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

Yi Zhonghai huddled in the back room, his ear pressed against the crack in the door, staring intently at the movements outside the courtyard.

Hearing the chaotic scene between the Xu and Liu families, which had drawn everyone's attention, he finally felt a little relieved and secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the fire hadn't spread to him.

Before he could catch his breath, Xu Damao’s heart-wrenching cries came from outside the courtyard, and he revealed the whole truth about his marriage certificate with the deaf old woman!

This made Yi Zhonghai freeze, and a surge of anger shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. His fists clenched so tightly they cracked: Xu Damao, that ingrate! I must have been blind to help you, and you actually betrayed me! I'll kill you!

The deaf old woman sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). Seeing his gritted teeth and murderous look, she asked with a hint of doubt, "Xiao Yi, what's wrong with you? Your face is all scrunched up."

Yi Zhonghai, seething with resentment, rushed to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) when the deaf old woman asked, his voice trembling, "Grandma! That bastard Xu Damao has exposed our marriage registration! Now the whole courtyard knows, and they're all laughing at us! This time, I'm not only going to deal with Zhou Weiguo, I'm going to make sure that little rascal Xu Damao is taken care of too!"

After listening, the deaf old woman sighed slowly, showing little surprise. She patted the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and said, "Hey, this kind of thing was bound to get out sooner or later, there's nothing to be alarmed about. I did all this to save your life, and it's too late to say anything now. If you've really made up your mind, now is the right time, so go ahead."

As she spoke, she reached under her pillow and pulled out a cloth bag. Opening it, she found four small, golden croakers inside, which she handed to Yi Zhonghai: "Here you go."

"Go ahead, come back soon, and be careful."

Yi Zhonghai glanced at the four small yellow croakers, a ruthless glint flashing across his eyes. His anger intensified. He nodded vigorously, his voice deep and heavy: "Yes, ma'am, I'll go right now!"

After saying that, he carefully tucked the small yellow croaker into his pocket, held his breath, gently pushed open the door of the back room, peeked out to see if anyone was paying attention to them, and then crouched down and slipped out of the courtyard, heading straight for Rouge Alley.

In about ten minutes, Yi Zhonghai found the courtyard at No. 25 Yanzhi Hutong.

The courtyard looked unremarkable, with a layer of dust on the door, giving off an air of "keep away, strangers don't want to come near."

He composed himself and, following the instructions of the deaf old woman, raised his hand and tapped two short and three long times.

After a while of silence, just as Yi Zhonghai was starting to panic, thinking he'd come to the wrong place, a sinister voice suddenly came from inside the door, tinged with impatience: "Who is it? What are you doing knocking so late at night!"

Yi Zhonghai's heart skipped a beat, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on his back. He quickly lowered his voice and spoke in the code the deaf old woman had given him: "Old Liu, is there any new bean cake stock tomorrow?"

There was a moment of silence inside the door, then the sinister voice rang out again: "Yes! The bean cakes are pressed tightly, and the oil is still steaming!"

Yi Zhonghai felt a weight lifted from his heart and quickly continued with the coded message: "Will the 'Kitchen God' eat?"

"Eat! Three pounds of vegetable oil for a bushel of old rice, but don't let the incense ash get on your hands!"

"Alright! When you deliver the lanterns tomorrow, light two extra candles!"

No sooner had Yi Zhonghai finished speaking than a voice came from inside the door: "Wait!"

Then they heard footsteps running towards the inner courtyard, and then there was no more sound.

The man entered the inner courtyard, went straight to the main house, lifted the curtain, and slipped inside. Standing before a plump woman in her forties, he bowed and said, "Sister Hong, someone's here. They're using the old code. Do you think we should take this job?"

The plump woman, known as Sister Hong, raised an eyebrow and said slowly, "Take it! Since they're using the old code, it might be an old friend. Let San'er test the waters first and see what their tactics are."

"Alright!"

The man responded and turned to leave.

A moment later, with a creak, the latch on the courtyard gate was pulled open, and a man as thin as a bamboo pole with a pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks poked his head out. He looked Yi Zhonghai up and down, saw that he looked uneasy and his eyes were darting around, pursed his lips, and stepped aside to let him in: "Sir, please come in, let's talk in the main room."

Yi Zhonghai followed him into the courtyard, his heart pounding and his palms sweating profusely.

As soon as Yi Zhonghai entered the main room, he was startled by the scene inside. In the middle of the room sat a burly man with a broad back and thick waist, his face full of scars, and his big, round eyes staring at him intently, as if he wanted to devour him.

The burly man spoke in a deep, muffled voice, sparing with words, uttering only one word: "Sit!"

Yi Zhonghai was so scared that he didn't dare to sit down properly. He only dared to put half of his buttocks on the edge of the stool, his back straight, and he didn't dare to breathe loudly, for fear of angering this fierce god.

The man with the pointed face and monkey-like features brought over a cup of tea and slammed it onto the table in front of Yi Zhonghai with a thud, spilling a few drops of tea.

Yi Zhonghai was already extremely nervous. When he saw the other party bring him tea, he thought it was a gesture of goodwill, so he quickly picked it up and took a sip, hoping to ease the awkwardness.

But he didn't notice that when the man with the pointed mouth and monkey-like face saw him drink the tea without saying a word, his brows furrowed instantly, and he quickly glanced towards the inner room with a hint of disdain in his eyes.

He exchanged a glance with the person inside the room, and seeing no movement, he stretched out his hand, opened his palm, and gestured towards Yi Zhonghai with his lip.

Yi Zhonghai immediately understood. He quickly reached into his pocket, fumbled for the silver dollars he had brought, and respectfully handed them over, his hands trembling.

The man with the pointed face and monkey-like features took the silver dollar, glanced at it, raised an eyebrow, said nothing, turned around and went into the inner room, handing the silver dollar to Sister Hong.

Sister Hong took the silver dollar, glanced at it, and her eyes suddenly narrowed. She looked up and asked, "Did Aunt Long introduce you? Who is this person?"

The man with the pointed chin and monkey-like face shook his head and said with a sneer, "He's not from the underworld, just a greenhorn. He dared to drink our test tea directly. He's probably in a hurry to get things done and panicked."

Sister Hong raised an eyebrow, nodded, and placed the silver dollar on the table: "Alright, since Aunt Long introduced us, we have to give her face. If it's not a big deal, we'll take the job. Oh, and don't forget, there's extra money!"

The weasel-faced man quickly bowed and replied, "Okay," before leaving the inner room. He returned to Yi Zhonghai, put his hands behind his back, and looked down at him, saying, "Tell me, what's the matter that's worth making this trip so late at night?"

Yi Zhonghai swallowed hard, suppressing his fear, and recounted his and the deaf old woman's scheme in detail before looking at the other person with a nervous expression.