Courtyard House: Wudang Disciple Sweeps Through the Compound

He was terrified that his hair would grow long and become curly again, thus revealing this huge secret.

Just then, Chen Wenqi and his two siblings returned to the courtyard house, chatting and laughing.

Chen Wenqi was carrying two heavy buckets, with a large, lively carp still at the bottom of each bucket.

Yan Bugui, who was guarding the front gate, caught a glimpse of this scene. His eyes widened instantly as he stared intently at the bucket containing the large fish. He immediately began to have doubts and wanted to call out to Chen Wenqi to say something about taking advantage of the situation.

But Chen Wenqi ignored him completely, and without stopping for a moment, he walked quickly towards the backyard.

When Chen Wenqi passed by the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi in the courtyard clearly saw the bucket he was carrying and the plump carp inside.

Jia Zhangshi's eyes lit up instantly, as if she had discovered some rare treasure. She immediately raised her voice and shouted shrilly, "Chen Wenqi, what are you carrying? Stop right there!"

"What's it to you?"

Chen Wenqi didn't even lift his eyelids, too lazy to pay any attention to this unreasonable old woman. He continued walking straight to his own house in the backyard.

Madam Jia had already spotted the large, lively fish in the bucket. Seeing that Chen Wenqi dared to ignore her, she immediately jumped up and down in anger, pointing at his back and cursing, "You damned little beast! Judging from your sneaky behavior, you must have stolen this fish from somewhere! You're such a sly and dishonest bastard!"

Seeing Chen Wenqi return laden with large fish again, Yi Zhonghai felt a sudden surge of inexplicable displeasure.

This kid must have gone fishing at Shichahai again. How come he's always so lucky? The fish he catches are getting bigger and bigger. There must be some unknown mystery behind this.

Little did Yi Zhonghai know that Chen Wenqi had actually made a fortune fishing today.

He had already sold more than a dozen large fish on the shore of Shichahai that morning, making a small profit. Then he carried two full buckets of fish and sold them directly to the steel mill, earning a full eighty yuan.

At that moment, Jia Dongxu happened to witness Chen Wenqi selling fish. Seeing the thick wad of banknotes in his hand, he was so jealous that his eyes turned red and his face turned as green as a pickled cucumber.

It was precisely because of this overwhelming jealousy that Jia Dongxu rushed to the street office as soon as he got off work, and exaggeratedly reported Chen Wenqi, saying that he not only stole chickens and dogs and had dirty hands, but also dared to engage in speculation and profiteering, and was simply a scourge to the courtyard.

Chen Wenqi had barely returned home and hadn't even had a chance to sit down when he heard a noisy commotion coming from the yard.

Jia Dongxu, leading Director Wang from the subdistrict office and two staff members, was seen swaggering towards the backyard.

"Oh, Director Wang, what brings you to our little courtyard? What a rare guest!"

As soon as Yan Bugui saw Director Wang, he immediately put on a fawning smile, quickly went to greet him, and bowed and scraped to greet him warmly.

Director Wang hadn't even had a chance to speak.

Jia Dongxu, who was standing next to him, couldn't wait to interrupt.

He pointed in the direction of Chen Wenqi's house and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Director Wang, you've finally arrived! It's Chen Wenqi from this family."

"He not only secretly steals things."

"They even dared to engage in speculation and profiteering."

"This is simply a disgrace to our courtyard house."

"He needs to be taught a lesson!"

"What? Such a thing actually happened?"

Yan Bugui feigned surprise and exclaimed, then put on a pained expression, "This kid is so young, why doesn't he learn to be good and instead does all sorts of illegal and disorderly things!"

Yan Bugui didn't actually believe Chen Wenqi would steal anything, but Chen Wenqi never let him get the slightest advantage, so he had been harboring resentment for a long time. Now, he was naturally happy to kick Chen Wenqi when he was down and join Jia Dongxu in stirring up trouble.

"Alright, that's enough, everyone."

Director Wang frowned, waved his hand at the crowd, and said in a serious tone, "Let's go and find out the specifics first, and then we'll talk about it."

Upon hearing that Director Wang had come specifically to cause trouble for Chen Wenqi, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhangshi in the courtyard immediately perked up. They exchanged glances, both seeing a strong sense of schadenfreude in each other's eyes. They felt this was the perfect opportunity to teach Chen Wenqi a lesson, and immediately followed the group towards the backyard.

"Director Wang, you must uphold justice for us!"

Yi Zhonghai strode forward, his face displaying an upright and righteous demeanor, and said sternly, "This Chen Wenqi has been of bad character and a bad influence since childhood. At such a young age, he dares to steal and engage in speculation, which is simply tarnishing the reputation of our courtyard. This kind of black sheep must be dealt with seriously!"

"Yes, yes, Director Wang!"

Madam Jia quickly squeezed forward, adding fuel to the fire, eager to bring Chen Wenqi to justice immediately. "That little bastard Chen Wenqi is no good, he's wicked! Those fish he has must have been stolen from somewhere, he definitely didn't catch them himself! You must investigate him thoroughly!"

The group marched in a grand and imposing manner toward Chen Wenqi's house in the backyard.

Jia Dongxu could no longer contain his anxiety and smugness. He strode to Chen Wenqi's door and began to pound on the door.

"Chen Wenqi, get out here right now!"

Jia Dongxu roared at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with the smug satisfaction of a petty person who had gotten away with something, "All the despicable things you've done have been completely exposed!"

Chen Wenqi was putting on his apron, preparing to start a fire and cook, when he heard Jia Dongxu's rascal-like cursing outside the door again. His stomach churned instantly—these idle fellows do nothing productive and just spend their days finding fault with other people's lives.

Chen Wenqi flung open the door, his eyes wide, and roared angrily, "Jia Dongxu, what are you howling about at my doorstep! How unlucky!"

"Chen Wenqi, your petty theft and speculation have been exposed. You're completely finished!"

Jia Dongxu pointed his finger at Chen Wenqi's nose, as if he had caught something incredibly serious, and triumphantly shouted to Director Wang, "Director Wang, this is the kid! Arrest him immediately and bring him to justice!"

Hearing the commotion, the neighbors in the courtyard gathered around to watch the excitement. They whispered among themselves and looked at each other, their expressions clearly indicating that Chen Wenqi was in for a major setback.

Chen Wenqi then noticed that all the gossipy guys who usually loved to talk behind people's backs were there, along with three staff members from the street office.

But there was no trace of panic on his face. Instead, a cold smirk appeared on his lips: "Jia Dongxu, are you out of your mind? Do you really think everyone is like your family, with the genes for theft and fraud ingrained in their bones? You keep accusing me of stealing and engaging in speculation, where's the evidence? You dare to frame an innocent person with nothing but empty words, and even bring people to cause trouble at my doorstep. What are you up to?"

Just then, Director Wang of the neighborhood committee, with a stern face, spoke up: "Chen Wenqi, we received a formal complaint alleging that you are suspected of theft and speculation. You need to explain yourself!"

"Explanation? What do I have to explain?"

Chen Wenqi raised an eyebrow and retorted, his tone full of undisguised disdain, "I'd like to ask, whose things did I steal? And where did I engage in speculation and profiteering? Director Wang, as the head of the subdistrict office, haven't you heard the great man's saying, 'No investigation, no right to speak'? Based solely on Jia Dongxu's one-sided account, you can conclude that I'm guilty?"

Chen Wenqi despised this Director Wang from the bottom of his heart. Without asking any questions, he brought people to Wang's door to interrogate him, which was really unbecoming of a public official.

Director Wang was taken aback by Chen Wenqi's righteous and stern words—she had worked in the subdistrict office for so many years, and this was the first time she had been so openly contradicted in public. A surge of anger rushed from the bottom of her heart to her head.

But upon calming down and thinking about it, Chen Wenqi's words were indeed reasonable, and she didn't have any solid evidence at all.

Director Wang then turned to Jia Dongxu, his gaze sharp, and asked in a deep voice, "Jia Dongxu, didn't you swear that Chen Wenqi stole things and engaged in speculation? Where's the evidence? Show it to everyone!"

"Director Wang, I saw it with my own eyes!"

Jia Dongxu hurriedly raised his voice in defense, his face flushed red, as if afraid no one would believe him. "Yesterday, Chen Wenqi went to the steel mill to sell fish and made over a hundred yuan's worth! Today it's even more outrageous, he made over eighty yuan's worth! Everyone at the steel mill can testify! What is this if not speculation? Besides, where did he get so many fish? If he didn't steal them, did they fall from the sky?"

Jia Dongxu spoke with great enthusiasm, recounting all the "truth" he had conjured up out of thin air. His excited demeanor made it seem as if he had truly caught Chen Wenqi red-handed.

After listening, Director Wang turned his gaze back to Chen Wenqi, his tone calmer: "What do you have to say?"

"What do you want to say?"

Chen Wenqi scoffed, his eyes full of mockery towards Jia Dongxu. "Just because I sold a few fish, I can be labeled as a speculator? Jia Dongxu, I've seen it all. Ignorance is truly terrifying."

He then looked directly at Director Wang and asked, word by word:

"Director Wang, you are a leader of the subdistrict office,"

You must be clear about the precise definition of speculation, right?

So-called speculation and profiteering refers to those who buy up large quantities of various commodities at low prices.

Then they hoard these goods, raise prices, and resell them.

I'm not wrong about what I said, right? They're disrupting the normal market order through such means.

Director Wang nodded subconsciously, giving an affirmative answer:

"That's right, the situations you described are entirely in accordance with the relevant policy regulations."