Courtyard House: After disbanding the Elderly Care Gang, I went to the countryside to cultivate immo

After finishing breakfast, Lin Shengli took a sip of spiritual spring water. He didn't plan to enter the space to cultivate today; he wanted to keep an eye on Banggeng and catch the kid as soon as possible.

Banggeng doesn't have to go to school now, and he sleeps until one or two o'clock in the afternoon every day.

Lin Shengli took out paper and pen and made a list of things he needed to do in the next few days, intending to complete them one by one.

After dinner, Lin Shengli's eyes lit up when he heard the commotion at the Jia family's house.

At the Intermediate People's Court, Banggeng finished dinner, wiped his mouth, and walked out, saying, "Mom, I'm going out to play!"

"Where have you been running off to again? It's a mess outside. Don't just think about running around all day long," Qin Huairu shouted upon hearing this.

"Mom, are you annoying me? I'm just going out to play for a bit and I'll be right back!"

The stick swayed and staggered out of the courtyard.

Lin Shengli immediately went out and followed at a distance.

He wanted to see for himself what Banggeng usually did.

After leaving the house, Banggeng made several turns and ended up in a small alley.

There were a few young men in the alley, all around sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed sloppily and smoking cigarettes. One of them waved to Bang Geng as he saw him.

"Bang! Over here!"

"Qiangzi!" Banggeng walked over.

The young man named Qiangzi took out a cigarette and handed one to Banggeng, saying, "Here, just got it."

Banggeng took the cigarette, took out a match from his pocket and lit it: "Anything you've accomplished today?"

"Just this half-pack of cigarettes." Qiangzi shook his head. "Damn it, people are shrewd these days, it's hard to make a move."

"I heard..." another young man lowered his voice, "that the steel mill has a batch of scrap material to dispose of recently, piled up outside the warehouse, and nobody's watching it..."

Banggeng's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"My cousin works as a temporary worker in the factory, that's what he told me," the young man said. "Copper wire and aluminum blocks are valuable; if we could get some..."

"When?"

"Tonight," the young man said, "my cousin said that Old Wang, who's on duty at the warehouse, is going home for a wedding tonight and is looking for someone to cover his shift. The replacement is a greenhorn who's easy to fool."

Banggeng rubbed his hands together: "Let's pull off a big one!"

The group of people began to discuss it in hushed tones.

Lin Shengli listened at the alley entrance, a cold smile playing on his lips.

They took the bait, just as expected.

Stealing factory supplies and stealing state property—that's a pretty serious charge.

Without alerting the enemy, he quietly left and headed straight for the steel rolling mill's security department.

My father worked in the security department before he passed away. After his death, several of his colleagues who had a good relationship with him would often come to visit him at home.

Upon arriving at the gate of the steel rolling mill, Lin Shengli informed the gatekeeper that he was looking for Wang Aiguo from the security department. The gatekeeper had him register and then let him in.

This was only because his father had been a security officer.

Wang Aiguo happens to be on duty tonight. In Lin Shengli's memory, he was the person in the security department who had the best relationship with his father.

Lin Shengli arrived at Wang Aiguo's office door, knocked, and after hearing Wang Aiguo call out "Come in," he pushed the door open.

Wang Aiguo has been promoted to captain of the security brigade in the security department in the past two years, and he has a separate office.

After Lin Shengli pushed open the door, he saw Wang Aiguo leaning back in a chair, wiping his gun with a gun cleaning cloth.

Upon seeing Lin Shengli, Wang Aiguo put down his gun on the table and asked curiously, "Shengli, what brings you here today? Is something wrong?"

Lin Shengli nodded and said, "Uncle Wang, I overheard Jia Geng and a few hooligans from our compound talking today. They're planning to come to the steel mill tonight to steal scrap."

Wang Aiguo stood up abruptly and said in a low voice, "Shengli, are you sure you didn't hear me wrong?"

Lin Shengli said with certainty, "You heard me right. They said that tonight's shift will be handled by someone who just started working. It's a good opportunity."

Wang Aiguo pounded his fist into his palm, pondered for a moment, and said, "Shengli, you did a great job. Uncle will arrange for people to keep watch at the scrap metal warehouse later; we'll catch them red-handed."

After saying that, he smiled and said to Lin Shengli, "You little rascal, did that Jia Geng offend you?"

Lin Shengzao nodded sheepishly: "Uncle Wang, you're right. This kid robbed me of my money in the alley yesterday with some thugs and even hit me with a stick."

Upon hearing that Lin Shengli had been beaten, Wang Aiguo quickly came out from behind the table, pulled Lin Shengli around, and asked, "Are you alright? You were beaten yesterday, why didn't you tell your uncle? I would have helped you deal with him."

Lin Shengli shook his head: "I'm fine, Uncle Wang. Yesterday, he knocked me unconscious and robbed me. Later, He Yuzhu, the cook at our factory, saw me and carried me home. After I woke up, I gave Jia Geng a beating and made his family compensate me for my losses. I was thinking that if I reported this to you, I wouldn't be able to produce any evidence based on my own words alone. It would be better for me to keep an eye on him and catch him red-handed so I can deal with him. This kid has been stealing chickens and dogs since he was a child, so it's easy to find something on him."

Wang Aiguo patted Lin Shengli on the shoulder and said, "Shengli, you've grown up. You're very methodical in handling things. But you must be careful no matter what you do in the future. Young people these days are very reckless. Don't hurt yourself."

Lin Shengli nodded upon hearing this.

Wang Aiguo poured Lin Shengli a glass of water and told him to stay in the office and play by himself. He went out to arrange for people to keep watch.

Lin Shengli sat in Wang Aiguo's office for a while before Wang Aiguo finally pushed the door open and came in. Seeing Lin Shengli's bored look, he smiled and said, "Shengli, do you want to watch that kid get arrested, or should I send someone to take you back?"

"Uncle Wang, I still want to see that kid caught, so I can vent my anger."

"You're quite the vengeful one," Wang Aiguo laughed. "Since you want to watch, then follow me for a bit, and don't make a sound. Can you do that?"

Lin Shengli nodded.

It was just a matter of catching a few petty thugs; Wang Aiguo wasn't worried at all about Lin Shengli being involved.

The steel rolling mill is now a large factory with 10,000 employees and covers a huge area. Near the back gate, there is a waste dump with scrap machine parts, scrap copper and iron.

There's a guard room right by the back door, and someone's on duty at night. Today's shift is handled by a young man who just started. He's sitting in the guard room, bored and dozing off.

Under the moonlight, several shadowy figures could be seen approaching furtively.

It was Bang Geng and his accomplices.

"Hurry up, let's make the most of this time!" Banggeng urged.

Several men scaled the low wall and entered the storage area. Their target was clear: a pile of copper wire—the most valuable piece.

Banggeng picked up a bundle of copper wire, about to drag it outside, when suddenly—

"Don't move! Security Department!"

Several beams of flashlight shone over, and seven or eight security officers rushed out, surrounding Bang Geng and the others.

"Hands on your head and crouch down!"

Banggeng was stunned, and the copper wire in his hand fell to the ground.

"I...I just collect scrap metal..."

"Collecting scrap metal?" Wang Aiguo sneered. "Climbing over the wall to collect it? Caught red-handed, still trying to deny it? Take him away!"

Bang Geng and his accomplices were handcuffed and taken away.

Lin Shengli, who was crouching in the shadows watching, couldn't help but smile when he saw Bang Geng being arrested.

"It's done," Lin Shengli thought to himself.

The security personnel took Bang Geng and the others away and locked them up. Wang Aiguo took Lin Shengli back to his office.

"Uncle Wang, how long will Jia Geng and his accomplices be sentenced for stealing state-owned assets?" Lin Shengli asked curiously.

"Everything is chaotic right now, and these unemployed young people are being strictly controlled. Their fate of being sent to labor camps is sealed. I'll report to the section chief first thing tomorrow morning, and I estimate that these guys will be sent to the Northwest to eat sand by the afternoon, for at least five years."

Upon hearing Wang Aiguo's reply, Lin Shengli smiled with delight, the first step in his revenge against Bang Geng was complete.

Wang Aiguo sent two security officers to bring Lin Shengli back to the courtyard house. It was already late at night. Lin Shengli washed his face quickly and went to bed. He had only been in the world for two days, and he had already handed over Bang Geng, the young master of the courtyard house, to the security department. He felt quite accomplished.