Courtyard House: Inheriting the Restaurant, the Jia Family Wants to Get It for Free

Inside the Public Security Bureau.

Zheng Chaoyang, holding an enamel mug, listened to the news his colleague brought back from the steel rolling mill, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Brother Zheng, we can basically rule out Director Zhou as a suspect. We've checked, and he was indeed in Deputy Factory Director Yang's office at the time of the incident. Deputy Factory Director Yang personally testified that he didn't leave even for a moment."

"But we can't rule out the possibility of hiring someone to assault someone!"

"There's just no evidence to prove it."

Zheng Chaoyang hummed in agreement and tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table.

The trail has gone cold again.

All the evidence now points to two possibilities.

First, it was the swindler who sold fake liquor to Liu Haizhong, who took revenge after Liu Haizhong confronted him.

Second, there's Cheng Shuhai, the one with the deepest conflict with Liu Haizhong and the most capable of doing so without anyone noticing.

But when Zheng Chaoyang thought of Cheng Shuhai's open and slightly gloating face, he instinctively felt that this matter definitely had nothing to do with him.

"Alright," Zheng Chaoyang put down the jar and made a decision, "Send someone to the hospital to keep watch. Once Liu Haizhong wakes up, interrogate him immediately! Focus on asking him if he's had any contact with anyone else recently besides Cheng Shuhai and Director Zhou, especially that fake liquor swindler!"

"Yes, sir!" The young policeman accepted the order and left.

Looking out the window, Zheng Chaoyang felt a strange sense of unease about the whole affair.

The killer's precision and ruthlessness, and the clean and efficient handling of the scene, were unlike those of an ordinary person seeking revenge.

What's hidden behind all this?

……

at the same time.

The hospital corridors were filled with the strong smell of disinfectant.

Yi Zhonghai, Yan Bugui, Xu Fugui, and others arrived together.

The lights in the emergency room were still on. Sun Dali stood guard at the door with her two young sons, her eyes red and swollen from crying. Liu Guangqi stood expressionless to the side, lost in thought.

"Sister-in-law, please accept my condolences... Ugh, try to think positively!" Xu Fugui almost misspoke as soon as he opened his mouth, and quickly corrected himself, "Although Old Liu is a scoundrel, he doesn't deserve to be this bad."

Yan Bugui pushed up his glasses, wondering if his son, Yan Jiecheng, would have a chance to take over the forging job at the steel mill now that the Liu family had collapsed.

However, seeing Sun Dali and Liu Guangqi immediately made me realize that this was hopeless.

Yi Zhonghai stepped forward, his face filled with grief and concern, and helped the swaying Sun Dali.

"Yes, Lao Liu's wife, hang in there! You can't fall down, there are three children at home counting on you!"

Yi Zhonghai's voice was calm and steady, but his eyes held a hint of his own thoughts.

Sun Dali seemed to have found her pillar of support, grabbing his arm and crying even harder: "Old Yi, our Lao Liu... he... waaaah... what are we going to do!"

"Don't worry, the police will definitely handle this." Yi Zhonghai patted the back of her hand, then lowered his voice, speaking in a volume only a few people could hear, "The murderer will definitely be severely punished!"

His gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Sun Dali's bewildered face. He said, word by word, "Dali, tell me the truth, did your husband, Lao Liu, really offend Cheng Shuhai this time?"

Sun Dali was taken aback, then nodded subconsciously.

"Then there's no escaping it!" Yi Zhonghai slapped his thigh, his face filled with righteous indignation. "Think about it, in our institute, who has the guts, who has the heart? Besides Cheng Shuhai, who else could it be!"

"Why is he so arrogant, just because he owns a restaurant?"

"He ruined the Jia family, and I... he tarnished my reputation. Now he's trying to kill your Old Liu! He's a cancer on our neighborhood! A jinx!"

Yi Zhonghai's words were like a poisoned fire, instantly igniting all the resentment and fear in Sun Dali's heart.

Yes! It's Cheng Shuhai!

Who else could it be but him!

"I'm going to go and fight him to the death! I'm not done with him!"

Sun Dali's eyes instantly turned red, and she struggled to rush out.

Xu Fugui and Yan Bugui watched with great interest from the sidelines; they didn't get involved, they were just watching the show.

A smug, cold glint flashed in Yi Zhonghai's eyes, but he still pleaded, "Dali, calm down! How can a woman like you fight him? This needs to be reported to the police!"

Just then, Liu Guangqi, who had been silent all along, suddenly moved.

He grabbed Sun Dali's arm tightly, his voice hoarse but unusually firm: "Mom, you've gone mad!"

Sun Dali turned around and glared at him angrily: "Let go of me! Your father is almost beaten to death, and you're still stopping me? Do you want to watch our whole family die?!"

"If you go to him now, you're just asking for our whole family to die!" Liu Guangqi roared, his eyes bloodshot. "What evidence do you have to go to him? Do you have any proof? If you go and cause trouble with nothing but empty words, he'll turn around and accuse you of false accusation. Won't the police arrest you?"

"Besides, I don't think Cheng Shuhai did this."

"After all, he had just beaten my dad up, there was absolutely no need for him to beat him again."

Sun Dali found some of Liu Guangqi's words to be quite reasonable.

Cheng Shuhai is the kind of guy who always seeks revenge, so how could he possibly hold back for so long?

Yi Zhonghai, who was standing to the side, narrowed his eyes.

He never expected that Liu Guangqi would stop him at the crucial moment.

The plan was interrupted.

"Guangqi is right," Yi Zhonghai immediately put on a serious expression. "Dali, I didn't think this through. Please don't act impulsively. We need to discuss this matter carefully."

He offered a few words of comfort, but seeing that his attempts to sow discord had failed, he made an excuse that he had other business at the factory and left with Yan Bugui and Xu Fugui.

Yi Zhonghai didn't dare to provoke them too obviously.

If Cheng Shuhai finds out, there might be trouble coming your way.

Only the Liu family of four remained in the corridor.

Sun Dali slumped in her chair, looking utterly dejected.

Liu Guangqi looked at her, took a deep breath, walked over and squatted down in front of her, his voice extremely low: "Mom, don't you understand yet?"