I painted an aircraft carrier on the courtyard house for Dongda University.

It was just past dinnertime, and the lights in each house in the courtyard were still on. Zhou Weiguo's shout of "Catch the thief!" was extremely penetrating and instantly broke the tranquility of the courtyard.

Residents from both the front and back courtyards grabbed brooms, mops, and some even brought spatulas, rushing towards the central courtyard while shouting, "Thief!"

"Where is the thief?"

Jia Dongxu, standing at the door, was completely dumbfounded. How did the "catching adulterer" scene he had planned suddenly turn into "catching a thief"?

He was stunned for a full two seconds before he reacted, and hurriedly kicked He Yuzhu's door—he had to get Qin Huairu out quickly, otherwise there would be a real mess!

However, he was usually exhausted by Qin Huairu, and even after kicking the door twice, it only shook and didn't open at all.

Qin Huairu, who was inside the room, was terrified when she heard the shouts of "Catch the thief!"

She trembled and tugged at the door to the inner room several times, only to find it firmly shut. She tried to climb out the window, but heard footsteps getting closer and closer outside. She was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes. She could only rummage around inside the room, trying to find a piece of clothing to put on.

Yi Zhonghai was the first to rush to He Yuzhu's door. Seeing Jia Dongxu kicking the door, he secretly praised him, "Although Dongxu and Zhuzi don't get along, he's quite righteous in crucial moments and knows how to help his neighbor catch a thief."

Liu Haizhong followed closely behind with his two sons, and Yan Fugui also dragged Yan Jiecheng over. A group of people surrounded the door, asking all at once, "Grandpa, is the thief really inside?"

"Dongxu, did you see what the thief looked like?"

Yi Zhonghai patted his chest and said, "He's definitely there! Dongxu found him first and cornered him inside. Move aside, I'll handle this!" With that, he shoved Jia Dongxu aside and kicked the door lock.

"Master, don't kick!" Jia Dongxu was so anxious that his face turned pale, but Yi Zhonghai's foot was already stuck.

With a "crack," the wooden latch broke, and the door creaked open.

The crowd rushed in, filling the small main room to the brim, but after looking around, they couldn't find a single thief.

Everyone looked at each other, and finally all turned their questioning gazes to Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu's legs went weak, and his heart was filled with panic and confusion—he hadn't caught the thief, and Qin Huairu hadn't been exposed either. Should he be relieved or terrified?

Just then, Liu Haizhong suddenly pointed to the wardrobe in the corner and shouted, "The thief is here! I just saw the wardrobe door move!"

As he spoke, he backed away, saying, "Everyone be careful, don't let the thief get desperate and hurt someone!"

The crowd fell silent instantly, and no one dared to step forward first.

Just then, Xu Damao rushed in, wielding a cleaver and shouting, "Where is he? I'll chop this thief up!"

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai reached out and pushed Xu Damao forward: "Damao, you've come at the right time. Go check if anyone is in the closet."

Xu Damao hesitated, holding the kitchen knife: "Uncle, what if there's really someone hiding in here? What if he pounces out if I open the door?"

"What are you afraid of? We've got so many of us here to back you up!"

Yi Zhonghai deliberately provoked him, "Besides, you're holding a knife, what are you afraid of? If you catch the thief, the credit is yours!"

Xu Damao was put in an awkward position, but he stubbornly retorted, "Who's afraid!"

He took a deep breath, gripped the knife in one hand, and slowly opened the wardrobe door with the other—inside were only messy blankets, not a soul in sight.

"Hey, there's no thief here!"

Xu Damao breathed a sigh of relief, cursing as he sheathed his knife. "I wonder who was shouting all that. Uncle Liu, your eyesight is really terrible!"

As he spoke, he turned to look at everyone, reached into the depths of the wardrobe and touched it, trying to prove that there was nothing inside. But he just casually touched it and brought it to his nose to smell it.

He immediately frowned: "That silly Zhu really knows how to stir things up! He actually pickled kimchi in the closet, and it's not only moldy but almost spoiled!"

He had just reached in to take out the kimchi jar when he heard a faint whimper coming from the wardrobe.

Xu Damao jumped three feet high in fright, and the kitchen knife in his hand clattered to the ground.

"Look at your pathetic self!" Liu Haizhong pulled Xu Damao aside, rolled up his sleeves, and was about to attack. "Watch out for your damn fool!" He looked around nervously, stomped his foot, and suddenly pulled open the other door of the wardrobe.

"Hiss—" Everyone gasped, their eyes wide with astonishment.

Qin Huairu was huddled in the closet, wearing only an oversized factory uniform that clearly didn't fit her—it was He Yuzhu's work clothes, barely covering her upper thighs, leaving her smooth calves and arms exposed. Her eyes were tightly closed, and she was motionless, as if she had fainted.

Standing at the very back, Jia Dongxu's heart sank completely when he saw this scene, and his hands and feet turned ice cold.

Yan Fugui quickly turned his head and shouted to the crowd, "What are you all looking at? Be careful not to get a sty! Stop standing there! Huai Ru looks like she's been robbed! Men, get out of here and let the women come in to help!"

Several middle-aged women squeezed in, pushing the men outside.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Yi Zhonghai leaned close to an older woman and whispered a few words in her ear.

The older woman immediately panicked, rushing forward to pinch Qin Huairu's philtrum and slap her cheeks: "Huairu, wake up! Wake up!"

After a long while, Qin Huairu slowly "woke up," her eyes unfocused and her face filled with terror, which made the several older women feel sorry for her.

An older woman wrapped her in a thin blanket and asked anxiously, "Huai Ru, what happened to you? I just saw you washing clothes in the courtyard. Why are you dressed like this and hiding in Zhu Zi's closet?"

Qin Huairu's mind was in complete chaos. Before she could figure out how to cover up her lie, Jia Dongxu rushed in through the door, grabbed her hand, and said anxiously, "Huairu! Didn't you say you heard someone calling you from He Yuzhu's house and went to check it out? What happened? Don't scare me!"

As soon as he said that, the way the older women in the house looked at Jia Dongxu changed—it just didn't seem right for Qin Huairu to go to her male neighbor's house alone in the middle of the night.

Qin Huairu's fingertips trembled slightly, her eyes instantly filled with tears, and her voice choked with barely suppressed sobs: "It was...it was someone calling me! The voice sounded like Zhou Weiguo. They're all neighbors living in the courtyard, and I thought I should help if I could..."

Her shoulders were trembling violently. "But as soon as I stepped across the threshold, my head suddenly spun around, and when I opened my eyes again..."

At this point, she covered her face and wept bitterly, "Oh God, how am I going to live from now on!"

Jia Dongxu frowned, a calculating glint in his eyes. Clutching his head in pain, he pointed into the house and shouted, "I was just in the yard! That thief definitely hasn't run away! He's probably still hiding inside."

His voice was hoarse with excitement, "Everyone, search quickly! We must find this beast! I'll fight him to the death today!"