Courtyard House: Ten-year-old Master Zhu reorganizes the entire courtyard

He Yuzhu did not immediately leave a safety signal.

He carried the switched box containing ordinary stationery, wandering through the nearby alleys like a bored child, sometimes stopping to look at the ants in the corner, sometimes chasing a stray cat for a few steps.

He was checking to see if anyone was following him.

The system's enhanced perception made him exceptionally sensitive to his surroundings. After walking for about fifteen minutes, he could confirm that the area behind him was clean.

Those two men in trench coats were either conducting a routine check, or their target wasn't him.

He Yuzhu breathed a sigh of relief before slowly walking toward the mailbox three hundred meters away.

He quickly drew an inconspicuous circle on the back of the mailbox with a stone, then threw the disguised box, along with its wrapping paper, into a designated garbage dump on the street corner.

After doing all this, he finally relaxed and, like a real student, walked towards home.

……

Meanwhile, at the Beiping Police Headquarters.

Jia Zhangshi was talking animatedly to a yawning policeman.

"Officer, I'm telling you, it's absolutely true! It's He Yuzhu from No. 95 Nanluoguxiang! A ten-year-old kid, he confessed to killing six people! Three Japanese soldiers, two detectives, and a rickshaw driver!"

The policeman was getting sleepy; he'd seen plenty of these shrewish women who came to report their neighbors for taking advantage of others.

"Auntie, what proof do you have?"

"Evidence?" Jia Zhangshi slapped her thigh. "His family suddenly became rich! They have silver dollars and wheat flour, and now they've even bought a courtyard house in the west of the city! Where did that money come from if not from robbery? You guys go investigate! You'll find out everything! They definitely have Japanese gold bars hidden in their house! Then..."

"Alright, alright," the policeman interrupted her impatiently. "This case you're talking about has already been settled. The murderer is an adult and has already fled Beiping. Stop spouting nonsense and go home!"

"What? It's a done deal?" Madam Jia was dumbfounded. "Impossible! I heard it with my own ears! It was him!"

"What's wrong with you, old woman!" the policeman snapped, slamming his fist on the table. "Are you the policeman or am I? Get out! If you keep causing trouble, I'll lock you up on charge of disturbing official business!"

Jia Zhang was so frightened that she trembled; she hadn't expected this outcome. Not only did she not gain anything, she also suffered a humiliating defeat.

She wanted to say more, but the policeman glared at her fiercely and she had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

As she walked, she grew angrier and angrier.

"Fine, you officials are protecting each other! The He family must have bribed you!" She spat. "If you don't investigate, plenty of others will! Aren't the Japanese still looking for the murderer? I'll go tell the Japanese! Let's see what you do then!"

This foolish and greedy woman has been blinded by greed. She is completely unaware that she is rushing headlong down a dead end to hell.

……

The next day, He Yuzhu received a message from Lin Wanqiu through a dead mailbox.

"Come quickly, see you at the usual place."

It was still the inner room of the Moxianzhai Studio.

Lin Wanqiu's first words to him were, "The task was completed very well. The shopkeeper is very satisfied."

He Yuzhu nodded; this was the outcome he had anticipated.

"Those two men in trench coats are from the Central Bureau of Investigation and Statistics (CBIS)," Lin Wanqiu explained regarding yesterday's incident. "They were investigating one of our leads and just happened to be passing by. You'll often encounter all sorts of shady characters near these kinds of transportation hubs in the future; you'll have to get used to it."

"I see."

"This is your activity fund." Lin Wanqiu handed over a heavy little cloth bag.

He Yuzhu opened it and found twenty brand-new silver dollars, a small packet of sulfanilamide powder, and several rolls of bandages inside.

"The organization will not let our comrades take risks for nothing," Lin Wanqiu said. "From now on, there will be corresponding financial support based on the difficulty and importance of the mission. We can also apply to the organization for medicines and supplies if needed."

He Yuzhu accepted the cloth bag. These twenty silver dollars were a huge sum for him and his family.

"There's one more thing," Lin Wanqiu's expression turned serious. "The shopkeeper asked me to tell you that you've passed the organization's initial assessment. From today onwards, you are a member of the organization's intelligence network on the outskirts of Beiping."

She looked at He Yuzhu with a hint of approval and expectation in her eyes.

"The organization gave you a code name: 'Apprentice'."

apprentice?

He Yuzhu savored the word. It was very apt; in this battlefront, he was indeed still an apprentice.

"Remember your code name. And remember, protecting yourself is protecting the organization," Lin Wanqiu concluded.

"Yes." He Yuzhu stood at attention and answered in a comradely tone for the first time.

He knew that from this moment on, he was no longer fighting just for his family. Behind him stood a vast organization, and his goals were truly intertwined with the fate of the nation.

Just when He Yuzhu felt that the future was bright, an unexpected and huge crisis was ignited by his former neighbor, that foolish woman.

After leaving the police station, Jia Zhangshi was truly bewitched and found a patrol of puppet troops, where she embellished her story once again.

The puppet troops were skeptical. But the words "gold bars" tempted them.

This matter quickly reached the ears of one person—Ichiro Watanabe, the head of the Special Higher Police Section of the Japanese Military Police.

Although the case in Dongtangzi Hutong was hastily closed under Wang Kui's manipulation, the Special Higher Police never gave up the investigation. The three military police officers who died were his subordinates.

Watanabe Ichiro scoffed at the inefficiency of the garrison command and the detective squad. Now, a completely new lead pointing to a ten-year-old child had been laid out before him once again.

"A ten-year-old child?" Watanabe Ichiro looked at the report in his hand, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "Interesting. Go, bring that woman named Jia Zhangshi here. I want to question her myself."