I feel right at home in the world of the courtyard house.

"Bang!"

With a loud crash, a door that was already on the verge of collapse was kicked open from the outside, and a broken door panel fell off and smashed on the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

The people inside were awakened by the sudden turn of events. An old man rushed out from the inner room, pointing at the door and shouting angrily, "Who are you people? Why did you kick down my door?!"

"Is so-and-so home?" The young man leading the group didn't even glance at the old man, his gaze sweeping past him and directly into the inner room. Soon, his eyes locked onto a teenager standing in the doorway of a cubicle, with an elderly woman standing next to him, her face filled with terror.

"Alright, found it." The young man sneered. "Please come with us, so-and-so."

"Why should I? Who are you?!" Upon seeing this, the old man immediately spread his arms to block the doorway to the inner room, glaring angrily as he retorted.

"Heh, I'm not afraid to tell you, we're from the steel mill's security team, the disciplinary team, and the street's propaganda team." The young man slowly announced his names, but his eyes grew increasingly fierce. "This bastard is involved in a criminal gang, fighting and brawling, which is extremely serious! We're taking him back for investigation."

"Impossible! What bad things could my grandson do? He usually just hangs out with his classmates in this area! He's never gone out to cause trouble. You've got it wrong!" The old man stamped his feet anxiously, desperately trying to stop them.

"Are you kidding me? We'll find out once you take him away." The young man had lost his patience. He raised his hand and casually pointed at the old man.

The two young men behind him pounced like hungry wolves, grabbing the old man by the collar and shoving him aside. The old man cried out in pain and was unable to move. The rest of the men strode into the inner room.

The boy in the inner room was already terrified, standing there dumbfounded, forgetting even to cry. Seeing this, the old woman plopped down on the ground and wailed at the top of her lungs, "Help! Someone help! Someone's killing someone! Murder!" Her intention was clear: to attract the attention of the neighbors.

However, her plan was doomed to fail. Several young men had already been stationed in the courtyard to guard it. The neighbors who tried to peek out after hearing the commotion were driven back by the menacing, wolf-like gazes of the young men. Then, seeing the middle-aged man in the corner clutching half his face, wincing in pain but barely daring to breathe, everyone realized how terrifying this group was. They quickly shrank back and slammed their doors shut.

Before long, the two young men dragged the boy out of the house. The old man and woman tried to struggle and rush forward, but the two young men left behind kicked them back into the house, where they curled up on the ground in pain and could not get up.

……

Inside Li Jing'an's living room.

"Nonsense! Absolutely nonsense!"

Li Jing'an slammed his hand on the coffee table, making the teacups jump. He pointed at Wei Jialing, who was sitting on the opposite sofa, his chest heaving with anger: "How could you do such a thing? You bypassed me and directly ordered Xiao Gou from the steel mill around? What right do you have? I'm the Minister of Metallurgy, not you!"

"What are you yelling about!" Wei Jialing said nonchalantly. She elegantly crossed her legs, holding a small silver spoon, slowly stirring her coffee without even lifting her eyelids. "What's the big deal? We just caught a few punks. Nobody died. Why are you so nervous?"

"No one's dead yet? What's the big deal?" Li Jing'an's face turned ashen with anger, his hand trembling as he pointed at her. "A leader's family member actually orders a subordinate company to go into a residential area to arrest and beat people! Do you know how egregious this is? Just because your son was beaten, you intervened and arrested people? If this gets out, where will I put my face?!"

"Didn't you say you wouldn't care? If you won't care, then I can't?" Wei Jialing finally stopped what she was doing, looked up, rolled her eyes, and said, "Let me tell you, you may not care about our son, but I do!"

"Feeling sorry for him isn't the way to do it. This isn't love; you're harming him! When he enters society and something happens, his parents will have to step in. What kind of future will he have? Look at me. Did anyone protect me when I got to where I am today? I got here entirely on my own, through all the hardships I've faced!"

"Don't give me that high-sounding act!" Wei Jialing scoffed, mercilessly exposing his lie. "You don't want to? You just don't have the means! If you had help, wouldn't you use it? I know you too well! What are you pretending to be so high-sounding for?"

Li Jing'an was speechless, finally deflated like a punctured balloon, his voice low and filled with a deep sense of powerlessness: "What are you going to do? They've already been arrested and sent to the steel mill, what's next?"

"What do you mean, how do we handle it?" Wei Jialing picked up her coffee, took a sip, and said matter-of-factly, "I'll just tell Xiao Gou to lock them up for two days, just to scare them a little, and that'll be it. Let them keep their eyes open in the future, know who they can't mess with, and be careful next time."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing'an's eyes widened in disbelief; he was almost amused by this foolish woman. After making such a huge fuss and causing such a commotion, this was the result? Didn't she understand the principle of "going all the way"? Since she'd started, she should have gone all the way! They needed to learn their lesson, otherwise they'd repeat the same mistake.

Li Jing'an suddenly stood up, his face so gloomy it seemed like it could drip water.

"Where are you going?" Wei Jialing asked, puzzled, looking at his angry expression.

"I'll clean up your mess!" Li Jing'an snorted coldly, then turned and walked upstairs without looking back.

"What a character." Wei Jialing rolled her eyes at his retreating figure, then lowered her head to continue sipping her coffee.

Inside the study on the second floor.

Li Jing'an grabbed the phone on the table, dialed a number, and said in a voice as cold as ice: "Hello, is this Xiao Gou? It's me. Make their statements irrefutable. If their families come to cause trouble, tell them that because the nature of the incident is too egregious and the impact is extremely bad, the government is preparing to send them all to the countryside."

The person on the other end of the phone seemed to ask something, and Li Jing'an's eyes sharpened. He said sternly, "Who? Yes, don't worry about anything else. I'll arrange the trip to the countryside. Okay, that's settled."

After hanging up the phone, Li Jing'an slumped into the chair behind his desk, rubbing his throbbing temples.

"None of them give me any peace of mind..." he muttered to himself, his eyes filled with disappointment and gloom. "I had a son who can't even fight properly. He gets beaten up and then cowers at home, too scared to go out. What a useless piece of trash! I can't tell about my daughter yet, but judging from her behavior, she's probably just like her mother—brainless!"

The more he thought about it, the more disheartened he became. The face of Zhou Yufei's son flashed through his mind again: "That one is similar to Zhou Yufei, at most he's a little clever, but that's all."

Li Jing'an sighed deeply, staring blankly at the ceiling: "Is all my intelligence and talent not going to be passed on...?"