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

The next day was another day off, and Li Jianguo had nothing to do, so he started keeping an eye on He Yuzhu.

This is a great opportunity for him to gain luck points, and he can't let Yi Zhonghai, who has no descendants, ruin it.

A moment later, Li Jianguo saw He Yuzhu and Yushui hurriedly leave. He quickly locked the door and followed them. "Zhuzi, Yushui, wait a minute. Have you had breakfast?" Li Jianguo asked the two of them with concern.

"Brother Jianguo, we're out of food and money at home, so we haven't eaten yet." He Yuzhu lowered his head in embarrassment.

"Alright, we're all from the same courtyard, you won't go hungry. Come on, I'll treat you to breakfast." He and Li Jianguo led the two directly to a small stall, where each of them ordered a bowl of tofu pudding and three large meat buns.

He Yuzhu and Yushui didn't stand on ceremony and started eating right away. Soon after, the three of them were full.

He Yuzhu looked at Li Jianguo with emotion: "Brother Jianguo, I really have to thank you this time. No one in the yard will give us a bite to eat, only you have kindly helped me."

"Alright, everyone in the same courtyard, are you going to report this to the police? I'm afraid you might not be able to explain it properly, so I'll go with you." Li Jianguo quickly steered the conversation back to the main topic.

"Okay, Brother Jianguo, let's go together then." He Yuzhu didn't refuse and nodded in agreement.

The three then went to the police station. Before they even entered the station, they were stopped by the old man who opened the door.

"What brings you comrades to the police station?"

"Hello sir, we're here to report a crime. The father of these two children has run off to Baocheng and we can't find him at all, so we'd like to ask the police for help." Li Jianguo quickly pointed to the two men next to him.

"How can there be such a father? These two children... how old are they? This is too much! Come on, I'll lead you inside." The gatekeeper was also a little angry after hearing this.

The gatekeeper then led the three inside. They found a policeman and introduced him, saying, "This is Xiao Zhao. You can talk to him about this." Then the gatekeeper left.

Li Jianguo didn't say anything after that, but listened to He Yuzhu recount the whole story, how He Daqing secretly escaped.

Then, under Yi Zhonghai's direction, he went to Baocheng again, but didn't see anyone. After returning, he took his sister to collect garbage.

He Yushui didn't say a word the whole time, but timidly hid behind He Yuzhu.

The police officer surnamed Zhao was so angry that he slammed his fist on the table. "I never expected something like this to happen. Don't worry, I'll coordinate with the local police to bring He Daqing back immediately."

"Go home and wait for two days. We'll bring He Daqing to Beijing in those two days, and then you'll be able to meet him and discuss the next steps."

He Yuzhu thanked them repeatedly, then filled out a form to register the report. The three of them then left the police station.

On the way back to the hospital, He Yuzhu looked at Li Jianguo excitedly: "Brother Jianguo, thank you so much. I didn't expect the police to take care of something like this."

"Zhu Zi, this is all as it should be. It's mainly because you two have been living such miserable lives. This time, Hebei University invited you back so they can arrange a job for you. You just need to ask for child support every month."

"Also, when you get back to the courtyard, you absolutely mustn't tell anyone, otherwise it'll spread everywhere and cause a lot of trouble." Li Jianguo quickly reminded He Yuzhu.

Li Jianguo suspected that the White Widow was probably arranged by Yi Zhonghai; otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence? How would Yi Zhonghai know the White Widow's address?

"Okay, Brother Jianguo, I understand." He Yuzhu nodded earnestly...

"Zhuzi, come home with me later. I'll get you some cornmeal. You two just need to get through these next couple of days. You won't need to pick up trash anymore. Just wait patiently for He Daqing to come back," Li Jianguo thought to himself.

Let's go all the way and keep the excitement going in the yard; we might even get to watch a live broadcast...

"Thank you, Brother Jianguo. We will definitely pay you back when we have the money." He Yuzhu's eyes were red with emotion.

"It's alright, it's alright. It's just a little cornmeal, it doesn't cost much."

When the three of them reached the courtyard gate, they ran into Old Man Yan again. How disgusting!

This guy is really something. He doesn't rest all day. I saw him guarding the gate when I went out this morning, and he's still guarding it now.

"Zhuzi, Jianguo, what are you doing here?" Yan Bugui immediately approached the three of them, looking for any benefit they might gain.

"Nothing much, just a casual meal. I have to say, Teacher Yan, you're something else. Yesterday I almost got into a fight with Yi Juehu, and you were just watching the show."

"Hey, Jianguo, look at what you're saying. There hasn't been a fight, has there? Besides, I'm just an old man with frail arms and legs. My voice carries no weight, and nobody will listen to me anyway," Yan Bugui quickly tried to evade the question.

"Alright, enough of this nonsense. We didn't bring anything with us. You've wasted your time guarding this place."

Afterwards, Li Jianguo led He Yuzhu home, took out half a bag of cornmeal, handed it to him, and saw them out amidst He Yuzhu's thanks.

After locking the door, Li Jianguo quickly entered the space. He hadn't had a chance to look closely at the treasures he and his baby had collected last night, but now that he finally had the time, he had to take a good look at them.

There were 70 large chests, more than 40 of which were filled with gold ingots. Sometimes only about 10 chests were filled with silver, while the rest were filled with various antiques and rare treasures.

Li Jianguo doesn't understand antique appraisal, but he's certain that all of He Baobao's collections are genuine; no one would dare to try to fool He Baobao with fakes.

Yi Zhonghai, from the Intermediate People's Court, saw He Yuzhu carrying a bag of grain home from behind the window.

He was so angry that his teeth itched. That damned Li Jianguo had actually given Sha Zhu food again.

How am I supposed to handle him now? I usually only give him one or two steamed buns. Compared to that, it makes me seem so stingy.

Yi Zhonghai paced back and forth in the house for a long time. No, he had to make up for it. "Wife, go to the kitchen and bring me the rest of the flour. I need to take it to the He family."

"Old Yi, isn't sending flour too much of an investment? Isn't our main focus on the Jia family? If we keep comparing ourselves to Li Jianguo like this, we can't keep going." Liu Cuilan was really distressed about the food; it was such a waste to give such precious grain to Sha Zhu.

"It's alright, I'll only deliver these once or twice. Once I kick that kid Li Jianguo out, a few steamed buns will suffice. There's no need to waste so much good stuff," Yi Zhonghai said confidently.

Li Cuilan thought about it and realized that it made sense. "Alright, you should hurry up with Li Jianguo's side."

Then she went to the kitchen, took out more than half a bag of flour, and handed it to Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai took the white powder and went into the He family's house.

"Zhu Zi, are you home?" Yi Zhonghai called out, pretending to be serious.

"Uncle Yi, you're here. Is there anything I can help you with?" He Yuzhu greeted Yi Zhonghai warmly as soon as he saw him.