The Courtyard House: The story begins with He Yuzhu beating up the White Widow.

The next morning at ten o'clock, He Yuzhu hummed a song as he rode his bicycle into the gate of the police station. Just as he parked and turned around, he saw Ye Guoliang and Yao Qi standing behind him. He Yuzhu smiled and asked, "Uncle Ye! Uncle Yao! When did you get here?! Why didn't you say anything?!"

Yao Qi asked directly, "How much stuff did you bring back last night?!"

He Yuzhu replied, "About thirty tons?! I really don't know the exact amount. It was all negotiated between Section Chief Lai and the village." Then he asked, "What's wrong?!"

Ye Guoliang asked, "Didn't you bring anything for our institute?!"

He Yuzhu said, "Uncle Ye! Even if I wanted to bring them back, I'd need the ability to do so!" Then, changing the subject, he continued, "But the village chief has already spoken to me. He wants me to go there on the 22nd of the twelfth lunar month. I reckon I can bring back quite a lot this time. You guys can help me get a truck then."

Yao Qi stared at He Yuzhu for a few seconds, then said, "Alright! I'll take care of the truck." She then looked at Ye Guoliang and asked, "Old Ye, do we have enough money in our office's account?"

Ye Guoliang replied, "Don't worry! Our institute has plenty of funds! If nothing unexpected happens, we guarantee everyone will have a prosperous New Year."

"Chief!" Just then, Cao Jiahua, the captain of the joint defense team, walked up to Ye Guoliang and Yao Qi and said, "Chief, these are their statements!"

Ye Guoliang took the interrogation record, glanced at it, and then handed it to Yao Qi, saying, "These people are truly lawless! They actually used our name to double-cross us."

Yao Qi said, "What they did was extremely egregious. These people must be severely punished!"

Cao Jiahua said, "The leader of these people is called Lu Youqi. They all call him Brother Lu. This man is a fugitive we are wanted. He was originally an enemy agent who went undercover under Baldy. However, his superiors and subordinates have already been arrested by us."

Ye Guoliang said with a smile, "I really didn't expect there to be such a fish among these people."

Yao Qi chimed in, "What a pity! This fish is already dead."

He Yuzhu thought to himself, "Could it be that I have the constitution to be targeted by enemy agents?!" Then He Yuzhu regretted not using his divine sense to scan these people last night.

After Cao Jiahua left, He Yuzhu asked, "Chief, when will the branch office remove the things from our cold storage?!"

Ye Guoliang said, "I called Director Zhang this morning. He said the stuff would definitely be taken away within three days. I guess the haul was too big, and the higher-ups are still discussing how to divide it."

Just as Ye Guoliang had predicted, Lai Changming reported the quantity of seafood brought back to the branch bureau leaders during the morning meeting this morning. The branch bureau's main leaders discussed it and decided to distribute it according to headcount. Just as the distribution plan was finalized and ready to be issued, somehow the headquarters found out. While the meat supply in Beijing isn't too tight right now, that's for ordinary citizens. Units like the police have fixed monthly quotas. Sometimes, in special circumstances, these quotas aren't guaranteed. So everyone is short of meat. Ever since the chef from the Dongcheng branch bureau spread the recipe for seafood, units that were previously uninterested in seafood are now eager to get more.

It's said that a higher rank can have a crushing effect, and the ministry is several ranks higher than the bureau. Just then, Director Song Fuyong hung up the phone with the ministry, lamenting the loss of half his seafood. The phone on his desk rang again. This time it was the city bureau. But Song Fuyong was firm; he directly retorted and told the city bureau to contact the ministry. After all, the ministry had just insisted on taking half of his goods!

After hanging up the phone, Song Fuyong knew that if they kept releasing the supplies, they wouldn't get a single penny. So he immediately ordered that the remaining fifteen tons of supplies be distributed according to the number of people. Each police station was to go to the Nanluoguxiang Police Station to collect the supplies. Then Song Fuyong instructed Zhang Qiang to take Lai Changming directly to the Nanluoguxiang Police Station to oversee the operation.

He Yuzhu had just entered the office when Zhang Qiang and Lai Changming arrived with their men. At the same time, Ye Guoliang received a notification from the branch office. After hanging up the phone, Ye Guoliang ran out of the office, shouting, "Old Ma! Ma Huaimin!"

"Hey!" Ma Huaimin ran out of the office upon hearing the shout and asked, "What's wrong, Director?!"

Ye Guoliang said, "Go to the cold storage immediately and weigh out our portion, which is three jin per person, and put it in the warehouse next door."

"Old Ye, you're really fast!" Just then, Zhang Qiang's voice reached Ye Guoliang's ears.

Ye Guoliang said, "Old Zhang, I already know what happened. You should take your men and go to the cold storage to oversee things!"

Zhang Qiang said, "Lai Changming is gone. I just came to catch up with you."

Ye Guoliang said, "We can catch up anytime. I'm just worried that if people from the ministry come, Lai Changming alone won't be able to keep them in check."

Zhang Qiang thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay! I'll go take a look over there."

To be fair, the various police stations were quite fast. With the help of the Nanluoguxiang Police Station, basically every time someone arrived and reported their number, they could be loaded onto the truck and transported away without much delay. By nearly 11:30 a.m., most of the police stations under the Dongcheng Branch had picked up their supplies. Just as Zhang Qiang and Lai Changming were about to go to the Nanluoguxiang Police Station canteen for lunch, the delivery team from the Ministry arrived. After Zhang Qiang checked the warrant and confirmed there were no problems, he had Lai Changming assist with the weighing. As for loading the truck, that was left to the driver.

When they were halfway through loading, the city bureau officials arrived. Zhang Qiang saw them and said with a smile, "Qi Dayong, it really is you?!"

Qi Dayong said, "Your Director Song is really bold! He even dared to hang up on his old leader?!"

Zhang Qiang said, "We finally managed to bring some things back, and we haven't even had a chance to enjoy them yet!"

Qi Dayong looked at the people standing by the truck and asked, "Are they from the ministry?!"

Zhang Qiang nodded and said, "He came directly with an order from the deputy minister in charge of logistics. Disagreement was not an option."

Qi Dayong then asked, "How much did they take away?!"

Zhang Qiang answered directly, "Half!"

"What?!" Qi Dayong was stunned and asked, "Your branch office hasn't already distributed everything, has it?!"

Zhang Qiang replied, "We broke up!" Then he asked, "What happened?!"

Qi Dayong then pressed on, "What happened to the remaining fifteen tons?!"

"It's all divided! Three jin per person, according to the headcount," Zhang Qiang replied nonchalantly. Then, noticing Qi Dayong's constipated expression, he asked, "What's wrong?!"