning his name, Master Ma, would get her a discount.

Then, when it came time to sign the papers, I learned that her name was Mu Wanqing and that she lived in courtyard number 97. She kindly told me that I didn't need to rush to pay back the money.

Mu Wanqing thought she had met a good person.

Zhang Dabiao continued to mark after the character "horse"—the car, worth nearly two hundred yuan, was bought for 30 yuan, indicating that he was absolutely unscrupulous;

They're willing to lend, lend a lot, don't ask for collateral, and won't take your car back, all to make the loan interest multiply—they're heartless.

The person who introduced the medicine was even mentioned by name—double-crossing them, telling them that this person was a sucker, and charging them extra—a ruthless scheme.

Upon learning Mu Wanqing's name, his attitude changed—he had a scheme, or someone had mentioned Mu Wanqing to him, playing the long game to catch a big fish, and then pulling in the net when the Mu family was completely unable to repay the debt, and he wasn't afraid that the Mu family would run away—he was absolutely ruthless.

Anyway, Zhang Dabiao didn't believe he was a good person.

The more Zhang Dabiao wrote, the colder everyone's hearts grew.

With the medicine, Aunt Mu's illness was brought under control. Last year, Master Ma also sent people to collect the debt, but they were still polite and did not resort to violence.

Mu Wanqing tried several times to sell her bicycle to pay off her debts, but her mother wouldn't allow it. Moreover, Master Ma said there was no rush and even hinted that Mu Wanqing was a beautiful girl who would marry a rich man in the future, so what was this little bit of money?

Master Ma considered it a good deed; if the Mu family didn't have the money, there was no rush to repay them.

Aunt Mu and Mu Wanqing vaguely sensed that something was wrong, but they didn't have the money to repay it. In addition, food was becoming scarce in 59, and the first priority was to buy food to survive. So they dragged it out, and a year passed, and inexplicably the amount had multiplied to more than 500 yuan.

Back at school, Mu Wanqing naturally couldn't reveal that her family had borrowed money at exorbitant interest rates.

But Ye Liangshen found out, saying he overheard it when he passed by Mu Wanqing's courtyard...

"Does the Ye family live around here? Do I need to pass through this area?"

"No need, his house is in the opposite direction from here..."

Zhang Dabiao then connected the three circles—Ye, Huang, and Ma—with lines and added a question mark.

"When did Ye Liangshen start pursuing you? Was it after he started lending you money at exorbitant interest rates?"

"To put it simply... yes, after lending the money."

"He has excellent grades, will he be able to get into university?"

"No, his grades are below average."

"What is his family's situation like?"

"The conditions are quite good; they said he's a cadre in some bureau, and they're from a dual-income family..."

"Has he been getting close to any other female classmates?"

"...There used to be two."

"What about the female classmates?"

"...I transferred schools."

What is the female classmate's family background?

"It's also rather poor..."

"An orphan and a widow?"

"Yes."

Now everyone knows something's wrong.

"How are the living conditions of that guy surnamed Huang?"

"It's so-so, but it's considered good in our neighborhood. Every few days, we can smell meat coming from their house."

"After you lent them the money, did their living conditions improve?"

"...Yes, the day after I borrowed the money, I asked a doctor to come to my house to give my mother an IV drip. They happened to be eating meat, I remember it very clearly, because it wasn't a holiday or festival..."

Everyone could see it; there was clearly something fishy going on between Huang Ye, Ma, and the other two!

Especially those two female classmates who transferred schools...

Thinking hard!

This is a complete setup, and Mu Wanqing isn't the only victim!

This is probably a big deal!