Chapter 282: A Big Fish

Inside the Military Control Commission office, the atmosphere was suddenly tense.

The young soldier clenched his fists, glared at He Yuzhu, and snapped, "You still dare to be unruly here? You'll have a bitter taste to swallow in a moment!"

He Yuzhu sat on a stool and replied dismissively, "If you can't solve the problem, call your leader out; I want to talk to him."

"Our leader is busy and has no time to deal with you!" the young soldier's voice rose sharply. "If you keep arguing with me, I'll lock you in jail in a moment!"

"You don't have that ability, do you?" He Yuzhu stood up with a "whoosh" and stared unyieldingly at the overconfident young soldier.

The young soldier approached He Yuzhu in a rage, looking as if he were about to make a move.

Just then, a crisp sound of footsteps came from outside the door.

Tian Dan, dressed in a military uniform, pushed the door open, frowned slightly, and asked, "Li Zhun, what are you doing?"

Li Zhun hurried forward and pointed at He Yuzhu to complain, "Section Chief Tian, this kid was fighting in the street and refused to comply. Even after arriving at the Military Control Commission, he is still... still this arrogant..."

Tian Dan turned her gaze to He Yuzhu, a hint of a smile appearing at the corners of her mouth: "Zhuzi? You're something else. I just approved two days of leave for you, and you're already causing trouble for me? That's it, your leave is canceled; come with me in a moment."

Li Zhun was instantly dumbfounded, standing frozen on the spot. He never imagined that the kid in front of him was actually so familiar with Section Chief Tian.

He Yuzhu shook his head and explained, "Sister, this really isn't my fault. It was those three thugs bullying an old master who pulls a cart. When the man wouldn't pay protection money, the three of them ganged up on him. I couldn't just stand by and watch, so I stepped in. As a result, your subordinate here didn't ask any questions, treated me like a bad guy, and even wanted to send me to jail. Is this the attitude you have for serving the people..."

Tian Dan glanced at the three flustered thugs, then looked at Cai Quanwu, who was standing to the side with injuries on his face, and understood the situation.

Her expression darkened, and she ordered, "Li Zhun, take these three people down first and investigate their backgrounds thoroughly."

"Comrade, this kid is talking nonsense! Look at my brother's legs, they're covered in blisters from the burns; you must uphold justice for us!" the bald man in the lead shouted hurriedly.

"Being injured doesn't mean you're in the right," Tian Dan asked coldly, "Confess honestly, did you or did you not collect protection money?"

"We really didn't!" the big bald man was still quibbling.

"They were definitely collecting protection money!" Cai Quanwu testified loudly.

Seeing that Tian Dan had grasped the key to the case in just a few words, Li Zhun couldn't help but blush—he had actually believed the words of those three just a moment ago. He glared fiercely at the thugs and barked, "You three, come with me to the interrogation room!"

"Comrade Tian, I... I know Section Chief Bai from the Police Bureau logistics department!" the bald man hurriedly brought out his backer.

Tian Dan raised an eyebrow: "You know Section Chief Bai?"

"Yes! Yes!" the three of them echoed repeatedly.

"Then we'll investigate Section Chief Bai along with you!" Tian Dan's voice was stern.

The three of them turned ashen-faced.

After the group was taken away, Cai Quanwu rubbed his hands and asked cautiously, "Cadre Tian, I... can I go now? If I'm delayed any longer, I won't be able to earn my keep today."

Tian Dan bowed slightly toward him, her tone sincere: "Uncle Cai, I'm sorry, our work wasn't done well. We've been in charge of Beiping for several months, yet we still let these thugs collect protection money on the streets."

Cai Quanwu gave an honest smile: "The Great Wall wasn't built in a day; there has to be a process. I heard that behind these little thugs, there's a boss called 'Hei Yanwang', and he has many friends in the underworld! If I heard correctly, the Section Chief Bai they mentioned earlier must be Bureau Chief Bai of the 'Bald Party', right? That man is very slippery; he was an official back when the little devils were here..."

"There's such a thing?" Tian Dan's expression was grave, "Then we must investigate this person thoroughly."

Seeing that there were no outsiders in the office, He Yuzhu leaned in and said, "Sister, there was another interesting thing today..."

He then recounted the story of his younger sister mistaking her father and himself suddenly gaining a second uncle.

After hearing this, Tian Dan couldn't help but smile.

Seeing that He Yuzhu was so familiar with Cadre Tian, Cai Quanwu also relaxed a bit.

He Yuzhu said solemnly, "Sister, I think we must have a severe crackdown before the celebration!"

Tian Dan nodded: "Rest assured, as long as it's verified, we will never be lenient."

Just as they were talking, Chen Xueru arrived in a hurry with He Yushui and a few other young girls.

As soon as He Yushui entered the door, she threw herself beside He Yuzhu, grabbed his arm, and asked with a sobbing voice, "Brother, are you okay?"

"Silly girl, what could happen to your brother?" He Yuzhu ruffled her hair and said to Chen Xueru, "Why did you bring them all here?"

Chen Xueru shook her head helplessly: "Your sister wouldn't go home no matter what; she insisted on seeing for herself that you were fine."

He Yuzhu pulled He Yushui over, pointed at Cai Quanwu, and said, "Yushui, look, this isn't our father, but he really has a connection to our family; he is our second uncle."

He Yushui curiously walked around Cai Quanwu twice, blinked her eyes, and said, "You really do look like my father."

Cai Quanwu smiled, took five thousand yuan out from his bosom, and stuffed it into He Yushui's hand: "Little girl, take this; it's a gift from your second uncle."

Seeing this, the shrewd Chen Xueru walked toward Tian Dan enthusiastically and lowered her voice: "Sister Tian, I want to report something to you. A new neighbor recently moved into the courtyard behind my house, and they're quite strange..."

Tian Dan became interested immediately: "Tell me in detail."

"Every day, they have several vehicles moving things in and out. When they buy steamed buns, they buy enough for ten people at a time..." Chen Xueru described.

Tian Dan was lost in thought: "This information is very useful." She leaned close to He Yuzhu's ear and whispered, "Tonight, go and scout out the truth."

He Yuzhu nodded in understanding.

Tian Dan then said aloud, "Zhuzi, take your family home!"

He Yuzhu agreed, led Cai Quanwu, Chen Xueru, and the few young girls, and left the Military Control Commission.

He Yushui tugged at the corner of Cai Quanwu's clothes and invited him in a low voice: "Second Uncle, why don't you come to my house for a sit?"

Cai Quanwu patted her head and said gently, "Not today, let's do it another day."

He Yuzhu also spoke up: "Second Uncle, it's already this late, why don't we grab something to eat together?"

Cai Quanwu hesitated for a moment and waved his hand: "No, I haven't finished today's work yet."

He Yuzhu saw that Cai Quanwu was an independent person who didn't want to take advantage of others, so he didn't force him. He took everyone to Quanjumei for a good meal, then returned home.

As soon as He Yushui arrived home, she couldn't wait to tell Shen Guizhi about today's events.

Although Shen Guizhi had heard about the matter, she hadn't met Cai Quanwu in person yet.

He Yushui said excitedly, "When Dad gets back, let's invite Second Uncle to our house for a meal!"

"Alright," Shen Guizhi agreed with a smile.

He Yuzhu did not participate in the mother and daughter's conversation and went to the East Cross Courtyard alone.

After a few families moved out, it seemed a bit desolate here.

He decided to move here to live. With his mother around, it was always inconvenient to enter and exit his space.

At this moment, he suddenly remembered the few pieces of ancient jade he had bought from Siqiang Xu Damao a few months ago. He wondered what kind of functional upgrade he could get by "feeding" them to the system.

With a slight shift of his intent, he asked in his heart: "System, if I give you that phoenix bird jade, what can I get in exchange?"

The system replied: "Host, this energy stone can expand the space's arable land to two hundred mu, or make the crops yield four harvests per year, or increase the Scanning distance to 120 meters."

He Yuzhu had no interest in increasing the Scanning distance for now, so he immediately chose the first option.

"Command received, system upgrading, please wait..."

A moment later, the notification sound rang out again: "Upgrade successful."

He Yuzhu couldn't wait to enter the space.

He saw that the boundaries of the fields had extended outward significantly, and the uncultivated land was pitch black, emitting the fresh scent of soil.

The spiritual spring in the center was also much wider than before, its surface shimmering with light.

He felt Daxi in his heart—with these two hundred mu of land, plus four harvests a year, he could produce nearly four hundred thousand catties of grain annually. Even if a famine occurred in the future, it would be enough to keep the people around him fed.

At midnight, He Yuzhu carefully changed his appearance and attire, then quietly snuck toward the suspicious courtyard in Qianmen.

Approaching the courtyard gate, he activated the system Scanning and discovered two people guarding the gatehouse, with three more patrolling back and forth in the courtyard.

He did not force his way in, but instead leaped into a neighboring courtyard first, then used it as a path to sneak into the target courtyard.

After entering the courtyard, he nimbly avoided the patrol personnel and activated the Scanning again.

The layout of the entire courtyard appeared clearly in his mind: the main rooms and side rooms were unexpectedly empty, and only in the Houyuan cellar was someone digging a tunnel.

He Yuzhu snuck to the vicinity of the cellar and, through the gaps in the cover, saw the people inside hauling out bags of soil from the tunnel, stacking them neatly in the corner of the cellar.

The direction of this tunnel... could it be heading toward the square? If that were truly the case, he had really caught an unexpected big fish tonight!