Courtyard House: In times of famine, my hamster became a spirit.

With a flick of his toe, Zhou Jianguo slammed the broken half of the wooden door shut with a bang, shaking off a pile of snow.

In the courtyard, the fishy, ​​foul smell emanating from beneath the deaf old woman mingled with the lingering aroma of meat, making it almost unbearable to look at.

The brothers Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu covered their mouths and noses, and dragged the still convulsing old lady towards the backyard like a dead dog.

From this day forward, the prestigious title of "Ancestor of the Compound" has been completely shattered.

Liu Haizhong stood in the wind, staring at the Zhou family's tightly closed door, a chill running down his spine.

But then he caught sight of the terrified neighbors around him, and his pent-up desire for officialdom, which he had suppressed for decades, surged up uncontrollably.

Yi Zhonghai has fallen, the old lady has gone mad, and now it's Liu Haizhong's turn to take over the Hongxing Courtyard! This is truly an easy win.

"What are you all standing here for? Move along!"

Liu Haizhong, his belly protruding like a watermelon, hands behind his back, immediately adopted the demeanor of a factory leader. He cleared his throat and shouted with an air of official authority, "Although the black sheep has been caught, production and life in our compound must continue! Guangtian, quickly sweep the floor. From now on, there will be rules in this compound..."

Just as Liu Haizhong was beaming and preparing to give his speech, a sharp whistle suddenly came from the front yard.

"Beep—!"

The piercing sound of the police siren cut through the snowy night, freezing the neighbors who were about to gossip in place.

"When the neighborhood office and police station are handling matters, everyone must stay where you are and not move!"

A dignified female voice boomed down.

Director Wang of the subdistrict office, wrapped in a thick military overcoat, strode into the intermediate court with a stern face.

Behind her, four uniformed police officers stood with grim expressions and an imposing aura.

Director Wang held a file stamped with a large red official seal in his hand.

That was an urgent document that the security department of the steel rolling mill reviewed overnight and that was personally signed by Director Yang.

Liu Haizhong's protruding belly receded, his old face contorted into a bitter grin, and he eagerly approached, "Oh, Director Wang, you've come all this way so late. I was just getting ready to organize a big clean-up..."

"Liu Haizhong, stop trying to act cute with me!"

Director Wang's piercing gaze swept over them: "As the person in charge of the compound, how could you, as the second-in-command, be completely unaware of such a heinous act by Yi Zhonghai? Your self-criticism will be dealt with after we finish our business!"

Liu Haizhong's face turned pale, and he shrank into the crowd, not daring to utter a sound.

"Bring him up!" Director Wang shouted sternly.

Accompanied by the screeching sound of chains dragging on the ground, Yi Zhonghai was forcibly dragged into the courtyard by two policemen.

At this point, Yi Zhonghai had lost all semblance of the dignity of an eighth-grade worker.

His cotton-padded coat was torn to shreds, his hair was a mess, and the silver bracelet made of fine steel on his wrist reflected a pale, cold light in the snow.

But there was still a struggle in his eyes.

On the way back, he had already planned it out. As long as he insisted that he was only in charge and that he was doing it for the good of the rain, no one could sentence him to death.

"Director! I'm innocent!"

Yi Zhonghai's knees buckled, and he knelt directly in front of Director Wang, wailing heart-wrenchingly, "I was just worried the kids would spend money recklessly, I wanted to save it for their weddings! I'm just a level eight worker, earning ninety-nine yuan a month, how could I be greedy for that little bit of money?"

With red-rimmed eyes, he looked around and immediately launched into moral blackmail: "Everyone, be the judge! I helped the Jia family and gave the old lady relief. Have I ever been heartless? That child, Yushui, is ignorant. He listened to others and made false accusations against me... I just wanted to give them a big surprise!"

After this tearful outburst, many neighbors in the courtyard were genuinely fooled, and hesitant expressions appeared on their faces.

"Saving up surprises? I think you want to take them to your grave!"

Director Wang was so angry he laughed.

She pulled out a thick stack of receipts and slammed them onto Yi Zhonghai's old face.

"Yi Zhonghai, open your dog eyes and look carefully! This is the original remittance slip sent by He Daqing from Baoding. You forged the signatures of the brother and sister, but the security technicians checked it, and there wasn't a single forged signature!"

Director Wang was trembling with rage, pointing her finger at his nose and berating him: "You say you're worried about the child squandering money? Back when Yushui was starving and fainted at the gate of the compound, you just stood there eating a white flour bun and watched. Was that saving money for her? All the money in this savings account was taken to the black market and exchanged for fine grains and meat, filling the bellies of you bunch of dogs!"

"boom--!"

The compound was in complete uproar.

If before it was just mere gossip, now this irrefutable evidence is like a steel nail that nails Yi Zhonghai to the pillar of shame!

"My God! That's the life-saving money for the families of martyrs! This is colluding to profit from human suffering!"

"A beast in human skin! He acts like a saint all day, but he's rotten to the core!"

A torrent of curses and insults followed.

Yi Zhonghai's face went from flushed to deathly pale.

He stared at the remittance slips scattered on the floor, his lips trembling, unable to utter a single word in his defense.

Just then, a dark figure suddenly darted out from the shadows of the courtyard.

"Let go of my master! You heartless bunch, Zhou Jianguo, get out here!"

With bloodshot eyes, Sha Zhu lunged at the police officers escorting Yi Zhonghai like a mad bull.

Although his right hand was weak, he still tried to violently resist the law on the spot, relying on his reckless and brute strength.

"Trying to act arrogantly in front of the police? You're asking for it!"

The lead policeman's eyes turned cold, and with a swift and clean grappling and over-the-shoulder throw, he slammed Sha Zhu into the mud with a "bang".

Then, with a quick push of his knee, a silver bracelet was placed on him as well, with a "click".

Sha Zhu, with half his face covered in ice, was still oblivious to his own mortality, yelling, "Let me go! Director Yang is counting on me to cook Tan Family Cuisine! You dare touch me?"

"Expecting you to cook?"

Director Wang sneered, unfolded the official document, and loudly read it aloud, thus sealing his fate.

"Notification! He Yuzhu, a cook at the steel rolling mill, has been stealing state grain for a long time. The so-called leftovers are all rations he deliberately withheld from the workers' meals. He is suspected of embezzlement and theft of state property!"

"Effective immediately, you are dismissed from the factory, your illegal gains are confiscated, and you are transferred to a labor camp for severe punishment!"

The entire courtroom fell silent upon hearing the verdict.

Sha Zhu was struck dumb, collapsing to the ground like a lump of mud.

"No...it's impossible...that was leftovers given by the leader..." His eyes were completely unfocused, and he muttered to himself as if possessed.

At the back of the crowd, Yan Bugui slapped his thigh in distress.

After a lifetime of scheming, the compound's top blood bank has suddenly burst. Who will help their family in the future?

Director Wang didn't bother with these people's wicked thoughts; her gaze was sharp as she stared intently at Yi Zhonghai on the ground.

"Yi Zhonghai, listen carefully."

"After a joint investigation by multiple parties, it has been determined that you embezzled a particularly large amount of support funds for the families of martyrs, and the nature of your embezzlement is extremely egregious! This is a serious crime of undermining unity and undermining socialism!"

Director Wang took a deep breath and uttered a verdict that sealed their fate:

"By a higher court ruling: Yi Zhonghai is sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve!"

The words "suspended death sentence" were like a thunderclap from a clear sky!

Yi Zhonghai's spine, which was stubbornly holding on, made a clear "crack" sound.

His eyes bulged out, bloodshot eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets, and he made a strange sound from his throat, like an old duck pulling a cart.

Immediately afterwards, a stream of foul-smelling yellow liquid gushed down his trouser leg and onto the ground.

Heat rose straight up in the snowy wind.

This once all-powerful old man, faced with the fear of being executed, wet himself in public.

The neighbors, as if avoiding a plague, pinched their noses and retreated three or four meters in unison.

"Take them away!" At the police's command, they dragged the limp Yi Zhonghai and the dazed Sha Zhu like dead dogs, leaving two long muddy tracks in the snow.

No one dared to speak up, and no one offered any sympathy.

The compound fell into an unprecedented silence.

Qin Huairu hid in a corner, watching the two long-term blood packs being dragged away, feeling as if the sky had fallen.

All the meal tickets are gone, whose blood will she suck from now on?

She looked around in a panic and spotted Liu Haizhong, who was wearing a leader's uniform with his hands behind his back.

She immediately put on a pitiful expression, swaying her hips as she approached: "Second Uncle, look, our Banggeng still has a leg injury, could you...?"

Fuck you!

The second aunt had been holding back her anger for a long time. She rushed up and swung her arm, delivering two big slaps to the face.

"Slap! Slap!"

"Qin Huairu, you slut! You used to have Lao Gou and Sha Zhu protecting you, and now you dare to seduce my man? Go back to your doghouse!" The second aunt was ruthless; Qin Huairu's pretty face swelled up like a pig's head, and blood gushed from her nose.

Just then, Jia Zhangshi's pig-like curses echoed from inside the Jia family's house: "You ungrateful wretch! Those are my sweet potatoes! You childless little ingrate, how dare you steal my food!"

A dog-eat-dog drama is unfolding wildly among these beasts.

In the backyard, Zhou Jianguo lowered the curtains and poured himself a sip of hot water to soothe his throat.

He didn't even bother to glance at the farce outside the door.

He never cultivated good deeds in his life; he only loved killing and arson.

The only way to deal with these morally manipulative beasts is through physical exorcism.

In his mind, the [Black Market Module] in the system space was flashing a golden-red notification light frantically.

I've now completely cleared the beginner village in the courtyard.

Next, he should go and experience this magnificent era.