The Life of a Son-in-Law in a Courtyard House

As soon as Yan Bugui jumped out, Jia Zhangshi's eyes lit up, then dimmed again.

Thinking about it, it would be good to let Yan Bugui and Yang Dalin fight it out first.

These two people have a grudge against each other.

Think it over carefully and see how to say it appropriately.

The best approach is to punish Yang Dalin, obtain the money, and avoid damaging one's own family's reputation.

Yan Bugui stretched out his arms and said, "Everyone, listen to me. I know what's going on. Let me explain."

Yang Dalin looked at Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong beside him; it seemed that the two of them had a good relationship recently.

Liu Haizhong has recently become wiser and is less inclined to get involved in things. Perhaps it's just that he's no longer in a hurry to get involved in matters concerning Yang Dalin.

The crowd parted to make way for Yan Bugui, who squeezed into the middle.

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses and asked, "Yang Dalin, what time do you get off work and what time do you get home?"

Yang Dalin chuckled: "Old Man Yan, watch your tone. You're not a liaison officer anymore, so watch your manners. You're not acting like a police interrogation. What, are you some kind of emperor? Do I have to report to you?"

Yang Dalin's consistent way of dealing with such shameless intellectuals is to not talk to them properly and to use foul language whenever necessary.

Otherwise, if you respond politely and talk about morality, he'll talk about the law; if you talk about the law, he'll talk about customs.

In short, they won't talk to you properly or directly.

Conversely, the more impolite you are, the more obedient he becomes, just like the Donglin Party literati of the Ming Dynasty.

Yang Dalin even suspected the cause of the wind was that since the founding of the country, these shameless intellectuals had jumped out again.

The head manager had just begun these actions.

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui's tone changed instantly: "As a member of the public, I have the right to supervise. I am helping Uncle Yi and Uncle Er, and I am also helping you clear your name."

Yan Bugui glanced at Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong as he said this.

Yi Zhonghai knew he wasn't as shrewd as Yan Bugui, so he decided to ask him for help.

Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong exchanged a glance. Seeing that Liu Haizhong had no objection, Yi Zhonghai said, "Dalinzi, Teacher Yan didn't mean it that way. You see, your Aunt Jia misunderstood you. Wouldn't it be better if you explained it to everyone?"

Yang Dalin knew that even if the police came, they would still question him.

I need to explain myself, so I'll just go along with it. But why does this scene seem so similar?

It's a bit like that famous chicken-stealing scene.

Yang Dalin nodded: "Alright, since Uncle Yi and Uncle Liu have both agreed, I'll cooperate with Old Man Yan. But Old Man Yan, please watch your tone, or I might lose my temper and beat you up."

Yi Zhonghai quickly stopped Yang Dalin: "Hey, Dalin, Teacher Yan is practically of the same generation as your parents, how can you hit someone?"

Yang Dalin told him, "Uncle Yi, there's something else you might not know. Yan Jiajie, Jie Kuang, and Jie Di all call me uncle now. So, Yan Bugui and I are now of the same generation. There won't be any seniority distinction between us anymore."

Don't believe me? Ask everyone.

When Yan Bugui heard that Yang Dalin was bringing this up again, his face turned red with anger.

The onlookers explained the situation to Yi Zhonghai.

Yi Zhonghai really didn't know, and Wen Xiumei had forgotten to mention it to him yesterday.

This made Yan Bugui even more embarrassed.

This naturally fueled his desire to bring down Yang Dalin, so Yan Bugui said, "Yang Dalin, let's not talk about anything else that's useless."

Let's talk about what happened tonight.

I'll ask on behalf of Uncle One and Uncle Two, and also on behalf of our old neighbor, Sister Jia. Is that alright?

Yang Dalin, of course, couldn't back down: "Sure, of course, but let's make this clear first: if you and Jia Zhangshi really wrong me, you two will have to bow down and apologize to me together."

Yan Bugui felt confident that he had the job, and without waiting for Jia Zhangshi to nod, he agreed on her behalf.

Madam Jia wanted to back out, but seeing that things had already come to this point, she didn't say anything more.

What if Old Man Yan really can do it?

Trust him this once.

Yan Bugui noticed that everyone's attention was focused on him.

I'm extremely satisfied; that feeling of being a big shot that I had a while ago has returned.

Yi Shazi and Liu Erpang, you two are uneducated and incompetent. I'll have to handle the investigation.

Yan Bugui cleared his throat and asked, "Yang Dalin, what time do you get off work?"

Yang Dalin was about to disrupt his rhythm: "I get off work at five o'clock and just got home around six. On the way, I went to Hongxing Hospital to see Ma San in the next courtyard. He's the Ma San whose older brother has moved out and left him to live alone."

Everyone has probably heard about his story. He bought ten eggs when he passed by Beiheyan Street. It was an old lady from his hometown who wanted to exchange them for cloth coupons for her family. I happened to have some coupons at work, so I exchanged them for her.

(At this time, wages are paid in advance for starting work.)

Because it was hard to carry, I even spent two cents to buy the other person's small basket as well.

I was home for less than five minutes when the howling started in the yard.

What else does Old Man Yan want to ask? Should I ask how many cloth coupons I spent, where I bought them, and who can vouch for me when I went to see Ma San?

Who saw it at the hospital?

When I came in, I chatted with Grandpa Qi for a bit and asked him how his first day at work was.

"Anything else you want to ask? Yan Bugui, just say it."

Yang Dalin directly asked Yan Bugui what he wanted to ask, instead of following the expected pace of his questioning.

To avoid that old rascal finding fault with his words, he explained why it took him so long to get home.

There were eyewitnesses and witnesses.

Old Yan was feeling quite uncomfortable because he was blocked. Why wasn't he following my rhythm?

Yan Bugui was speechless for a moment, and then, not knowing what to ask, he asked Jia Zhangshi, "Sister-in-law, when did Qin Huairu go to buy soy sauce? How long did it take before you realized something was wrong? How long did it take you to carry her back?"

Jia Zhangshi answered one by one: "When Qin Huairu went to buy soy sauce, it was just getting dark. She had been gone for almost twenty minutes and hadn't returned yet, so I asked Banggeng to go look for her."

Banggeng ran back a few minutes later and called for me and Dongxu to carry her back.

It only took about ten minutes from when Banggeng went to find her to when he carried her back.

Yan Bugui felt he had grasped the truth and quickly said, "Yang Dalin, look, Qin Huairu was beaten just when you weren't home."

I believe you when you say you saw Ma San and bought eggs, but there was time in between when you committed the crime, so you are the prime suspect.

Yang Dalin knew Yan Bugui was right, but he wasn't worried at all, since there were no witnesses.

What's there to be afraid of? There are no security cameras around at this time of day.

The case-solving rate is very low.

Yang Dalin asked calmly, "Old Yan, you're so stingy. During that time, I wasn't the only one in our compound who didn't go home, so why do you only suspect me?"

Secondly, why did I hit Dongxu's wife? I even gave Banggengrou to eat yesterday. I don't have any conflicts with Dongxu. Why would I hit his wife?

I had the time to commit the crime, but no motive, right?

How do you explain this?!

Yang Dalin's words were overheard by Jia Dongxu, who had brought the police officers with him.