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

The heart is black, the liver is black, the spleen, lungs, and kidneys—there is no part of it that is not black.

Even if we were to die here today, it would still be doing God's work and ridding the people of a scourge.

Just then, Director Zhang's gaze passed over him and landed on the deaf old woman huddled in the corner, trembling uncontrollably.

The corners of her mouth slowly, slowly curved into an arc.

That laugh was sinister.

Like a will-o'-the-wisp suddenly illuminating the desolate wilderness on a winter night.

"Just now……"

He spoke, his voice so soft it was almost inaudible, as if he were talking to himself.

"Is this old man saying that those few people are the closest to him?"

The words had barely left his lips.

His finger twitched slightly.

Just a light flick.

There was no shouting, no cursing.

The two strong young men moved immediately, like hunting dogs receiving a silent command.

They walked briskly toward the deaf old woman, their faces expressionless and their eyes frighteningly empty.

With a swift movement, he was about to drag her out of that dark corner like a hen about to be slaughtered, and throw her into the center of the interrogation room—

That slaughterhouse, where the lights were most glaring and the bloodstains hadn't dried yet.

The deaf old woman's cloudy eyes, which looked like they were covered in lard, widened instantly.

His pupils were almost as small as pinpoints.

fear.

A chilling, bone-deep fear, like the most venomous snake, crawled up her tailbone and across her entire withered back.

"Don't come any closer!"

She suddenly swung her arm.

The arm was as withered as a tree branch dried in winter, yet it carried the madness of a dying struggle.

The sound was so sharp it could pierce a person's eardrum, exploding in a confined space.

"Get out! All of you get out! Don't touch me! Get away!"

She tried desperately to shrink back.

My back was pressed tightly against the cold wall, as if I wanted to embed myself into it.

It was as if it were the last piece of driftwood before she drowned, the last barrier before she fell into the abyss.

The dull thuds of the whip striking flesh still echoed in my ears.

She heard their screams as their skin was torn open.

Each lash felt like a blow to her own heart.

Her old bones were as thin as paper and as brittle as a biscuit.

If you get hit by it, it will fall apart on the spot.

Absolutely not.

I must never let them touch me.

"I am a recipient of the Five Guarantees (a government-provided social welfare program for the elderly, disabled, and orpha

She suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs.

The sound was like grasping at a straw, or like the final roar of a desperate trapped beast.

Sharp, hoarse, and tearful.

"The state is supporting me! You can't touch me! I'm going to sue you! I'll sue you all the way to the Central Committee! I'll sue you all the way to Chairman Mao!"

The two young men ignored them.

They didn't stop walking for a moment.

As soon as one of them got close, the deaf old woman's fingernails, which she was wildly waving, scratched at him.

"hiss--"

The young man felt a chill run down his spine.

A bloodstain instantly appeared.

Burning pain.

His eyes flashed with malice.

Without thinking, he raised his hand and slapped her across the face.

"Snapped!"

It was crisp and clear.

It's like a small firecracker exploding in an empty room.

The deaf old woman was knocked to the side by the blow.

A clear, blood-red palm print instantly appeared on half of his face.

only--

That face looked so old.

It's as old as an orange peel that's been dried for a hundred years.

Dry, loose, with deep furrows and layers of wrinkles as deep as if carved by a knife.

The red mark was imprinted on it, and it disappeared in the blink of an eye.

It felt as if those millions of wrinkles had swallowed it all up in one gulp.

It was completely digested.

"Hey."

Someone nearby chuckled.

"His skin is so thick it could be bulletproof."

This slap didn't knock the deaf old woman down.

Instead, it completely woke her up.

Or rather, they went berserk.

She stopped backing away.

Instead, he stiffened his neck and stared straight at Director Zhang.

A fierce glint, the kind that only appears when one is struggling in death, burst forth in those cloudy old eyes.

Like a mouse cornered against a wall, it bared its last two teeth.

Director Zhang smiled.

His smile was extremely cold.

It was as cold as ice crystals in the dead of winter.

He moved his wrist, and the bones made a slight cracking sound.

Then he walked over slowly.

Come here!

Swift as lightning.

He grabbed the deaf old woman by the back of her neck by the collar.

Like picking up a dying hen that's still flapping its wings.

Effortless.

They just pulled her out of the corner like that.

The force and the technique were crisp and clean.

There was absolutely no respect for the elderly.

It was nothing but blatant brutality and appalling cruelty.

"A person receiving the five guarantees?"

Director Zhang leaned close to her ear.

The voice was as low as a chilling wind drifting from the deepest part of hell.

"I don't care what you are."

Before he could finish speaking...

"Snapped!"

Another slap in the face.

It was even harder and more severe than the previous blow.

He slapped her hard on the other side of her face.

The deaf old woman staggered a few steps after being hit, and almost fell to the ground.

Both sides of his face were marked with blood-red handprints.

Although it still didn't swell up—that old skin was just too thick.

But she was in so much pain that her face was contorted in pain.

Baring his teeth and grinning, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace.

It was so ugly it was unbearable to look at.

Li Jianguo didn't even bother to look at her a second time.

His gaze swept indifferently over the others.

Like sweeping over a pile of livestock waiting to be slaughtered.

"today."

He spoke.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a frozen lake, exuding a bone-chilling cold.

"You must get to the bottom of this."

He paused for a moment.

"Otherwise, it would really be a shame that I went to such lengths to invite you all here."

He released his grip on the deaf old woman's hair.

Looking down at her from his vantage point.

Like looking down at an ant struggling for its last breath.

"I advise you to be sensible."

His tone was so casual, as if he were just having a casual chat.

"Honestly tell me everything you know, and you'll suffer less. I'm only giving you this chance because you're getting on in years."

He paused.

"To tell or not to tell?"

The deaf old woman struggled.

He mumbled incoherently.

"You can't hit me... I'm not a criminal... I'm a recipient of the Five Guarantees..."

They're still holding on.

But her voice, trembling like autumn leaves in the wind, and her evasive gaze, which dared not meet her eyes, had already betrayed her.

It betrayed her deepest fears.

Li Jianguo looked at her.

Then look at the other people who are also stubbornly holding on.

Suddenly he laughed.

The smile was faint.

It was so bland it was unsettling.

"The deaf old lady."

He spoke slowly.

Each word is like a carefully polished nail, hammering into one's heart, one by one.

"Stop using the issue of the 'Five Guarantees' households as an excuse."

He paused for a moment.

"I now seriously suspect that your status as a recipient of the Five Guarantees is fake."

He took a step forward.

"Since you absolutely refuse to talk about the documents, let's change the subject."

He looked down and stared at her.

"Tell me about it. What's the deal with those big yellow croakers in your house?"

Director Zhang's eyes lit up instantly.

Like a wolf in the night, spotting its prey.

Beneath the walls of the imperial city lie hidden dragons and crouching tigers.

There are indeed quite a few families that keep large yellow croakers at home.

But you are an old lady living in a corner of a tenement, relying on the help of your neighbors to make a living, so poor that you wish you could split every penny in half.

But there are piles of gold bars hidden in the house?

Isn't this the biggest joke ever?

"right!"

Director Zhang stepped forward.

He grabbed her hair again.

He forcibly lifted that old face.

He forced her to look him in the eye.

"Tell me! Where did all that gold come from?"

With a ferocious and menacing appearance.

If it were an ordinary person, being so frightened, they would probably have wet themselves in fear and confessed everything.

The deaf old woman.

Surprisingly, there wasn't one.

She shook her head frantically.

His withered lips moved, repeating only a few words over and over.

"No...I didn't...I don't know..."

They looked so innocent, so pitiful.

Innocent as a newborn baby.

They looked as pitiful as stray dogs on the street.

Li Jianguo looked down at him as if he were watching a poorly made play.