Courtyard House: In this life, I have a new home!

Xu Damao stood there, looking utterly dejected, as if a bone had been removed from his body. He turned to Lou Xiao'e, his voice lowered, "Xiao'e, let's go to the hospital tomorrow. My illness can definitely be cured."

Lou Xiao'e looked up, her eyes reddening. Ignoring Xu Damao, she turned to Li Weidong and asked, "Brother Weidong, is there any hope for my husband's illness?"

Li Weidong was silent for two seconds, then shook his head: "It's been too long. If they had treated it quickly right after the accident, it could have been saved. Now... it's hard to say."

"You can already tell what's wrong, why wait until tomorrow?"

Lou Xiao'e pressed for an answer.

Li Weidong didn't say anything more, just waved his hand: "Let's check it out first."

Lou Xiao'e gritted her teeth and said, "We're going to the hospital first thing tomorrow morning. Xu Damao, you need to get me a day off. Don't even think about going anywhere else!"

Xu Damao was extremely nervous and restless, sweat beading on his forehead.

Li Weidong arrived at eight o'clock and pushed his bicycle through the central courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai and Na Yumei sat at the doorway enjoying the cool air, while Sha Zhu stood not far away. Qin Huairu, with her three children, also sat on her doorstep.

The muffled, chilling sounds of Jia Zhangshi's curses drifted intermittently from inside the room.

Sha Zhu spoke sarcastically, "The boss is so busy, running around at a time like this, I wonder what he's doing..."

Yi Zhonghai immediately roared, "Zhu Zi, shut up! Wei Dong is a big leader in the factory, busy with official business. What nonsense are you spouting?"

Sha Zhu curled his lip: "Fine, fine, I'll shut up."

His eyes were fixed on Qin Huairu across from him, and he cursed inwardly: You old hag, always babbling nonsense. Just you wait, the day I don't need you anymore, I'll see how I deal with you.

Yi Zhonghai breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Li Weidong leave the courtyard. He cursed inwardly: "That idiot almost ruined everything. If Li Weidong hadn't left, all our plans for tonight would have been for nothing."

When Li Weidong arrived at the factory, a truck drove up shortly afterward.

Factory Director Yang said, "Chief Engineer Li, put these devices in your lab for now. We just cleaned this room for you; you can do any important work here."

The laboratory is about 300 square meters; it used to be an empty building. Now it houses several lathes and some machines, taking up about 100 square meters of space.

After the two aircraft engines were removed, Li Weidong locked the large iron gate.

Factory Director Yang added, "From now on, if you don't finish your work, I'll have the security department keep an eye on you 24/7."

"Okay. I'll head back now. By the way, does the factory have a cleaver?"

Li Weidong said, "The knife at home is no longer working properly."

The factory often uses scraps to make knives, which are then sold to employees as employee benefits.

Factory Director Yang smiled: "Yes, but the person in charge isn't here right now. I have a set in my office; you can use it first."

Li Weidong took three knives from Factory Director Yang: a cleaver, a kitchen knife, and a sharp knife.

Li Weidong examined the knives carefully. The steel was indeed of good quality, and the blades were polished to a gleaming shine. The cleaver in particular felt heavy in his hand.

"This knife must weigh four pounds; you really need to be strong to swing it."

Factory Director Yang said with a smile, "I'll get you a lighter one tomorrow, otherwise it won't be safe for your sister to use."

Li Weidong could tell from the conversation that Director Yang was referring to "your sister".

When he said those three words, there was a hint of mockery on his face. He knew that the other person already knew perfectly well what was going on.

Factory Director Yang had visited his home several times, and from the way Lin Yurou looked at Li Weidong, he had long since noticed something was amiss. Everyone in the factory also knew that Lin Yurou and Li Weidong were not blood-related siblings at all.

Li Weidong didn't explain much, and simply put the three knives into the basket on the bicycle. The basket was made of thin steel bars and hung in front of the handlebars.

He rode his bike back, pondering whether to work on the engine first or get that thing done first. If he succeeded, the results would definitely be great; he'd essentially snatched the prize halfway through.

As we approached Nanluoguxiang, we turned into a winding alleyway, where a lot of messy things were piled up on the road.

Li Weidong's heart tightened suddenly, as if some terrible disaster was about to strike. Without even thinking, he threw his bicycle aside and jumped to the side.

Just then, a gunshot rang out. A bullet whistled past his left rib, instantly tearing a hole in his white shirt and slicing open his ribs, from which blood gushed out immediately.

Before Li Weidong's bicycle could fall over, the cleaver in the basket suddenly flew up on its own. The blade spun rapidly in mid-air, shooting out like a white streak of light.

About ten meters ahead, behind a corner of a wall, a man in his forties stood holding a gun, his face filled with shock. Before he could react, the white light stopped in front of his forehead. The light receded, revealing a cleaver, its blade completely embedded in the man's forehead.

The man's eyes were filled with disbelief as he fell straight backward.

Li Weidong clutched his ribs, took a deep breath, and stubbornly held on, preventing himself from collapsing.

The gunshots startled the residents in the alley, and some people pushed open their doors and peeked out.

"Call the police! Go call the police right now, there are spies!"

Li Weidong had already drawn his gun and was cowering behind the corner, his heart pounding with anxiety. Who knew if these people had any accomplices?

He figured this must be the work of spies. He guessed news of his project had leaked out.

A short while later, a dozen or so police officers came running over, carrying long and short guns. Most of the police officers in that era were veterans, many of whom had crawled out of piles of corpses on the battlefield.

When it comes to solving cases and catching thieves, they may lack experience, but when it comes to fighting, they are all elites.

"Put the gun down!"

A man in his forties pointed a long gun at Li Weidong, and several other guns were also pointed at him from the side.

"I am Li Weidong from the steel rolling mill, and this is my sidearm."

Li Weidong slowly bent down and placed the gun on the ground.

"Li Weidong? I know you."

The man put his gun back in its holster, and the other guns followed suit, pointing their muzzles upwards.

After the gun license was shown, the man in his early forties took it and glanced at it, then said in a calm tone, "Chief Engineer Li, could you please recount what happened? I am Zhang Jianye from the local police station."

As he spoke, he handed the pistol back to Li Weidong.

A young police officer standing nearby exclaimed in astonishment, "Chief Zhang, this is outrageous! The force of that stab was terrifying, and the aim was bizarre—it cleaved right between his eyebrows!"

"It took a lot of effort to pull the knife out. It flew from over ten meters away!"

"Yes, I used to practice some martial arts."

Li Weidong put the gun back in its holster; a large patch of blood had already soaked into the underside of his shirt.

Zhang Jianye immediately ordered, "Get him to the hospital right away!"

"It's nothing serious, just a bullet grazed me. I can wash it off when I get back."

Li Weidong smiled and waved his hand, "I am a doctor myself."

The wound under his ribs had stopped bleeding, but it still looked rather eerie.

Zhang Jianye nodded: "That's right, you have a master's degree in medicine. Xiao Tian, ​​Xiao Hu, you two take Chief Engineer Li home."

Li Weidong knew perfectly well that the police station had definitely marked his information in a special way.

He pushed his bicycle, muttering regretfully, "That set of knives the factory manager gave me, now one is missing. Tsk tsk..."

Zhang Jianye's face darkened: "Even if you take it off, you won't be able to use it."

"That's true."

Li Weidong responded, then frowned, "I wonder who it was and why they shot at me..."

Just then, a police officer in his forties strode over, muttering curses, "Chief, there's a little notebook..."

Zhang Jianye was taken aback: "A notebook? Old Chen, are you sure you saw it clearly?"

Old Chen said angrily, "There are marks on my feet from wearing wooden clogs; you only get those from wearing them since I was a child. These little devils aren't giving up; they're trying to cause trouble again!"

Zhang Jianye muttered, "To assassinate our technicians, that's truly vicious. We must dig deep and find out who's behind him, and report to our superiors immediately."

When Li Weidong was escorted back by two police officers, the courtyard gate was wide open.

Ever since he kicked the door open that day, it has never been closed again.

The front yard was dark; everyone was asleep. In the middle yard, Yi Zhonghai's house still had its lights on; Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu were sitting at the doorway, chatting and enjoying the cool air.

Li Weidong took off his blood-stained white shirt and held it in his hand—it was covered in blood, making it inconvenient to wear, and his trouser legs were also stained.

The two police officers, dressed in white uniforms, stood out conspicuously in the night. Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai both stood up.

Seeing this, Sha Zhu said with a smug tone, "Oh ho, Chief Engineer Li, you've been stabbed?"

Yi Zhonghai's heart was in turmoil, and he couldn't hide the fear on his face. He had stayed up until this late, chatting idly with Sha Zhu, waiting for the commotion outside. He thought that after Li Weidong was shot, it was only a matter of time before the police came knocking. But he never expected that Li Weidong would come back with the police.

"What, was that gun you were involved with?"

Li Weidong's hand remained pressed against the holster, motionless. The two policemen beside him also stared at Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai, their faces darkening as they held the long guns slung over their shoulders.

Although the guns weren't pointed at anyone, the sheer killing intent emanating from them made one's legs go weak. These two policemen had both crawled out of piles of corpses on the battlefield; the moment their hands touched the guns, their demeanor changed.

"No, no! Zhu Zi is just a smart aleck. He cares about the neighbors, but he never says anything nice."

Yi Zhonghai quickly waved his hand, "The good things I did have all turned out to be bad."

The two policemen glanced at Li Weidong. He nodded, and then they put their guns back on their backs.

"Alright, comrades, I'm home."

Li Weidong smiled and said, "Thank you for making this trip."

"Okay, we're heading back."

The two policemen turned and left.

Only after they had completely disappeared did Sha Zhu wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Li Weidong, what enemy have you messed with?"

Sha Zhu's voice trembled, but his eyes were fixed on the thing at Li Weidong's waist. "How come you have this thing?"

"What, you want to arrest me and interrogate me?"

Li Weidong's voice was as cold as ice.

"Yes, Pillar, don't ask questions you shouldn't ask."

Yi Zhonghai quickly tried to smooth things over, lowering his voice, "We didn't hear or see anything tonight."

Li Weidong snorted, turned around, and pushed his bicycle away.

He didn't even suspect Yi Zhonghai; he assumed it was done by enemy agents. Besides, that thing was just a small notebook.

"Okay, okay, I was just being a smart aleck."