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

The piercing siren shattered the deathly silence of Nanluoguxiang late at night as it drew nearer. Red and blue lights danced wildly on the mottled gray walls, like a silent hysteria.

Qin Huairu couldn't hear the noisy voices around her at all; her world consisted only of the limp, blood-covered body in her arms.

"Bang Geng... Bang Geng, wake up! Don't scare your mom..."

Her trembling fingers frantically wiped away the warm, sticky liquid from her son's face. It was the filth splattered from Old Li's ruptured brains, its stench assaulting her senses. When she finally managed to wipe away the layer of blood and saw that her son's chest was still rising and falling weakly, with no new wounds, the breath she had been holding in her throat finally let out.

Thankfully, she was just scared unconscious.

Overwhelmed by a mixture of intense joy and sorrow, she felt as if her bones had been removed, and collapsed onto the cold, frozen ground. She raised her head, her disheveled hair plastered to her tear-streaked face. Her usually calculating and alluring eyes were now filled with empty terror and a complex, trembling fear.

At the end of the line of sight, Jiang Chen was standing there.

With his back to the dim streetlights, his tall figure cast a huge shadow, completely enveloping the mother and child. He was handing over the duties to the police officers who had arrived at the station. His profile was as cold and hard as if it had been carved by a knife. The gun in his hand, which had just taken a life, had been put away, but the suffocating smell of gunpowder and the aura of bloodlust emanating from him were even stronger than when he had raised the gun.

Qin Huairu shivered.

Just a few hours ago, she was cursing this man in her heart, hating him for making her lose face in front of the whole factory, hating him for cutting off her family's food supply, and even plotting how to use Sha Zhu or Uncle Yi to get revenge on him.

Just now, when everyone was hiding in the back like turtles, when that madman wanted to drag her son down with him, only Jiang Chen stood up.

That shot not only blew the spy's head off, but also shattered Qin Huairu's ridiculous pride and scheming.

Jiang Chen seemed to sense her gaze. After whispering a few words to the police officer, he turned around and walked over step by step, wearing those heavy military boots.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The leather boots made a dull sound as they stepped on the frozen cinder ground, each step feeling like a blow to Qin Huairu's heart.

The surrounding neighbors—Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, and even the old women who loved watching the drama unfold—instinctively stepped back, clearing a large open space. No one dared to provoke Jiang Chen at this moment; the sheer power of that shot had etched the words "Jiang Chen is not to be trifled with" into their very bones.

Jiang Chen walked up to Qin Huairu and stopped.

He didn't bend down to help this charming widow, who usually prided herself on her allure, nor did he offer a single word of comfort. He simply looked down at her, his gaze as cold as if he were looking at an ant.

"Qin Huairu".

Jiang Chen's voice wasn't loud and had little inflection, but to Qin Huairu, it sounded like a thunderclap.

She shuddered, instinctively clutching the stick in her arms, tilting her head back, her voice hoarse and broken: "Section Chief Jiang... Section Chief Jiang..."

"Did you see that clearly?" Jiang Chen pointed to the headless corpse being carried onto a stretcher not far away, his tone chilling. "This is what happens to the people who point guns at me."

Qin Huairu followed his finger and her stomach churned violently. Her face turned ashen, and she nodded repeatedly, her teeth chattering.

"I've remembered." Jiang Chen suddenly bent down, his cold face close to Qin Huairu's, his unfathomable eyes flashing with a chilling light. "Bang Geng's life was just gone. I snatched him back from the jaws of death."

"So, from this day forward, this kid's life belongs to me."

Jiang Chen reached out and gently patted Bang Geng's blood-stained face. The movement was so gentle it was almost eerie, yet it sent a chill down Qin Huairu's spine.

"From now on, keep an eye on your son, and also keep an eye on your foul-mouthed mother-in-law. If I see that kid doing anything dishonest again, or if your family dares to pull any tricks against me behind my back..."

Jiang Chen paused, a cruel smile curving his lips. His voice was so low that only Qin Huairu could hear him:

"I can pull him back, and I can send him back anytime. Next time, this bullet won't miss."

These words were like a red-hot iron nail, driven deep into Qin Huairu's soul.

fear.

A fear of absolute power, stemming from a biological instinct, completely shattered Qin Huairu's last shred of psychological defense. Looking at the man before her, who resembled a demon, she felt no longer any thought of resistance. All scheming and manipulation seemed utterly ridiculous in the face of absolute violence and death.

"I understand... I understand..."

Qin Huairu suddenly released the stick, fell face-first to the ground, and kowtowed heavily to Jiang. The sound of her forehead hitting the ground was exceptionally clear in the quiet night.

"Thank you, Section Chief Jiang... Thank you for saving Banggeng... From now on, our family will serve you like cattle and horses to repay you... We will never dare to have any disloyalty... We will never dare to..."

She mumbled incoherently, tears and snot streaming down her face. At that moment, she was no longer the "pure and innocent" woman who was adept at navigating relationships with men, but a completely tamed slave who only sought to survive.

Jiang Chen coldly looked at the woman at his feet, who was as insignificant as dust, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes.

now it's right.

For someone like Qin Huairu, gratitude is meaningless; only profound fear can truly subdue her. From this day forward, the Jia family, once a ticking time bomb, has become a dog in his hands.

"Take him to the hospital."

Jiang Chen straightened up, no longer glancing at her, and turned to walk out of the courtyard.

By then, the ambulance had arrived. Paramedics rushed over with a stretcher, while neighbors pointed and whispered about the scene.

Yi Zhonghai stood at the edge of the crowd, a half-smoked cigarette clutched in his hand, watching Jiang Chen's departing figure, his fingers trembling slightly. Ashes fell onto his faded overcoat, but he was completely unaware.

That figure was tall and cold, exuding an air of arrogant arrogance.

"The world... has really changed." Yi Zhonghai murmured to himself, his voice filled with a deep sense of powerlessness.

The courtyard house he had run for so many years, his proud system of moral blackmail and his authoritative patriarchal authority, were as fragile as a piece of waste paper in the face of Jiang Chen's dark gun barrel.

After tonight, this courtyard at No. 95 Nanluoguxiang will probably be renamed Jiang's.