Courtyard House: The Thief System of All Realms

"Xiao Sun, calm down, don't get angry with these people." Director Wang quickly stepped forward, grabbed Sun Jingyuan's arm, and hurriedly tried to dissuade him.

Although Sun Jingyuan's words were a bit harsh, she couldn't bring herself to say a single word of criticism.

After all, Sun Jingyuan was the real victim from beginning to end. He was unjustly blocked at the door, slandered, and his house was broken into. Anyone would be furious. He couldn't be forced to swallow his anger and put on a smiling face.

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, who were standing to the side, were completely panicked. Their faces turned ashen, and their eyes were filled with disbelief and astonishment.

They clearly saw Qin Huairu enter Sun Jingyuan's room with their own eyes, and even specially arranged for Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong, and several others to take turns guarding the moon gate, watching it all night without leaving for even a moment.

How could such a living person have vanished without a trace, not even stepping out of the house, let alone leaving the courtyard?

"You're deliberately making a false police report and wasting public resources! This is pure nonsense!" The members of the joint defense team were ashen-faced. They sternly reprimanded Yi Zhonghai and his group, not wanting to get involved in this farce any longer, and quickly left the courtyard.

They were hurriedly summoned early in the morning, expecting to handle a case of disorderly conduct, but it turned out to be a baseless misunderstanding, leaving them with nowhere to vent their anger.

The security personnel from the steel rolling mill also looked extremely grim, their eyes fixed on Yi Zhonghai, Jia Dongxu, and the others with a sinister glint in their eyes. Their tone was full of anger at being fooled: "We really believed your nonsense, made a wasted trip, and lost face because of you! When we get back to the factory, you'll be in for a world of hurt. This is definitely not over!" After uttering these harsh words, the security personnel, their faces dark, left without looking back.

Most of the people in the courtyard had left, making it much quieter. Director Wang frowned, looking at Jia Dongxu, whose face was flushed and who seemed completely at a loss. He sighed heavily, his tone full of helplessness: "Jia Dongxu, even if you and Qin Huairu have already gone through the divorce proceedings, that's your private matter. Why are you framing Xiao Sun for no reason? Publicly ruining someone else's reputation—do you think you're in the right?"

"Director Wang, I...I didn't mean it, I really thought..." Jia Dongxu opened his mouth, his cheeks flushed red, but he couldn't utter a complete explanation for a long time. He was filled with panic and helplessness and couldn't explain this absurd farce at all.

"Director Wang, I am now formally suing them." Sun Jingyuan raised his hand and pointed directly at Yi Zhonghai, Jia Dongxu and his group. His tone was full of barely suppressed anger, and every word was clear. "They broke into a private residence, made false accusations, and provoked trouble. I demand that they be held accountable according to the law. We should follow the legal procedures and make them pay the price for their actions."

"Xiao Lin, I support you. Your demands are perfectly reasonable." Director Wang nodded in agreement without the slightest hesitation, his tone very firm. "You've been wronged and slandered for no reason, and you've suffered both physically and mentally. You have every right to protect your rights. The neighborhood committee will hold a special meeting to handle this matter. No one involved will escape justice. We will definitely give you fairness."

After saying that, she glared at Yi Zhonghai and the others fiercely, her eyes full of rebuke, then turned and left the courtyard to arrange the follow-up matters.

The courtyard fell completely silent, leaving only Sun Jingyuan and Yi Zhonghai's group; the atmosphere was extremely oppressive.

Yi Zhonghai took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the panic in his heart, and looked at Sun Jingyuan, saying in a deep voice, "Sun Jingyuan, I know you must have hidden Qin Huairu away. Making this a big deal won't benefit anyone. Just state your terms, what do you want to settle this matter?"

"I've never met any Qin Huairu, so stop throwing mud at me." Sun Jingyuan rolled his eyes, his tone casual yet carrying an undeniable sense of pressure. "If you want to settle this, it's simple. Give me a thousand yuan, and I can let this go for now."

"What? A thousand dollars?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai, Jia Dongxu, and the others present all stared wide-eyed at Sun Jingyuan, their faces filled with disbelief, speechless with shock.

In those days, a thousand yuan was almost a year's salary for an ordinary worker. This amount of money was a huge sum, and they simply couldn't afford it.

"You think you can hide this from me by secretly going to the steel mill to falsely accuse me?" Sun Jingyuan sneered, his eyes full of disdain and his tone icy. "If you can't raise this thousand yuan by noon today, all of you will be fired and forced to live as vagrants on the streets."

As soon as those words were spoken, Yi Zhonghai and the others fell into a deathly silence, heads bowed, unable to utter a single word.

They knew better than anyone else that if this matter really escalated and the neighborhood committee and factory jointly held them accountable, their dismissal was a foregone conclusion.

Moreover, Director Wang's attitude was already very clear: if Sun Jingyuan is really determined to sue them, they will be in deep trouble and will have no chance of turning the tables.

"A thousand yuan is fine, but you have to go to the security department of the steel rolling mill, bail out Jia Zhangshi, and provide a formal letter of understanding." Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth, his heart aching, but he had no choice but to state his conditions.

If Jia Zhangshi is kept imprisoned, the Jia family will be completely ruined, and his plans will fail. He will have no choice but to compromise for now.

"That's a different price, don't confuse the two," Sun Jingyuan said slowly, his tone leaving no room for negotiation and his attitude extremely firm.

"How much more do you want?" Jia Dongxu gritted his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, his eyes filled with resentment and anger, yet also helplessness.

"Five hundred." Sun Jingyuan extended his right hand expressionlessly, uttering two words calmly without the slightest hint of backing down.

"Five hundred? Why don't you just rob me? This is clearly taking advantage of someone's misfortune!" Jia Dongxu instantly exploded, going berserk on the spot, and charged towards Sun Jingyuan with red eyes.

But as soon as he took a step forward, Sun Jingyuan slapped him hard across the face, knocking him to the ground. He lay there for a long time, unable to get up, his mind still foggy, before he suddenly came to his senses.

"I'm not discussing this with you, don't push your luck." Sun Jingyuan looked down at him, his tone as cold as ice, showing no mercy whatsoever.

"Green-headed turtle..." Sha Zhu couldn't help but mutter under his breath, but as soon as he met Jia Dongxu's fierce gaze that looked like he wanted to devour someone, he immediately turned his head away, pretending not to say anything, not daring to provoke the furious Jia Dongxu any further.

"It's 1,500 in total. Bring it to me before noon. If you're late, we'll take legal action and neither of us will get away with it."

After saying that, Sun Jingyuan turned around and went straight out to buy breakfast, without even glancing at the group of dejected people again, showing no lingering affection whatsoever.

Just then, Lei Aniu arrived in the courtyard with several of his apprentices.

When they heard that their employer had been wrongly accused of blocking the door and even having the door kicked down and people breaking into the house, they rushed over to help and support him.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai and his group blocking the courtyard, he immediately frowned and, like shooing away flies, pushed and shooed them out of the central courtyard without any politeness.

In a secluded corner of the Intermediate People's Court, Yi Zhonghai and his companions huddled together, dejected and sighing, their faces extremely grim.

This time, the original intention was to set a trap to ruin Sun Jingyuan and completely seize his property and furniture. However, he did not gain any advantage and instead got himself trapped. He also had to pay out a huge sum of money. Anyone would feel frustrated and resentful in this situation.

"Hey, tell me, where did Sister Qin go? She clearly went into the house, how could she just disappear into thin air?" Sha Zhu couldn't contain his curiosity, looked around, and asked in a low voice, really unable to figure out the reason.

"You still care about this kind of nonsense at a time like this? Is your head filled with mush?!" Jia Dongxu exploded instantly, roaring at him with red eyes and a tone full of hysterical anger.

He was the most miserable person in this whole mess. His mother was locked up in the steel mill's security department and couldn't get out, his wife was inexplicably divorced and her whereabouts were unknown, and in the end he got nothing and had to pay out a large sum of money.

He still can't figure out what he was trying to achieve by all this trouble; he only feels hopeless and frustrated.

"Here's the deal, I'll contribute a thousand, and the remaining five hundred can be split equally between you two, Lao Yan and Lao Liu. Let's hurry up and scrape together the money, don't waste any time." Yi Zhonghai frowned and took the lead in proposing a way to split the costs. At this point, he had no choice but to spend money to avoid further trouble.

"Why should I? You were the ones who discussed and planned this from beginning to end. I didn't do anything and didn't take the lead at all!" Yan Bugui immediately protested, his face full of reluctance.

He was already very frugal, and spending such a large sum of money for no reason was practically the death of him.

"That's right, Lao Yi, you've been in charge of this from the very beginning. You came up with all the plans, so why should we pay for them?" Liu Haizhong chimed in, his face full of dissatisfaction and resentment.

"You dare say you weren't after Sun Jingyuan's house? Weren't you after his brand-new Phoebe zhennan wood furniture?" Yi Zhonghai glanced at the two men sideways, leaving them speechless with just one sentence, their faces turning pale and then red.

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong exchanged a glance, then lowered their heads, unable to utter a single word. Their secret thoughts had been completely exposed, leaving them with no way to refute.

"Fine, since you're unwilling to pay, I'll go find Sun Jingyuan right now and tell him to sue us. We'll all be finished, and we'll all lose our jobs!" Yi Zhonghai made a move to get up, but the two men immediately grabbed his arms, preventing him from moving.

"We'll pay, we'll pay, okay? Don't be impulsive!"

The two men panicked instantly and quickly backed down. They both had families to support, especially Yan Bugui, who earned a meager salary of just over thirty yuan a month to support a family of six. If he really lost his job, his family would starve. No matter how much they regretted losing the money, they could only grit their teeth and agree.

Before we knew it, it was noon.

Sun Jingyuan was lying on the newly made rocking chair in the courtyard, leisurely resting with his eyes closed, when Yi Zhonghai led Jia Dongxu, Yan Bugui, Liu Haizhong and his group over with dark faces and dejected heads. Their steps were heavy, and their hearts were full of resentment.

"Here's 1,500. Count it carefully and quickly hand over the letter of understanding." Yi Zhonghai shoved a thick envelope at him, his eyes red-rimmed, his heart aching with pain. This money had almost emptied his savings, gone just like that, yet he had no choice but to pay it.

Yan Bugui and Liu Haizhong stood to the side, their faces ashen, as if they had swallowed flies. They remained silent and sullen throughout.

Originally, I wanted to get some benefits from this, but my plan backfired and I ended up losing a lot of money for nothing. It was extremely unlucky.

Sun Jingyuan took the envelope, casually weighed it in his hand, and a mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips. He looked at the group and slowly said, "Hey everyone, how about you go back to my room and take another look at the furniture? If you look around a bit more, maybe you can come up with another trap to scheme against me again? I happen to be missing a TV in my room, so how about you all chip in and buy me one?"

Jia Dongxu and Sha Zhu clenched their fists instantly, their knuckles turning white and their faces flushing red, but they didn't dare to take a single step forward.

Putting aside the fact that they were no match for Sun Jingyuan, Lei Aniu and his apprentices were standing not far away, holding hammers and wooden sticks, watching them intently.

If they dare to make a move, they'll likely get their heads smashed open on the spot and suffer terribly.

"Enough nonsense, where's the letter of understanding? Show it to me right now!" Yi Zhonghai's face was ashen as he gritted his teeth and asked sharply, not wanting to hear Sun Jingyuan's sarcasm any longer.

"Here you are."

Sun Jingyuan casually picked up the pre-written letter of understanding from the table, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it precisely at Yi Zhonghai's face. The action was casual and carried an undisguised sense of humiliation.

"You..." Yi Zhonghai felt an unprecedented humiliation. He was so angry that his whole body was trembling and his face turned as red as a pig's liver, but he dared not speak out.

"You can choose not to, no one is forcing you." Sun Jingyuan shrugged, looking indifferent and not caring at all.

"Let's go." Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth, suppressing the raging fire in his heart, and gestured for Sha Zhu to pick up the crumpled paper on the ground. He then turned to leave.

"etc."

Just as the group turned to leave, Jia Dongxu suddenly stopped, his eyes red and filled with malice as he glared at Sun Jingyuan, coldly asking, "Sun Jingyuan, where is Qin Huairu? Where did you hide her?!"

A crisp snap!

No sooner had he finished speaking than Jia Dongxu was slapped hard by Sun Jingyuan and knocked to the ground, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"Sun Jingyuan, why did you hit someone again? This is too much!" Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he exploded on the spot and shouted angrily.

Sha Zhu also took a step forward with an unfriendly look, but as soon as he moved, Lei A Niu and several apprentices rushed forward, surrounded him with tools, and were very imposing.

"What do you want to do? I'm telling you, don't cause trouble!" Yi Zhonghai shouted sternly, but he felt a little panicked inside.

"If you dare touch my boss, I'll make sure you come in standing and leave lying down!" Lei Aniu said fiercely, his eyes as big as copper bells, without the slightest fear.

Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui were so frightened that they trembled on the spot. They were both honest workers who had never seen such a scene before. They immediately shrank back several steps and dared not come any closer.

"Jia Dongxu, I'll say it one last time, I've never seen Qin Huairu." Sun Jingyuan looked down at Jia Dongxu on the ground, his tone icy cold. "If you dare to cause trouble again and ruin my reputation, I'll beat you every time I see you. Now, take your people and get out of here."

With a shout, Yi Zhonghai and his men dared not linger any longer. They quickly helped Jia Dongxu up from the ground and fled in a sorry state without looking back, looking utterly disheveled.

Qin Huairu had already been arranged to leave by Sun Jingyuan early in the morning. The Myriad Realms Thief System comes with its own exclusive storage space, which can store living things and keep them stationary. Sun Jingyuan had quietly moved Qin Huairu out of the courtyard early in the morning through the system space.

He gave Qin Huairu 100 yuan and told her to go back to her parents' home first, explain the divorce to her family, and then make further plans.

Although Qin Huairu had doubts, she didn't ask any further questions. She took the money and left early in the morning.