Kill the beasts in the courtyard, I fled to Hong Kong, surrounded by beauties on both sides.

Chen Fei woke up just as dawn broke.

This time, he wasn't awakened by hunger, but by the abundant power within his body. His body, transformed by the Marrow Cleansing Pill, possessed astonishingly heightened senses. He could hear Jia Zhangshi's snoring next door, the sounds of Yi Zhonghai getting up in the central courtyard, and even smell the aroma of breakfast wafting from the street.

But he didn't get up immediately; instead, he lay on the bed, closed his eyes, and adjusted his breathing.

Starting today, he will be performing.

He needs to portray Chen Fei as weak, desperate, and with nowhere to turn. Only in this way will those beasts lower their guard, allowing him to secretly plot his scheme.

"Cough cough..." Chen Fei coughed a few times on purpose, not loudly, but loud enough for the early risers in the courtyard to hear.

Sure enough, footsteps soon approached. It was Qin Huairu, coming to the pool to fetch water.

Chen Fei continued coughing, his voice hoarse and sickly. He slowly sat up, his movements sluggish, as if he might collapse at any moment.

Through the crack in the window, he saw Qin Huairu glance in his direction, her expression complex.

well.

Chen Fei got out of bed and walked to the water vat. The vat was empty; he had drunk the last bit of water yesterday. He deliberately picked up the bucket, swaying precariously, and walked towards the door.

As soon as he opened the door, a gust of cold wind rushed in, and he shivered—this time it wasn't an act; the early spring morning was indeed cold.

"Xiao Chen, are you fetching water so early?" Qin Huairu's voice came from outside.

Chen Fei turned his head and saw her standing by the pool, holding a water jug ​​in her hand. He nodded, said nothing, and carried the bucket towards the pool.

His steps were unsteady, and he walked very slowly.

As she passed Qin Huairu, she suddenly said, "Xiao Chen, you don't look well. Are you sick?"

Chen Fei stopped and glanced at her. Qin Huairu was wearing a blue floral cotton-padded jacket today, faded from washing, but very clean. Her face showed concern, and her eyes were gentle.

If Chen Fei hadn't known her true colors, he would almost have believed that she genuinely cared about him.

"It's nothing," Chen Fei said briefly, and continued walking forward.

"Wait a minute." Qin Huairu called out to him, taking out a grain coupon from her pocket. "This is a coupon for one jin of refined grain. Take it and go buy some wheat flour to eat."

Chen Fei was stunned.

What's going on here? A sudden pang of conscience?

But he quickly realized. Qin Huairu was putting on an act, for the others in the courtyard to see. "Look how kind I am. Chen Fei treated me like that, and I'm still helping him."

Chen Fei sneered inwardly, but on his face he hesitated: "Sister Qin, this..."

"Take it." Qin Huairu stuffed the food coupons into his hand. "I know you're having a hard time. But life goes on, don't take it too hard on your health."

Her hand touched Chen Fei's hand; it was icy cold.

Chen Fei looked at the grain coupons in his hand. One pound of refined grain coupons could buy one pound of wheat flour. In those days, they were considered very precious.

"Thank you, Sister Qin," he said softly, putting the food coupons into his pocket.

Regardless of Qin Huairu's motives, he accepted the grain coupons. After all, the Jia family's possessions were all stolen from his family.

After fetching the water, Chen Fei carried the bucket back. As he passed the Intermediate People's Court, he saw Yi Zhonghai standing at his door, stretching his muscles.

"Xiao Chen," Yi Zhonghai called out to him.

Chen Fei stopped in his tracks: "An old man."

Yi Zhonghai walked over and looked him up and down: "I heard you're sick?"

"It's nothing, just a bit of a cough," Chen Fei said.

Yi Zhonghai looked at his pale face—Chen Fei had used martial arts techniques to control his qi and blood, making his face appear pale—and sighed: "Little Chen, don't take yesterday's matter to heart. I was only doing it for your own good."

Again.

Chen Fei lowered his head, concealing the coldness in his eyes: "I know."

"It's good that you know." Yi Zhonghai patted his shoulder. "How about this, come to my house for dinner tonight, and we'll have a good talk."

Dinner? More like a trap.

Chen Fei knew exactly what was going on, but he showed a grateful expression: "Thank you, sir, but I probably can't go tonight. Director Wang asked me to go to the neighborhood office."

It was a lie, but he said it so naturally.

Yi Zhonghai frowned: "The neighborhood committee? What's the matter?"

"I don't know, they just told me to go there," Chen Fei said. "It might be about my family's food ration book."

Yi Zhonghai's eyes flickered for a moment: "Alright, go ahead then. We'll talk about it another day."

Chen Fei nodded, picked up the bucket, and went back into the house.

He closed the door, poured water into the water tank, then sat on the bed and began to think.

The performance just now was a success. Qin Huairu and Yi Zhonghai both believed he was weak and desperate. This would make them lower their guard.

Now, it's time to begin reconnaissance.

Chen Fei lay on the bed, pretending to sleep, but in reality, he concentrated and began to use his telekinetic abilities to scout the entire compound.

He first looked at the Jia family next door.

It's a little past nine in the morning. Jia Zhangshi is already up and sitting on the kang (heated brick bed) sewing shoe soles. Qin Huairu is tidying up the house, Banggeng is still asleep, and Xiaodang and Huaihua are playing with pebbles.

With a thought, Chen Fei's consciousness penetrated the wall and began the search.

He retrieved the stolen grain and belongings yesterday, but the Jia family surely has other secrets.

Soon, he found a small wooden box under the kang mat. The box was old and locked. Chen Fei concentrated and unlocked it remotely—an advanced application of telekinesis, capable of operating simple machinery.

The box contained money, tickets, and some jewelry.

Chen Fei counted the money: over fifty yuan, over thirty jin of grain coupons, as well as cloth coupons, oil coupons, and so on. The jewelry included several silver rings, a jade bracelet, and a pair of gold earrings.

That old woman is really good at hiding her true identity.

Chen Fei didn't take it. He wanted to keep it for a crucial moment.

Then, he looked into the Jia family's kitchen. There was some grain in the cupboard: half a bag of cornmeal, a few sweet potatoes, and a small jar of lard. In the corner were piles of cabbages and radishes.

Chen Fei noticed that the bag of cornmeal had the steel mill's mark on it—this was welfare food issued by the factory, how could the Jia family have it?

In the original owner's memories, after Jia Dongxu died in a work-related accident, the factory gave him some compensation, but welfare grain was only available to on-the-job employees.

Unless... it was given by Yi Zhonghai.

Chen Fei noted this detail and continued his reconnaissance.

Next up is Yi Zhonghai's family.

Yi Zhonghai had already gone to work, and an older woman was doing needlework inside. Chen Fei's consciousness scanned the room and quickly made a discovery.

Hidden under the floor tiles was a tin box containing gold bars—a full five small gold bars! There were also several bankbooks, totaling more than two thousand yuan.

There were some coupons in the cabinet drawer: industrial coupons, bicycle coupons, and sewing machine tickets, all of which were in high demand.

On the bookshelf, some letters were tucked among several books. Chen Fei "opened" one and saw that it was a correspondence between Yi Zhonghai and the factory leaders, involving some exchanges of benefits.

The most crucial discovery was at the bottom of Yi Zhonghai's toolbox. There was a notebook hidden there, containing records of things: giving gifts to a certain leader on a certain day; receiving bribes for helping someone on a certain day; and... records from the day Chen Jianguo had his accident.

Chen Fei carefully "looked" at the records from that day:

"March 15th, sunny. Chen Jianguo is stubborn and refuses to step down. Everything has been arranged; we'll get started tomorrow. The safety ropes in the workshop have been tampered with; they will come loose when the steel ingots are hoisted. I'll be there, but I'll 'coincidentally' leave. No one will suspect anything afterward."

These few lines of text are shocking.

Chen Fei clenched his fist, his nails digging deep into his palm.

It was indeed murder!

Yi Zhonghai, you beast!

Chen Fei suppressed his anger and continued reading. There were more records later, about his mother, Li Xiulan:

"April 2nd, light rain. Li Xiulan let slip at the textile factory that Jianguo's death was suspicious. This must be covered up. We've already contacted Jia's sister-in-law to create a 'sudden illness' in the workshop. For a heart patient, sudden death is normal."

And there's also his younger sister, Chen Xiaoyu:

"April 20th, cloudy. Chen Xiaoyu caught Banggeng stealing Xu's chicken and wanted to report him. Jia Zhangshi asked me for help. I told Banggeng to handle it; it's normal for children to fall into the water while playing.

Normal, normal, normal!

In Yi Zhonghai's eyes, killing three people is "normal"!

Chen Fei felt the resentment in his chest begin to surge again. The remnant soul of the original owner was angry and roaring.

"Don't worry," Chen Fei thought to himself, "I will get my hands on this evidence. Yi Zhonghai won't get away."

He took a deep breath and continued his reconnaissance.

Next up is Liu Haizhong's house.

Liu Haizhong had also gone to work, and Aunt Er was hanging clothes to dry in the yard. Chen Fei's senses searched the house, and he quickly found several letters hidden in a crack in the wall.

It's a whistleblower letter accusing factory leaders of embezzlement, bribery, and accepting favors. The handwriting is Liu Haizhong's, but it's unsigned.

Chen Fei understood. Liu Haizhong, this power-hungry man, wanted to use the whistleblower letter to threaten his superiors and secure benefits for his son. But he didn't dare to report it directly, so he hid the letter and waited for an opportunity.

What an idiot.

Chen Fei continued searching and found several bottles of wine and several cartons of cigarettes under the bed—all high-quality goods, hard to find on the market. It seemed to be a gift from someone.

Next was the Yan Bugui family.

Yan Bugui is a primary school teacher. He didn't have classes in the morning and was preparing lessons at home. Chen Fei's mind swept across the bookshelf and found the IOU among several textbooks.

These are all IOUs from people in the compound who borrowed money from him, with the interest rate clearly stated: 3% per month. This old man is actually a loan shark!