Courtyard House: Starting as an eighth-grade worker, with too many wives.

That smile was faint, yet it inexplicably made Sha Zhu's heart tighten.

"You want to search my house?"

Sha Zhu thought he had agreed, so he nodded repeatedly, his smile widening.

"Yes, yes, please move aside, let's finish searching quickly, there are still other places to search."

Li Jianguo didn't move.

"You think you're worthy?"

He grabbed Sha Zhu by the collar and threw him out.

The movement was so fast that no one had time to react. Sha Zhu was sent flying and crashed heavily to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Ouch--"

He screamed and lay on the ground, unable to get up for a long time. When he finally got up, his face was covered in dirt, and his lip was cut and bleeding.

He wiped his mouth, saw the blood on his hand, his eyes turned red, and he got up to rush forward.

Yi Zhonghai quickly grabbed him, his gaze toward Li Jianguo darkening, his eyes filled with undisguised hostility.

"Director Li, it's one thing for you to be a high and mighty director and look down on us at the factory. But now we live in the same compound, you can't keep acting like this, can you?"

He paused, then raised his voice a few decibels so that everyone could hear him.

"Or are you the one who stole the underwear, and now you're feeling guilty and afraid to let us search you?"

Li Jianguo looked at him, and the smile on his lips slowly widened.

"Yi Zhonghai, you really go all out."

His gaze swept across everyone's face, calm as still water, yet sending chills down the spines of those he looked at.

"You can't just search my house as you please. You have no right to do so."

Sha Zhu got up from the ground, his face flushed red, and the blood at the corner of his mouth was still wet.

"Li Jianguo! I bet you did it! Feeling guilty now? You pervert!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice particularly piercing in the night, echoing through the alley.

People around them began to whisper.

"Director Li doesn't seem like that kind of person..."

"That's hard to say. There are only two single men among them. Even Sha Zhu allowed himself to be searched, so why wouldn't he?"

"You can know a person's face but not their heart."

"Who knows if he's a hypocrite with a sanctimonious facade?"

The murmurs grew louder and louder, surging in like a tide. Those gazes, fixed on Li Jianguo, gradually shifted in tone, from respect to suspicion, and from suspicion to contempt.

Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai could barely suppress their smiles as they listened to these words.

Once the evidence is found, let's see how you still have the nerve to show your face.

Just then, an old voice came from behind the crowd.

"What's wrong now?"

Everyone turned around and saw the deaf old lady walking over shakily.

She was hunched over, her back so hunched, like a shrimp bent under its weight. The wrinkles on her face were much deeper than a few days ago, her eyes were sunken, her cheekbones were high, and she was so thin that she looked like she could be blown away by a gust of wind.

"old lady!"

Sha Zhu quickly ran over to help her up and held her arm.

"Why are you back?"

The deaf old woman gripped Sha Zhu's hand tightly, her eyes instantly reddening, and tears silently streamed down her deep wrinkles.

"Silly Zhu... I almost... I almost died in there..."

She shakily rolled up her sleeve, revealing a patchwork of bruises and welts on her arm. The bruises, old and new, overlapped, a gruesome and glaring sight.

The onlookers gasped in shock; some covered their mouths in astonishment, while others turned away, unable to bear watching any longer.

"How...how can you treat an old lady like this?"

The deaf old woman's gaze swept across the crowd and was fixed on Li Jianguo.

In that instant, the hatred in her eyes almost solidified, like a poisoned blade piercing straight to the heart.

"It's all because of him—"

Before she could finish speaking, Li Jianguo had already walked up to her.

He looked down, a faint smile playing on his lips.

That laugh sent a shiver down the spine of the deaf old woman.

The punches and kicks she received at the police station, the trembling she felt curled up in the corner, and the endless fear in the dead of night all surged up at once. She couldn't stop trembling, her lips quivering, unable to utter a single word.

Sha Zhu quickly broke the deadlock:

"Grandma, we're looking for a thief. Qin Huairu's underwear is missing, and we're searching every house, but Director Li won't let us search."

The deaf old lady was taken aback, then smiled.

The laughter was hoarse and shrill, like a broken bellows struggling to pump, or the cry of a night owl, particularly eerie in the darkness.

"Hahaha—I told you, he was no good!"

She pointed at Li Jianguo, laughing so hard her whole body trembled, and tears streamed down her face.

"He must have stolen it! You scoundrel!"

"I knew he wasn't a good person since I was a child!"

"Search! Search now! Find this pervert who steals women's underwear!"

She screamed at the top of her lungs, her shrill voice seeming to foresee the scene of Li Jianguo being pointed at and cursed by thousands of people, drowned in spittle, and pelted with rotten vegetable leaves.

Li Jianguo gazed at her quietly.

His gaze was calm and still, without the slightest ripple.

Only after she had screamed until her voice was hoarse and only her breath was left could he slowly speak:

"It seems the police station hasn't taught you any manners these past few days."

He stepped forward and swiftly kicked the deaf old woman in the back of the knee.

The movements were clean and ruthless, without the slightest hesitation.

The old woman screamed and fell to the ground, her knees hitting the ground with a dull thud.

"Li Jianguo! You hit me again!"

Li Jianguo bent down, grabbed a handful of soil mixed with gravel, and forced it into her mouth.

"Since this mouth can never speak human language, then we should just get rid of it."

The deaf old woman struggled desperately, kicking and thrashing her limbs, but Li Jianguo held her down firmly, preventing her from moving.

Her mouth was filled with sand and gravel, which hurt her gums. The grinding of the pebbles between her teeth made a harsh, grinding sound, and the taste of blood mixed with the earthy smell rose to her throat, choking her so much that she almost suffocated.

"Ugh—Ugh—"

She finally broke free of her restraints, lay on the ground and retched violently, saliva mixed with blood dripping onto the ground, leaving a stain.

When she looked up at Li Jianguo again, all she could see was utter fear.

The fear seeped from the very marrow of my bones; it was so real it chilled me to the bone.

"Li Jianguo, don't push your luck!"

Sha Zhu rushed forward to try and stop him.

The moment his hand touched Li Jianguo's arm, he felt a tremendous force strike him, as if he were being gripped by iron clamps.

He was thrown into the air and crashed heavily to the ground.

The fall was extremely hard; he lay on the ground for a long time, gasping for breath, seeing stars before his eyes, his ears ringing, and his mouth filled with a metallic, sweet taste.

Li Jianguo clapped his hands slowly and straightened his collar.

His demeanor was as composed as if he were merely brushing a speck of dust off his clothes.

His gaze swept over everyone present.

Wherever he went, people instinctively lowered their heads to avoid him, and no one dared to look him in the eye.

"It seems this matter won't be easily resolved tonight."

His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear and resonated in everyone's ears, sounding especially cold in the quiet night.

"Since that's the case—"

He paused briefly, a faint smile playing on his lips.

The smile was faint, yet it sent a chill down everyone's spine.

"Call the police."

Upon hearing this, Sha Zhu's expression changed drastically; all color drained from his face, leaving it as white as paper.

Yi Zhonghai also frowned deeply, his forehead etched with deep lines.

They never intended to involve the police.

Once the police are involved, things will be difficult to control.

The night was like thick, unyielding ink, pressing heavily on the roof of this old courtyard house.

A few dim light bulbs swayed in the draft, casting long and short shadows of people in the courtyard, making them look like a group of ghosts that had just crawled out of the ground.

Yi Zhonghai rubbed his hands together, the wrinkles on his face squeezing together in the light and shadow, forming an awkward smile.

He leaned forward, his voice low, as if he were discussing something, or perhaps pleading: "It's such a small matter, why do we have to involve the police? We're neighbors, we see each other all the time..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a cold, hard voice.

Li Jianguo stood in front of his own doorstep, his posture as straight as a newly drawn sword.

He looked down at Yi Zhonghai, his eyes devoid of anger, only a chilling calm: "If you can't explain it, let someone who can explain it explain it."

"Only when the police arrive is it considered fair."

He paused, a slight smile curving his lips, but it felt more chilling than a cold laugh.

"Didn't you all say that the person who stole the underwear was a pervert? Everyone should kill that kind of scum. Wouldn't it be quicker to just call the police, lock him up, and throw him in jail?"

Yi Zhonghai's face twitched.

Sha Zhu squeezed out of the crowd, his face looking particularly anxious in the lamplight.

He waved his hand, his voice low, but the urgency was unmistakable: "A tattered piece of clothing, is it really that big of a deal? Don't the police get off work? Don't they get a break? Why do they have to cause people this trouble?"

He turned his head to look around, his eyes sweeping over every face, trying to find some kind of approval.

"Is what I said wrong? Everyone has their own difficulties, why make a big fuss over such a trivial matter?"

Xu Damao leaned against a pillar in the covered walkway, a straw he had somehow found dangling from his mouth.

As he listened to these words, the corners of his mouth slowly widened into a meaningful smile.

"Yo."

He spat out the straw and spoke slowly, his voice low but sharp like a needle piercing the ears of everyone present.

"Grandpa, Sha Zhu, I'm really puzzled."

"You were the ones shouting and demanding a search of the rooms just now, but now that Director Li wants to call the police, how come you're the ones stopping him?"

He tilted his head, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Yi Zhonghai and Sha Zhu's faces, his eyes full of amusement as if watching a show.

"Why do I feel like... this 'thief crying 'stop thief'' act is becoming more and more real?"

Yi Zhonghai's face instantly turned a deep liver color.

He abruptly turned his head, his eyes wide open, looking as if he wanted to devour Xu Damao whole: "Who do you think you are? Who gave you the right to speak here?"

Xu Damao was not afraid at all; on the contrary, he laughed even harder.

He spread his hands and shrugged: "How come I have no part in this? Weren't you all making quite a fuss just now? Trying to make a big scene. Now that Director Li is calling the police to escalate this and get to the bottom of it, why are you all backing down?"

He took a step forward, narrowed his eyes, and stared at Yi Zhonghai: "Or... is this something you guys orchestrated all along?"

Yi Zhonghai's eyes flickered.

The dodging movement was extremely fast, as fast as a lamp's shadow flickering in the night wind, but Xu Damao still managed to catch it.

Enraged, he dared not confront Xu Damao any further, but simply snorted heavily and turned his head away: "Nonsense! It's not my clothes that were lost, what does it have to do with me?"

Qin Huairu stood at the edge of the crowd, head down, shoulders trembling slightly.

Suddenly, she raised her head, her eyes red as if soaked in blood, and glared fiercely at Xu Damao: "Stop spouting nonsense! How could a woman like me resort to such despicable means?"

Her voice trembled, tinged with tears, but her eyes shone with a frightening intensity, devoid of tears, only displaying a fierce ruthlessness born of being exposed.

Li Jianguo stood on the steps, quietly watching all of this.

He looked at the cold sweat beading on Yi Zhonghai's forehead, at Sha Zhu's evasive eyes, at Qin Huairu's aggrieved yet fierce face, and at the deaf old lady sitting on the ground, her cloudy eyes darting around as if she were plotting something.

He felt a wave of nausea rising in his stomach.

These people will use any underhanded means to ruin him.

In this day and age, what could be more fatal than the label of "having illicit relationships"?

Once it's on your head, it's a stain for life, a stain you can't wash away even if you jump into the Yellow River.

He raised his eyelids and his gaze swept across the faces of these people one by one.

That gaze was as cold as ice crystals in the twelfth lunar month, devoid of any warmth.

The deaf old woman sitting on the ground finally began to understand what was going on.

She supported herself with her hands, stood up shakily, patted the dirt off her bottom, and a strange smile appeared on her wrinkled old face.

She looked at Li Jianguo with the same gaze one would give a prisoner about to be led to the execution ground.

"Call the police!"

She suddenly spoke, her voice sharp and shrill, like rusty iron scraping against glass.

"We have to call the police! Let the whole world know what kind of scum he is! What good is it if only our compound knows?"

She waved her withered arm, her voice resolute: "Get the police! Deal with him severely! This kind of scourge must not be let off lightly!"

Sha Zhu and Yi Zhonghai were both stunned.