Courtyard House: Ten-year-old Master Zhu reorganizes the entire courtyard

The night in Beiping came alive.

It's the world of something else.

He Yuzhu changed into an inconspicuous outfit of shorts and a tattered felt hat, pulling it down low, and threw himself into the night.

Like a drop of ink, merging into a pool of ink.

He wasn't being foolish; he barged straight into Commissioner Li's residence.

The guards' guns were gleaming black; forcing your way in would be suicide.

He made a detour and went to the ghost market in the west of the city first.

Old Ghost is still the same Old Ghost, as if welded to the corner, holding two iron balls in his hands, unhurried and unhurried.

Upon seeing He Yuzhu, he didn't even lift his eyelids, but gestured with his hand towards a dilapidated house behind him.

Once inside, He Yuzhu didn't bother with any more words.

"Li Dequan".

"I want to know all the things he kept bottled up inside."

Old Ghost grinned, revealing a mouthful of large, yellow teeth.

"Young master, you've got quite the appetite. Commissioner Li is practically the most powerful figure in Beiping right now. Investigating him? What's the difference between that and hanging your head on your belt?"

Two boxes of penicillin.

He Yuzhu took out two small cardboard boxes from his pocket and gently placed them on the table.

This thing was a bit of "local specialty" he left behind during his last operation.

In the current black market, it's harder than gold bars.

Old Ghost's eyes "whoosh" and stuck to it.

He snatched the medicine box, brought it to his nose and smelled it. His old face was a mixture of greed and satisfaction, his features almost contorted.

"Alright! I'm all for it!"

Old Gui carefully put the medicine away, his throat constricted to the point of barely audible whispers.

"This Li Dequan is two-faced. He seems respectable in public, but he's actually a heavy smoker. And lately, he's been making big moves, shipping out all sorts of things—Western medicine, opium, you name it. As for the goods… well, they're all 'received' from the Japanese warehouses."

"Who will they be sold to?"

"Some of it went to the black market, and the rest, I heard, were going to go through Nanjing. That was his way of currying favor with his superiors and paving the way for his own future."

Old Ghost paused for a moment, then, like a storyteller, dropped another bombshell.

"There's something else. Li Dequan has a lot of wives and concubines at home, but every Wednesday night, he sneaks out by himself. He doesn't bring guards, he doesn't ride in an official car, he only rides in a rickshaw."

"Where to?"

"In the innermost courtyard of the Eight Great Hutongs, Rouge Lane, there's no sign, but every time he goes there, he stays until the wee hours of the morning."

He Yuzhu made a mental note of it.

Today is Tuesday.

That's tomorrow.

After leaving the ghost market, He Yuzhu didn't stop and went straight to Young Master Sun's place.

Young Master Sun now works at a newspaper, doing errands, and he's better informed than anyone else.

"What's Li Dequan's background?" Young Master Sun scratched his head. "That bastard used to be an outsider to the CC Clique, and he was also on Boss Dai's side. A typical opportunist, hedging his bets. His reputation in Nanjing is already ruined, but he's capable and knows how to give gifts! This time he came to Beiping, talking about taking over, but deep down he's just here to gain experience and make money. That Section Chief Ma under him is just a dog he unleashed to bite people."

"What's your weakness?"

"He's afraid of dying, afraid of losing his official position. And... his wife in Nanjing is a real shrew, a relative of some high-ranking official. He was able to climb so fast entirely thanks to his father-in-law's influence. So even if he's out there doing shady things, he'd rather die than let his wife know a single word."

A cold, stern smile curved at the corners of He Yuzhu's lips.

Afraid of his wife?

Then this matter will be easier to handle.

Wednesday night.

The sky was so dark it looked like you could wring water out of it.

He Yuzhu had long ago planted himself deep within Rouge Lane.

This place used to be a red-light district, and although it's dilapidated now, the clandestine dealings have never stopped.

Just after eleven o'clock, a rickshaw with a cloth curtain pulled along creaked and groaned as it entered the alley.

The car stopped in front of a small courtyard at the end of the alley.

A man in a long gown and top hat got out of the car, his face completely covered.

Although his face was obscured, He Yuzhu recognized him at a glance by his figure and the way he walked.

Li Dequan.

The man glanced around furtively, and seeing that no one was around, he gently knocked three times on the door.

The door opened, and a fair, delicate hand pulled him inside.

He Yuzhu used both his hands and feet, as if he had no bones, and climbed onto the roof of the neighboring house by clinging to the wall.

Lighter than a cat.

He lifted a tile and peered into the yard through the crack.

The courtyard was brightly lit.

Li Dequan took off his hat, revealing a shiny, oily face. A young woman, with a seductive air, sat in front of him, pouring him wine.

"Baby, I've been so bored these past few days." Li Dequan hugged the woman tightly, his face trembling with laughter. "That haggard woman in Nanjing is pressuring me, I need to quickly sell the goods here and exchange them for gold bars to send back to her."

"Commissioner, that batch of opium..."

"Shh! Keep your voice down!" Li Dequan immediately tensed up, looking around. "That stuff is a high-stakes business! Don't worry, Section Chief Ma is already handling it. Once we get our hands on those big houses in Nanluoguxiang, we'll have a place to launder money. We can hide the opium under the houses without anyone noticing."

He Yuzhu listened intently from the rooftop, not missing a single word.

Good guy!

The scramble for houses wasn't just about money; the real reason was to create a breeding ground for opium!

This Li Dequan is rotten to the core.

He pulled a small gadget out of his pocket, about the size of a matchbox, a piece of cutting-edge technology produced by the system.

Even without a flash, you can take crystal-clear photos at night.

"Click, click."

Amidst the whistling wind, a faint click of the shutter flashed by.

He Yuzhu took pictures of Li Dequan and the woman's disgraceful behavior, along with an account book lying on the table.

The item has arrived.

He left quietly, just as he had come, without disturbing the adulterous couple below.

The next morning, at the abandoned freight station, he met the manager.

The shopkeeper took the photos and the materials written by He Yuzhu and looked at them one by one. The more he looked, the more relaxed his furrowed brows became, and his eyes were full of approval.

"Good lad, you've done another great job this time."

The shopkeeper pointed at the photo with his finger.

"This Li Dequan is a very complex figure. If we directly target him, it's easy for those factions within the Kuomintang to band together. But with these things, it's a different story."

"How so?"

"He's smuggling strategic materials on the black market, which violates their own internal rules. Especially this batch of Western medicine; the front lines are desperately short of it. If this gets back to the Military Intelligence Bureau, or... if his wife, who has connections, finds out..."

The shopkeeper gave a cold laugh.

"We don't even need to lift a finger; they'll start fighting amongst themselves. Like dogs fighting, it'll leave a mess."

"About the house?"

"First, we'll take the public route: file an appeal! Make a big fuss! At the same time, I'll find someone to 'accidentally' deliver these photos to Li Dequan's enemies."

The shopkeeper carefully put the photos away.

"As for that Section Chief Ma, he's just a nobody. Once the King of Hell falls, what chance does this wandering ghost have?"

He Yuzhu understood.

"By the way," the shopkeeper called out to him, "that Jia Zhangshi, that troublemaker is a menace. It's not good to kill her now, but we need to teach her a lesson. Only when you hurt her will she know what fear is."

He Yuzhu walked out of the freight station. The sky was overcast and gloomy, making it hard to breathe.

In his heart, however, everything was perfectly clear.

Li Dequan, your good days are over.

As for Jia Zhangshi...

He Yuzhu reached into his pocket and touched a small packet of powder inside.

The "itch powder" I bought on a whim at the ghost market is not life-threatening, but it can make you feel like you're peeling off a layer of skin.

Aren't you a chatterbox?

Then I'll make you so itchy you won't have time to open your mouth.

Back at the courtyard house, the seals on the gate were crossed, like two ugly scars.

Yi Zhonghai was pacing around the courtyard with his hands behind his back. As soon as he saw He Yuzhu, he pretended to come over.

"Zhu Zi, look at the mess this has made. Don't get upset. If all else fails, have your father go and beg Xu Fugui..."

"Uncle Yi," He Yuzhu stopped and looked at him, his eyes frighteningly clear, "you should worry more about yourself."

"It's easy to stick this seal on."

"To peel it off, you'd probably have to peel the skin off the flesh as well."

Yi Zhonghai was stunned for a moment, then looked at He Yuzhu's back, which was frighteningly calm.

For no apparent reason, his heart skipped a beat.

This day is about to change.

But this reform is... not quite what he expected.