The entire courtyard is full of villains

Liu Guangtian nodded and stood up: "I understand, Director Lü."

In the other interrogation rooms, the questioning of Liu Guangqi, Liu Guangfu, and the second aunt was also being carried out simultaneously.

After everyone gave their statements, the task force held a meeting. Deputy Director Cheng, who was in charge of the task force, spoke first: "Everyone, compare the statements you have and see if there are any discrepancies."

After checking with several parties, it was found that most of their accounts were consistent: Second Aunt, Liu Guangqi, and Liu Guangfu also did not know what Liu Jiangzhong did before. Only Second Aunt vaguely mentioned that her husband, Liu Haizhong, seemed to dislike this older brother very much; in addition, Liu Guangtian had been beaten up by Liu Haizhong for bringing up his uncle's matter when he went to the grave.

This seemed to have led the task force into a dead end.

Deputy Director Cheng clapped his hands, signaling everyone to be quiet: "Alright, let's split into two groups: one group will go to Liu Haizhong's hometown in Chengde County to inquire about the Liu family's specific situation. Since Liu Haizhong said his elder brother died of syphilis, he must have sought medical treatment at the time. Let's see if we can find any relevant evidence. The other group will communicate with the steel rolling mill to investigate whether Liu Haizhong has any unusual behavior. Meeting adjourned."

As soon as Deputy Director Cheng returned to his office, the phone rang.

"Hello, Director Cheng, I am Song Wenguang."

"Old Song, what made you suddenly decide to call me?"

"Director Cheng, may I ask you a question? Has our municipal bureau taken on a spy case?"

"Yes, do you have any leads?"

"Here's the thing: We received a report before about Yi Zhonghai, a fitter at the steel rolling mill in the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang. But no matter how we investigated, we couldn't find any substantial clues."

Deputy Director Cheng's eyes lit up: "Is it also courtyard house number 95?"

"Yes, it's also number 95. The whistleblower also provided a photo, but after extensive investigation, we found that the reported Yi Zhonghai did not have any timeline of being a spy. I heard today that the Municipal Bureau also has a similar case, and I feel... these two cases are very likely of the same kind."

Deputy Director Cheng slammed his hand on the table: "Alright, compile the investigation materials and send them over as soon as possible."

After hanging up the phone, Deputy Director Cheng tapped his fingers lightly on the table. The same pattern of whistleblowing, the same type of evidence, happening repeatedly in the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang—this was no coincidence. Either Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong were indeed hiding a secret, and the investigation hadn't yet reached the core; or, there was a force behind it all, possessing incredibly realistic photo forgery technology, specifically targeting the residents of the courtyard house. Regardless of the possibility, it all pointed to one crucial point: the whistleblower must have had a deep-seated grudge against these two men; otherwise, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths to frame them.

Thinking of this, Cheng Jianguo's eyes sharpened, and he stood up and walked outside. The corridor was dimly lit, and he called out, "Director Lü!"

A moment later, Lü Mei strode over, holding a newly compiled case summary in her hand, her face showing a hint of competence: "Director, do you have any instructions?"

"Immediately arrange for our plainclothes investigators to infiltrate the vicinity of the courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang and conduct a thorough investigation." Cheng Jianguo's voice was deep and decisive. "Focus on two things: first, who have Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong had any conflicts with in the courtyard and among the neighbors over the years; second, check if they have any common targets of conflict—whether it's neighborhood disputes, work conflicts, or old grudges, anything even remotely related must be recorded."

"Understood." Lü Mei nodded quickly, her pen scribbling rapidly in her notebook. "I'll make the arrangements right away. Have the investigators disguise themselves as scrap collectors and scissor sharpeners, and infiltrate the nearby alleys, trying not to alert them."

"Yes, be sure to be careful," Cheng Jianguo instructed. "The neighborhood relationships in the courtyards are complicated, with many family matters and grudges hidden beneath the surface. Have the investigators talk to the old neighbors, especially the elderly who live at home; they may know more. All the information gathered must be compiled and reported as soon as possible; no detail can be missed."

"Yes, I'll take care of it right now." Lü Mei closed her notebook, turned and quickly left.

P.S.: There was another earthquake last night. What's going on this year? Is this our zodiac year in Gansu?

Chapter 194 Big Trouble

Zhang Erhe returned to his courtyard house after get off work that evening. Just as he was about to enter the gate, a scrap collector scurried past him from a distance. Zhang Erhe's eyes flashed—at this hour, scrap collectors should have already gone home to complete their tasks, and besides, this face was somewhat unfamiliar.

As he walked into the alley, he saw a cyclist parked by the roadside, head down, repairing the chain. He fiddled with it in his hands, but his eyes kept glancing at the passersby.

Zhang Erhe immediately realized: it seems the police aren't fools. Using the same method a second time, the other side immediately became alert. This time, dealing with Liu Haizhong was probably a miscalculation—a different approach would have been needed.

However, he pretended nothing was wrong and calmly walked into the courtyard.

When he went out that evening, he noticed people still lurking near the courtyard. To avoid alerting them, he chose to remain still.

The next day at work, he took the opportunity of going out to buy supplies to find Wu Qian.

"Qian'er, who was it that you were asked to deal with those people the other day?"

"What's wrong, Second Brother? I'm looking for Li Monkey."

Where is Li Houzi?

"They should still be working over there in Jingyang Hutong right now."

"Make him leave quickly. I suspect the police are about to find him."

“Okay, this kid just happened to say he wanted to go to Hong Kong Island to stay with his relatives.”

“Since he has this plan, let’s not stop him.” Zhang Erhe took out two gold bars. “A poor family needs to be rich on the road. Send him away tonight.”

"Understood, Second Brother." Wu Qian took the gold bar and nodded.

That afternoon, the task force held another meeting.

Deputy Director Cheng held the investigation materials that had just been handed to him, and looking at the long list of names on them, he instantly felt a headache coming on. He turned to Director Lü and asked, "Did you find all of this out?"

Director Lü was also somewhat embarrassed: "Director Cheng, this... this is the result of our preliminary investigation."

"How can there be so many people?"

Director Lü cursed inwardly, never expecting that Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong had offended so many people in the hospital.

Deputy Director Cheng sighed and began to flip through the list. At the very top was "Zhang Erhe".

“Zhang Erhe…” Deputy Director Cheng read out the name, glanced at the address, and asked, “Is this person also from courtyard number 95?”

“Yes, he lives in the same courtyard as Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong,” Lü Mei quickly explained. “According to our investigators, when Zhang Erhe was injured, Yi Zhonghai, along with Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui, almost wiped out his entire family. Later, Zhang Erhe made a big fuss about it, which led to all of them being dismissed from their positions as liaison officers. Moreover, recently, Liu Haizhong’s wife has been making a lot of sarcastic remarks in the hospital because of Zhang Erhe’s hospitalization.”

"And the second one, Xu Damao?"

"Xu Damao is the projectionist at the steel rolling mill and lives in the backyard with Liu Haizhong. On the surface, he only has a conflict with Yi Zhonghai, but in reality, he also looks down on Liu Haizhong, thinking he is uneducated and only speaks up in the yard because of his status as the yard manager. Xu Damao has always resented Liu Haizhong for never speaking up for the backyard residents as the liaison officer, but instead joining Yi Zhonghai in bullying his own people. In addition, as a projectionist, he is technically involved in developing photos... We believe he is the most suspicious."

"The third one, He Yuzhu?"

Director Lü looked conflicted: "On the surface, this person not only has no enmity with Yi Zhonghai, but also has a very good relationship with him. However, we found out that Yi Zhonghai may have been involved in his father's departure from the courtyard house. In addition, he has a very bad relationship with Liu Haizhong, and they have argued publicly many times, even threatening to fight each other."

Deputy Director Cheng rubbed his temples and continued scrolling down, discovering a long list of names following the main list.

"How come there are still so many?" he asked, looking up.

Director Lü explained in a low voice, "It's mainly those people who wrote a joint letter to drive out when Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong were liaison officers back then. We've all visited them, and they all harbor a lot of resentment towards those two."

“That’s outrageous.” Deputy Director Cheng picked up another document—it was a commendation document from the Jiaodaokou Subdistrict Office that rated No. 95 Courtyard as an “Outstanding Courtyard of the Year,” and the date on the document was last year.

"How could such a small courtyard house be rated as an outstanding siheyuan (traditional courtyard house)? How did the neighborhood committee conduct its evaluation?"

Director Lü looked embarrassed; she also felt that the subdistrict office had gone a bit too far in its work.

"Director Lü," Deputy Director Cheng said, barely suppressing his anger, "call District Chief Wu of Dongcheng District later and report the situation. Tell them to thoroughly investigate the sub-district offices below, lest they regret it when something really goes wrong."

"Understood." Director Lü nodded quickly.

In the interrogation room, Liu Haizhong, who had been severely punished the day before, was sitting in a chair, his legs trembling.

"Liu Haizhong, you've thought about it all night, have you figured it out yet?"

"Boss..." Liu Haizhong said with a mournful face, "I really don't know what my older brother did!"

"You don't know? Then why did you hide the letters and photos at home?"

"I didn't hide it, sir! I really didn't put it there!" Liu Haizhong swore to the heavens. "Officer, if this kind of thing fell into my hands, I would have burned it long ago. Why would I keep it? Even if my brother really was a traitor, why would I keep it?"

The two police officers exchanged a glance but said nothing.

Just then, the people who went to Chengde to investigate returned.

According to the report, an elderly traditional Chinese medicine doctor in Chengde recalled that around 43 years ago, a young man surnamed Liu did seek his treatment for venereal disease. The doctor suggested that the man take penicillin, but the man never appeared again. The investigation team showed him a photo of Liu Haizhong for identification. The old doctor glanced at it and felt that the patient from back then "somewhat resembled this person."

In addition, investigators also learned near the shop where Liu Haizhong's elder brother used to work that there was indeed a person named "Liu Jiangzhong" who indulged in all sorts of vices, but no one had ever heard of him being a traitor.

In the conference room, Deputy Director Cheng had the newly supplemented materials circulated among the task force members. After everyone had read them, he cleared his throat.

"Everyone has seen the latest information, right? Based on this information, Liu Haizhong's situation is likely similar to Yi Zhonghai's. It's very possible that someone deliberately forged the photos in this incident. Our next focus in the investigation should be on people who have grudges against both Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong."

Director Lü stood up: "Director Cheng, I suggest we focus our attention on Xu Damao. Both he and his father are projectionists. If someone can forge photos, they are likely proficient in film processing and developing techniques. I believe Xu Damao should be listed as a key target for investigation."

Deputy Director Cheng nodded. If it was indeed a forgery, Xu Damao certainly met the requirements.

"Then let's do this: concentrate our efforts on investigating Xu Damao. The others should focus on investigating Zhang Erhe and He Yuzhu. As for the rest of the people on the list, we'll get a clear picture of their situations first and put them aside for now."

Over the next few days, Zhang Erhe keenly sensed that someone was secretly watching him, both near the courtyard house at No. 95 and on his way to work. However, he pretended not to notice anything.

In Liu Haizhong's case, the only one who might be exposed, Li Houzi, has already boarded a smuggling boat bound for Hong Kong. Even if the police suspect Liu Guangtian was framed, it will be difficult to find any concrete clues. Therefore, as long as he keeps a low profile, it will be difficult for this matter to implicate him.

Meanwhile, Xu Damao, on the other hand, began to encounter big trouble due to the investigators' in-depth investigation.

Chapter 195 Not Easy

Zhangjia Brigade, Changqing Commune, on the outskirts of Sijiu City.

Xu Damao pushed his bicycle, with a foot-operated generator and a radio strapped to the back seat, into the courtyard where the brigade headquarters was located.

"Oh, Xu Yingfang, it's you again!" someone greeted.

Xu Damao parked his bicycle and replied with a smile, "Director Zhang, I know our Zhangjia Brigade very well. So this time, the task of showing movies to the farmers in our Zhangjia Brigade has been assigned to me. It's an honorable job."

"That would be too much trouble for you, Xu Yingxiang," Director Zhang said politely.

“What’s the trouble?” Xu Damao said shrewdly. “Without the hard work of you farmers, how could we workers have the confidence to work so diligently? That’s why we workers and farmers are truly one family, good brothers.”

After hearing this, the captain of Zhangjia Brigade beamed with joy: "Xu Yingxiang, come on, go inside and rest." Then he called out to the courtyard: "Da Niu!"

A young man ran in: "Hey, Captain, what's up?"

"Go to Yang the hunter's house at the village entrance and ask him to bring over the pheasant and rabbit he caught a couple of days ago. We'll treat Xu Yingxiang to a good meal tonight."

Upon hearing that there were pheasants and rabbits, Xu Damao unconsciously licked his lips. Recently, food rations in the city had been reduced, and his mouth had become incredibly bland. When he heard about the mission to screen films in the mountains, he was the first to volunteer; it seemed he had made the right decision.

In the evening, Xu Damao arranged two movies: "The Red Detachment of Women" and the animated film "Little Tadpoles Looking for Their Mother." By the time both movies finished, it was already past ten o'clock.

Xu Damao busied himself packing his things, knowing he wouldn't be able to go home tonight. He moved his bicycle, along with the radio and generator, into the house and locked them up—these things were precious.

"Xu Yingxiang, are you all packed? Come on, come inside and have something to eat and a drink. You've had a long day." The captain said quickly as he saw that Xu Yingxiang had finished packing.

“Alright, then I’ll gladly accept your offer.” Xu Damao was looking forward to this meal and readily agreed.

Upon entering the house, two jars of wine, a plate of stir-fried rabbit meat, and a plate of shredded potatoes were already laid out on the table.

The brigade leader looked a little embarrassed, after all, the protocol for entertaining projectionists used to be much higher. "Projectionist Xu, I'm really sorry, you know this year's harvest wasn't very good. If it weren't for the hunter at the edge of the village who caught a rabbit and a pheasant, we really wouldn't have anything to offer. This wine is homemade, it's no worse than Erguotou, it's just not as good-looking."

Knowing the current situation, Xu Damao quickly waved his hand: "Captain, what are you saying? I'll just eat something."

"That won't do!" the captain interrupted him. "You sit down first, let's eat the rabbit meat first. The chicken is being cooked over there, we'll bring it over when it's done."

"Okay."

The two sat down and began to chat. Just then, a shout came from outside the door, and the door was pushed open, and a woman walked in carrying a large soup bowl.

"Captain," the woman said, "our pheasants are better stewed than stir-fried, so I took the liberty of stewing them. Have a taste." With that, she placed the soup bowl steadily in the center of the table. Perhaps the bowl was too hot, because she quickly pinched her ear after putting it down.

Xu Damao had looked up when the woman called out "Captain," and what he saw there left him stunned.