Siheyuan: At the beginning, I can integrate everything!

A cold wind, carrying yellow paper ash, swirled past the Jia family's gate.

The harsh words from Jia Zhangshi, threatening to demolish the house, still lingered in the cold, gloomy hallway.

Zhang Huaimin didn't even glance at her before turning around and slamming the thick wooden door of the east wing shut.

The door hinges emitted a dull, scraping sound, like a soft knife slowly sawing at the nerves of the group of people outside.

"Look at this kid's arrogance!"

Yan Bugui huddled behind a pillar in the covered walkway, pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses that had slipped off his nose.

He lowered his voice and gestured towards the few neighbors who were peeking around.

"This large room in the east wing is the most spacious and sunny room in our courtyard, with two rooms inside and out! It's such a waste for a five-year-old to occupy it."

The neighbors remained silent, but the greedy flames they exchanged were already burning within them.

Who doesn't have a large family crammed into a dilapidated room of just over ten square meters?

It's as cold as an icebox in winter and as stuffy as a steamer in summer.

Even though Zhang Dashan is dead, the Jia family isn't the only one eyeing this house.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai had just returned from receiving an IV drip at Hongxing Hospital.

He was so angry at Zhang Huaimin's words about "no offspring" that he almost vomited blood a couple of days ago, and he has been feeling tightness in his chest ever since.

At this moment, his face was sallow and he was walking unsteadily.

But the calculating glint remained in those murky, triangular eyes.

He leaned against the wall and slowly walked to the central courtyard.

Looking at the ashes on the ground and then at the tightly closed door of the east wing, Yi Zhonghai sneered.

"Everyone, stop standing here in the cold wind, let's go."

He adopted his usual air of an old man and waved his hand.

Once the crowd had mostly dispersed.

With his hands behind his back, Yi Zhonghai strolled slowly to the base of the Yan family's window.

"Old Yan." He coughed twice, his voice hoarse.

Yan Bugui was looking out through the glass when he heard the sound, so he quickly pushed open half of the window.

"Sir, you're in much better shape now!"

Yi Zhonghai didn't respond to that, his cloudy eyes fixed on the direction of the east wing.

"Our compound is getting more and more crowded. Every household is so packed that there's hardly any room to move."

He paused, his tone undisguisedly inciteful.

"This neighborhood committee promotes mutual help. As for this vacant martyrs' quarters, I think it's better to... than let it grow mold."

Yi Zhonghai deliberately dragged out the last syllable.

Yan Bugui was a shrewd man; with a quick glance, he understood perfectly.

"Why don't we get together with a few families facing difficulties and go talk to Director Wang about this?"

Yan Bugui rubbed his thin, dry hands, the abacus beads clicking in his mind.

"Let's say... let's say we're helping to raise the orphans of martyrs, and we'll manage this house on their behalf and allocate it fairly?"

"Old Yan, you're really insightful."

Yi Zhonghai nodded in satisfaction, a sinister smile creeping onto his lips.

The two were plotting under the window, their voices hushed.

But they forgot.

The five-year-old child in the east wing had already developed hearing as sharp as a hunting leopard thanks to the system's enhancement.

Zhang Huaimin sat cross-legged on the warm kang (heated brick bed), peeling a roasted peanut.

He heard every word of the conspiracy between those two old foxes outside.

"Ha, they really won't give up."

Zhang Huaimin tossed the peanuts into his mouth and chewed them with a crunchy sound.

Trying to steal a house?

Sure.

Then let's see if you beasts have strong enough teeth.

He patted the red skin flakes off his hands, slid off the kang (a heated brick bed), and put on his little cotton shoes.

I walked a few steps to the back of the gate.

The door was made of solid wood covered with iron sheets, and a regular brass padlock hung on it.

For skilled thieves these days, a single wire is enough to pry open the hole.

Zhang Huaimin closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the depths of his mind.

The translucent blue virtual panel instantly lit up on my retina.

"System, retrieve the previously awarded 'Special Reinforced Steel'."

He silently recited it in his heart.

[Ding! Special reinforced steel successfully extracted.]

[Should we integrate it into the current target (wooden door)?]

"Integration".

The voice just fell.

A palm-sized metal block, emitting a faint silver light, appeared out of thin air in his palm.

This is no ordinary steel.

This is a product of future technology manufactured by the system, with a density and hardness far exceeding any alloy of this era.

Zhang Huaimin attached the metal piece to the door panel.

"Buzz—"

A very slight tremor spread from my palm throughout the entire door.

The silver light, like mercury spilling onto the ground, spread rapidly along the grain of the wood, seeping in in the blink of an eye.

On the surface, the door is still that old, slightly chipped wooden door, without even a scratch.

Even the thickness of the door panel wasn't increased by a single millimeter.

But only Zhang Huaimin knew.

In just those two short seconds.

The internal carbon-based molecular structure of this door has been completely restructured.

Now, it's no longer just an ordinary axe or crowbar.

Even if you use the heavy-duty gas cutting machine from Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, you can forget about leaving a white mark on it!

"Just being hard isn't enough; we need to add something else."

Zhang Huaimin stroked his chin, recalling Jia Zhangshi's distorted, fat face.

That old woman is definitely going to come looking for trouble tonight.

He brought up the system panel again and browsed through the "Item Library".

My gaze was fixed on an inconspicuous icon.

"Extract the 'physical kinetic energy rebound coating' and fuse it to the outside of the door panel."

[Ding! Coating fusion complete. Current rebound coefficient: 200%.]

"Perfect."

Zhang Huaimin clapped his hands in satisfaction, turned around and climbed back onto the heated kang to continue peeling his roasted peanuts.

Tonight, we're just waiting for the fish to take the bait.

Night falls.

The courtyard was quiet; not even the dogs barked.

The cold wind howled through the alley, making the broken lanterns under the eaves sway precariously.

Inside the Jia family's house, not even a kerosene lamp was lit.

Jia Zhangshi sat cross-legged on the kang, her face dark, clutching a rusty claw hammer tightly in her hand.

The corn cob lay on her lap, slurping the watery corn porridge with its slurred mouth, groaning in pain.

"Grandma, my mouth hurts... I want to eat meat..."

Banggeng shed tears of grievance.

"Eat meat! Eat meat! Where would we get the money to buy you meat!"

Madam Jia cursed irritably, but her triangular eyes glared fiercely out the window.

"It's all that little brat's fault! If it weren't for him, would our family have ended up like this?"

At that moment, the door was pushed open a crack.

Yi Zhonghai slipped in silently, like a ghost.

He glanced at Jia Zhangshi, whose face was full of resentment, and lowered his voice.

"Sister-in-law, everything is arranged."

Yi Zhonghai rubbed his frozen hands, his eyes cold.

"I've already spoken to Lao Yan and Lao Liu. All we need to do is take over that side room tonight."

"Tomorrow morning, everyone will go to the neighborhood office together to say that it's to take care of the orphans of martyrs."

"By then, what's done is done. Director Wang can't just send everyone in our hospital to a labor camp, can he?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhangshi's cloudy eyes immediately lit up.

Greed triumphed over fear.

"Alright! Old Yi, you've got a good idea!"

She grabbed the claw hammer next to her and shoved it into the handle of the stick.

"My dear grandson, go!"

Madam Jia pushed the stick aside, pointed towards the east wing, and sneered.

"Grandma's got your back tonight! Nobody in the compound will dare say anything against us!"

"Go smash that bastard's door lock! We'll sleep in his big brick house tonight!"