Courtyard House: Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) Traded for an Aircraft Carrier, the Whole Count

"Jiang Chen, stop acting like that! Don't think you can get away with faking it. Today's case is personally overseen by Deputy Factory Director Li!"

The cold iron bars were struck with batons with a deafening roar, and a musty smell mixed with the stench of tobacco assaulted the very top of one's head.

Jiang Chen suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp pain shooting through the back of his head, as if he had just been hit on the head with a stick. His vision cleared, and he found himself not in his familiar modern apartment, but in a dimly lit, cramped solitary confinement cell. The walls were painted with mottled whitewash, and the eight bright red characters read, "Confess and you will be treated leniently; resist and you will be punished severely."

Memories flooded back like a tidal wave—

Winter of 1965, Beijing, Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

His previous name was also Jiang Chen. He was a level-two fitter in the third workshop of the steel rolling mill. His parents were deceased, and he lived in the middle courtyard of a courtyard house at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang. He was usually taciturn and a quiet person.

And their current situation is nothing short of a hellish start.

Yesterday afternoon, a five-kilogram piece of "special refined copper" went missing from the workshop. It was a raw material specially approved by the factory for a confidential mission. Just now, Xu Damao, who lives in the same courtyard, actually filed a formal complaint, saying that he personally saw Jiang Chen sneakily taking the item home.

The head of the security department and his men dragged him out of bed and threw him into the solitary confinement room, while another group of people had probably already stormed into the courtyard and were ransacking his home!

"A net of extinction..." A cold glint flashed in Jiang Chen's eyes.

In his memory, his predecessor hadn't taken that piece of copper at all. Yesterday, it was Jia's son who went to the workshop to steal scrap iron to exchange for candy, and mistakenly took the refined copper, which his predecessor caught him in. At that time, Qin Huairu was crying her eyes out, begging her predecessor not to tell anyone, and the honest predecessor softened and agreed.

But then, this turned into a deadly trap for him?

This isn't stealing; this is taking his life! In those days, stealing special supplies was enough to get you executed in five minutes!

"System activation in progress..."

A completely emotionless, mechanical voice suddenly exploded in my mind.

"The Multiverse Commodity Trading System has been bound. This system is dedicated to facilitating the flow of resources between different dimensions and profiting from the price difference."

"New player gift pack has been issued: Miniature portable subspace (1 cubic meter, non-living objects)."

Jiang Chen took a deep breath, his heart pounding. The cheat code had arrived!

Although it's only 1 cubic meter, it's a lifeline for him right now.

"Section Chief! Deputy Factory Director Li is here!" A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door.

The iron gate swung open with a clang.

A middle-aged, overweight man wearing a Zhongshan suit and with his hair slicked back walked in with his hands behind his back, followed by Xu Damao with a sinister smile and an old man named Yi Zhonghai with a face full of "righteousness".

"Jiang Chen," Deputy Factory Director Li covered his nose with a handkerchief, looking at him like he was looking at a dead ant, "Xiao Zhang from the search department has already gone to your house. If you confess now, I can still consider it a voluntary surrender, at most you'll be dismissed from your job. But if we wait until the stolen goods are found... hehe, you can expect to be shot."

Yi Zhonghai sighed, looking heartbroken: "Xiao Jiang, I've watched you grow up. How could you do something so foolish? That's state property! You should just admit it and stop bringing shame to our institute."

Xu Damao, fanning the flames from the side, said, "Uncle, don't try to cover for him. This kind of scoundrel looks honest on the surface, but he's full of evil intentions! I think sending him straight to a labor camp would be too lenient!"

Jiang Chen watched the group perform coldly.

Admit it? Admitting it means death, or at the very least, exile to the far northwest, where you'll never be able to turn your life around.

He calmly stood up, dusted himself off, and his eyes were sharp as knives: "Deputy Factory Director Li, this is catching a thief red-handed. You're already convicting me before you've even found the stolen goods? Isn't that a bit too hasty?"

"You're stubborn as a mule!" Xu Damao spat.

Just then, a security guard rushed in, panting, "Reporting to the factory manager! The search team found a heavy cloth bag under the coal stove in Jiang Chen's house!"

Deputy Factory Director Li's eyes lit up: "Bring it in!"

Yi Zhonghai shook his head and turned away, seemingly unable to bear the sight. Xu Damao, on the other hand, was so excited that his face turned red, like a rooster that had won a fight.

Jiang Chen's heart tightened suddenly.

They were framed, just as expected. Bang Geng stole something, and to escape punishment, the Jia family conspired with these people to stuff the stolen goods into his house. What ruthless tactics!

The clerk walked in carrying a greasy black cloth bag and placed it on the table with a dull thud.

"Open it!" Deputy Factory Director Li shouted sternly.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the cloth bag.

Jiang Chen's consciousness instantly connected with the system space.

At this distance, as long as his line of sight is within reach or his mind is focused on, the system space can collect the data! Although it's only 1 cubic meter, it's more than enough to collect a 5-kilogram piece of copper.

However, simply taking them away is not enough.

If the bag is empty, they can say he moved the stolen goods and still pin the label on him.

It must be replaced!

"System, search for currently available tradable resources."

"Searching... The host's current plane has been detected as the 'Resource-Scarce 1960s Plane'. Newbie bonus detected: 10 x High-Energy Compressed Coal Slag Blocks (looks like ordinary coal but has an extremely high calorific value) from the 'Wasteland Plane'."

Cinder blocks?

Jiang Chen's mind raced.

The moment the security officer's hand touched the strap of the cloth bag, Jiang Chen moved.

It's not the body that moves, it's the mind that moves.

"Deal! Lock in the 'refined copper' inside the cloth bag, and exchange it for 'high-energy compressed coal slag blocks'!"

Since it was found under a coal stove, and it contained coal chunks, that makes perfect sense, right?

The officer untied the knot and suddenly ripped open the cloth bundle—

"Splash!"

The contents inside were exposed.

Xu Damao craned his neck, his prepared sarcastic line already on the tip of his tongue: "Let's see where you run this time..."

However, the next second, the air fell into a deathly silence.

Deputy Factory Director Li's smile froze on his face.

Yi Zhonghai turned around, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

What lay prominently on the table was not gleaming gold-plated special refined copper, but a dark, even slightly crumbling... large lump of coal?

"What...what is this?" Deputy Factory Director Li pointed at the object, his fingers trembling.

Jiang Chen chuckled and took a step forward, startling the officer who took a half-step back.

"Deputy Factory Director Li, is this the special refined copper you were talking about?" Jiang Chen casually picked up the piece of black coal, tapped it on the table, and a layer of black ash fell off. "Is this what our factory's refined copper looks like? Well, I'd like to ask, did I steal it to use as fuel for heating?"

"Impossible!" Xu Damao screamed, lunging forward to grab the piece of coal. "It must have been switched! It's definitely still there! It was Qin... Someone clearly saw it..."

He almost let it slip.

"Xu Damao, you let it slip, didn't you?" Jiang Chen pressed closer, his eyes icy. "Who is Mingming? It seems there's something fishy going on here."