The entire courtyard is full of villains

Yan Bugui... Yan Bugui...

Zhang Guowei rubbed his temples vigorously, feeling a wave of fatigue. "Have you gotten any new information out of him? Has he confessed anything new?"

"No, Chief," the young policeman replied. "He keeps bringing up the same old, trivial matters, even going back to before the liberation. He hasn't admitted a single word about his affair with Liu Qian, insisting that he never even touched a hair on her head."

"Have you visited the neighbors these past two days? Is there any other evidence?"

“We visited them. We contacted most of the students we could find in Yan Bugui’s class back then. At that time, he did indeed pretend to tutor students in order to get a professional title, but he didn’t stick to it for more than a few days. After he got the title, nothing more happened.”

"Alright." Zhang Guowei waved his hand, signaling the young policeman to leave first.

He sat in his chair and pondered for a moment before picking up the phone and dialing the branch office. After listening to his report, the branch office chief remained silent for a while on the other end of the line before saying, "If we really can't find any evidence, then we should first communicate with the person who filed the report. According to procedure, we can only release Yan Bugui for now. We can't convict someone based solely on accusations; that's not in accordance with regulations."

"I see."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Guowei thought for a moment, got up, put on his coat, called two policemen, and went straight to Liu Qian's house.

Liu Qian's home was in the backyard of a large, crowded courtyard. As the police officers passed through the courtyard, several women chatting in the middle immediately fell silent, their eyes following their retreating figures, exchanging meaningful glances.

In the corner of the backyard, there was only a small side room where Liu Qian and her mother lived. At this moment, Liu's mother seemed to have already gone to sleep, and Liu Qian was washing dishes alone in the room. Seeing Zhang Guowei suddenly appear, she was clearly startled, hurriedly standing up and wiping her wet hands on the hem of her clothes.

"Director Zhang... please sit down, please sit down." She hurriedly looked for a cup to pour water.

“I don’t want any more water, Liu Qian.” Zhang Guowei said in a calm tone. “I came here to ask you about the situation regarding Yan Bugui.”

"Yes, please ask." Liu Qian lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the hem of her clothes.

"When Yan Bugui bullied you back then, did you tell anyone else besides yourself?"

"No...no." Liu Qian's voice lowered. "He threatened me, saying that if I dared to tell anyone, he would send his son to my house to make trouble. He knew that there was no man in my family to carry on the household... He also said that if this kind of thing got out, my life would be ruined..."

Zhang Guowei glanced at the room's furnishings without changing his expression and asked, "As far as I know, Liu Qian, you haven't been to school since graduating from junior high. Where have you been these past two years?"

"I...I..." Liu Qian stammered.

"Liu Qian, you have to tell the truth. We haven't been idle these past few days; we know exactly where you've been."

"Director Zhang, I..." Liu Qian's face flushed red, and her voice choked with sobs, "If Yan Bugui hadn't messed with me back then, would I have ended up in that situation?"

“Liu Qian, I’ll ask you one more time,” Zhang Guowei stared intently, “Is someone behind you instigating this?”

"No!" Liu Qian suddenly became fierce and asked excitedly, "Director Zhang, I just don't understand! Why don't you go and sentence Yan Bugui? Why do you keep asking me? Do you think I'm the one who was harmed by him?" As she spoke, tears fell down her face.

Zhang Guowei was flustered by her barrage of questions: "I...I didn't mean that. Okay, let's stop here for today."

He came out of the house somewhat dejectedly.

After he left, Liu Qian quietly tucked the blanket around her mother, wrapped a scarf around her neck, and went out to find Big Dog Brother.

Zhang Guowei returned to the police station and had Yan Bugui brought up.

Yan Bugui's eyes lit up when he saw him: "Chief Zhang, have you investigated thoroughly?"

“We haven’t found any new evidence yet,” Zhang Guowei said seriously, “but I have to warn you, nothing stays hidden forever. As long as you do it, we’ll get the evidence sooner or later.”

"Director Zhang, I really didn't do it!" Yan Bugui wanted to swear to the heavens.

Zhang Guowei waved his hand listlessly: "Fine, you'd better remember what we said today. We'll let you out for now, but you're not allowed to leave the area. If we find new evidence, we'll summon you anytime, and you must be there immediately. Do you understand?"

"I heard you, Chief Zhang." Yan Bugui suppressed his excitement.

Zhang Guowei didn't say anything more, he just waved his hand. Two policemen stepped forward and removed the handcuffs from his hands.

Yan Bugui glanced at the police officer, then cautiously looked at Zhang Guowei, before quietly moving out the door.

Chapter 144 Troublemaking

Liu Qian found Big Dog and told him everything that Zhang Guowei had done to question her. After listening, Big Dog frowned and said, "This guy surnamed Zhang, is he out of his mind? Alright, girl, you go back first. I'll report to Second Master later and see what he says."

"Okay, Big Dog Bro."

As Zhang Erhe was leaving get off work in the evening, he pushed his bicycle out of the steel mill gate and saw Big Dog waiting for him at the intersection, giving him a wink. Zhang Erhe nodded in understanding and rode his bicycle towards the courtyard house. Halfway there, he pretended to stop and turned into an alley. A moment later, Big Dog followed him in.

"Second Master?"

"What's wrong, big dog?"

"Zhang Guowei went to Liu Qian's house today, and his words made it seem like he knew about her past. What do you think we should do?"

Zhang Erhe remained calm: "It's alright. I've already made arrangements with Liu Qian, so he won't find anything. But I reckon he'll release Yan Bugui soon. Tonight, take a few men and go with Liu Qian to Yan Bugui's house to cause a scene. After that, this matter will be over."

He paused, then continued, "I've approved your shipment; you're free to distribute and handle it as you see fit. But from the proceeds, I'll take 80% and you 20%. Understand?"

"Yes, Second Master! Thank you for the meal!" Big Dog quickly replied, then asked, "And what about Sister Liu Qian in the future..."

"You don't need to worry about that. I have my own arrangements. Once things calm down, someone will take her to another place."

"That's good, Second Master. I'll go tell Sister Liu Qian right away."

After giving his instructions, Zhang Erhe pushed his bicycle out of the alley.

As soon as he entered the courtyard house, he heard a commotion inside, mixed with the cries of a woman. He leisurely parked his bicycle under the porch and saw Yang Ruihua frantically scratching Yan Bugui's face in front of Yan Bugui's house. Yan Bugui was desperately trying to fend off the scratches, looking utterly disheveled. Yan Jiecheng, standing nearby, was also glaring fiercely at his father.

"Yan Bugui! You shameless old man! Did I refuse to give you anything or what? You insisted on going out and messing with other girls! Now look what happened! You've ruined our family's reputation! Why did you even come back?" Yang Ruihua cried and cursed at the same time.

Yan Bugui tried to stop him while urgently explaining, "Ruihua! Let me explain! I really didn't do it! If I had, would the police have released me?"

"If you didn't do it, why did the police arrest you?"

"I...I was just cooperating with the investigation!"

"I don't believe it! Yan Bugui, you can't fool me!"

People in the courtyard gathered around, pointing and whispering among themselves.

"You can know a person's face but not their heart, I never would have guessed..."

"He's a beast! That girl is only 14 years old!"

"We need to discuss this in our compound. Maybe we should kick them out. Keeping them here is ruining the reputation of the whole compound!"

"Alright, everyone, stop crowding around! The fact that Old Yan is out means the police have investigated and found out he's fine. As neighbors, let's not speculate. And you, Yan's family member, don't argue with Old Yan anymore. If you have something to say, go back inside and talk behind closed doors."

Yi Zhonghai walked in from outside and spoke loudly.

Upon hearing this, Yang Ruihua stopped what she was doing, and Yan Bugui quickly grabbed her arm: "Ruihua, Ruihua, let's listen to Lao Yi, we'll talk about it when we get back..."

"Alright, everyone disperse, disperse!" Yi Zhonghai hurriedly called out twice, then rushed towards the backyard—he still needed to find the deaf old lady. Sha Zhu was still being held by the security department today, and they were waiting for the deaf old lady to bail him out.

Sha Zhu went to the steel mill this morning with a belly full of anger. He originally thought that without him, the kitchen would be in chaos yesterday, but as soon as he entered the back kitchen, he heard Liu Lan bragging to someone:

“You have no idea how good Chef Nan’s cooking is! The aroma of the dishes is incredible! Tsk tsk!” She smacked her lips. “If Ma Hua hadn’t pulled me back, I might have actually sneaked a bite! Even the mutton offal soup was exceptionally fragrant—yesterday, Ma Hua and I carried the pot over, and we each got a lunchbox! Let me tell you, Chef Nan’s cooking is absolutely amazing!”

Someone nearby egged them on: "How does it compare to Sha Zhu?"

"Silly Zhu? Silly Zhu isn't even worthy of carrying Master Nan's shoes!"

Bang!

Sha Zhu couldn't hold back any longer and kicked the door open.

"Liu Lan! What do you mean?!"

Just as Liu Lan finished speaking ill of someone, the person in question burst in, looking somewhat embarrassed: "N-nothing... I was just talking nonsense..." she said, and started to leave.

Sha Zhu grabbed her, saying, "Don't go! Explain yourself! What do you mean I'm not even worthy to carry that Nan guy's shoes?!"

"Zhu Zi, can you just pretend I was talking nonsense?" Liu Lan pleaded.

"No way! Liu Lan, you have to explain yourself today!" Sha Zhu seized the opportunity to make a scene. "My cooking skills are family tradition! Do you know Tan Family Cuisine? That's official cuisine! Who is this Nan guy, some random cook who popped out of nowhere, daring to show off in front of me, Master Zhu?!"

"Zhu Zi, I admit I was wrong. Can we let bygones be bygones regarding Master Nan's matter?"

"No!"

Sha Zhu wouldn't let it go and dragged Liu Lan out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to see just how good that guy surnamed Nan's cooking really is today!"

Nan Yi arrived at the cafeteria unusually early today, but to his surprise, Wu Gang was even earlier. Wu Gang immediately went to the cafeteria manager, insisting on giving Nan Yi his position as cafeteria supervisor. Nan Yi quickly declined, saying, "No, no, that's not appropriate."

Wu Gang, however, was adamant: "Master Nan, your skills are excellent, you should be the foreman."

The canteen manager also chimed in, "Chef Nan, Chef Wu is being so sincere, please don't refuse, just accept it."

After much refusal, Nan Yi finally agreed. As the three were talking, the cafeteria door was suddenly kicked open with a loud bang.

The people in the cafeteria were stunned and quickly grabbed whatever was at hand—who would cause trouble so early in the morning?

Sha Zhu dragged Liu Lan in, pulling her along as they barged in, shouting, "Where's the one surnamed Nan? Where's the one surnamed Nan?"

Nan Yi frowned and stepped forward: "I am Nan Yi. And you are?"

"I'm He Yuzhu from the third canteen!" Sha Zhu raised his chin. "Hey, you surnamed Nan, stop pretending! I'm asking you, what right do you, a grown man, have to talk bad about me behind my back?"

Nan Yi was baffled: "Master He, what are you talking about? When did I ever say anything bad about you?"

"Hey, you dare to do it but not admit it, huh?" Sha Zhu turned and pulled Liu Lan over. "Liu Lan, tell him, did he say that I'm not even worthy to carry his shoes?"

Liu Lan stamped her feet anxiously: "Zhu Zi! Master Nan didn't say that! I didn't even see him yesterday, how could he have said that? I just blurted it out this morning, it's my fault!" As she spoke, she slapped her face twice.

"Did you hear that, He Yuzhu?" Nan Yi was also angry. He had only been at the factory for a few days and couldn't bear such a bad reputation. "This is the first time I've shown you any mercy. If you ruin my reputation like this again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

"Ha! You dare to challenge me, huh?" Sha Zhu's temper flared up, and he stretched his head forward. "Come on, I'll see how you dare to be so impolite!"

Nan Yi also had a fiery temper and raised his hand to strike. Seeing this, the cafeteria manager rushed forward and grabbed Nan Yi from behind: "Chef Nan! Chef Nan, don't be impulsive! He's straightforward, don't take it to heart!"

He quickly shouted to Wu Gang, "Quick! Quickly pull Sha Zhu away!"

Wu Gang winked at his apprentices, and they stepped forward to stop Sha Zhu. Wu Gang then secretly struck Sha Zhu twice. Sha Zhu cried out in pain, "Ouch! You guys from the whole canteen ganged up on me, huh? Fine! Then don't blame me for being ruthless!"

They started fighting, and after a few shoves, they actually managed to push several people away.

The cafeteria manager was frantic and rushed over to break up the fight, but Sha Zhu, blinded by rage, swung a punch that landed squarely on the manager's face. The manager didn't even utter a sound before collapsing to the ground.

Upon seeing this, Wu Gang shouted, "Sha Zhu knocked the director unconscious! Quick! Let's all go and drag him to the security office!"

Chapter 145 Watching the Show

By the time the canteen staff dragged Sha Zhu to the security office, he was already bruised and swollen, his head drooping. The security guards' eyes twitched – these canteen staff were truly ruthless; was this a canteen or a den of bandits, with such vicious hands?

"What happened?" Section Chief Zhou asked.

Wu Gang hurriedly stepped forward: "Section Chief Zhou, this idiot Zhu came to our canteen early this morning to cause trouble and even knocked out the canteen director. He's been taken to the infirmary now."