The entire courtyard is full of villains

Yang Ruihua, who was standing next to him, quickly patted him on the back: "Old Yan! Lie down! The doctor said you can't get angry anymore!"

"Calm down..." Yan Jiecheng whispered, "I'm really going to use the gold bars to get married."

After a long while, Yan Bugui finally managed to calm his breathing a little and stared at his son, asking, "Who did you marry? Which family's daughter is she from?"

“The Cui family…”

Who introduced you?

"We know each other."

"Where is she from? Who's in her family?"

“She lived near Qianmen. She was a textile factory worker. Her family consisted of her father, stepmother, and younger brother.”

"A worker?" Yan Bugui narrowed his eyes. "A worker would look down on you? How did you two meet?"

“I met Yingying on the street. She lost her wallet, and I found it and returned it to her. Later, she helped me find some odd jobs, and we became acquainted over time…”

“That’s not right either,” Yan Bugui interrupted him. “Knowing each other is one thing, but why do we need to use gold bars to marry her?”

"Dad, Mom, this is what happened..." Yan Jiecheng explained Cui Yingying's situation, ending with a hint of boasting, "Yingying said that when she comes back from her business trip in a while, she'll be promoted to deputy workshop director. Then I'll marry her in a grand ceremony—and our family will have a cadre!"

After hearing this, Yang Ruihua was both pleased and worried: "Jiecheng, what kind of person is that girl?"

"Mom, Yingying is such a wonderful person! Although she's three years older than me, she's pretty, does housework very well, and keeps the house spotless. When she comes back, I'll bring her home; I guarantee you'll love her!"

"Okay, sure..." Yang Ruihua nodded.

Yan Bugui, however, found something increasingly amiss—there were just too many coincidences. It just so happened that Yan Jiecheng found the wallet, that he happened to be there when Cui Yingying fainted, and that he immediately "went on a business trip" after receiving the gold bars… This was clearly a pre-arranged drama!

"Jiecheng, what did you say that woman's name was?"

"Yingying."

"Full name!"

"Cui Yingying".

Chapter 148 Husband and Wife Tearing Each Other Apart

Snapped!

Yan Bugui's mind went blank—Cui Yingying? Isn't that the name from "The Romance of the Western Chamber"? Does he think I've never seen a play before?!

My own foolish son has probably been set up and tricked into a honey trap!

"Dad..." Yan Jiecheng looked at his father's uncertain expression and felt uneasy.

“Jiecheng,” Yan Bugui said slowly, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, “you have most likely… been deceived.”

"Dad! What nonsense are you talking about!" Yan Jiecheng said unhappily. "I'm worried that if this messy thing in our family gets back to Yingying, she won't be happy! But you, you're saying she'll lie to me—what will she lie to me about?"

"You think I'm trying to scam you out of gold bars?" Yan Bugui said, exasperated.

"Dad, I know you're upset about losing the gold bars. But Yingying said she'll pay you back with her entire monthly salary once she becomes the deputy director! It'll be at most two years, and she can pay back all the money for the gold bars. What are you worried about?"

“That’s right,” Yang Ruihua chimed in. “Old Yan, you should be happy that Jie Cheng has found a good partner.”

"I'm happy my ass!" Yan Bugui nearly choked again. "How could I have given birth to such a stupid son like you!"

"Haven't you figured it out yet?!" Yan Bugui could no longer contain himself. "Everything our family has been through lately is a trap set by Zhang Erhe! I was beaten up as a thief, you were framed, and now this mudslinging has been thrown at me—yes, all of this was done by Zhang Erhe! He's trying to ruin our family!"

"Ah?" Yan Jiecheng slumped to the ground with a thud, Cui Yingying's every smile and gesture flashing through his mind. "No, no... Yingying wouldn't lie to me..."

"Idiot! You said he was on a business trip? Who knows, he might be laughing at you with gold bars right now!"

"No! No!" Yan Jiecheng jumped up and rushed towards the front door—Yingying's house was still there. As long as he found her, he could prove that his father was just imagining things! Yingying was definitely a good girl; she would never lie to him!

After Yan Jiecheng ran away in a daze, Yan Bugui collapsed on the bed.

It's over... my family is truly finished.

His entire fortune was stolen, and even the last bit of gold he had saved was taken by his son and swindled away. He figured Zhang Erhe would definitely try to kill him, and he probably wouldn't even keep his job…

Thinking of this, he sat up abruptly: "Ruihua!"

"What's wrong, Lao Yan?" Yang Ruihua came over.

Yan Bugui mustered all his strength and slapped Yang Ruihua hard across the face: "It's all your fault! It's all your fault, you stupid woman! I told you a thousand times not to tell anyone, but you insisted! Now look what's happened, you've messed with Zhang Erhe, and now he's going to destroy our family!"

Yang Ruihua staggered from the slap—in their half-life of marriage, Yan Bugui had never laid a finger on her, but today he suddenly struck her hard, leaving her stunned.

"Yan Bugui! You hit me?!"

"Yes! I wish I could kill you right now! It's all because of you, you brainless idiot, your mouth is looser than a cotton trouser waistband! Let me tell you, you've ruined our family this time!"

"I killed him?!" Yang Ruihua's eyes widened.

"Yes! You're the one who killed us! If it weren't for that stupid woman's loose tongue, our family's money wouldn't have been lost, I wouldn't have been beaten, Jiecheng wouldn't have been scammed, and I wouldn't have been smeared like this!"

"So it's all my fault?!" Yang Ruihua also exploded, scratching Yan Bugui's face vigorously. "If you hadn't mentioned Zhang Erhe's father-in-law's matter to me back then, I would never have known! If I didn't know, would I have told anyone?! You still have the nerve to blame me?! It's all your fault for lying!"

Yan Bugui also got angry, and the couple started fighting right there in the hospital.

By the time the nurse rushed in, Yan Bugui's IV drip had already been ripped apart, Yang Ruihua's face was covered in bruises, and Yan Bugui's face was swollen.

"What are you fighting about here?! This is a hospital, not your home! If you want to fight, go back home!" The doctor got angry and told the nurses to kick the two of them out.

After running out of the hospital, Yan Jiecheng sprinted all the way to the front gate and soon arrived at Cui Yingying's house.

He saw the door was open from afar, and suddenly felt relieved—the door was open, which meant Yingying and the others hadn't run away! It must be that his father was worried about the gold bars and was deliberately trying to fool him!

When he stepped inside, he saw a group of strangers carrying furniture in.

He quickly stepped forward to stop them: "Hey! What are you doing? Who are you? Who let you in?"

A man carrying a table put down what he was doing, picked up a towel to wipe his sweat, and walked over: "Comrade, are you from the neighborhood committee?"

"I'm not."

The man suddenly got angry and shoved Yan Jiecheng: "Aren't you? Then what are you yelling about here for?"

"Hey!" Yan Jiecheng snapped, shoving the door open. "I told you not to move! This is my boyfriend's house!"

"Your partner?" The man asked suspiciously. "But this is a rented apartment from the neighborhood committee. Has your partner... already moved out?"

"Nonsense! This is the house the textile factory allocated to my girlfriend, how could she move out?" Yan Jiecheng was both anxious and angry. "And what about Granny Ma in this courtyard? Where did Granny Ma go?"

“Young man,” an old man approached, “this house was allocated to us lumber mill employees from the neighborhood committee. It’s been vacant since then, so you’ve probably been… scammed.”

Yan Jiecheng panicked: "No, no...she wouldn't lie to me! You're the ones lying to me!"

Just then, a man wearing glasses walked in from outside. The old man saw him and quickly stepped forward: "Officer Wu, you've arrived!"

"Yes, Mr. Zou, I've come to check on the moving progress."

"You've come at the right time. Could you help us verify whether we rented this house directly from the neighborhood committee?"

“Yes,” Officer Wu nodded, looking at Yan Jiecheng with some confusion.

"But this comrade said the house belonged to his girlfriend..."

Ignoring everything else, Yan Jiecheng rushed to ask, "Comrade, I'd like to ask, was this house previously allocated to a resident named Cui Yingying by the textile factory?"

"Cui Yingying?" Officer Wu thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. There are basically no textile factory workers in this area. Young man, don't you think about it—the textile factory is at the west end of the city, and this is at the east end. Even if the textile factory were to allocate housing, it would be to the west end of the city, not here. It's so far, how can you possibly get to work on time?"

Yan Jiecheng was stunned for a moment—how come he hadn't thought of this at all before?

"Then...where did the previous residents of this house go? One surnamed Cui, and the other surnamed Ma..."

“No,” Officer Wu said with certainty. “This house was handed over to our subdistrict office by someone else. The procedures were only completed recently. It has been vacant before. No one has ever lived here.”

He patted Yan Jiecheng on the shoulder: "Young man, if you've really been scammed, go to the police station to report it right away. Go now, and you might be able to catch the bad guys."

Yan Jiecheng was half-persuaded and half-pulled to the police station. The police station took the matter very seriously, as a fraud case had occurred in their jurisdiction. After registering the situation, the police officer called the textile factory in front of him.

The person on the other end of the phone clearly replied: There is no worker named "Cui Yingying" in the factory, and she has never been allocated housing in this area.

The sound from the microphone was very loud, and Yan Jiecheng could hear it clearly.

After hanging up the phone, he slumped down on a bench in the police station.

It’s over.

Chapter 149 Sha Cheng Appears

In Director Wang's office in Jiaodaokou Subdistrict, just as she entered, Officer Li, who was on duty, came over and said, "Director Wang, your office phone just rang!"

"Really? Answer it first!" The phone rang again as soon as I finished speaking.

"Hello." She quickly answered the phone. "This is the Jiaodaokou Subdistrict Office."

"I'm looking for Wang Xiuju."

Director Wang recognized the voice as that of Deputy District Head Zhou: "Hello, District Head Zhou, this is Wang Xiuju."

"Is the area where the shooting is coming from your jurisdiction?"

"Yes, yes, District Chief Zhou."

Wang Xiuju gave a brief report on the situation.

"Courtyard No. 95... Why does that sound so familiar?"

Wang Xiuju lowered her voice: "Third Uncle, it's the courtyard where Old Lady Long used to live."

"Why is it that same courtyard again?" Deputy District Chief Zhou's tone on the other end of the phone was impatient. "Why is this courtyard full of all sorts of monsters and freaks?"

Wang Xiuju smiled bitterly. Before, with Yi Zhonghai and his associates keeping things under control, information about what happened in the courtyard rarely reached the street office, and they were unaware of it. But now…

Deputy District Chief Zhou then asked, "Xiuju, tell me honestly, you weren't involved in this matter, were you?"

"Absolutely not, Uncle, don't worry, absolutely not."

"That's good. But you should also be careful. Try your best to resolve any problems by turning big issues into small ones and small issues into nothing. Don't let them cause any more mass incidents. You're under disciplinary action right now. If another mass incident happens... don't say your third uncle won't protect you."

"Don't worry, Uncle, I'll definitely handle it properly," Wang Xiuju quickly assured him.

"That's settled then."

Meanwhile, at the police station.

Zhang Guowei had just returned and hadn't even sat down when the phone rang.