I Have a Lake as I Walk Through the Courtyard

Sha Zhu's words were quickly met with a group of women surrounding him, but he didn't seem to care at all, carrying an empty lunchbox. "Heh heh, I think this thief did the right thing. When Grandpa was around, you were all well-behaved, weren't you? Now that Grandpa's gone, you're all complaining about this and that! I think you all need a good beating..."

"Silly Zhu, did you steal it?!"

"That's right, it had to be you. No one else in this courtyard could have done something like this! Otherwise, how come your court is completely unscathed?"

The more they talked, the more they realized it made sense, and the two officers frowned. "He Yuzhu! What time did you get back last night? What did you do after you got back?"

"Hey, they really did check on me! I didn't get home until after 8 pm last night, and it's always around that time. You can go ask at Fengzeyuan if you don't believe me! I took a shower and went to sleep after I got back, and I haven't left the yard since! It's nothing, I'm going to work, I don't have time to waste with you guys."

"Go ahead! Don't delay your work." Director Wang smiled at him, glancing at the group of women beside him. "He Yuzhu would never do such a thing. Think about it yourselves, those things add up to a considerable weight. To move them out so quietly isn't something one person can do!"

Upon hearing this, Zhang's daughter-in-law's eyes suddenly lit up. "I know! It must have been done by people in the middle and back courtyards. They each took a little bit without anyone noticing, and they didn't even have to leave the house."

"That's right, that's right! That thieving old woman from the Jia family loves to steal things from our house. Let's go find her!"

Jia Zhangshi, who was watching the commotion, was stunned. How did this happen to her again? "Don't think I don't know what you're up to. Trying to take advantage of my family? No way!"

Seeing the crowd's agitation, Director Wang didn't want to interfere too much. "They're just some old, worn-out things, nothing valuable. If everyone wants to see them, let them take a look. It'll help prove your innocence."

Director Wang spoke up, and the shrewish Jia Zhangshi dared not stop them any longer. Five or six middle-aged women quickly arrived at the Jia family's door. The situation at each house was no better; piles of rubbish were haphazardly stacked, and there was hardly any open space left in front of the door.

"Isn't this my house?" A middle-aged woman looked at a broken iron pot piled up next to her as if she had discovered a new continent.

Lin Feng, who followed behind, was dumbfounded. He hadn't expected that they had actually found the murderer. He was overjoyed. Sure enough, as expected, the pile of junk that Jia's family had built soon became everyone's hunting ground.

"You're all bullying us!" Jia Zhangshi sat on the ground, kicking her legs wildly. "Dongxu! I don't want to live anymore! Come up and take Mom away! They're all bullying our family of orphans and widows!"

"Enough, enough, stop it!" Seven or eight women gathered together. Director Wang's head was throbbing from the noise. After watching for a while, she finally understood that some people had genuinely discovered the goods, while others were simply taking advantage of the chaos. It was a complete mess!

"Director Wang, this is a thieving old woman. Look at this thing, it even has my family's name written on it."

"Go to hell! You threw this out there, so why can't I pick it up? Taking things from your house is stealing! Things found outside are just picked up!"

Jia Zhangshi's theory left the women speechless, and Director Wang chuckled upon hearing it. "That makes perfect sense! Who knows if you'll still want to occupy public space?"

Director Wang's words made Jia Zhangshi feel like a victorious rooster, but the smile on her face disappeared in a short while. None of the women were easy to deal with, and upon hearing this, they instantly cleared the area in front of Jia Zhangshi's doorway.

This turn of events left Jia Zhangshi feeling like a chicken being strangled. "Director Wang, aren't you going to do anything about this? This is blatant robbery! Waaah!"

Director Wang and three staff members stood aside, watching the chaotic scene unfold for a long time, at a loss for what to do. Suddenly, their eyes fell on Lin Feng, who was watching the commotion, and an idea came to them.

"Enough! Everyone stop!"

Director Wang looked at the group of women. "Now I'm giving you one last chance. Take everything you actually need back inside. Have the harvesters take everything else away. If you do this again, don't blame me! From now on, I'll notify the two liaison officers to sell all the things you leave lying around to the purchasing station. All the money from the sales will be used to repair your yards!"

"We really can't fit them in our house, what should we do?" The women weren't easy to talk to.

"I'll discuss it with the people in your compound and allocate some space for each household. But this space won't be very big. If you continue to build or put things away haphazardly like this, everything will be confiscated! There's no room for negotiation on this!"

Several women were still unconvinced, so Director Wang angrily shouted, "Anyone who doesn't comply with management will be reported to their workplace and expelled from the compound! Anyone who dares to litter, neglect their own conduct, or fail to control their children urinating everywhere will have their workplace notified, and they will be publicly criticized and have their wages deducted! I will urge the compound's liaison officer to oversee this matter!"

As soon as he said this, the scene fell silent. Lin Feng, who was standing at the back, also breathed a sigh of relief. However, thinking about it, this meant that the liaison officer's power had been restored. It really was an unsolvable cycle!

Just as Lin Feng was deep in thought, Director Wang walked up to him. "Have your purchasing station send someone over to collect all this junk!" he said, then looked at the group of women. "Those who don't want to sell, take them all back inside!"

"Alright!" Lin Feng wholeheartedly agreed to this, and hurriedly pushed his bicycle out of the house and went out into the yard. Soon after, two tricycles arrived in the yard. Looking at the pile of miscellaneous items in the yard, the purchasing agents' faces lit up with smiles.

Although Lin Feng disliked fines, it seemed that there was almost no other way to deal with it besides this method. He had really put himself in a trap!

Three buyers made several trips back and forth throughout the morning, and the yard was finally cleaned up. Lin Feng had no idea where all these things had come from in such a short time. Lin Feng couldn't help but admire the people of this era; they were all experts at moving things around in their homes.

At 8 p.m., Director Wang came over again to hold a hospital-wide meeting, and the powers of the two liaison officers were put into practice again. As soon as the meeting ended, Liu Haizhong took the Third Uncle to plan the area from house to house, and all the residents were obedient!

Early the next morning, Lin Feng pushed his bicycle out the door, took a deep breath of the air, and felt for the first time that the air in the yard was so clean and refreshing. Looking at the wide passageway, his mood also improved.

"He doesn't even greet his superiors!"

Just as Lin Feng was lost in his reverie, a voice suddenly popped out from beside him. Lin Feng turned around and saw that it was none other than Liu Haizhong. The guy was standing there with his hands behind his back, looking at him with an expression like a proud rooster.