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

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"Director Li, what happened?"

As the second uncle pushed his bicycle into the backyard, he saw Li Jianguo standing at the door with a gloomy face, and his heart skipped a beat.

This ancestor looks so grim; nothing good must be coming.

Before Li Jianguo could speak, the door to Shazhu's room creaked open.

Sha Zhu walked out with a smug grin on his face.

"Director Li is back already? You must have been incredibly busy at the factory these past few days?"

He leaned closer, his eyes scanning Li Jianguo's face.

"Hey, you don't look too good. What happened?"

Li Jianguo looked at him but didn't say anything.

His gaze was deep and heavy, like two dull knives grinding back and forth on Sha Zhu's face.

Sha Zhu felt uneasy under his gaze, and his smile almost vanished as he instinctively looked away.

"Why are you all staring at me? I didn't do anything..."

"I lost something."

Li Jianguo's voice wasn't loud, but it was like a stone thrown into calm water.

"What?"

The second uncle didn't even need his bicycle anymore; he just propped it up to the side and came over.

"What did you lose? Was it valuable?"

"document."

Li Jianguo uttered two words.

"puff--"

Sha Zhu couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I thought it was something precious, but it's just a few scraps of paper. Is it really worth all this fuss, Director Li?"

He deliberately raised his voice high, as if he wanted the whole hospital to hear it.

"Oh dear, Director Li, aren't you making a mountain out of a molehill? It's just a few sheets of paper, not valuables. Is it really necessary to make such a fuss?"

Jia Zhangshi suddenly appeared from some obscure corner, standing there with her hands on her hips, her face practically overflowing with schadenfreude.

"You called the police when our dog stole something, but now you've lost something yourself—just a few scraps of paper. What, you're allowed to lose things but others aren't?"

Li Jianguo's gaze swept over.

When Jia Zhangshi was looked at like that, she subconsciously took half a step back, but she still remained defiant:

"Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something wrong? You've been causing trouble every few days, the whole compound is practically yours! We finally had a couple of days of peace and quiet, and you come back and start making a ruckus again, my child is still asleep!"

"Alright!"

Second Uncle interrupted her with a frown.

"Say less, how can these things be the same?"

"How is it different? It's just a few scraps of paper!"

Jia Zhangshi rolled her eyes.

"Other people's scraps of paper can be used to build engines, what can your scraps of paper do?"

A voice came from behind the crowd.

Everyone turned around, and Yi Zhonghai strolled over with his hands behind his back, a smile that made people uncomfortable.

"Stop arguing."

He walked closer, his gaze landing on Li Jianguo, his tone sounding almost like he was trying to reconcile them:

"Director Li, you've just gotten back, you've been working hard for days, why get upset over such a small thing? It's just a few sheets of paper that's been lost. Maybe you misplaced them or forgot where you put them?"

Li Jianguo stared at him.

Yi Zhonghai felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, but he still forced himself to continue:

"I'm doing this all for your own good. Is it a good thing to make such a fuss? A director causing such chaos in the courtyard over a few pieces of paper—what will outsiders think?"

People in the crowd began to whisper among themselves.

"Master Yi is right, it's just a few sheets of paper..."

"Exactly, it's not like I lost money..."

"Is Director Li being a bit too..."

Li Jianguo suddenly laughed.

That smile made Yi Zhonghai's heart skip a beat.

"Master Yi."

Li Jianguo's voice wasn't loud, but it instantly silenced the surroundings.

"Do you know better than I whether my things are lost or not?"

Yi Zhonghai's expression changed.

"Director Li, what do you mean by that? I was just trying to give you some advice—"

"With good intentions?"

Li Jianguo interrupted him.

"Your kindness is just telling me not to pursue this and to let it pass quietly?"

Yi Zhonghai's face darkened.

"I'm just thinking about the bigger picture. If you insist on thinking that way, then there's nothing I can do."

"The bigger picture?"

Li Jianguo nodded.

"Alright, let's go with the big picture then."

He turned around and his gaze swept over everyone present.

"The documents I lost were state secrets—engine design blueprints. Now, whoever took them, or knows who took them, should come forward, and I can pretend this never happened."

The courtyard fell silent instantly.

Sha Zhu's smile froze.

Yi Zhonghai's pupils contracted slightly.

Madam Jia opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but was silenced by the suddenly heavy atmosphere.

"If no one steps forward—"

Li Jianguo's voice was exceptionally clear in the silence:

"Then I'll have no choice but to call the police."

The words "call the police" were like two nails, driven into the ears of everyone present.

Sha Zhu instinctively took a step back and bumped into the door frame behind him.

Yi Zhonghai took a deep breath, suppressing his inner turmoil, and forced a smile:

"Director Li, why are you doing this? Getting involved with the police over a few pieces of paper will only make things worse and embarrass you..."

Li Jianguo looked at him and suddenly asked:

"Master Yi, are you that afraid I'll call the police?"

Yi Zhonghai's expression froze instantly.

Dusk, like a pool of congealed blood, thickly plastered on the green tiles of the courtyard house.

The window, which had been closed all year round, suddenly let out a sharp groan.

"Squeak—"

A withered hand emerged from the darkness, its fingernails filled with grime that couldn't be washed away.

Immediately afterwards, the deaf old woman's deeply lined face was bathed in the setting sun. Her cloudy eyes, like two moldy glass marbles, rolled around greedily, taking in every ripple of movement in the yard.

"What? Do you think I'm deaf?"

Her voice was shrill and sharp, like someone scraping the bottom of a pot with a piece of iron.

"You caused such a ruckus over the yard just because you lost two notebooks? You think you're so capable, huh!"

The sound was like a pair of rusty scissors, forcefully cutting a slit in the noise of the courtyard.

All eyes turned to him.

The deaf old woman became the center of attention, and a smug, oily sheen immediately appeared on her face. She twitched her lips, revealing a few yellowed teeth.

"Let me tell you, how many years has this courtyard been peaceful? Ever since that guy surnamed Li moved in, there hasn't been a single day of peace!"

She got more and more excited as she spoke, raising her voice even higher.

"And you lot are all rushing to lick his ass! How disgusting!"

The anger in her heart had been burning for months and hadn't died down yet—she held a grudge against these people for not driving Li Jianguo away back then.

"When I wanted to kick him out, you all pretended to be good people and stopped me! Now you're feeling good? As soon as he comes back, this yard is like it's infested with weasels, a complete mess!"

"A deaf old lady!"

Uncle Liu Haizhong finally couldn't hold back any longer. His brows furrowed into a knot, and the fat on his face twitched.

"You're not fully recovered yet, why are you making such a fuss? That's all ancient history! Why don't you talk about how much of the mess that happened in the courtyard later was caused by your own actions?"

In the past, Liu Haizhong would never have dared to talk back to this old hag.

But these days he has truly seen through Li Jianguo—if you don't provoke him, he won't even bother to lift an eyelid.

Moreover, everyone in the factory knew that he and Li Jianguo were neighbors. Because of this relationship, although he didn't live a life of luxury like Xu Damao, he secretly benefited quite a bit.

If we don't stand up and say something now, wouldn't we look like fools?

Besides, with the deaf old woman and Yi Zhonghai keeping this courtyard in check before, who would take Liu Haizhong seriously? Now that those two have completely disgraced themselves, it's time for him to stand up straight!

He doesn't want to live his whole life with his neck hunched over!

"Yo ho!"

The deaf old woman was stunned, her eyes widening like those of a dead fish.

"Liu Haizhong, you've become quite the big shot these days, huh? Dare to talk to me like that?"

She didn't take the fat man seriously at all, scoffed, and continued talking to herself.

"Our neighborhood has never had a thief in generations! In my opinion, it's clearly that little bastard Li Jianguo who lost his things and is trying to pin it on us!"

She rolled her eyes, glanced at Li Jianguo sideways, her face full of meanness.

"Only a bunch of brainless idiots like you treat him like a precious gem! You believe everything he says? If he says shit smells good, you'd lick it too?"

Liu Haizhong's face turned a deep liver color, and the veins on his neck bulged out.

"Deaf old woman! Why can't you speak properly? People say 'An elder in the family is a treasure,' but you're just a jinx!"

He was panting heavily when he poured out all the things he had kept bottled up for years.

"I think you're just prejudiced against Director Li! After all this time, you still don't even know who Director Li is!"

After he finished speaking, he subconsciously glanced at Li Jianguo, his eyes carrying a hint of seeking credit.

"cut!"

The deaf old woman spat out a mouthful of phlegm, her face wrinkling up like a rotten chrysanthemum.

"Just watch you guys fawn over him! Sooner or later, you'll be the ones getting sold out and still be helping him count the money! Do you really think he's a good person?"

As Li Jianguo listened to the old woman repeating the same few phrases over and over again, a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"The deaf old lady."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was like a block of ice, hitting straight down.

"What you're trying to say, going back and forth, is that I, Li Jianguo, deserved to lose my things, that I brought it on myself?"

The deaf old woman met those cold, indifferent eyes, and a sudden chill ran through her.

Her eyes darted away.

"I didn't say that! Don't talk nonsense!"

"You said all of this yourself."

Li Jianguo's smile remained unchanged, but his tone was icy cold.

"Everyone's listening, that's what you think."

The deaf old woman was speechless, only able to stare at him with a mocking expression, waiting to see what kind of joke he would make.

Sha Zhu then came up to them.

He strolled up to the group with his hands in his pockets, and spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"I think he's just feeling guilty! He's making a huge fuss over such a trivial matter, like he's lost his own father."

"Exactly!"

As soon as Jia Zhangshi saw someone take the lead, she immediately followed suit. She seized every opportunity to launch into a tirade, spittle flying everywhere.

"Li Jianguo is so protective of his own home, keeping a close eye on us all the time! Why doesn't anyone say anything to him? He's just looking for trouble!"

As Li Jianguo watched these clowns jumping around, his suspicions became clearer and clearer.

"I see you all..."

He smiled knowingly, his gaze slowly sweeping across the faces of Sha Zhu, Jia Zhangshi, and the deaf old woman, like a knife slowly scraping.

"Their motives are not pure."

His smile vanished abruptly, and his eyes suddenly turned as sharp as knives.

"Why are you so desperately trying to stop me from investigating the thief? Could it be... you're feeling guilty?"

He sneered and spat out each word.

"Or is it that the thief is hiding among you?"

"You're talking nonsense!"

Jia Zhangshi was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her fur standing on end.

"It's not like nobody wants to come into your shabby house!"

As soon as she said that, someone who had long disliked her immediately chimed in.

"Don't you care? Your son and your daughter-in-law, haven't they both been in jail? And they both went to jail willingly!"

"Exactly! I really wanted to get into Director Li's room, but unfortunately I didn't get the chance!"

"There have been successes!"

A mischievous voice rang out, tinged with obvious lewdness.

"Qin Huairu went in, didn't she? She went in completely naked, look how anxious she was!"

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

Amidst the chorus of tsk-tsks, there was nothing but disdain.

"I'm so embarrassed to even talk about how I looked!"

"Oh dear, a daughter-in-law will be just like her mother-in-law! Aunt Zhang must have taught her a lot!"

Jia Zhangshi was speechless after being rebuked, her face turning pale and then red.

"Pooh!"

She held it in for a long time before finally spitting out a mouthful of saliva.

"I wouldn't even take his junk if it were given to me for free!"

She gave a fierce but inwardly cowardly look around.

"You lot, all you know how to do is bully this old woman! What, just because my son is lying in the hospital, you think the Jia family has no one left?"

Seeing that the old woman was about to throw a tantrum, everyone ignored her.