Siheyuan, integrating everything, cultivating the city

"These two people..." Li Xiangqian narrowed his eyes, his doubts growing. The things in the photo were packed in sacks, so they were not clear, but judging from their shapes and sizes, they were definitely not ordinary objects. He tried to recall that there had indeed been some unrest in the courtyard recently. First, the chickens and ducks in the courtyard were inexplicably missing, and then several families lost things, causing panic among the people.

Could it be that all these things are related to He Yuzhu and Xu Damao?

Li Xiangqian's heart was shaken, and a bold guess gradually emerged. He turned to the last page of the album and found a half-torn photo. The figures in the photo were blurry, but it was vaguely visible that a man and a woman were hugging each other intimately, and the woman's clothes seemed familiar to him.

"Isn't this Qin Huairu's clothes?" Li Xiangqian took a breath of cold air, as if a thunder had exploded in his mind.

He slammed the album shut, his heart in turmoil. If the person in the photo was really Qin Huairu, then what was her relationship with He Yuzhu and Xu Damao? What on earth were they secretly moving in the warehouse?

Li Xiangqian felt like he had fallen into a huge mystery, and behind this mystery, there seemed to be some shocking secrets. He took a deep breath and decided to find out the origin of the photo first.

He walked out of the room and came to the yard. It was evening, the sun was setting, smoke was curling up in the courtyard, and children were chasing and playing in the yard, a peaceful scene.

Li Xiangqian's eyes swept across the crowd in the yard, and finally fell on Qin Huairu who was washing vegetables in front of the faucet. She was wearing a washed-out floral shirt and a pair of black coarse cloth pants. Although her clothes were simple, they could not hide her beautiful figure.

Li Xiangqian walked to Qin Huairu and asked casually, "Sister-in-law Huairu, are you washing vegetables?"

Qin Huairu raised her head and saw that it was Li Xiangqian. She smiled slightly: "It's Xiangqian, yes, I'm going to make dinner. Have you eaten?"

"Not yet." Li Xiangqian smiled. "From the smell, I guess it's the braised pork that Banggeng likes to eat, right?"

"This child just loves to eat meat." Qin Huairu smiled indulgently and continued to wash the vegetables with her head down.

Li Xiangqian asked casually, "By the way, Sister Huairu, things have been a bit uneasy in the courtyard lately. Did you lose anything at home?"

Qin Huairu paused for a moment, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes, but she quickly returned to normal. She shook her head: "No, what valuables can there be in my house? But your uncle's family lost a chicken a few days ago, and I was so sad."

Li Xiangqian noticed Qin Huairu's strangeness and became more suspicious, but he did not show it. He just smiled and said, "That's good, that's good. In this world, it's better to be careful."

After saying that, Li Xiangqian turned and left. He did not return to his room, but went around to the backyard and came to the warehouse.

The door of the warehouse was ajar. Li Xiangqian pushed it gently and it opened. The warehouse was dimly lit and filled with a damp smell. Various sundries were piled up in a mess, and it was difficult to see what was inside.

Li Xiangqian took out his mobile phone and turned on the flashlight function. With the faint light, he began to search the warehouse carefully.

Suddenly, he tripped and nearly fell. He looked down and found a loose board on the ground. Curious, he pried it open and found a secret compartment underneath.

Li Xiangqian was delighted. Could this be the place where He Yuzhu and Xu Damao hid things?

There was no gold, silver, or treasure in the secret compartment, nor any rare stuff, only a notebook wrapped in brown paper. Li Xiangqian carefully took out the notebook and gently blew away the dust on it, and a musty smell hit his nose.

He opened the notebook and found that it was filled with densely written words, written in sloppy handwriting, as if written with charcoal. With the help of the flashlight, Li Xiangqian carefully identified the words on it, and the more he read, the more frightened he became.

The owner of this diary is actually He Yuzhu!

The contents of the diary recorded He Yuzhu's crimes of stealing factory materials and reselling them to Xu Damao at high prices over the years, making huge profits. The diary also recorded in detail the time, place, people, goods and amount of each transaction, and even some secret transaction codes.

The more Li Xiangqian looked at it, the more shocked he felt. He had never expected that He Yuzhu, who was usually honest, would be such a person! And Xu Damao was even more of a traitor. He actually colluded with outsiders and stole things from his own factory!

Li Xiangqian closed the diary, feeling mixed emotions. He knew that once the diary was exposed, He Yuzhu and Xu Damao would both face jail time, and the entire courtyard would be turned upside down.

He hesitated, should he hand over the diary to the police?

At this moment, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the warehouse, followed by Xu Damao's voice: "Brother Zhuzi, have you moved everything?"

"It's almost done, only a few boxes left." He Yuzhu's voice came from deep in the warehouse.

Li Xiangqian was shocked. They hadn't left yet!

He quickly stuffed the diary into his arms and then quietly hid behind a pile of debris.

The warehouse door was pushed open, and He Yuzhu and Xu Damao came in carrying a heavy wooden box. They put the wooden box on the ground, and Xu Damao wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Brother Zhuzi, we have been doing this for a few years and have made a lot of money. It's time to stop, right?"

He Yuzhu snorted coldly: "Stop? You're dreaming! The factory is not doing well now, our chance has come, if we don't make some money, we won't have another chance in the future!"

Xu Damao said with some concern: "But I heard that the police have been investigating more strictly recently. If we continue like this, something bad will happen sooner or later."

"What are you afraid of? As long as we are careful, nothing will happen." He Yuzhu said disapprovingly, "Besides, even if something happens, you are the one who will take care of it. Who made you so greedy that you had to drag me down with you?"

"Brother Zhuzi, how can you say that?" Xu Damao was anxious. "You said you would help me get rich, and now that something's wrong, you want to blame me?"

"Stop talking nonsense!" He Yuzhu interrupted him impatiently, "Hurry up and work, finish it early and leave early!"

Xu Damao wanted to say something else, but seeing He Yuzhu's fierce eyes, he had to shut his mouth obediently, and the two continued to carry the wooden boxes.

Li Xiangqian hid in the dark and heard their conversation clearly, and was furious. He did not expect that He Yuzhu would be so cold-blooded and ruthless that he would even disregard brotherhood for money!

Li Xiangqian clenched his fists and had already made a decision in his mind.

He quietly walked out from behind the pile of debris, walked behind He Yuzhu and Xu Damao, and kicked He Yuzhu hard on the butt, knocking him to the ground.

"Ouch!" He Yuzhu screamed and fell to the ground. Before he could react, Li Xiangqian had already ridden on him, raised his fist and punched him in the face.

"You... who are you? You dare to hit me? You must be tired of living..." He Yuzhu was beaten so badly that his face was swollen and his words were unclear.

"I will always keep my name, Li Xiangqian!" Li Xiangqian roared, "You are a hypocritical thief, I will enforce justice on behalf of heaven and teach you a lesson!"

Seeing this, Xu Damao turned pale with fright and turned around to run, but Li Xiangqian grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back like a chicken.

"Want to run? That's not that easy!" Li Xiangqian sneered and threw Xu Damao next to He Yuzhu, "None of you can run away today!"

Li Xiangqian held his breath and slowly opened the secret compartment. There was no gold, silver, or treasure, nor any prohibited items in the secret compartment, only a thick notebook.

The cover of the notebook was a little torn, with the words "work log" written on it in traditional Chinese characters. Li Xiangqian opened the notebook and found that it was filled with densely packed records with a wide range of dates, the earliest of which could be traced back to ten years ago.

Li Xiangqian flipped through it casually and found that the contents seemed to be about the daily life of some residents in the courtyard, such as which family had a quarrel today, which family lost something, which family's child was disobedient, etc., no matter how big or small, were all recorded clearly.

"When did He Yuzhu and Xu Damao start recording the lives of residents? What on earth do they want to do by recording these secretly?" Li Xiangqian was full of doubts.

He continued to scroll down, and suddenly, a line of words caught his eye, which made him stunned.

"March 8th, sunny. Today I met a beautiful woman. I talked to her and learned that her name is Qin Huairu, the daughter-in-law of Jia Zhang in the courtyard. Her husband died early, and she still has a mother-in-law and three children at home. They live in poverty..."

Below this text, there is a portrait of a woman. Although the brushstrokes are a bit immature, the facial features and expressions are portrayed vividly. It is undoubtedly Qin Huairu.

Li Xiangqian's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he vaguely felt that he seemed to have touched upon some incredible secret.

Thank you for your love of this book. Li Xiangqian’s story ends here.

(End of the book)