The entire courtyard is full of villains

He turned to Kang Yunfeng and said, "Section Chief Kang, I will arrange for two team members to go to your section to monitor Yi Zhonghai's work at the factory. I would appreciate your cooperation."

"Don't worry, Director Wang, I will cooperate fully!" Kang Yunfeng immediately agreed.

“Okay, that’s settled then.” Wang Xianyong closed the document and looked at the two men. “Director Yang, Section Chief Kang, I hope we can work together to thoroughly investigate this case.”

Chapter 23 A Broken Drum Gets Hammered by Everyone

After seeing Wang Xianyong and Kang Yunfeng off, Yang Liming returned to his office, his face already ashen. He finally couldn't hold back and slammed his fist hard on the table, making the documents on it bounce.

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I shouldn't have been honest with my old boss!" He gritted his teeth, his voice full of regret. "Now look what's happened. Although the boss is willing to help, he's definitely got a grudge in his heart. It'll be difficult for him to get promoted in the future!"

As he spoke, Yang Liming slapped his forehead hard, extremely annoyed: "That Wang guy is a real scoundrel! He clearly said he would let the factory know as soon as there were results, or even just make a phone call! Now look what he's done, he's made me end up like this, what bad luck!"

Meanwhile, in the office of the deputy district head of Dongcheng District, Wang Xiuju from the subdistrict office stood timidly before the desk like a frightened quail, letting Deputy District Head Zhou berate her. Only after Deputy District Head Zhou's voice stopped did she dare to cautiously raise her head, her voice trembling: "District Head Zhou, I was wrong..."

"Alright." Deputy District Chief Zhou's tone softened a bit. "Wang Xiuju, this time it's thanks to the Dongcheng Branch not expanding the case, and since you confessed voluntarily, the organization won't pursue it too strictly. But you can no longer serve as the director; you'll be demoted to a clerk. Until the new director takes office, you'll temporarily act as the acting director."

"Thank you, District Chief Zhou! I know I was wrong. Don't worry, I will definitely work hard in the future and never let you down again!" Wang Xiuju nodded quickly, bowing even lower.

Deputy District Chief Zhou waved his hand, signaling her to close the door. Wang Xiuju quickly closed the door, turned around and leaned closer, lowering her voice even further: "Third Uncle, thank you so much for your help this time."

Deputy District Chief Zhou sighed: "Xiuju, don't be so rash in the future. It's a good thing you didn't take Yi Zhonghai's money, otherwise you might really be in jail this time."

"Third Uncle, I really didn't accept it!" Wang Xiuju's face turned red as she hurriedly explained, "It was Yi Zhonghai who came to me behind Old Lady Long's back. Our family isn't like those peasants, how could we possibly care about his meager earnings? It was only because we owed Old Lady Long a favor and couldn't refuse that we helped him with this favor."

“Sigh, let’s not talk about the past.” Deputy District Chief Zhou sighed again, his tone becoming serious. “When you go back this time, make it clear to Old Lady Long that you’ve completely repaid the favor you owe her this time, and don’t have anything to do with her again in the future.”

"I understand, Third Uncle," Wang Xiuju quickly replied.

“Go back and do a good job,” Deputy District Chief Zhou added. “I will try my best not to assign a new director to Jiaodaokou. Do your job as acting director well. At the end of the year, I will try to give you some credit and remove the title of ‘acting director.’ I may be transferred next year, and I will transfer you to my side to get rid of this punishment. Your future will be much easier.”

“Third Uncle…” Wang Xiuju’s voice choked with emotion, and her eyes reddened before she could finish speaking.

At the entrance of courtyard house number 95, Jia Zhangshi held her son Jia Dongxu's hand. Looking at the familiar gate, her eyes reddened, and she couldn't help but burst into tears—they had finally come out.

The two had just stepped through the gate when they bumped into Yang Ruihua. Yang Ruihua's eyes widened, and he pointed at Jia Zhangshi: "You...weren't you in a labor camp? How did you get back? Did you...run away? Let me tell you, Jia Zhangshi, don't do anything foolish! Go to the police station and turn yourself in!"

"Bullshit!" Jia Zhangshi instantly reverted to her usual arrogance, spitting as she spoke. "You're the convict, your whole family are convicts! I was taken away by the police for investigation, but now that everything's cleared up, I'm back! Stop spreading rumors and ruining my reputation!" She knew perfectly well that the women in the courtyard were very gossipy, and if she didn't stand up for herself, the Jia family's reputation would be ruined in no time.

Hearing this, Yang Ruihua was half-convinced, "Since you're back, what about Yi Zhonghai?"

"Yi Zhonghai has absolutely nothing to do with our family! All the neighbors are here now, and you can all be my witnesses—from now on, the Jia family has nothing to do with the Yi family whatsoever!"

"Shh!" A woman nearby, who was sewing insoles, lowered her voice, but deliberately made sure everyone around could hear, "Your son, Jia Dongxu, is Yi Zhonghai's beloved disciple. Can you really sever that relationship so easily?"

"Bullshit!" Madam Jia jumped three feet high in anger, her voice shrill. "That's Yi Zhonghai, a toad trying to eat swan meat! He's got his eye on our Dongxu because he's filial, and he wants Dongxu to take care of him in his old age—he's an old man without descendants, he's blinded by greed! Our Dongxu will only take care of me in my old age, no one else can even think about it!"

She became more and more agitated as she spoke, and finally put her hands on her hips and threatened, "I'm warning you, if anyone in the courtyard ever says again that the Jia family and the Yi family have a good relationship, I'll go to their doorstep and hang myself, and I'll make sure your family never has a peaceful life again!"

At this moment, Liu Haizhong's wife came over, her eyes full of gossip: "Jia Zhangshi, that day Yi Zhonghai's wife, Tan Saihua, said that you and Yi Zhonghai went into the cellar together. Is that true?"

"What utter nonsense!" Madam Jia Zhang was so angry that her face turned pale. "Who doesn't know that I, Madam Jia Zhang, am a famous chaste and virtuous woman who has remained a widow for Old Master Jia all these years! Stop spouting this rubbish and don't think you can bully me!"

"Haha, we don't believe it..." The women in the courtyard burst into laughter, their eyes brimming with undisguised suspicion. Jia Dongxu, standing to the side, blushed deeply under the stares of the crowd. Unable to stay any longer, he lowered his head and ran home.

Jia Zhangshi refused to give up and even stood with her hands on her hips, arguing back with a group of women. But she was also feeling guilty. Most of the people in the courtyard had heard what Tan Saihua said that day. Tan Saihua was usually honest, and her words were much more effective than her own explanations.

The women in the courtyard all knew Jia Zhangshi's temperament well—she always tried to make trouble even when she was being unreasonable, so they simply kept quiet, exchanging glances with obvious mockery in their eyes, which they couldn't hide at all.

"Hmph, now you dare not talk nonsense, huh?" Seeing that no one responded, Jia Zhangshi became even more emboldened, sticking out her neck and making a threat, "I'll see if anyone dares to gossip again, I'll gouge their mouth out!" After saying that, as if she had won a battle, she walked home without looking back.

As soon as she left, the whispers in the courtyard started again. Liu Haizhong's wife leaned close to Yang Ruihua and asked in a low voice, "Yang Ruihua, what crime did Yi Zhonghai commit? Could it be so serious?"

“I reckon it won’t be a light matter.” Yang Ruihua gestured with his chin toward the east wing. “Otherwise, would they have just raided his house and sealed it off? Look at that seal, it’s stuck on tightly in a cross shape, it’s obviously no small matter.”

All eyes turned to Yi Zhonghai's house; the two white seals on the door were particularly conspicuous. "Yeah, what could it be?" another woman asked, her eyes full of curiosity.

Someone remembered that Yang Ruihua's family had been living in the courtyard house for a long time, and asked again, "Yang Ruihua, your family has been here for a long time, can you tell me what Yi Zhonghai's family was like before?"

“Our family didn’t come early either, we only came in 48.” Yang Ruihua thought for a moment and then added, “I heard Zhang Erhe’s mother say that Yi Zhonghai and his wife came in 46. They were in a terrible state back then—carrying a tattered flour sack, dressed in rags, like refugees, almost begging with a stick and a bowl. Who would have thought that he would get a job at the factory and catch a good time, and become successful in just a few years.”

“Oh, I’ve heard another version of the story,” the woman who had just interrupted said in a low voice. “They say that Yi Zhonghai slept with someone else’s wife back in his hometown, and that’s why he was being chased and killed, which is why he ran here overnight.”

"Really?" Everyone around was shocked when these words were spoken.

“That’s right!” the woman patted her chest and assured him, “My husband was drinking with He Daqing before, and when he got drunk he was bragging that Yi Zhonghai used to frequent the ‘Eight Great Halls’ and would eat and drink without paying. Maybe all of that is true!”

“And another thing,” someone else chimed in, “I also heard He Daqing say that Yi Zhonghai is the one who doesn’t lay eggs.”

"That's not right. Look at Tan Saihua, she's brewing medicine every day, the medicine pot never stops. I suspect there's something wrong with them! Otherwise, how could they have no children?"

“That’s right!” someone immediately chimed in. “That day, Zhang Erhe called him ‘deserving to be childless,’ and now it seems he was right! He used to brag that Old Lady Long had given shoes to ‘the most lovable people,’ but I don’t think he’s any good himself!”

Chapter 24 Rumors Abound

In the kitchen of the steel rolling mill, Sha Zhu had just finished cooking a large pot of vegetables, limping along. Before he could even sit down for two minutes, Liu Lan came over and asked with a curious look, "Sha Zhu, I heard that you live in the same courtyard as Yi Zhonghai, who was arrested a couple of days ago?"

"Yeah." Sha Zhu rolled his eyes and asked irritably, "So what?"

"So why was Yi Zhonghai arrested?" Liu Lan lowered her voice. "I heard from people in the factory that he didn't pay them after he finished his business at Pimp Alley, so they called the police, and that's how he got arrested!"

"No, no!" A kitchen helper immediately interjected, his tone certain, "Liu Lan, you must have misheard! It was Yi Zhonghai who had an affair with another woman, and her husband found out. The man threatened to kill him, so Yi Zhonghai decided to go all the way and bought poison to have the woman kill her husband—exactly the same as Pan Jinlian poisoning Wu Dalang!"

"Wow! So, Yi Zhonghai is a Ximen Qing?" someone exclaimed in surprise, while another master chef curled his lip and said, "Ximen my foot! With his old appearance, I don't know which woman would be blind to want to be with him."

"What's wrong with Yi Zhonghai? He's a level 7 worker, making almost 100 yuan a month! How much do you make?" An older woman interjected indignantly, then turned to Sha Zhu, "Sha Zhu, tell me, did Yi Zhonghai actually find someone outside?"

Sha Zhu frowned and hesitated for a long time before vaguely saying, "I don't know either... but his house has indeed been sealed off."

"Wow! That must be murder!" The kitchen helper who had just said Yi Zhonghai "poisoned his lover" immediately patted his chest and guaranteed, "If it wasn't murder, why would they seal off his house?" The people around him nodded in agreement, "That's right!"

Liu Lan's eyes darted around, and without saying anything more, she turned and ran out again. Sha Zhu, however, sat there stunned, his mind a jumble: "What did that old man do? How did he implicate that old woman and the old lady? Could it be that he really was having an affair and even murdered someone with a woman? But he doesn't seem like that usually..." The more he thought about it, the more confused he became; Sha Zhu felt like his head was about to explode.

Meanwhile, in the forging workshop, a group of people had gathered around Liu Haizhong. He cleared his throat, looking indignant: "If you ask me, a hypocrite like Yi Zhonghai should have been exposed long ago! You have no idea how badly Zhang Erhe berated him in the yard that day, do you?"

"Is that Zhang Erhe from the repair shop?" someone immediately asked.

"That's right!" Liu Haizhong clapped his hands, adding fuel to the fire, "Yi Zhonghai spread rumors about Zhang Erhe, saying that he was dead and wanted to seize his family's property. But Zhang Erhe was alive and well, and he immediately grabbed Yi Zhonghai and gave him a good scolding. Several of Zhang Erhe's sworn brothers were shouting that they wanted to beat him to death. If I hadn't desperately stopped them that day, someone would have died on the spot! Later, the neighborhood committee and the police station came, and Yi Zhonghai was so scared that he wet his pants!"

He paused, then raised his voice, a hint of smugness in it: "In the end, the leaders of the neighborhood committee had a discerning eye and said that I was the only reasonable person in the courtyard, so they made me the only caretaker of the courtyard and dismissed Yi Zhonghai and the other caretaker! You tell me, such a bad person should have been executed long ago!"

"So, Master Liu, what exactly did Yi Zhonghai do wrong this time?" someone asked.

Liu Haizhong stroked his chin, feigning seriousness: "I reckon it's something big..."

"What's the big deal?" everyone pressed, but Liu Haizhong hesitated and couldn't get the answer out for a long time.

Liu Haizhong was stumped by the question, and in a fit of anger, he waved his hand to shoo people away: "Get to work! You don't finish your work every day, all you do is gather here and gossip!" The onlookers exchanged glances—guessing that this blockhead didn't know what serious trouble Yi Zhonghai had gotten into, they dispersed dejectedly.

On the other side, Xu Damao from the propaganda department was excitedly gossiping with others, finally concluding with absolute certainty: "This Yi Zhonghai is no good person at all! Don't be fooled by his respectable appearance and honest face; he's rotten to the core! Otherwise, why would the police take him away for no reason?" The onlookers wholeheartedly agreed, nodding in agreement—these days, people's views are simple; if someone can be taken away by the police, they can't be a good person.

In the interrogation room of Dongcheng District, Yi Zhonghai was interrogated again, this time with slightly better treatment; his wounds were even treated with medicine. The interrogator stared at him and asked, "Yi Zhonghai, are you really sure you haven't participated in any espionage activities?"

"Sir, I really didn't!" Yi Zhonghai hurriedly defended himself.

"Alright, since there's no evidence, we'll investigate further." The interrogator's tone shifted, instantly dampening Yi Zhonghai's initial joy. "However, while we won't punish you for the two things—your affair with Jia Zhangshi and helping the honey trap gang find a way out—because too much time has passed and we can't find evidence, the evidence is conclusive that you colluded with Director Wang of the street office to maliciously force residents to move. We've decided to sentence you to three months of labor reform. Do you have any objections?"

"No, no!" Yi Zhonghai quickly shook his head. As long as it wasn't a more serious crime, he could accept three months of labor reform.

"Your wife will be here soon. Have her bring you a set of bedding. Tomorrow we'll transfer you to a labor camp." After saying this, the interrogator had someone take him away.

A moment later, Tan Saihua walked in, her eyes reddening when she saw Yi Zhonghai, and she choked out, "Old Yi..."

"Saihua, I'm fine." Yi Zhonghai tried to appear calm. "Tomorrow, could you bring me a set of bedding? I'm going to do three months of labor reform."

"Zhonghai, what serious crime have you committed?" Upon hearing "reform through labor," Tan Saihua immediately burst into tears.

"It's about those families in the courtyard who were transferred..." Yi Zhonghai mumbled a few words, and Tan Saihua immediately understood. She quickly asked, "Should we ask the old lady to put in a good word for us?"

"Goodbye, go back and wait for me. I'll be back in three months," Yi Zhonghai advised her. Tan Saihua didn't say anything more, wiped away her tears, and hurriedly left the branch office, only thinking about getting back to prepare her bedding.

Inside the Jiaodaokou Police Station, Zhang Guowei put down the phone and immediately called in two police officers: "Go to courtyard house number 95 and remove the seal on the door of the Yi family. Once Yi Zhonghai's wife arrives, make sure the items seized that day are accounted for and handed over, then come back to report."

"Yes!" The two accepted the order and left.

Inside the courtyard, Jia Zhangshi was sitting at her doorway sewing insoles, her needle and thread moving slowly, her eyes never leaving her eldest grandson, Banggeng, playing nearby. Then two policemen entered the courtyard, went straight to the east wing, ripped off the seal on the door with a "rip," and pushed it open—Jia Zhangshi instantly perked up, jumped to her feet, and shouted into the house, "Qin Huairu! Come out!"

Qin Huairu rushed out of the house, looking puzzled: "What's wrong, Mom?"

"Go ask in the east wing!" Madam Jia lowered her voice, but her eyes gleamed. "It must be because Yi Zhonghai was sentenced and the police came to seize his property! If that's the case, tell the police that Dongxu is Yi Zhonghai's apprentice and that everything in the house was left to him by Yi Zhonghai!"

"Mom, you told us yesterday to sever ties with the Yi family..." Qin Huairu hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade her, but before she could finish speaking, "slap!" Jia Zhangshi slapped her across the face.

"You really are stupid!" Jia Zhangshi cursed through gritted teeth. "If Yi Zhonghai were alive, we wouldn't be afraid of getting involved; but now that he's about to die, what are you afraid of? Go now!"

Qin Huairu covered her burning face, feeling utterly helpless, and could only slowly walk towards the east wing. Just as she reached the door, she bumped into two policemen coming out. She quickly went to them and whispered, "Officers, may I ask... what happened to Yi Zhonghai?"

"Why are you asking this?" one of the police officers frowned.

Qin Huairu felt a pang of panic, but remembering the fierce look in Jia Zhangshi's eyes behind her, she suppressed her panic and explained, "I'm the neighbor across the street, I just... I just wanted to ask about the Yi family's situation."

“Yi Zhonghai has been sentenced to three months of labor reform,” another, slightly older policeman said. “We’re here to remove the seals and wait for his wife to arrive so we can hand over the seized items.” He then asked, “Is there anything else?”

"No, it's nothing, I was just asking." Qin Huairu quickly shook her head, turned around and walked back quickly.

Chapter 25 It's not that simple.

At the entrance of the police station, Old Lady Long stared intently at Tan Saihua as she walked out.

"Grandma, Zhonghai is going to be sentenced—"

"Shut up!" Old Mrs. Long interrupted abruptly, her voice low and harsh. "Is this the place to talk? Help me back!"

Tan Saihua, who was standing nearby, finally came to her senses and hurriedly helped Grandma Long walk back. On the way, she cautiously asked, "Grandma, I still have bath tickets here. How about I accompany you to take a bath?"

"Never mind." Old Mrs. Long waved her hand, her voice tinged with exhaustion. "These past two days have been quite a struggle."

Confined inside for the past two days, she ate nothing but cornbread for every meal, her heart pounding with anxiety, constantly thinking she had committed some past offense. But it wasn't until she was released today that she finally understood the reason—it was all because of Yi Zhonghai's involvement.

She was seething with resentment, but she still needed Tan Saihua's care, so she had to suppress her anger and told Tan Saihua, "Go wash up, and when you come back, boil some hot water for me and help me wipe myself down in the room."

"Yes, ma'am," Tan Saihua replied softly, not daring to say more.

Upon entering the courtyard, the women who had been gathered together scattered at the sight of the two. Old Mrs. Long's small eyes flashed with malice as she gritted her teeth and cursed, "These good-for-nothings! I'm truly a tiger fallen into the plains, bullied by dogs!"

As soon as I entered the Intermediate People's Court, two police officers walked towards me and called out, "Tan Saihua."

Tan Saihua quickly released Grandma Long and stepped forward: "Comrade, I'm here."

"Come here, let's take inventory of your belongings." One of the police officers said, handing over an inventory sheet. After the two of them checked it against the sheet, they gave her a form to sign, and then turned and left.

"Grandma, why don't you come inside and rest?" Tan Saihua said, supporting Grandma Long, her tone becoming increasingly cautious.