The Beginning of a Courtyard House: Sixty Years of Internal Strength

"Yan Jiancheng, what nonsense are you spouting?"

How long has it been since you last stepped inside your home?

How could there be your fingerprints on it?

"Father, it's also possible that I left it behind before."

Those marks you see might actually indicate a thief broke in.

Have you checked if you've lost any money?

You should call the police and have them investigate properly.

Maybe we can catch that thief.

The money will be recovered then.

Yan Bugui was so angry that he was panting heavily.

The hand pointing at Yan Jiecheng also began to tremble.

"Jiecheng, everyone in our family can testify that you stole things from our house. You can't escape."

"Dad, we are all family."

Your brother's testimony might also have been bribed by you.

I can also find some people to prove that I didn't steal it.

I wrote an IOU; all that money was borrowed by me.

You need to provide conclusive evidence that I stole something.

Human testimony alone is useless.

"I could also say you've killed someone, but the police wouldn't believe me."

Yan Bugui's eyes were bloodshot as he glared fiercely at Yan Jiecheng.

After much thought, I still couldn't come up with a way to threaten him.

The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. Suddenly, everything went black, and I felt a chill in my throat.

He coughed up a mouthful of blood and then passed out.

Yan Jiecheng was standing right in front of Yan Bugui when he was sprayed in the face.

He was stunned and didn't react for a moment, just standing there blankly.

Luckily, there were some beasts watching the show.

One of the beasts exclaimed in surprise.

"Yan Jiecheng, you've made your dad vomit blood again."

At this moment, Yan Jiecheng finally realized what was happening and shouted something urgently.

"Please inform my mom, I'll carry my dad to the hospital first."

Yan Jiecheng hurriedly carried Yan Bugui on his back and ran to the hospital.

Unexpectedly, Yan Bugui was jolted awake halfway through the journey.

"Jiecheng, where are we going?"

"Dad, let's go to the hospital."

"Jiecheng, I'm fine now. Go home and rest for a bit."

"Alright, fine."

Yan Jiecheng noticed that Yan Bugui on his back seemed more alert.

So I slowly walked towards home.

"Jiecheng, look how angry you are, you've made me want to vomit blood."

"Could you write a confession and continue to pay me back?"

When Yan Bugui saw that Yan Jiecheng looked guilty, he quickly started to play the victim.

"Dad, what confession? I've never committed a crime."

As for the money, you'll have to return the antique to me first.

The moment Yan Jiecheng heard about money, even the slightest bit of guilt vanished.

"You brat, you're going to drive me crazy! All this money was saved up for you."

You are the eldest son of the Yan family, and everything will eventually be yours. I'm just worried you'll squander it.

When Yan Bugui realized that playing the victim wasn't working, he quickly changed his strategy and started offering bribes.

"Father, it's going to be mine sooner or later anyway."

"Give it to me now, and I promise I won't squander it."

"I'm not dead yet, how could I possibly give it to you? I'll give it to you even on my deathbed."

Yan Bugui was so angry that his vision went black again, but he forced himself to cheer up and tried to persuade him patiently.

"Dad, don't try to fool me."

After you die, it might go to your younger brother.

Why don't you give me the gold bars in your house first?

How about I give you all my future salaries?

Recalling the gold bars he had seen before, Yan Jiecheng felt a surge of envy.

"Haha, Yan Jiecheng, you've been exposed."

They even said that you didn't steal the money in the house.

If you didn't steal it, how would you know there were gold bars?

"Write a confession right now, or I'll call the police."

Yan Bugui seized the opportunity and struggled to get off Yan Jiecheng's back.

He grabbed Yan Jiecheng's arm and tried to pull him towards the police station.

Having been influenced by Li Jianguo and Xu Damao for so long, he can easily come up with shameless excuses.

"Dad, you've lost your mind from anger."

What gold bars? What stolen money?

Did I say that? Are you hallucinating?

Yan Bugui looked around and found that there was indeed no one there.

He started trembling again as he held Yan Jiecheng's hand.

Just then, the three aunties and the birds arrived.

Then I saw Yan Bugui and Yan Jiecheng pulling and tugging at each other.

"Old Yan, you're alright? That's great! I was so worried about you."

Yang Ruihua stepped forward and looked Yan Bugui up and down.

I was just about to say a few words to Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Bugui then roared.

"Yan Jiecheng! You're really something! Just you wait!"

"My dear wife, help me home."

Yang Ruihua helped Yan Bugui home.

After arriving home, he looked at Yan Bugui with a strange expression.

"Old Yan, what's wrong? Why are you pacing back and forth like this?"

I'm so angry I almost vomited blood again.

Does this mean Yan Jiecheng isn't going to pay back the money?

"Oh, don't even mention it, Ruihua, we're never going to get that money back."

Upon hearing this, Yang Ruihua was so surprised that she stopped pouring water.

Hurry up and sit down at the table.

"Old Yan, what exactly happened?"

How dare he not pay back the money? We have an IOU in our hands.

"Alas, one who spends all day hunting eagles ends up getting pecked in the eye by a little sparrow."

Look at the marks on the door bolt.

Yan Jiecheng, that brat, sneaked in through the door.

He took my hand and pressed several handprints onto the paper.

He insisted that I had lent him a valuable antique.

If he doesn't pay it back, then he won't pay it back at all.

Yang Ruihua was extremely surprised when she heard this.

"That's impossible, are we sleeping that soundly?"

Someone comes in, grabs your hand, and makes you put your fingerprint on the paper.

How could you not have noticed?

Yan Bugui was also taken aback when he heard this.

Yes, he pressed his own handprint onto the paper.

How could they not have noticed?

He figured it out in no time.

"Ruihua, is it in the food we're eating?"

The medicine was taken from my back, like sleeping pills.

It made us sleep too soundly.

"That's impossible, I cooked all of these dishes myself."

He had no chance to get close.

"Oh, I understand."

Absolutely before cooking.

He put it in a bucket of water or cornmeal.

You're at work now, and your kids are too young to keep an eye on them all.

"That kid is ruthless; he's capable of doing something like this."

"Old Yan, he eats our food every day."

Should we try his method as well?

They drugged him and forced his fingerprints onto his handprint.

Yan Bugui shook his head violently.

"Useless? I don't know how many handprints he made."

Even if we succeed.

He writes about antiques, so let's write about antiques.

When will this writing to each other ever end?

You can just write that he borrowed a piece of Beijing.

After listening, Yang Ruihua felt that there was some truth to it.

"Old Yan, you can't just give up so much money all at once."

That's 2000 yuan!

Let's drug him.

"Let's see if we can steal back the paper with the fingerprint on it."

"Of course we can't give up, your idea is good."

Go buy sleeping pills tomorrow.

We have to think of a way, even if we can't find paper.

We also need to find something to hold against Yan Jiecheng.

Writing a confession now probably won't work.

He could also write our confession on a blank sheet of paper.

Isn't this just going in circles again?

We must obtain concrete evidence.

Yang Ruihua also became worried.

"Old Yan, that brat Yan Jiecheng is such a coward all the time."

How could he possibly commit a crime?

He's always been quite honest.

I only stole this one thing.

"Ruihua, don't worry, let's keep a close eye on Yan Jiecheng."

I refuse to believe it; he really can't find anything wrong with him.

Besides, if all else fails, we can think of another way to frame him later.

Then we'll be able to gather solid evidence.