Courtyard House: Home Alone

Lin Yifan's eyes were icy: "Oh, I'm a heavy sleeper and I like to cover my head. Her money is gone, why should I be blamed?"

She's not a clean freak; maybe some stray cat or dog snatched it, or maybe she hid it somewhere and is trying to extort money from me!

"Who says otherwise!" Yi Zhonghai quickly chimed in. "Both the deaf old lady and I advised her not to talk nonsense and to stop accusing people without evidence."

But she was like a madwoman, refusing to listen to anyone and insisting that you were the one who did it.

She even said, "If you don't return the money to her, she'll report you to the military police first thing tomorrow morning!"

Lin Yifan sneered inwardly. A few silver dollars? Jia Zhangshi really dared to ask for so much. How many silver dollars could she possibly have in her house? She probably couldn't even scrape together that much even if she sold herself!

Her commotion wasn't about those few elusive silver dollars; she had another purpose. Was she trying to use this opportunity to kick her out of the courtyard house? Or perhaps...?

The scene of Li Ermazi and Jia Gui sneaking around together this morning flashed before his eyes again.

"Uncle Yi, you came all this way to tell me this, what do you want me to do?" Lin Yifan asked, looking directly into Yi Zhonghai's eyes.

Yi Zhonghai felt a little uncomfortable under Lin Yifan's gaze. His eyes flickered for a moment before he said, "Yifan, look at the mess this has made."

We're all neighbors living in the same courtyard, we see each other all the time. If we make a big fuss, it won't be good for anyone.

In my opinion, why don't you... just bear with it for now? I'll try to persuade her again tomorrow not to go to the military police station. If that doesn't work, you could... just consider it a loss to avoid further trouble, give her a few dollars, and let it go?

"Paying money to avoid trouble?" Lin Yifan thought he had heard the biggest joke in the world. "Uncle Yi, you want me to use my own money to shut a crazy woman up? So she'll think I'm easy to bully and come after me even more fiercely in the future?"

Yi Zhonghai quickly waved his hand: "No, that's not what I meant! I meant... let's keep her calm for now and prevent her from actually summoning the military police."

Those Japanese devils don't care about your feelings; if someone reports it, they'll arrest you. Even if you're innocent, you'll suffer a lot. We're Chinese; we can't fight city hall!

"You can't fight city hall?" Lin Yifan's eyes sharpened. "Uncle Yi, when did you become so timid? Or do you think I, Lin Yifan, am some kind of pushover?"

Intimidated by Lin Yifan's imposing aura, Yi Zhonghai subconsciously took a half-step back, his face turning somewhat grim: "Yifan, I'm doing this for your own good! I'm afraid you're still young and don't know the consequences. I'm worried you might act impulsively and cause a big disaster!"

"For my own good?" Lin Yifan slowly took a step closer, his powerful mental energy unconsciously releasing a trace of pressure. "Uncle Yi, that's enough! Stop talking, I already know."

"They're trying to devour me because my parents haven't been home for the past couple of days, and I'm just a child under eight. I'll see if they have the teeth to do it." With that, he walked out of the house, closed the door behind him, and headed towards the courtyard.

As Lin Yifan approached the courtyard, he saw Jia Zhangshi sitting on a small stool in front of her house, talking to herself, which attracted a crowd of neighbors. Jia Dongxu stood next to her, and when he saw Lin Yifan come out, he glared at him fiercely.

"Why is my life so miserable! The few silver dollars I painstakingly saved up were stolen! That was the money I was saving to help my Dongxu get married! Which heartless, despicable bastard stole it?!"

Jia Zhangshi cried and wailed, cursing filthily, but her eyes were fixed on Lin Yifan, who was walking towards her, like those of a venomous snake.

Lin Yifan's eyes were cold as he walked straight up to Jia Zhangshi and stopped.

His sudden appearance brought Jia Zhangshi's crying to an abrupt halt, and the surrounding neighbors' chatter instantly subsided as everyone's attention focused on him.

"Have you cried enough?" Lin Yifan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable authority that clearly reached everyone's ears.

Jia Zhangshi felt a jolt in her heart when she saw his gaze, and subconsciously shrank her neck, but then she remembered her "reliance" and straightened her back.

She suddenly stood up, pointed at Lin Yifan's nose, and screamed, "Fine! You little beast! You've finally come out! Give me back my money! Or you'll have to compensate us for the house!"

As she spoke, she lunged at Lin Yifan, baring her teeth and claws, attempting to throw a tantrum.

Lin Yifan was prepared and easily dodged Jia Zhangshi's attack by slightly shifting his body to the side. Jia Zhangshi missed her target and almost fell to the ground. After regaining her balance, she became even more furious.

"You little bastard! You dare to hide?!"

"Mrs. Jia," Lin Yifan's voice was as cold as ice, "you said I stole your silver dollars, where's the evidence?"

"Evidence? I said you stole it, so you stole it! In this whole compound, you're the worst scoundrel! The most thieving! Who else could it be but you?!"

"I saw it with my own eyes! You were sneaking around my house yesterday!" Jia Zhangshi said arrogantly.

"Oh? You saw it with your own eyes?" Lin Yifan's lips curled into a mocking smile. "What time was it yesterday? What was I doing in front of your house?"

When asked this question, Madam Jia was taken aback. She hadn't actually seen it with her own eyes; she was just making it up.

But now that things had come to this, she could only bite the bullet and continue the fabrication: "It was...it was yesterday afternoon! I saw you peeking around outside my house! That must have been when you started eyeing my money!"

"Yesterday afternoon?" Lin Yifan's eyes sharpened. "Yesterday afternoon, I was in my own home in the backyard the whole time, and I didn't step out of the door once."

The neighbors in the courtyard can all testify to this; I was never even in the courtyard.

You wicked whore, how dare you slander my child like this? Are you even human? Is your Jia Gui even a man?

If you can't afford to buy a house and have to rent from an old lady, do you have money to let someone steal from you?

Are you trying to get our three rooms because my parents aren't home these past few days? If you want them, just say so. Why make things so complicated?

Go, bring out that coward in your house too, let me see how capable you are of trying to extort my house.

Let me tell you, if your family doesn't give me an explanation today, this isn't over.

Don't worry, I won't go to the Japanese to back me up. But I have quite a few relatives outside the city. When they find out that your family bullied one of my children, hehe... then we'll see how tough your lives are..."

Lin Yifan's words were like a thunderclap, shocking Jia Zhangshi to the point of turning pale and leaving her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.