Courtyard House: Purchasing Agents' Comeback from the Great Famine

As they walked out of the neighborhood office, the middle-aged woman smiled at Wang Feng and said:

"Comrade Wang Feng, I will be moving out this afternoon, and you can move in tomorrow."

Wang Feng waved his hand and smiled, "Auntie, no rush, you can move later, I'm not in a hurry."

The middle-aged woman smiled and nodded: "Here's the key. You can change the lock after you move in. I need to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things, so I'll be going now."

After saying that, the middle-aged woman handed the key to Wang Feng and parted ways with him.

Seeing this, Wang Feng rode his bicycle back to courtyard number 95.

Back inside, Wang Feng was about to take out his key to open the door when he saw that the lock had been pried open. Wang Feng immediately revealed a sinister smile.

"Finally couldn't hold back anymore, huh?"

After saying that, Wang Feng didn't go inside, but pushed his bicycle out the door.

While hiding at home, Jia Zhangshi saw Wang Feng leave through the window without even going inside, which made her feel somewhat flustered.

"Mom, how could you steal things from Wang Feng's house? What if Wang Feng reports it to the police?" Qin Huairu said anxiously.

Madam Jia glared fiercely at Qin Huairu and shouted:

"Qin Huairu, you useless piece of trash! If you hadn't been unable to get the meat, would I be in this situation? Tell me, what good are you? Even your cousin wants to distance herself from you. What else are you but a piece of trash?"

"Mom, you can't steal things! It's one thing if you steal yourself, but you also have Banggeng keep watch for you. What will we do if the police find out about us?"

Qin Huairu was almost in tears. She never expected that her mother-in-law would secretly steal things from Wang Feng's house without her knowledge. Now that the theft had already happened, it was too late to say anything.

She wasn't worried about Jia Zhangshi at all; she wished Jia Zhangshi would die sooner. But she never expected that she would have Bang Geng keep watch for her. If Jia Zhangshi was arrested, Bang Geng would be an accomplice.

Upon hearing Qin Huairu's words, Jia Zhangshi quickly poured out the flour, rice, and cornmeal, replaced them with her own bags, and then put Wang Feng's bags into the coal stove to burn.

So, who can prove this belongs to Wang Feng's family? Does that mean their family can't have rice and flour?

Just as Qin Huairu was filled with anxiety, Wang Feng, accompanied by two police officers, entered the compound.

The people who came were the same police officers as before, one young and one old.

The young policeman was named Zhang Danian, and the older policeman was named Wu Chengfeng.

Zhang Danian was speechless. It had only been a few days, and they had already come to No. 95 Courtyard three times.

Upon arriving at the Intermediate People's Court, a group of people from the court had already come to watch the spectacle.

"Officer, this is my home. I was only out for about half an hour when the lock was picked. I didn't go inside, and I don't know what was stolen."

Wang Feng led the police to his door and pointed to the lock that had been pried open.

The police officer examined the lock and nodded, saying, "There are indeed signs of forced entry. Go inside and check if anything is missing."

Wang Feng nodded and led the police officers into the room.

Upon entering the room, Wang Feng surveyed the contents and was immediately enraged to see the bed and cabinets ransacked.

Upon entering the kitchen, he discovered that the rice, flour, and cornmeal in the cupboard were gone, as were the several kilograms of cured meat hanging on the wall. A triumphant smile spread across his face.

Wang Feng pretended to check the bed again before speaking to the police:

"Officer, my family lost two hundred yuan, more than twenty kilograms of rice, more than ten kilograms of wheat flour, more than ten kilograms of cornmeal, and three kilograms of cured meat."

The two police officers exchanged a glance, and the older officer said, "You can go out first. We'll check if the thief left any footprints or other clues."

Wang Feng nodded and walked out of the room.

Upon arriving outside, Wang Feng glanced in the direction of the Jia family's residence. When Jia Zhangshi saw Wang Feng looking at her, she quickly and guiltily lowered the curtains and hid by the crack in the door to eavesdrop.

"Wang Feng, what's missing from your house?" Aunt Wu asked worriedly.

"I lost two hundred dollars, along with some flour and cured meat."

"I've been sitting in the front yard making matchboxes all day, and I haven't seen any strangers come into the yard," Aunt Wu asked, puzzled.

"Did any of you see a stranger come into the yard today?"

"I didn't see it."

"I didn't see it either."

"The old lady had over 600 yuan stolen a couple of days ago, and today Wang Feng's house was robbed too. What are we going to do?"

"Yes, I think we should just put the money in the bank. If a thief steals our money, we'll be in big trouble."

"Let's go together this afternoon. This thief is too good; he's become addicted to stealing from our yard and won't let go!"

Hearing the murmurs of the crowd, Wang Feng chuckled to himself, wondering if the deaf old woman would suspect Shangjia Zhangshi afterward.

Wang Feng made up his mind: in another week, he would make his move on the deaf old woman.

A week later, his physique will improve significantly again, and his strength will increase to 2,000 jin. Even if someone shoots him, it should be fine.

This morning, after drinking a pound of the Water of Life upon waking up, his physical condition and strength improved, and his spiritual awareness also doubled.

His spiritual sense can now extend two meters outwards. If this continues, once he drinks ten catties of the Water of Life, his spiritual sense will reach ten meters.

This is the source of his confidence to immediately attack the deaf old woman. With his spiritual awareness, there are so many things he can do. Finding and killing the person in the compound would not be difficult for him.

Once he takes the deaf old woman into his spatial storage, Wang Feng is determined to make her experience the ten most brutal tortures of the Qing Dynasty.

Just as Wang Feng was thinking about how to torture the deaf old woman, two policemen came out of the room, holding a hair in their hands, and said to Wang Feng:

"We found a woman's hair on your bed. It's not long, probably a short bob that reaches your ears. Judging from the hair's texture and color, it belongs to a middle-aged woman. Comrade Wang Feng, do you have any middle-aged women in your household?"

Wang Feng glanced at the hair in the police officer's hand and said directly, "Never."

After thinking for a moment, the police said, "We also found several unfamiliar footprints in your house. Based on our assessment, there were two women and a child."

"A few days ago, my wife's cousin and her son came to my house, but they only stayed in the living room and didn't go into any other rooms. As for the other unfamiliar footprints, I suspect they are the thief's footprints," Wang Feng said truthfully.

The police officer nodded and addressed the crowd:

"It's basically confirmed that this case was committed by someone in your compound, specifically a middle-aged woman. Now, let's gather all the middle-aged women in the compound here so we can compare their hair and footprints."

Old Hu approached the policeman, looked at the hair in his hand, and exclaimed in surprise:

"Officer, I think this strand of your hair looks a bit like Jia Zhangshi's. Jia Zhangshi is also a middle-aged woman, and she often steals petty things in our compound. Everyone in the compound knows about it."