The door of the courtyard house has been welded dead

After many years.

Jia Geng regained his 'own' property certificate and keys, as if it were a lifetime ago.

Qin Huairu, the mother, went to great lengths to obtain a subsidized apartment in the Hongxing Community, although she did not live there for as long as she did in the courtyard house.

But Jia Geng has a deeper impression of this house because he was already grown up when he moved in.

At school, he would brag to his classmates that he lived in an apartment building, and it was the most expensive kind on the ground floor, with a yard.

As a result, that night, after a hail of bullets, his dream of a new house was shattered, and he was taken to a children's welfare home, where he was separated from his sisters.

"Let's go check out this house too, just in case there's money hidden here!"

Xu Damao's house had been completely ransacked, and the interior was in such a mess that it could never be restored to its original state. Having found several thousand dollars worth of money, the thieves' appetites grew, so they decided to go all the way and steal the entire house as well.

"This should be the key."

The key, which was placed together with the property certificate, felt familiar to Jia Geng. It was like the one he used to wear around his neck when he was a child, with three familiar rings on it.

"Retreat!"

"Let's check out this one!"

Seeing that it was about time, Brother Pi waved his hand and led the monks out. At this time, it was perfect, as the elderly men and women in the joint defense had not yet come out.

"Bang Geng, we promised to split the money we found in the last house in half, but we can't just leave it like that for this house. After all, it was Lao Qi who found the key, and that's not fair to him!"

Tonight's success was already quite remarkable, but the more successful they were, the more money they stole. The thought of having to give half of it to Bang Geng made Pi Ge feel a pang of heartache.

He was already the top leader in name, so there was no need for him to be polite to Bang Geng. It was already very generous of him not to keep all three thousand yuan.

"Okay, I'll go along and take a look. I won't lift a finger; just give me the money first!"

Jiang Defu, who lived next door, was still quite wary of Bang Geng. In his memory, that middle-aged man had a gun and was the head of the security department of the Red Star Factory. If they made too much noise, someone might climb over the wall from the backyard again.

He was even somewhat eager for Brother Pi to take this group of Buddhas away quickly, hoping they would all get trapped. As long as he hid well, he could scam as many as he could.

"Here's the money. I'll give you 1,500 first. I don't know the exact amount. We'll talk about the rest when you get back!"

The group returned to their hideout and roughly counted the loot inside the house. When it came time to divide the money, Brother Pi was still in great pain, and Yingzi looked somewhat unhappy.

He decided to simply round down the three thousand, then split the remainder in half with Bang Geng. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, he, as the top leader, had to at least appear trustworthy to avoid any future instability among his subordinates.

"I won't participate in dividing the money for this house. I'll keep watch in the backyard for you. You can do it yourselves, and whatever you find is none of my business!"

Even with a key, there's no need to pick the lock. The Jiang family lives next door, and they're incredibly cunning. If they alert the neighbors, Jiang Defu could climb over the wall from the backyard, and the lookout at the back door would be the first to spot him and the fastest to escape.

This trip was just to take one last look at my old family home. After that, if I go to another place, I won't have the chance to see it again.

"Damn Xu Damao!"

Bang Geng racked his brains but couldn't understand how his house had become Xu Damao's. Before he saw the property certificate, he hadn't thought about it, but now that he had, the house belonged to someone else, and he felt worse than if his woman had been stolen.

From his hideout, Banggeng took out his savings and some belongings. He had made up his mind that he would not come back after this trip.

Money is tempting. 1,500 yuan, plus the 200 or so I had saved up before, would at least give me some confidence going to Tangshan. As for that "cleaver gang," I could check them out first. If their style didn't suit me, we could part ways. With my lock-picking skills, I could make a living in Tianjin.

The world is vast, and you can go anywhere.

Money gives men courage; with money, even a tough guy has a different kind of confidence.

He took the items he had brought from the hideout, found the empty courtyard he had previously discovered, hid them there, and left nothing on his person.

Fearing that Bang Geng might change his mind, Pi Ge and his group secretly rode the stolen bicycles northward. Bang Geng was a little slower, and by the time he reached the residential area, Pi Ge and his group had already disappointedly retreated from the house.

As for the reason, Bang Geng could guess. Looking through the iron gate into the overgrown yard, he could tell that this house hadn't been lived in for many years.

The furniture inside was covered with a thick layer of dust, and the broken glass and the bloodstains on the floor had seeped deep into the cement, making it look very eerie.

Pi Ge and the others came out disappointed. When they saw the sticky dog ​​in the backyard, they snorted and divided the loot. This meant that the two sides had parted ways. They didn't find anything here, and they felt even more heartbroken about the 1,500 yuan that they gave to the sticky dog.

After Pi Ge and the others left, Bang Geng pushed open the door and stood there, staring blankly into the room.

The tables, chairs, benches, and kitchen partition were all so familiar, just like the scenes from my childhood. Standing inside, I could almost hear my mother, Qin Huairu, calling me and my sisters to eat.

Inside the room, it seemed as if the bad things Grandma had said about Mother behind Mother's back still echoed.

Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably, falling drop by drop to the ground. Only a child who has lost their home knows how important that home is to them.

Even though many people had died inside the house, Bang Geng felt no fear whatsoever. It was as if he had found a haven where his heart could find peace, and he had returned to his mother's embrace.

Returning from fantasy to reality, the room was gloomy and covered in cobwebs. The walls were mottled, with red bricks showing in some places. The wooden bed where the three children slept, along with the quilts and blankets on it, had long since rotted away and become tattered cotton.

He wiped his eyes. If possible, Bang Geng would love to go back here, find a stable job, and wait for the day when his sisters, like him, would find their way back here and reunite with him.

What's infuriating is that the house has now become Xu Damao's property. He probably bought it from the factory but didn't have time to tidy it up.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even be able to find his last memories from childhood.

Pushing open the door to my mother's room, I found it ransacked. My mother Qin Huairu's old clothes and her factory uniform from the Red Star Factory were carelessly tossed on the bed.

Banggeng slowly walked over, knelt down, gently pressed his cheek against his mother's sleeve, his chest heaving, and tears streaming down his face, like a young animal that had endured many hardships returning to its childhood nest.

No money was found in the house, but the items inside were probably more important to Bang Geng than money. Even after so many years, he could still smell his mother's scent.

The house can be found, but the mother's grave cannot be found. It is estimated that Li Feng, the factory director of Hongxing Factory, might know where it is, as well as the whereabouts of the younger sister.

But Li Feng won't help him. In fact, knowing that his current line of work will most likely get him imprisoned, he might only be able to find out the truth when Li Feng steps down and loses power.

After carefully packing several pieces of her mother's clothing and her younger sisters' toys from when they were little, Banggeng quietly closed the door and disappeared into the night.

The seal on the door swayed in the wind, as if the wronged souls who had perished in this house were beckoning to him.

Wearing a jacket, Anjie held a kitchen knife in both hands. After the noise next door had completely subsided, she opened her own door, leaving only a crack, and looked at the neighbors with trepidation.

After confirming that there was no 'person' or anything else, she patted her chest. To be honest, living next to a haunted house was quite stressful, especially since her husband and children were not around.

Turning around and seeing the torn seal on the door, Anjie nearly fainted from fright… (End of Chapter)