Courtyard House: The Road to an Industrial Power

"Bright heaven, glorious fortune!"

"Go to the police station immediately and tell them that someone deliberately set the fire."

Lin Weidong originally planned to send him to the police station today, to teach him a lesson last night, but unexpectedly this happened.

Upon hearing this, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu immediately nodded and ran out of the yard, forgetting even to put on their cotton hats.

In less than half an incense stick's time, two police officers arrived in a hurry with the two brothers.

The officer in charge, Zhang, had a stern expression and a baton at his waist. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he scanned the scene and asked in a deep voice, "Who's in charge? Explain the whole story clearly!"

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong approached Officer Zhang, bowed slightly, and said, "The matter is like this..."

After the two explained the whole story, the onlookers chimed in with their own opinions:

"Officer Zhang, that Yi Zhonghai is utterly ruthless! He burned down a decades-long marriage like that, he's inhuman!"

"I never expected that someone in our courtyard would actually let him go."

The more Officer Zhang listened, the darker his expression became. He squatted down to examine the rope on the ground, and as he stood up, he said coldly, "Arson is a serious crime, and fleeing is an even greater offense. We will immediately arrange for a city-wide search!"

"Furthermore, the person who cut the rope to release the person is suspected of harboring a criminal and should also be held accountable. Moreover, the person who released the other party is most likely someone from your courtyard."

The courtyard fell silent instantly upon hearing this.

Everyone knew perfectly well that the most likely person to let Yi Zhonghai escape was the deaf old woman in the backyard.

She has always sided with Yi Zhonghai and regarded him as her support in her old age; she was most likely the one who did this.

Everyone knows this in their hearts, but there's absolutely no evidence to support it.

By this time, the police officer who came with Officer Zhang had finished inspecting the courtyard's walls and found no signs of anyone climbing over.

He whispered a few words in Zhang's ear, and Zhang's face immediately darkened.

Just then, Liu Haizhong's eyes lit up, and he felt that this was a good opportunity to show off.

He immediately stepped forward and lowered his voice, saying, "Officer Zhang, I suspect it's the deaf old lady in the backyard."

"She was closest to Yi Zhonghai, so she was the only one with a reason to release him."

Upon hearing this, Officer Zhang nodded and, accompanied by another officer, headed straight for the backyard.

"Knock knock knock—"

A dull knocking sounded, and after a long time, the deaf old woman's door slowly opened.

The deaf old woman knew when the police arrived at the courtyard, so she stayed at home thinking of a solution.

The deaf old woman was wrapped in a faded black cotton-padded jacket, her body hunched over, looking as if she had just been woken up, her face full of impatience.

"What are you banging for? So early in the morning, can't a person get some sleep?" He feigned confusion, bringing his ear closer to his hand. "What are you doing here?"

Officer Zhang looked at the deaf old woman and said sternly, "Deaf old woman, Yi Zhonghai has been released. Did you hear any noise in the yard last night? Did you go outside?"

The deaf old woman's face immediately fell, she slammed her cane on the ground, and shouted at the top of her lungs, "What? Yi Zhonghai ran away? I didn't know that!"

"I'm an old woman, practically half-buried in the ground, and I've been locked inside the house the whole time, never stepping out of my home even once!"

"I've been ordered to stay home by you and the neighborhood committee, so I dare not go out at all."

Officer Zhang looked at the deaf old woman in front of him and said, "Yi Zhonghai has escaped, but according to our guess, he may be hiding in the courtyard house and hasn't left."

As soon as he finished speaking, the onlookers looked at each other and muttered to themselves.

"Where else can we go if we don't leave the yard?"

"Could it be at home?"

As they spoke, everyone quickly turned around and went home to check.

When the third aunt saw Yan Bugui rushing back, she asked, "Why are you in such a hurry? What happened?"

"Something terrible has happened! Officer Zhang said Yi Zhonghai hasn't left the courtyard house. I've come to check if he's hiding inside."

As he spoke, Yan Bugui began to look around.

There was nothing there. After checking their own homes, the people gradually returned to the backyard to eat melon seeds.

At that moment, the deaf old woman stepped aside to make way for the doorway, signaling the police to look inside.

The room was simply furnished with an earthen bed, a wooden cabinet, and a broken table. It was completely empty, with no place for anyone to hide.

At this point, the deaf old woman feigned a wronged expression: "I'm old and a light sleeper; I can hear even the slightest noise!"

"Everything was quiet last night, I don't know anything, please don't wrong this old woman!"

No matter how Officer Zhang questioned her, the deaf old woman insisted on saying the same thing: she didn't go out, she didn't hear anything, and she didn't hide anyone.

They either pretend to be confused and change the subject, or they cry out that they are wronged and won't listen to reason.

Police Officer Zhang searched the entire house but found no clues or evidence to prove that the deaf old woman had placed the person there. Left with no other option, he had to leave with his men.

After the police left, the people in the courtyard started talking again, but Lin Weidong stood by the wall of the central courtyard with his brows furrowed.

He walked around the courtyard's wall. The top of the wall was covered with a thick layer of snow, completely intact, without any signs of trampling or climbing.

There is absolutely no way Yi Zhonghai would have escaped by climbing over the wall.

But he neither left through the courtyard gate nor climbed over the wall, so how did he disappear into thin air?

Lin Weidong rubbed his chin, a vague feeling creeping into his mind that something was amiss.

Meanwhile, in a dilapidated courtyard house unknown to anyone, Yi Zhonghai was in an unprecedented predicament.

He huddled in the corner of the dilapidated house.

After being frozen all night, his hands and feet had long since lost all feeling and were as stiff as wooden sticks.

My stomach was empty and kept rumbling; the feeling of hunger was more torturous than the biting cold.

He clutched the money the deaf old woman had given him, but dared not spend it.

In the streets and alleys of Beijing, you'll find familiar faces everywhere. If you show your face, you're likely to be recognized and handed over to the police.

He huddled in a ball, trying to keep warm against the last bit of warmth left in the corner of the wall, his teeth chattering, but the resentment in his eyes remained undiminished.

He Daqing, Zhang Shi, Lin Weidong...

He gritted his teeth, his heart filled with surging hatred: once he escaped this calamity, he would make these people pay for their blood debts!

Just as he was starving and struggling with whether to risk going out to find something to eat, he suddenly heard two young men whispering outside the gate of the dilapidated courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai instantly held his breath, not daring to move, and listened carefully.

"I have successfully entered the steel rolling mill as required," a young voice said, with a hint of respect.

"Good job. Next, you must find a way to get into a core technical position in the steel rolling mill, the more core the better."

"Hai!"

Then Yi Zhonghai heard a crisp snapping sound.

"Where am I?! If you do this again, you might as well commit seppuku yourself!"

"yes!"

Yi Zhonghai was deeply shocked and muttered to himself, "How could there be Japanese people here?"

As soon as Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, the sounds outside stopped abruptly.

The two men exchanged a glance and then slowly walked toward where Yi Zhonghai was hiding.

One of the young men even pulled out a handgun.