Courtyard House: Become Stronger Through Blind Dates

Li Manfu's gaze fell on Li Dashan's wife, wondering why she, who was terrified of him yesterday, seemed like a completely different person today!

He immediately figured out the reason. He guessed that Li Dashan and his wife felt that their son had run away and they couldn't do anything about it, so they became tough.

Li Manfu snorted inwardly, but outwardly remained expressionless as he glanced at the other families.

The families who hadn't returned the items yet seemed to have found their pillar of support when they saw him arrive, and they all came to him.

The woman who had been arguing with Li Dashan's wife approached Li Manfu and said, "Secretary, you've come at the right time! Please be the judge. She came to our house early this morning to make a scene, insisting that we stole her things. Isn't this ruining our family's reputation?"

Another person chimed in, "Exactly! Why should we be blamed for her things going missing?"

The remaining few were about to speak when Li Manfu stopped them: "Alright, alright, if you took someone else's things, return them right away. What kind of nonsense is this?"

The woman from one of the households became unhappy and shouted, "Secretary, she's slandering innocent people! When did our family ever take anything from her? You can't just listen to her side of the story..."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Manfu interrupted her: "Stop talking nonsense, just pay it back! I don't care if you took it or not, this matter has escalated to this point, if you can't produce it, I'll send the militia in to get it for you!"

The woman tried to argue, but her husband pulled her back out of the house.

Li Manfu is the man of the house in Xiaoli Village, and his family is not to be trifled with.

A short while later, the man came out carrying two large bags of cotton wadding and half a bag of grain. He placed them at Li Dashan's wife's feet, turned around without a word, and went back into the house.

Seeing Li Manfu's attitude, the other households also went home and returned their belongings.

Li Dashan's wife counted the items and said to the others, "And who moved our square table?"

A commotion arose in the crowd, and a young man hesitantly stepped forward: "Sister-in-law, I...I carried it back. It's in my yard. I'll take it back to you right away."

Li Dashan's wife hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything more.

"Alright, everyone disperse, we still have to work in the fields later!" Li Manfu said loudly.

Before the crowd of onlookers had completely dispersed, a cloud of dust suddenly rose from the dirt road at the village entrance in the distance.

Someone saw it and immediately shouted at Li Manfu, "Secretary, a car is coming to our village!"

Li Manfu's heart sank, and he shouted into the crowd, "De Cai! De Cai!"

Li Decai was squatting at the back of the crowd watching the commotion when he heard his father call him. He immediately stood up and ran over: "Dad, what's wrong?"

"Hurry home and hide everything in the house..." Li Manfu whispered a few words to his son before turning and striding towards the village entrance.

Li Decai's face turned pale after hearing this, and he ran home as fast as he could.

When Li Manfu reached the village entrance, two trucks had already stopped by the roadside.

County Magistrate Wang got out of the car first, followed by the head of the county militia regiment, and finally forty or fifty fully armed militiamen.

Li Manfu hurried forward to greet him, his face full of flattery, "County Chief Wang, what brings you here..."

"Arrest him!" County Magistrate Wang said to the head of the county militia behind him before he could finish speaking.

Two militiamen immediately stepped forward and grabbed Li Manfu's arms from the left and right.

Li Manfu quickly asked, "County Magistrate Wang, what's wrong?"

"You're asking me what's wrong? How do you explain what happened to Li Xu's family?"

Li Manfu's face changed, and he quickly cried out his innocence, "I'm innocent, County Magistrate Wang! This was all done by the village elders. As soon as I found out yesterday, I told them to release the man. You can ask the villagers if you don't believe me!"

County Magistrate Wang found his voice too noisy and gave a wink to a militiaman beside him: "Tell him to shut up."

A militiaman immediately pulled a dusty piece of cloth from his pocket and stuffed it into Li Manfu's mouth without saying a word.

County Chief Wang ignored the villagers who were watching and walked towards the brigade headquarters.

Several brigade cadres were leisurely drinking tea in the brigade headquarters when they saw County Chief Wang leading his men in. They were all startled and stood up immediately.

As soon as County Magistrate Wang entered, his gaze swept over their faces, and he demanded, "Tell me, do you know anything about Li Dashan's family being imprisoned in the ancestral hall?"

The office was completely silent; no one dared to speak.

"Speak!" County Magistrate Wang shouted.

A bespectacled official whispered, "County Chief Wang, this matter was handled by Secretary Li and the clan elder... there's nothing we can do..."

County Chief Wang walked up to the man, pointed his finger at his nose, and asked, "What do you mean by 'no way out'? You're a Party member facing the oppression of the masses, and you're telling me there's nothing you can do?"

"Can't you report this to your superiors? Are the relevant departments in the county and city just for show?"

The bespectacled cadre was so embarrassed by the reprimand that he lowered his head to his chest and dared not utter another word.

After Wang Shouyi finished cursing, he turned around and waved his hand behind him: "Lead the way to Li Dashan's house."

An older village official quickly led the way, followed by a group of militiamen escorting Li Manfu and several other village officials.

Li Dashan's yard was still in a mess. Although most of the things had been returned, they hadn't been put away yet and were scattered all over the place.

Li Dashan's wife was cleaning up the debris in the yard when she heard footsteps. Looking up, she saw a group of people standing at the gate of her yard, and the broom in her hand fell to the ground with a thud.

She froze on the spot, asking in terror, "You...you are...?"

County Magistrate Wang stepped forward and said, "Don't be afraid, sister-in-law! I am Wang Shouyi, the county magistrate of Fangshan County, and I'm here to help your family resolve this issue."

Upon hearing this, Li Dashan's wife froze for two seconds, then her knees buckled and she knelt down: "Your Excellency, please, please spare our family... We really don't want to sell Xu'er's letter of introduction..."

Wang Shouyi quickly reached out to support her, explaining, "Sister-in-law, please don't be like this. I'm here to seek justice for your family. Look, the bad guy has already been caught."

The crowd behind him immediately dispersed, revealing Li Manfu, who had been restrained.

When Li Dashan's wife saw that Li Manfu had really been arrested, she finally believed that the middle-aged man in front of her had come to uphold justice for their family.

She glanced at the messy courtyard and said somewhat apologetically, "County Magistrate, we were only released last night, and the house hasn't been cleaned up yet. We don't have much to offer you, we're so sorry!"

Looking at everything in the courtyard, Wang Shouyi suppressed his anger and asked, "Sister-in-law, I heard your husband was injured. Is he alright now?"

Li Dashan's wife didn't say anything and led County Chief Wang into the inner room.

At this moment, Li Dashan was lying on a wooden bed with his legs in splints, and his exposed skin was covered with purplish-blue bruises.

When he saw so many people coming in, he tried to sit up, but Wang Shouyi reached out and pressed down on his shoulder.

"Don't move, just lie down."