Rebirth in a Courtyard: I Am a Little Hunter

Despite her obese body, Jia Zhangshi displayed an agility disproportionate to her size. In a single stride, she rushed to her front door, spread her arms wide, and blocked the door like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Spit flew like a torrential rain. "This is outrageous! Open your dog eyes and look! My family is so poor we can't even afford to eat! Dongxu's father died in a work accident, leaving us, a widow and her children, old and young, struggling to find food! We've only survived this long thanks to the kindness of our neighbors!"

"Why aren't you police arresting the thief who stole the money, but instead ransacking our poor homes? Is there no law anymore?! Old Jia! Dongxu's father! Open your eyes and see! Someone is trying to drive our Jia family to our deaths! I don't want to live anymore... I'd rather just smash my head against this wall and die here..."

She wailed and screamed, her voice shrill and piercing. She performed the trick of summoning Old Jia's ghost again, howling so loudly that not a single tear fell. Her eyes were like poisoned knives, fiercely scanning everyone around her who might approach her door. Especially when she looked at Wei Chen and Da Huang, her resentment was almost tangible, as if she wanted to devour their flesh.

"Get out of the way!" Liu Fuguo's face was ashen, his patience completely exhausted. His voice was like a Siberian chill, "The search is a lawful execution of official duties! Any further obstruction is obstruction of official business! You can't afford the consequences!"

"I won't let you! If you're so capable, then step over this old woman! The police are beating people! Murder! Come and see! There's no law!" Jia Zhangshi's ability to throw a tantrum reached its peak. She simply sat down on the cold doorway, slapping her thighs and making the doorway bang loudly, howling at the top of her lungs.

"Wu Zhengmin!" Liu Fuguo shouted sharply, a cold glint in his eyes.

Wu Zhengmin had been holding back his anger for a long time. Upon hearing this, he immediately stepped forward. His movements were as swift as a leopard. He grabbed Jia Zhangshi's plump arm and lifted her off the threshold like a bag of moldy potatoes, shoving her aside without any politeness.

With a cry of "Ouch!", Jia Zhangshi stumbled and nearly fell like a rolling gourd. She was quickly supported by Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu, whose faces were also ashen, and managed to regain her balance.

"Mom! Stop it! Please!" Jia Dongxu was anxious, scared, and ashamed, his voice trembling with tears, and he almost knelt down. Qin Huairu held Xiao Dang, who was crying loudly in fear, tightly. Her face was as pale as paper, and her body was trembling like a leaf in the wind. Her eyes were filled with indescribable fear and pleading as she looked at Wei Chen and Da Huang.

The door was pushed open with a bang. A pungent smell, a mixture of cheap face cream, the stench of baby diapers, the faint musty smell of food, and a stagnant, stuffy odor, rushed out, making the person at the door frown.

The Jia family's house was more cramped, dilapidated, and oppressive than Sha Zhu's. The uneven dirt floor and the walls covered with yellowed old newspapers had peeled off in several places, revealing the gray-black adobe bricks underneath.

The paint on several simple pieces of furniture had peeled off completely, revealing the original color of the rotten wood. The only thing that stood out was the bulging, greasy, shiny pillow on Jia Zhangshi's kang (heated brick bed), embroidered with gaudy bright red peonies, like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

"Search!" Liu Fuguo gave the order decisively.

The police officers endured the smell and began their operation. They searched high and low, checking dusty rice containers and flour bags in the corners, and examining the cracks in the walls covered with newspaper.

Under Wu Zhengmin's hawk-like gaze, Jia Zhangshi dared not make a scene any longer. She could only stand at the door, her eyes fixed on her pillow like hooks, cursing incessantly at everyone who rummaged through her things: "You heartless bastards! Go ahead and search! Let's see if you can find a single gold nugget! A bunch of depraved people! May you be childless and die a horrible death... Old Jia, open your eyes and look..."

Wei Chen, with Da Huang in tow, strolled casually around the room. He secretly used his powerful mental energy to transmit a crystal-clear command to Da Huang: "Focus on that pillow! Under the kang cabinet, in the cracks along the wall, in any corner where something can be hidden—sniff every inch! Search carefully!"

Dahuang received its owner's clear and firm intention. A knowing glint flashed in its dark eyes, its nostrils twitched rapidly, and its tail drooped down, entering a state of highly focused work.

Without any hesitation, it first strolled to Jia Zhangshi's conspicuous kang (heated brick bed), lowered its head to the greasy, shiny pillow that smelled strongly of hair oil, and precisely pressed its moist, cool nose against the pillow's surface, like the most sophisticated scanner, carefully sniffing it.

"Woo...woo..." Just a few seconds later, a low and firm whimper came from Big Yellow's throat. It suddenly raised its head and faced the pillow, making an extremely standard and intimidating warning posture! Its front legs were straight like bows, its tail was held high like a flagpole, and a threatening growl came from its throat!

"Pillow! There's something in the pillow!" "Big Yellow barked! There must be something there!" Several exclamations of panic rang out in the yard, and everyone's heart jumped into their throats!

Liu Fuguo's eyes were sharp as knives. He strode forward and, without hesitation, picked up the heavy, greasy pillow. Its weight was clearly unusual!

Jia Zhangshi instantly seemed to have her spine removed, letting out a shrill scream that sounded inhuman: "My pillow! Give it back to me! That's my life!" Like a maddened mother beast, she unleashed astonishing strength, baring her teeth and claws as she lunged to snatch it, but Wu Zhengmin, who was prepared, blocked her like an iron tower, his large, iron-like hands firmly pressing down on her shoulders, rendering her unable to move.

Ignoring the pig-like screams behind him, Liu Fuguo grabbed both ends of the pillow and tore it apart with a sudden force!

"Sizzle—!"

A sharp, tearing sound echoed through the small house! A large amount of grayish-black buckwheat hulls, reeking of mildew and stale grease, gushed out like a black waterfall, instantly covering most of the kang (heated brick bed) surface! Amidst the churning pile of buckwheat hulls lay a small cloth bag tightly wrapped in a faded, patched old blue cloth! The bag was bulging and square-shaped!

Liu Fuguo picked up the cloth bundle; it felt heavy in his hand! He patiently unwrapped the blue cloth, which was wrapped tightly like a rice dumpling. When the last layer was removed, a chorus of gasps filled the room, as if all the air had been sucked out!

A thick stack of brand-new, freshly printed "Big Black Ten" banknotes! The ten-yuan notes, neatly bound together with rubber bands, were sharply defined! There were at least a thousand of them! On top of the thick stack of RMB, pressed a gleaming, antique-style, heavy gold ring with rough engravings! Its golden gleam, in the dim, dilapidated room, was like a torch in the darkness, painfully brightening the eyes! It also completely ignited the anger of all the onlookers outside the courtyard!

"My money! My gold ring! That's my life! It's the compensation money Old Jia risked his life for! It's the money Dongxu gave me to live out my days in peace! You can't take it! You damned robbers! You despicable thieves!"

Jia Zhangshi went completely mad, her cries were heart-wrenching, like a vengeful ghost demanding her life. She struggled desperately to grab it, but Wu Zhengmin held her down tightly. She could only kick her legs in vain, her face covered in saliva, snot, and tears, looking like a madwoman.

Liu Fuguo's face was ashen. He gestured for Wu Zhengmin to step forward and count the money. In the deathly silence, the sound of counting the money could be clearly heard. The results came quickly: "One thousand two hundred and thirty-five yuan in cash! One gold ring, weighing approximately three qian!"

This figure, like a red-hot iron thrown into a boiling oil pan, instantly ignited the entire courtyard! If Yan Bugui's wealth was a hidden "gold mountain," then Jia Zhangshi's more than a thousand yuan in cash plus a gold ring was blatant and shameless evidence of "crying poor to solicit donations"! It was a resounding slap in the face to all the kind neighbors!

"Over a thousand?! A gold ring?! My God!" Aunt Zhao from the front yard slapped her thigh, her voice trembling. "They're always complaining about being poor, their corn is starving and crying for food, and their baby is as skinny as a kitten. So they're hiding all their money under their pillows?! They wouldn't even take it out to buy some good food, even if it gets moldy and covered in mildew?!"

"Bah! Shameless old hag! Heartless bastard!" Grandpa Sun from the middle courtyard was so angry his beard stood on end. Pointing in the direction of the Jia family's house, he cursed, "Two winters ago, they came to our door crying, saying their child was starving! I felt sorry for them, so I secretly gave them two pounds of flour! They fed it all to the dogs! To this heartless ingrate!"

"Old Jia's compensation? Dongxu's retirement money? Bah!" Zhou's wife, hands on her hips, spat as she spoke. "How old is Dongxu? In her early thirties, right? Do we need to save over a thousand for her retirement now? You're kidding me! I bet it's all the hard-earned money everyone donated, borrowed, and swindled out of her over the years! She's pocketed it all!"

"Exactly! It must be! That old hag, she's so heartless! The guy's always complaining about wanting meat, and she's just happily gnawing on that gold ring! Disgusting!"

"If her family ever dares to come to borrow anything again, I'll throw my foot bath water on her!" "Yes! Throw it on her!"

The angry roar swept through the entire courtyard like a tsunami, almost completely tearing off the already crumbling roof of the Jia family's house!

Those who had previously donated money, lent grain, or given gifts to the Jia family out of sympathy, neighborly affection, or even under Yi Zhonghai's "moral appeal," now felt a surge of anger rising to their heads. Their faces turned bright red with shame, their chests felt tight, and they wished they could rush up and tear apart Jia Zhangshi's greedy and mean old face!

The search did not stop. Guided by Wei Chen's spirit and Da Huang's keen sense of smell, new discoveries were soon made.

"Woof!" Big Yellow barked clearly from behind the bottom drawer of a dilapidated cabinet in the corner, a cabinet used to store needles, thread, and rags, into the narrow, cobweb-covered crevice between the cabinet and the wall.

Wu Zhengmin laboriously moved the heavy low cabinet aside a little, reached into the dusty, cobweb-covered crevices, and quickly pulled out a small, flat package wrapped in several layers of thick oil paper. Unwrapping the layers of oil paper, he found seven "big black ten" bills and some small bills, totaling seventy-six yuan and thirty-two cents.