Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

The two immediately found tools and carefully pried open the loose brick. Sure enough, underneath was a small, hollowed-out pit! The pit wasn't big, but it was big enough to fit a box. The bottom of the pit was covered with a thin layer of loose soil.

Wu Zhengmin put on gloves, reached inside, and soon, a sturdy iron box, one size smaller than the wooden box in Yi Zhonghai's house but equally heavy, painted with dark red anti-rust paint and with brass corners, was pulled out! The box was covered in dust and had a finely crafted brass lock with a fine keyhole hanging on it.

"A box! There really is a box!" Liu Haizhong exclaimed, his eyes wide open. Yi Zhonghai's body also jolted, staring intently at the tin box, his gaze extremely complex—it wasn't his money, but this box...this way of hiding it...it reminded him of his own empty, precious wooden box! A feeling of shared misfortune mixed with immense shock overwhelmed him.

"Yan Bugui!" Liu Fuguo shouted sternly at the door, "Come in! Unlock!"

The door opened. Yan Bugui was practically dragged in by the police officers. Seeing the mud-covered metal box on the floor, he seemed to lose his last breath, collapsing to the ground with a thud, his face ashen, lips trembling, eyes filled with despair and pleading, unconsciously muttering, "It's all...it's all over...my money...my..."

"The key!" Liu Fuguo remained unmoved, his voice icy.

Yan Bugui trembled like a leaf in the autumn wind. He reached into his inner pocket and rummaged around for a while before finally pulling out a small brass key, also tied with a faded red string. The key was icy cold, and his hands were shaking so much he could barely hold it.

Wu Zhengmin took the key and inserted it into the lock. With a soft "click," the lock opened.

All eyes were fixed on the box. Wu Zhengmin took a deep breath and slowly lifted the lid—

hiss!

A suppressed gasp of cold air echoed in the small room!

Under the dim light, the box wasn't filled with piles of cash. The first thing that caught the eye was a dozen or so heavy, gleaming gold bars, neatly arranged at the bottom of the box and lined with red silk! Their dazzling golden light was almost blinding! Beneath the gold bars lay stacks of thick, tightly bound "Big Black Ten" banknotes, exuding the distinctive scent of new ink.

Liu Fuguo and Wu Zhengmin exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes! This amount was definitely not small! They quickly began to count it.

There were fourteen gold bars in total, standard "small yellow croakers," each weighing one tael (31.25 grams). The cash count is now complete: four thousand three hundred and twenty-seven dollars and sixty-three cents!

Total: Fourteen gold bars and over four thousand three hundred yuan in cash! This is an absolutely astonishing fortune! It far exceeds the combined income of Yan Bugui as a primary school teacher plus his three aunts who make paper boxes!

Lying paralyzed on the ground, Yan Bugui stared at the gleaming gold and the thick stack of RMB, as if all his strength had been drained away, leaving only a desperate sob: "Mine...it's all mine...Director Liu...please listen to me...this gold...it was passed down from my ancestors...it wasn't stolen...it wasn't robbed...back when the People's Republic was founded...I...I was timid...I didn't dare to hand it over...later...later I was even more afraid...so...so I just left it...untouched...really untouched...the money...the money is the savings my family accumulated from our small business...and...and my salary from the past ten years...I'm frugal...I'm stingy...I stretch every penny to its limit...so...so I saved this...I didn't steal it from an old man...really not..." He wept uncontrollably, stammering his explanation, trying to grasp at the last straw.

The neighbors in the courtyard, who witnessed this scene through the open doors and windows, were utterly stunned! Deathly silence! Absolutely deathly silence! You could hear a pin drop!

Everyone seemed frozen in place, their mouths agape, their eyes practically popping out of their sockets! The enamel mug in Sha Zhu's hand clattered to the ground. Xu Damao's jaw nearly dropped to his chest.

Madam Jia was stunned, as if struck by lightning. Her mouth opened and closed unconsciously, but no sound came out. Qin Huairu held Xiao Dang, her face ashen, her eyes filled with disbelief and a sense of...absurdity.

The four Yan siblings—Yan Jiecheng, Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiedi—were completely stunned, like clay sculptures! They stared blankly at their father, who lay limp on the ground, then at the dazzling gold and thick stacks of RMB in the box, their minds utterly blank!

Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang, two young boys, trembled slightly uncontrollably, their eyes filled with shock, confusion, and anger at being deceived!

So... so their father, who was always calculating every cornmeal bill, arguing with people until his face turned red over a penny, making them feel like the family was dirt poor, and even having to be subservient to others over a bunch of scallions or a clove of garlic... actually hid so much money?! Hidden gold?!

What kind of life did they live before?! That deep-seated sense of poverty and inferiority was completely overturned at this moment, turning into a huge irony and an unspeakable grievance! For the first time, the way they looked at their father was filled with unfamiliarity and... resentment!

Liu Fuguo looked at Yan Bugui on the ground, his face expressionless, only coldly businesslike: "Yan Bugui, you said this was an heirloom, that you saved it up from your own wages. We will investigate and verify that. But this amount of your wealth is enormous, and we need to examine whether its source is entirely legal, especially these gold bars..."

He pointed to the box, "We must report this and wait for the results! As for whether it's related to Master Yi's theft, the amount and timing don't match up at the moment." He gestured for Wu Zhengmin to carefully close the box and seal it.

Upon hearing the words "report" and "handle," Yan Bugui was terrified! He lunged forward, grabbed Liu Fuguo's trouser leg, and pleaded in a pitiful voice, "Director Liu! Judge Liu! Please have mercy! This... this can be considered as me voluntarily surrendering, okay? I'm ignorant! I'm confused! I'm surrendering now! Doesn't the country have a policy? Those who voluntarily surrender will be paid at the bank's rate! Please! Please consider it as me voluntarily surrendering! Please!" He kowtowed repeatedly, his face covered in snot and tears.

Liu Fuguo disgustedly shook off his hand, looking down at him with undisguised sarcasm and contempt in his eyes: "Voluntarily surrender? Yan Bugui, ask yourself honestly, did you volunteer?! If it hadn't been found today, would you have volunteered? Hiding it better than anyone else, and you call that volunteering? We'll wait for instructions from higher-ups!" With that, he ignored the limp, utterly despairing Yan Bugui and ordered Wu Zhengmin: "Register! Seal! Take him away!"

Yan Bugui felt as if struck by lightning; his body convulsed violently, his face turned ashen, and his eyes dimmed completely, as if he had aged twenty years in an instant. He knew that his gold bars, his "life savings," were gone! Completely gone! His lifelong frugality and scheming had, at this moment, become the biggest joke and a death sentence!

The deathly silence in the courtyard was finally broken, and a huge, uncontrollable uproar erupted!

"My God! Fourteen gold bars! More than four thousand yuan!" "Old Yan! Old Yan... he's hiding a mountain of gold!"

"He always acts like a beggar! He's so stingy with every penny! Turns out... he's actually the richest man in our compound!"

"And I felt sorry for him, thinking his kids had it so tough, even sending them a bowl of dumplings for Chinese New Year! How could I possibly save face like that?!"

"Pah! What a damn good actor! Pretending to be poor! So calculating! He even kept it a secret from his own son! Serves him right!"

"Exactly! Look at those two kids, Jie Cheng and Jie Fang, their faces have turned pale! What a tragedy!"

After the initial shock came a surge of anger and a profound sense of humiliation at being fooled! The neighbors' gazes towards Yan Bugui's family were filled with contempt, anger, and schadenfreude. Those who had previously offered the Yan family some assistance out of sympathy now felt a burning shame, as if they had been slapped hard across the face!

Yi Zhonghai watched all of this numbly, looking at Yan Bugui lying on the ground, and at the tin box that was sealed and carried away. He felt no pleasure, only a cold desolation.

So... so this old Yan, who always complained about being poor and was calculating to the bone, was actually the real, unassuming tycoon? And what about himself? Where were his stolen five thousand three hundred and those dozen or so large yellow croakers? Who took them? A deeper sense of despair and helplessness, like an icy tide, completely overwhelmed him. He hunched over, his eyes blankly staring ahead, as if all the surrounding noise was irrelevant to him.

Liu Fuguo took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart. While Yan Bugui's "big scoop" was unexpected, Yi Zhonghai's theft case was still unsolved! The search of the entire compound had only reached the front yard! There were still more than a dozen households in the middle and back yards!

His gaze, sharp as lightning, swept over the faces, each one still shaken and displaying a variety of expressions. His voice carried an undeniable authority and a heavy, impending storm: "Front yard search complete! Next—the middle yard! Continue!"

The crowd's gazes, filled with scrutiny, curiosity, and a hint of secret expectation, were all focused on Sha Zhu. This level-nine cook from the steel mill canteen, usually the loudest, who loved to boast that "I'm self-sufficient," "My skills are my secure livelihood," and "I'm not short of money," had now become the first target to be put on the chopping block.

Sha Zhu felt extremely uncomfortable under the sudden spotlight. He subconsciously puffed out his not-so-broad chest, trying to maintain his nonchalant demeanor, but the flicker in his eyes and his slightly flushed cheeks betrayed him.

He forced a calm expression and patted his own wooden door, its paint peeling and stained with grease. He raised his voice, but it was barely perceptible and hoarse: "Officer Liu... please! Search me as you please! Search me thoroughly! I, Sha Zhu, am an upright man. There's only so much stuff in here; even a mouse would come out crying and calling me stingy!"