Courtyard house: Just the right amount of pressure, leaving you bewildered but not brain-damaged.

"Brother Sheng, what does that old man mean? Is he trying to harm my brother?"

He Yushui hid behind the window, grabbed Gao Xiaosheng's arm tightly, made him bend down, and whispered in his ear.

Gao Xiaosheng nodded slightly, pointed to the living room, and gestured for them to go outside to talk.

"He wants the old lady in the backyard to step in and win over your brother."

"Go over and cook a meal tomorrow, then we'll have an excuse to get him to come over for meals more often."

"After a while, the old lady suggested becoming godparents. Given your brother's personality, he probably won't refuse."

"At that time, Yi Zhonghai will be the old lady's godson, and your brother will be her godson. Wouldn't that create a connection?"

"Huh?" He Yushui panicked as soon as she heard this. This won't do.

If He Yuzhu becomes a god-grandson, wouldn't her younger sister be forced to become a god-granddaughter?

The deaf old lady treated her very badly, often saying things like "a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl" or "a money-losing burden."

Moreover, Yi Zhonghai is involved. What if her brother sides with Yi Zhonghai? Wouldn't the siblings then have to fight each other?

"Brother Sheng, you can eat by yourself. I need to hurry home and explain things to my brother."

As He Yushui was speaking, she tried to run towards the door, but Gao Xiaosheng pulled her back and made her sit down in a chair.

"Don't worry, it's not that serious. Let's eat and talk."

Gao Xiaosheng's suggestion to He Yushui was very simple.

Brothers and sisters are considered one family. Anyone who wants to become godparents must obtain the other's consent and must not violate the rules for at least six months.

If they could just wait six months until the rainy season and winter break, Gao Xiaosheng would take his siblings to Baoding to find He Daqing.

When the truth comes out, even if He Yuzhu is stupid, he should know that Yi Zhonghai is not a good person.

After all, this old man embezzled the living expenses sent by He Daqing every month.

"Okay, I understand, Brother Sheng."

"From now on, I'll pull my brother's ear and say it to him every day. He'll definitely remember it and won't recognize this old woman as his godmother."

While eating, He Yushui nodded repeatedly like a chick pecking at rice.

Although she said that, Yu Shui was clearly still thinking about it. After finishing her meal, she quickly cleaned up the dishes and then rushed home with her schoolbag.

The little girl never used to come home this early; she would dawdle until seven or eight o'clock before finally going home to sleep.

The next day, Gao Xiaosheng participated in two patrols in the morning as usual, and at noon he asked Li Shuguo to go to the canteen to get lunch in advance.

He himself squatted in the corner of the gate, continuing his arduous needle-in-a-haystack search.

"Jia Dongxu, Jia Dongxu..."

Muttering Jia Dongxu's name to himself, Gao Xiaosheng was still hesitating whether to follow this guy.

According to Sun Youtian, Jia Dongxu was penniless, even his smoking was carefully planned, and he would often mooch off others, so there was absolutely no possibility that he was involved in gambling.

But how did this guy happen to miss having dinner with Yi Zhonghai?

Moreover, I ate a bit too fast yesterday, which seems a bit illogical.

"Yes, ten minutes. If he gets to the door in ten minutes again today, I'll go up and check on him."

He and Li Shuguo could only track two people a day, wasting precious manpower on someone who had no money in his pocket, mainly because of Gao Xiaosheng's consideration of Jia Dongxu's character.

This guy is definitely a typical example of a cunning, lazy, greedy, and slippery person.

It's no wonder that a dog that relies on its master's power, is lazy and gluttonous, will do all sorts of bad things.

Li Shuguo jogged over to deliver the lunchbox, and the two squatted down and started their meal in five minutes.

Having just finished a cigarette, Gao Xiaosheng frowned slightly as he saw Jia Dongxu walking towards him from a distance.

"Old Li, follow whoever seems most suspicious in a bit. I'll see where Jia Dongxu is headed."

"Okay, no problem, Brother Sheng, you can go without worry."

"..." Gao Xiaosheng rolled his eyes at Li Shuguo. If you can't speak, you don't have to. What do you mean by "go in peace"? He's following me, not reincarnating me.

Jia Dongxu seemed a little anxious, and walked quickly, already outside the gate.

Gao Xiaosheng didn't have time to argue with Li Shuguo, so he tiptoed behind him at a distance.

Hmm, this route seems familiar.

The process was exactly the same as when he retrieved his bicycle last time.

Walk along the main road for a while, then turn around and walk into the side road after you are out of the gatekeeper's sight, heading straight for the small grove behind the steel rolling mill.

Once inside the woods, Gao Xiaosheng became even more cautious, needing to keep an eye on Jia Dongxu to avoid losing him, while also being mindful of his footing and making no noise.

Soon, Jia Dongxu walked through the woods and arrived outside an abandoned, dilapidated courtyard.

Gao Xiaosheng hid behind a tree and peeked out for a closer look.

This is just an ordinary three-room mud-brick farmhouse. The house is almost completely collapsed, with only the western half of the house being supported by the main beam, barely holding it together.

The adjacent woodshed had a large hole in its roof, but the frame was mostly intact, and the dilapidated wooden door was ajar.

The yard was overgrown with weeds, with almost no place to step, but upon closer inspection, one could see a trampled path leading from the gate to the woodshed entrance.

Admittedly, this place is indeed quite secluded and suitable for small-scale gambling.

On windy days, you should stay far away, because a gust of wind might blow the house down.

It's even worse on rainy days. You can't play cards while holding an umbrella, that would be too much of an addiction.

Gao Xiaosheng had already decided in his mind that Jia Dongxu was a member of the gambling group, and that he might lose the money he had saved for cigarettes here.

But Jia Dongxu's next move was truly unexpected by Gao Xiaosheng.

Instead of going into the yard, the guy walked along the fence to the back.

Gao Xiaosheng quickly crouched down and followed at a distance.

For a full ten minutes, Jia Dongxu didn't stop walking, and Gao Xiaosheng didn't reveal himself either.

Then... he realized!

The pretty boy turned left, left, left, and then left again, eventually circling back to the edge of the woods.

So he wasn't there to gamble, he was there to keep watch!

While Jia Dongxu ran into the woods to relieve himself, Gao Xiaosheng turned around and walked to the back wall of the courtyard.

Although Jia Dongxu was circling the yard, he kept a distance of about 100 meters, so Gao Xiaosheng couldn't hear any sounds from inside the yard.

The fence was rather sparse, so Gao Xiaosheng chose a spot with a large gap and squeezed in.

I tiptoed to the side of the woodshed, my ear pressed against the outer wall.

Hearing the clattering sound of dice being shaken inside, they finally confirmed that this was the location of the gambling den.

Gao Xiaosheng glanced at his watch; it was too late to go back to the steel rolling mill and call someone to come and catch the gamblers.

It's impossible for one person to act like a hero alone.

Even if he had brought a gun, he couldn't have actually fired at these workers.

We can only let them off the hook for now and bring a few more people over tomorrow.

Seeing that Jia Dongxu had already walked out of the woods, Gao Xiaosheng quietly returned the way he came and slipped out of the fence.

Avoiding Jia Dongxu's gaze, I took a longer route and jogged back to the steel rolling mill.

"Section Chief Zhou, we have a lead!"

Gao Xiaosheng, panting heavily, rushed into Zhou Jiasheng's office.