Courtyard House: The Long-Lost Eldest Son Returns with Military Merit

Upon hearing Jia Zhangshi's question and seeing several older women following her from the backyard, Jia Dongming pretended to take out the medal he had stored in his pocket and handed it to Jia Zhangshi, saying, "Mom, this is the Second-Class Merit Medal awarded by the General Administration."

Jia Zhangshi carefully took the wooden box and gently opened it.

Upon seeing the Second-Class Merit Medal lying in the box, she excitedly whispered, "Ancestors of the Jia family, have you all seen this? This is the Second-Class Merit Medal that my son Dongming received."

"If you know this from beyond the grave, please bless our Jia family with peace and safety."

"Aunt Zhang, congratulations!"

An older woman saw the medal and congratulated Jia Zhangshi with envy.

"Aunt Zhang, I heard from my husband that Section Chief Jia has been promoted to division chief, and his monthly salary is 170 yuan. You can just relax and enjoy your retirement from now on!"

Another older woman, recalling the information her husband had revealed, also chimed in with flattery.

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi learned that Jia Dongming's salary had increased again, and a joyful smile immediately spread across her face. She quickly asked Jia Dongming to confirm, "Dongming, is what your Aunt Wang said true? You really earn more than 170 yuan a month now?"

"Aunt Zhang, my husband said at noon that Director Jia is now the highest-ranking leader in the steel rolling mill. If the factory director commits a crime, Director Jia can arrest him if he wants."

Before Jia Dongming could answer, the second aunt remembered what Liu Haizhong had mentioned during dinner and chimed in with her own compliments.

Hearing the flattery from the older women, Jia Zhangshi felt her vanity greatly satisfied and replied smugly, "My son is the head of security, so of course he can arrest whoever he wants."

"Does Comrade Jia Dongming live here?"

Just as Jia Zhangshi was talking with the older women in the courtyard, a middle-aged man's voice suddenly came from outside the gate.

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongming knew the furniture delivery people had arrived and quickly replied, "Master, I'm here!"

Under Jia Dongming's guidance, the workers carried the furniture and wooden doors he had purchased into the yard one by one.

Upon seeing the furniture, Madam Jia asked in confusion, "Dongming, don't we already have furniture? Why are we spending money to buy these?"

Jia Dongming explained with a smile, "Mom, all the furniture in my room is old, and I'm getting married soon, right? I went to the trust store to buy doors today and happened to see this set of furniture. I thought it was suitable, so I bought it."

"Dongming, what are you going to do with the door?"

The three women noticed the wooden door leaning against the wall and asked curiously.

Faced with the three aunts' questions, Jia Dongming smiled and replied, "Auntie, my job is a bit special. I often don't get home until late at night, and sometimes I even have to go out in the middle of the night."

I feel really bad that I keep troubling you and Uncle San to get up and open the door.

So I was thinking, why not open a small gate next to my courtyard wall, so I won't keep disturbing your rest in the future.

The three women knew perfectly well that their husbands always received some benefit whenever they opened the door for Jia Dongming.

If we really let him open the door alone, we'll lose this benefit in the future.

Thinking of this, she immediately became anxious and hurriedly advised, "Dongming, opening the door for the neighbors in the courtyard is your third uncle's duty, please don't be shy!"

Jia Dongming immediately understood what the Third Aunt was thinking, and still smiled as he explained, "Third Aunt, if it's just once or twice, I definitely won't stand on ceremony with Third Uncle."

But my job inevitably requires me to go in and out frequently in the middle of the night. It's fine now that the weather is still warm, but once winter comes, especially on cold nights, if Uncle San catches a cold because of it, I'll be in big trouble."

The three women thought his words made sense and knew they couldn't stop him, but the thought of losing that benefit made them feel empty, as if they had lost money.

Meanwhile, Jia Zhangshi, who was still preoccupied with Jia Dongming's salary, couldn't help but interject, "Dongming, Aunt Wang from the front yard said earlier that you're earning over 170 yuan a month now, is that true?"

Seeing her greedy look, Jia Dongming found it amusing and truthfully replied, "Mom, it's true."

My current factory salary is 175.5 yuan per month, and I also receive 135.5 yuan per month from the Dongcheng Public Security Bureau, totaling a little over 300 yuan.

Upon hearing that she would receive over three hundred yuan a month, Jia Zhangshi's eyes widened in surprise. She quickly grabbed Jia Dongming and said, "Dongming, pinch Mommy to see if I'm dreaming!"

Jia Dongming didn't make a move. Instead, he took out a hundred yuan from his pocket and handed it over, saying with a smile, "Mom, the Public Security Bureau gave me a three hundred yuan reward today. Please take this hundred."

"But you should keep in mind that I'm earning an extra salary outside; just don't brag about it in front of those old ladies in the neighborhood."

Madam Jia took the money, moistened it with saliva, and immediately began counting it. She cheerfully replied, "Don't worry, Dongming, Mom understands! I'm not naive about keeping money hidden!"

Around 4 p.m., Jia Dongming returned to the security department of the steel rolling mill and suddenly remembered the blacksmith shop.

He reached out and shook the telephone handle on his desk, then picked up the receiver and politely said, "Hello, comrade, this is the security department of the steel rolling mill. Please transfer me to Zhang Huanchun's office in the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Dongcheng Public Security Bureau."

After waiting for about a minute, a steady middle-aged male voice came from the other end of the phone: "Hello, this is Zhang Huanchun from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Dongcheng Branch. Who is this?"

Jia Dongming immediately greeted him with a smile: "Team Leader Zhang, this is Jia Dongming."

I was so busy checking in this morning that I almost forgot to tell you something important.

Zhang Huanchun sounded slightly surprised on the other end of the phone and asked, "Deputy Chief Jia, what's the matter?"

Jia Dongming recalled the radio in the blacksmith's underground room and explained, "Captain Zhang, here's what happened."

Last night, a case occurred at our factory. According to the thief, he sold all the scrap steel from the factory to a blacksmith shop in the east of the city.

I sent someone to investigate, and they found the shop somewhat suspicious.

Originally, we were going to have our security department continue investigating, but now that I'm also part of the criminal investigation team, I thought I'd report to you first.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Huanchun's expression immediately turned serious, and he pressed, "Deputy Captain Jia, is the blacksmith shop you mentioned near the overpass?"

Jia Dongming paused for a moment, then quickly asked, "Yes, that's the one."

"What, Chief Zhang, you've noticed something wrong with it too?"

Zhang Huanchun replied in a deep voice: "At the beginning of the year, we received a tip from the public that suspicious strangers often appeared at that blacksmith shop, so we arranged for investigators to monitor it secretly."

However, more than half a year has passed, and they still haven't obtained any valuable clues.

"If we weren't afraid of alerting the enemy, we would have sent people in to search long ago."

There was indeed a radio hidden in the blacksmith's underground chamber.

If the precinct conducts a surprise inspection of the blacksmith shop, they will certainly be able to find the radio, but this may also cause subsequent leads to be interrupted due to the search operation.

After listening to Zhang Huanchun's report, Jia Dongming vaguely sensed that the branch's surveillance of the blacksmith shop might have been discovered. He then asked Zhang Huanchun, "Chief Zhang! Is it possible that they've already discovered your secret surveillance? Otherwise, how come you haven't made any progress after watching for so long?"

Zhang Huanchun had similar thoughts about Jia Dongming's speculation, but he had great confidence in the abilities of his investigators.

In response to Jia Dongming's reminder, Zhang Huanchun replied earnestly, "Deputy Captain Jia, to be honest, I had considered this possibility before, but I think the probability is not high."

"Logically speaking, if enemy agents realize they have been exposed, they will definitely try to escape from Beijing and will not continue to operate as usual every day as if nothing has happened."

Therefore, I personally believe that our scouts have not been exposed.

"As for the lack of progress after more than half a year of surveillance, there may be two possibilities: one is that the blacksmith shop itself is not problematic; the other is that their way of contacting the outside world is extremely secretive, which has prevented our investigators from obtaining any valuable clues despite long-term surveillance."

After listening to Zhang Huanchun's analysis, Jia Dongming thought of the radio in the blacksmith's underground room and suddenly had an idea. He quickly asked Zhang Huanchun, "Captain Zhang! The blacksmith's shop receives many customers every day who buy farm tools. Do you think they might be using this process to transmit intelligence?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Huanchun immediately explained to Jia Dongming, "Deputy Captain Jia! We have sent people to secretly investigate those people who came to buy farm tools, but so far we have not found any suspicious individuals among them."

Jia Dongming originally considered that since he also served as the deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Dongcheng Branch, he planned to hand over the case to the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the branch.

After hearing Zhang Huanchun's response, he felt it necessary to personally follow up on the case.

Having made up his mind, Jia Dongming said to Zhang Huanchun, "Captain Zhang! How about I take over the blacksmith shop case?"

After a moment's thought, Zhang, the detachment leader, agreed: "Deputy Detachment Leader Jia! Since you want to take on this case, I will arrange for the Third Brigade to handle it. I will have the captain of the Third Brigade contact you then."

Upon receiving Zhang Huanchun's reply, Jia Dongming immediately nodded and said, "Okay! Captain Zhang! Then transfer the case to the Third Brigade. I'll come to the branch office tomorrow morning to officially take over the investigation."

"Director Jia! Are you busy?"

Shortly after Jia Dongming ended his call with Zhang Huanchun, Xu Damao suddenly appeared at the office door, greeting Jia Dongming with a broad smile.

When Jia Dongming saw Xu Damao's unexpected visit, he looked surprised and asked curiously, "Damao! What brings you here today? Come in and have a seat."

Xu Damao hurried into the office and said to Jia Dongming in a humble manner, "Director Jia! I came back from showing a movie in the countryside at noon and heard that you had been promoted, so I came here to congratulate you."

Listening to Xu Damao's flattery and seeing his ingratiating expression, Jia Dongming smiled and replied, "Damao! I was wondering why I hadn't seen you in the yard these past two days. So you went to the countryside."

Xu Damao sat down in the empty chair opposite the desk. Remembering the purpose of his trip, he quickly said to Jia Dongming, "Director Jia! When I went to the countryside this time, the villagers gave me some cured meat. I was thinking of inviting you to my home for dinner tonight to celebrate your promotion."

Are you free tonight?

When Jia Dongming learned of Xu Damao's purpose, he remembered Xu Damao's wife, Lou Xiao'e, and said to Xu Damao with a smile, "Damao! What a coincidence, I already have dinner appointments with Deputy Factory Director Li tonight."

Why don't you come along?

Xu Damao originally wanted to use the dinner as an opportunity to get closer to Jia Dongming, and hopefully get in touch with him.

Hearing "unfortunately"

When he heard those two words, his heart sank; but when Jia Dongming invited him to go with him, he was overjoyed and quickly replied happily, "Director Jia! I have no problem with that."

Seeing Xu Damao's delighted expression, Jia Dongming smiled and nodded, "Damao! It's settled then. Come to the security department's canteen at 5:00 PM sharp."

Around 8 p.m., a jeep stopped in front of the courtyard house.

Jia Dongming helped the unconscious Xu Damao out of the car and said goodbye to Li Huaide, who was sitting in the passenger seat: "Director Li! Thank you for making the special trip to bring us back."

I helped Damao inside first; you should also go back and rest early.

Li Huaide replied with a smile, "Director Jia! You should get some rest too. See you another day."

Jia Dongming helped Xu Damao into the courtyard. Seeing that the gate was not closed, he helped him walk into the courtyard.

"Director Jia! You're finally back! How much did Da Mao drink to get so drunk?"

Yan Bugui was waiting for Jia Dongming inside the house. As soon as he heard the noise in the yard, he came out to greet him. He helped Xu Damao up and chatted with him warmly.

When Jia Dongming saw Yan Bugui come out of the house and noticed that the door was not bolted, he understood what was going on, but pretended not to know: "Third Uncle, are you still up so late?"

Yan Bugui quickly replied with a smile, "Dongming, Huairu said you'd be coming home late tonight, so she told me to leave the door open."

I was worried about you, so I waited for you here.