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

Xiao Xi sat in the front car seat, and Lin Yurou sat in the back. This time she wasn't shy and openly put her arm around Li Weidong's waist.

Last time she was hesitant and didn't dare to touch me, but this time she's let loose.

It was almost 11:30 when I got back to the courtyard.

Lin Yurou and He Yushui walked into the kitchen and were stunned.

"Who...who did this?"

He Yushui's eyes widened.

"Dong-ge, what should we do?"

Lin Yurou bit her lip.

Li Weidong sneered: "Call the police then."

"It's not like there are no clues."

He pointed to the ground—soy sauce and vinegar were spilled all over the floor, with a few small footprints on it.

There were several handprints on the stove, clearly visible.

"This is the evidence; there's no escaping it."

Liu Guangfu couldn't stand being cooped up at home any longer and wanted to rush out to complain.

Zhang Cuihua grabbed him: "What do you think you're doing, kid?"

"Did you see something?"

Liu Guangfu was still muttering, "That's right, I saw it with my own eyes, it was dried out."

Zhang Cuihua grabbed his arm and scolded in a low voice, "You shut up! If word gets out, Jia Zhangshi will wear out your doorstep. Don't get involved in things that don't concern us."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Damao came in from outside, looking dejected. Behind him were Yi Zhonghai and a deaf old woman who could barely walk, her face turning pale and then red.

Xu Damao saw Chief Engineer Li sitting in the courtyard and forced a smile: "Chief Engineer Li, you're not at work today?"

Without bothering with pleasantries, Yi Zhonghai caught up and asked, "Da Mao, give me a straight answer. How much money do you want for Zhu Zi to issue a letter of forgiveness?"

Xu Damao's face darkened, and he gritted his teeth, shouting, "No amount of money will do! I want him to go to jail..."

But as he spoke, his voice clearly lost its confidence.

He went to Lou Hongyi's house early this morning, hoping to coax Lou Xiao'e back and get through things for now. But as soon as he entered, Lou Xiao'e bluntly said, "Divorce."

.

Xu Damao immediately exploded: "Divorce? What divorce? I'm telling you, there's no way!"

He rushed over early in the morning, not just to hear those words.

Lou Hongyi sneered, stood up and stared at him: "Why don't you agree? I must have been blind to marry my daughter to you."

"You've made her suffer for over a year, and now you're saying you won't divorce her? You absolutely must divorce her!"

Xu Damao stared wide-eyed at his father-in-law, who used to be so polite to him, but now his face looked like that of a completely different person.

He stubbornly shouted, "I just don't agree! What can you do about it?"

Lou Hongyi said unhurriedly, "What? I'm sending you to jail. I've already had the filth you did while showing movies in the countryside investigated. It's enough to make you regret it."

Xu Damao's legs went weak, and his spine felt like it had been pulled out.

He knew in his heart that if those things were exposed, let alone being executed, it was hard to say whether he would even be able to leave with a whole corpse.

After hesitating for a long time, he gritted his teeth and said, "Fine, I agree. But you have to give me ten... no, twenty big yellow croakers!"

Lou Hongyi cursed directly, "You're fucking dreaming! You still want money? Or should I call the police right now and see who gets hurt first?"

Xu Damao's face contorted with rage: "You call the police? Then I'll go in, and your family won't get away with this! I'll expose everything about your hidden gold bars!"

But after he said that, looking at the Lou family of three, they were all calmer than the last, without a trace of panic on their faces.

Xu Damao felt a chill in his heart, knowing that the other party had been preparing to turn against him for a long time.

He quickly changed his tune, forcing a fawning smile: "Dad...Dad! My illness is treatable. Give me five thousand yuan, and if I get cured, I promise I'll live a good life with E'zi!"

Tan Yumei replied coldly, "Xu Damao, even if you weren't sick and were as healthy as an ox, I still wouldn't let Xiao'e stay with you. You're a menace; hurry up and get the divorce done."

Lou Xiao'e's brother stared coldly at Xu Damao: "Believe it or not, I can send you to jail with just one phone call?"

Xu Damao was so frightened that he stammered, "I...I...I had no choice..."

He was seething with hatred and vowed to get revenge. He had plenty of ways to bring down the Lou family sooner or later.

Having gotten divorced in the morning, Xu Damao walked back in a daze, his mind racing with thoughts of where to get money for medical treatment. As soon as he entered the courtyard, Yi Zhonghai clung to him.

Xu Damao ignored him and turned to Li Weidong, shouting, "Engineer Li, do you have any cheaper medicine for my illness...?"

"Stop giving me that nonsense."

Li Weidong waved his hand impatiently, "I have to go to the police station to report this. My house has been vandalized, this isn't over."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai broke out in a cold sweat. He couldn't care less about Sha Zhu's matter anymore.

No matter how much a godson takes care of his parents, he can never be as precious as a biological son.

He knew perfectly well that this was something Bang Geng had done. In the whole alley, only that kid would do something so outrageous.

"Wait, Engineer Li, wait a minute!"

Yi Zhonghai quickly caught up, "This is a matter within the compound, it can be resolved within the compound... um..."

He instinctively wanted to say, "What happens in the yard should stay in the yard."

But when she met Li Weidong's gaze, the words stuck in her throat.

"Go on."

Li Weidong sneered.

Yi Zhonghai said, forcing himself to speak: "Engineer Li, let's settle this privately. If you call the police, this matter will get out, and our compound won't be eligible for the advanced worker award. That'll be your fault."

"Ha, here we go again."

Li Weidong looked disgusted. "Advanced? What's the use of being advanced if it's obtained through fraud?"

"Besides, not being selected as an advanced worker wasn't my fault. It was that thief's fault."

"Judging from your tone, you know who did it. Otherwise, why are you so certain this will affect the evaluation? You know it was someone from the department who did it!"

Thieves who sneak in from outside have absolutely no impact on the compound's evaluation for excellence.

Yi Zhonghai was so choked up that he couldn't utter a single word.

Li Weidong was about to leave. Yi Zhonghai was sweating profusely, wanting to stop him but not daring to. If it were anyone else, he would have pounced on them and grabbed them.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?"

A police officer walked in through the door.

Upon seeing the police officer's face, Yi Zhonghai's expression turned ashen. He forced himself to approach, saying, "It's nothing, nothing. It's just a minor dispute between neighbors; I'm mediating it. I'm Yi Zhonghai, the mediator for this compound."

He dared not mention "the old man" in front of the police officers.

This batch.

"Comrade, you've come at the perfect time."

Li Weidong said calmly, "I want to report this to the police. It's not a big deal, but it's extremely serious. Someone smashed up my kitchen."

"There are pry marks on the door lock."

As soon as Li Weidong finished speaking, the young policeman politely said to him, "Engineer Li, let me report to my superiors first. Just have Xu Damao sign something, and please keep an eye on things here to prevent anyone from going in casually."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Damao stepped forward: "I am Xu Damao, comrade, what can I do for you?"

The police officer handed me a piece of paper: "Sign here."

Xu Damao took the pen and quickly signed his name. The policeman put away the documents, and before leaving, he nodded to Li Weidong again: "I'll go back and get someone right away, they'll be there soon."

Yi Zhonghai, his face ashen, turned to walk towards the central courtyard. The deaf old woman stopped him: "Zhonghai, clarify things with Zhu Zi first, we can talk about the rest later."

"Xu Damao, name your price."

Yi Zhonghai grew anxious and cut to the chase, "I see you're desperate. What good will you get from sending Zhuzi to jail? You might as well use the money for medical treatment. Even if your parents come back, they won't be able to come up with such a large sum."

Xu Damao gritted his teeth: "Fine, ten thousand yuan. This matter—"

Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady both stared wide-eyed.

"Is this how you solve the problem?"

Yi Zhonghai's tone turned cold. "Then let's pretend this never happened."

"Then how much will you say?"

Xu Damao's face hardened.

"We'll cover the medical expenses, five thousand."

Yi Zhonghai put it bluntly. Anyway, the money belonged to the deaf old lady, so he didn't care.

"No, it has to be six thousand!"

Xu Damao shook his head, "Don't even think about getting a penny less."

The two of them negotiated like they were doing business, going back and forth for a long time before finally settling on 5,500.

"Okay, here's the money."

Xu Damao gritted his teeth and stared at them, "Once the money is in place, I'll give you the letter of understanding."

Yi Zhonghai turned to the deaf old woman: "Come on, let's get the money. Oh, and you need to prepare five hundred yuan."

The deaf old woman squinted and smiled: "You'll have to pay five hundred too."

Yi Zhonghai's heart ached: "Fine, five hundred it is."

That's five months' salary for him. If he gets demoted, he'll have worked for nothing for half a year.

The two returned to the Intermediate People's Court. Li Weidong's eyes darted around, and he beckoned to Liu Guangfu: "Hey kid, come here."

Liu Guangfu darted over like a rabbit. His second aunt, Zhang Cuihua, couldn't stop him even if she tried.

Li Weidong took out fifty cents and stuffed it into his hand: "Go to the neighborhood office and tell Director Wang that I'll ask her to come over. Go quickly."

"Don't worry, Brother Dong, I'll run there!"

Liu Guangfu disappeared in a flash.

Lin Yurou asked in a low voice, "Why do we need to see Director Wang?"

Li Weidong glanced at Xu Damao, who was still standing to the side, and smiled: "You'll find out soon enough. Go back and eat. We can talk about treatment when you have the money."

Lin Yurou was busy in the kitchen, while Xiao Xi sat on a small stool, munching on a tomato, juice dripping down her chin.

Li Weidong wiped the juice from the child's mouth and said in a low voice, "I'll invite Director Wang over later. We have to cancel the deaf old lady's eligibility for the five guarantees today."

As soon as Yi Zhonghai stepped into the courtyard, he saw Jia Zhangshi lying dead under the old locust tree.

A tattered reed mat was laid on the ground, and Jia Zhangshi lay stiffly on it, waving a broken banana leaf fan with a chipped edge in her hand. If it weren't for the fan still moving, she would look no different from a pile of rotten flesh.

The stick-like creature lay beside her, looking exactly the same, its fan swaying slowly in its hand.

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and asked, "Bang Geng, did you go to Li Weidong's house in the backyard to steal something?"

He had just witnessed the scene in Li Weidong's kitchen. Although he felt relieved, he knew this matter was beyond repair. The footprints on the floor and the handprints on the stove clearly showed who had done it.

Forget about whether the police officer is professional or not. With his level eight skill, he can tell who left those marks just by glancing at them.

"Steal? Don't you dare make false accusations! My precious grandson would never do such a thing."

Jia Zhangshi sat up abruptly, one of her legs still in a cast, but that didn't stop her from jumping around.

"You think you can hide it? They've already called the police."

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth, "The handprints and footprints in the kitchen are there. When the police arrive, they can compare them and find out who it is."