Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Wei Chen pushed open the door to his house. Wang Xiulan and Wei Ran stood in the doorway of the inner room, their faces showing tension and worry. Wei Chen nodded reassuringly to them, "Mother, Ran, it's alright. Cooperate with the police."

Liu Fuguo and Wu Zhengmin entered the house. The interior was neatly furnished, but the air was filled with a faint, enticing aroma of dried meat and smoked meat. On the shelves against the wall hung many dried wild rabbits and pheasants, and several jars in the corner were clearly filled with pickled goods. This abundant scene contrasted sharply with the generally impoverished conditions outside the courtyard, causing Liu Haizhong and Yan Bugui, who followed them in, to swallow hard.

The search began. Liu Fuguo and Wu Zhengmin worked professionally and meticulously, wearing gloves and trying not to disturb the items. They checked the kang (heated brick bed), which was empty except for a little ashes; they inspected the wardrobe, where the clothes were neatly arranged without any hidden compartments; and they searched the trunks, which mostly contained quilts and old clothes. Wang Xiulan stood nervously beside her bedside table.

Finally, at Wang Xiulan's prompting, Wu Zhengmin opened a small, locked tin box at the bottom of the bedside table. Wang Xiulan, her hands trembling, took out the key and opened it. Inside were neatly stacked banknotes and various receipts. Liu Fuguo stepped forward to count them: a total of 1,285 yuan and 37 fen. The quantity of grain coupons, oil coupons, cloth coupons, and other receipts was also quite considerable.

"Director Liu," Wei Chen said calmly, taking a brown paper file bag from his satchel in the cabinet and handing it over. "These are my pay slips from when I started working, as well as receipts and signed records for each time I sold my hunting gear to the neighborhood office and the steel mill canteen. Every income and expenditure is clearly recorded. The money in my mother's box mainly comes from my hunting earnings and some of my salary savings. All the receipts are legally obtained."

Liu Fuguo took the document bag and carefully examined it. Each document, stamped with a red seal, clearly listed the date, product name, quantity, amount, and the signature of the person handling it. The thick stack recorded Wei Chen's hard work and substantial rewards over the past year. He compared the amount of money in the tin box; it matched perfectly.

Liu Fuguo closed the file folder, his serious expression softening considerably, even showing a hint of approval: "Comrade Wei Chen, the accounts are clear, and the sources are legal. Your family is fine."

He turned to the crowd gathered at the door, his voice booming, "Everyone saw it! Comrade Wei Chen earned this fortune through his own abilities and hard work hunting! Every penny is clean! From now on, if anyone dares to gossip and slander someone's reputation, don't blame our police station for being ruthless!" His gaze swept across the crowd like a knife, lingering for a moment on Jia Zhangshi's face. Jia Zhangshi turned her head away, her face pale.

A murmur of astonishment and discussion arose in the courtyard: "My God! Over a thousand yuan! And so many receipts!" "They're really skilled! They earned it through hunting!"

"Look at their proof, so clear and straightforward! That's what you call real integrity!" "Some people are just jealous! If you're so capable, why don't you go and do it yourself!" "Exactly! Wei Chen is such a reliable kid!"

The search concluded, proving Wei Chen's innocence, which only served to highlight his competence and integrity. Liu Fuguo's suspicions about Wei Chen were largely dispelled, and his determination to conduct a full-scale search of the compound strengthened—if Wei Chen was innocent, then the problem must lie in someone else's home!

"Next!" Liu Fuguo said in a deep voice, "Go door to door, starting with the front yard! Wu Zhengmin, you take a group of men to handle registration and perimeter security. Comrade Wei Chen," he looked at Wei Chen, "I'd like you to take Da Huang and assist us with the focused searches!"

"Yes!" Wei Chen replied, leading Da Huang to the front. Da Huang seemed to understand the mission as well, appearing even more focused and excited.

The search of the entire courtyard has officially begun! A storm destined to shatter the illusion of peace in the courtyard is about to sweep in!

The search of the front yard was conducted in a tense and uneasy atmosphere. Liu Fuguo and Wu Zhengmin, along with the police officers, Wei Chen and Da Huang, as well as Liu Haizhong, Yan Bugui, and the absent-minded Yi Zhonghai, who served as "witnesses," went from house to house.

The search was conducted strictly according to procedure, with the police officers moving swiftly and cautiously. Every household was filled with unease. The housewives clutched their children tightly, while the men nervously watched the police's movements, fearing they might find something they shouldn't in some corner of their homes.

The result, however, was surprisingly uneventful. The families in the front yard were mostly ordinary working-class households, generally struggling financially. The search of their belongings revealed savings ranging from a little over a hundred yuan to a few dozen yuan, along with some loose change and grain coupons.

Iron boxes, old socks, under the kang mat, in the cracks of the wall… the places where they hid the money were varied, but the amounts were all consistent with their income level. No clues were found related to the huge sum of 5,300 yuan. At most, some money that the men had secretly saved for smoking was found, which made the faces of the henpecked men quite bitter. This caused everyone in the yard to burst into laughter.

"Old Li's family has 87.5 yuan in savings, plus some grain coupons." "Old Zhang's family has 63.2 yuan in savings, plus two cloth coupons." "The Sun family has 112 yuan in savings..."

Wu Zhengmin, holding a notebook, searched and loudly recorded the findings. After each household was searched, the homeowner seemed to have a great weight lifted off their shoulders, letting out a long sigh of relief before turning their complicated gaze to the next house.

Yi Zhonghai followed numbly, listening to the numbers in the tens and hundreds, his eyes vacant. These "small sums" that he would normally disregard felt like needles piercing his heart. His life savings, enough to equal several times the combined savings of everyone here... were all gone.

Finally, it was the turn of the east wing of the front yard, to the home of the third uncle, Yan Bugui.

Yan Bugui stood at his own doorway, his face, usually radiating shrewd calculation, now deathly pale, beads of sweat rolling down his cheeks. He nervously wrung the hem of his clothes, his eyes darting around, his legs trembling slightly. When Liu Fuguo gestured for him to move aside, he almost instinctively blocked the doorway.

"Teacher Yan," Liu Fuguo said calmly, yet with an undeniable air of authority, "according to regulations, you need to recuse yourself. Please wait outside."

"Liu... Director Liu... this... my family really doesn't have much... it's all just junk..." Yan Bugui's voice was dry and trembling, with a clear pleading tone.

"Whether it exists or not, we'll only know after a search. Please cooperate." Liu Fuguo remained unmoved and gestured for the police officers to gently pull him away.

Yan Bugui seemed to have all his strength drained away, staggering back into the courtyard, where he was helped by his aunt and several of the Yan family's children who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion. Yan Jiecheng, Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiedi all stared nervously at their own door, unable to understand why their usually stingy and calculating father had lost his composure like this.

Liu Fuguo, Wu Zhengmin, and Wei Chen, along with Dahuang, Liu Haizhong, and Yi Zhonghai, entered Yan Bugui's house. The door was closed, shutting out countless curious and speculative gazes from outside.

The Yan family's house was small, and the furnishings were more old and cramped than Wei Chen's, exuding an air of frugal living. The air was filled with the faint smell of pickled vegetables and old newspapers.

The search began. Liu Fuguo and Wu Zhengmin were in charge of the main areas. Wei Chen, with Da Huang by his side, seemed to be casually walking around the house, but his sharp eyes scanned every corner. Da Huang's nose twitched slightly, its tail drooping, appearing unusually focused.

"Woof!" Suddenly, Da Huang stopped in front of a dilapidated five-drawer chest against the wall, barked softly at the bottom drawer, and pawed at it with its front paws.

Wu Zhengmin immediately stepped forward and opened the drawer. Inside were some needles, thread, and scraps of old cloth. He searched carefully and, in the innermost corner of the drawer, pulled out a small packet wrapped in a tattered handkerchief. Opening it, he found a few tightly rolled-up bills inside, totaling less than one yuan.

"Woof!" Big Yellow turned to the earthen bed and barked at the gap between the edge of the bed and the wall.

Liu Fuguo bent down, reached inside, and rummaged around until he pulled out a small, flat iron box wrapped in oiled paper. Inside were several one-yuan and two-yuan banknotes, as well as a few kilograms of national grain coupons.

"Woof! Woof!" Big Yellow seemed to have found its rhythm and became unusually active. It ran to the corner behind a large vat of pickled vegetables and barked at the gap between the bottom of the vat and the ground. The police officer struggled to move the vat and, from the dusty gap, pried out a small cloth bag containing a few silver dollars and some coins.

Then, Da Huang even ran to an old straw hat hanging on the wall and barked at the brim. Wu Zhengmin took off the hat and, from the stiff brim, pulled out a few rolled-up small bills…

These scenes left Liu Haizhong, who had followed in, dumbfounded, and a hint of surprise flashed in Yi Zhonghai's empty eyes. This Yan Laoxi! He hides money so cleverly! It's practically everywhere! He doesn't even miss a tattered straw hat! No wonder he's usually so outrageously stingy; it turns out he hides his money in these nooks and crannies!

The Yan family, the third uncle outside, saw through the window that their painstakingly crafted and seemingly foolproof little treasures were being dug out by Da Huang as accurately as digging out landmines. They felt dizzy and their hearts ached.

Especially Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang, the two older ones, thought to themselves, "It's over! It's over! All of our 'private money' has been exposed! This is all the money they saved up, penny by penny, and it's all been exposed by Da Huang."

However, Da Huang's performance was not over yet.

After "reporting" all of Yan Bugui's scattered hiding places for money, Da Huang walked steadily to the inner part of the room. There were several ordinary blue bricks on the floor there. It lowered its head, pressed its nose to the ground, and sniffed carefully from left to right, then stopped in front of one of the seemingly ordinary blue bricks.

It didn't bark immediately, but instead raised its head to look at Wei Chen, letting out a low, confirming "woof" sound from its throat. Its tail stopped wagging, and its body lowered slightly, assuming a standard warning posture.

Everyone's heart jumped into their throat!

Wei Chen nodded to Liu Fuguo: "Chief Liu, there's a situation here."

Liu Fuguo and Wu Zhengmin immediately stepped forward. Liu Fuguo squatted down and tapped the blue brick where Dahuang had given a warning.

"Tap, tap, tap..." The sound was slightly hollow, clearly different from the sound of other solid bricks!

"It's empty underneath!" Wu Zhengmin exclaimed in a low voice.