Chapter 16

Zhao Jianguo flipped "Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering" to page three, staring at the four characters "Ohm's Law" and pondering, when suddenly from outside came the sound of a cane striking the ground, tap after tap, neither fast nor slow, as if striking the very heart.

He didn't look up, his fingertip lightly pressed the edge of the page, covering the notes he had just written. He was familiar with that sound; whenever Jia Zhangshi had business, the cane became more active than usual.

"Ow—why is my fate so miserable!"

The words hadn't even left his mouth when the sobbing tone arrived.

Zhao Jianguo finally closed the book, rose slowly, slipped the pencil into the book, and walked to the doorway.

The Courtyard was already filled with people. Yanbugui sat on a small horse saddle, pinching a tobacco pipe bowl in his hand, sucking dry without lighting it. Qin Huairu crouched by the well platform washing vegetables, her hand paused mid‑air. Dong Xu stood at the doorway, his brows knit into a knot, yet he remained silent.

Jia Zhangshi, leaning on his cane, stood in the center of the Courtyard, one hand wiping tears, the other patting his thigh; the iron box fell to the ground with a "clang", its lid cracking open.

"Fifty yuan of pension money! Five jin of national grain coupons! Yesterday they were safely in the iron box on my bedside cabinet, and this morning, when I opened my eyes, they're all gone!" she raised her voice, and the entire Siheyuan heard it clearly, "This is what I've saved half my life for, and it's gone in an instant. With these old bones of mine, how am I supposed to live from now on!"

No one responded.

Zhao Jianguo leaned against the doorframe, looking at the iron box. It was empty—no even a scrap of paper.

Jia Zhangshi wiped his face, then suddenly lifted his eyes, his gaze sweeping straight across the Zhao Family windows, his tone shifting: "The day before yesterday I saw with my own eyes the Zhao household baking white‑flour scallion‑oil pancakes; the aroma drifted into my house! Who in our Courtyard doesn't know that fine grain is precious? Which family would dare eat it so openly?"

When those words were spoken, several people turned their heads toward the Zhao Family.

Zhao Jianguo still didn't move; he simply slipped both hands into his pockets, his fingertips lightly touching his ring. The lingering warmth remained, like a heated copper plate pressed against his skin.

He wasn't in a hurry.

He knew the drama had only just begun.

Jia Zhangshi, seeing no one reply, added fuel to the fire: "I'm not naming anyone, but these days losing money or coupons happens a lot. If any household took them, return them quickly and I'll pretend this never happened! If it turns out otherwise… hum, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Qin Huairu finally stood, trying to persuade: "Mother, please don't be hasty; perhaps you remembered the wrong place…"

"Remember wrong?" Jia Zhangshi cut in with a burst, "I count them every night before sleep! Fifty yuan, five ten‑yuan notes! The grain coupons are from 1958, the red‑head ones! How could I misremember?"

Zhao Jianguo then leisurely stepped out, standing on the stone steps at his own doorway, neither too high nor too low, just visible to everyone.

He didn't look at Jia Zhangshi, first scanned the Courtyard, then spoke, his voice low but each word clear: "San Daye, tell me, if someone bites another without evidence, what does the Rules Sign say should be done?"

Yanbugui was startled, the tobacco pipe bowl clacking against his shoe sole: "What Rules Sign?"

"In the supplementary provisions of the Marriage Law, there's a clause called 'False Accusation Counter‑sitting'," Zhao Jianguo said evenly, "Simply put, if you bite someone for stealing without evidence and it turns out false, you must compensate the person double the amount you accused them of."

The Courtyard fell silent at once.

Yanbugui's eyes brightened: "Oh, there's such a saying?"

"Yes," Zhao Jianguo nodded, "It's written in black on white paper. So, Nainai, if you really lost the money, I suggest you go to the police station right away. The police investigate with evidence, not with tears."

Jia Zhangshi's face stiffened: "You… what do you mean by that?"

"What I mean is—" Zhao Jianguo took a half step forward, his voice still steady, "Your words just now sounded as if you were saying I took your money and coupons. If I stay silent, everyone in the Courtyard will think I'm guilty. But if I respond and you have no evidence, that would be you baselessly sullying someone's innocence."

He paused, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth: "Then, according to the 'counter‑sitting' principle, if you can't find the real thief, you must compensate me."

"Compensate you?" Jia Zhangshi nearly jumped up, "You want me to compensate you?"

"Yes." Zhao Jianguo nodded, "Ten jin of fine grain, five jin of local grain coupons, plus publicly say: 'I wrongfully accused Zhao Jianguo, I'm sorry.'"

When those words were spoken, the Courtyard erupted into chaos.

"My heavens, that was really bold!"

"But I'm just speaking reason; without evidence you can't randomly point fingers."

"But Nainai is old, lost her pension, it's pitiful…"

Zhao Jianguo ignored the commentators, staring at Jia Zhangshi: "I'm not afraid of an investigation; I'm afraid of someone who wants to use a few cries and thigh‑slaps to splash dirty water on others' heads. If you truly file a report, I will be the first to support it. If you don't report…"

He paused, his voice dropping a bit: "Then I'll treat it as you spreading rumors. Within three days, if I don't see you go to the police station, I'll submit a complaint to the street mediation committee, accusing you of spreading rumors and damaging my reputation."

When those words were spoken, even Yanbugui inhaled a breath of cool air.

Jia Zhangshi's complexion shifted repeatedly, his cane drumming on the ground with a "thud‑thud": "You… are you threatening me?"

"It's not a threat," Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "It's drawing a line. If you investigate, we follow the Rules Sign. If you don't investigate, then we follow the Rules Sign to compensate. It's that simple."

He turned to go back inside, paused at the doorway, and looked back: "By the way, you said you saw us eating scallion‑oil pancakes the day before yesterday. Those pancakes were made with the 'premium' flour that Section Chief Zhang switched at the factory, half a jin, prepared by my mother. If you don't believe it, you can ask around. But you should know, if you can't get a result, it will count as a 'counter‑sitting' case."

The door slammed shut with a "clack".

No one spoke in the Courtyard.

Jia Zhangshi stood where she was, lips trembling, wanting to curse but not daring, wanting to leave but unable to step down. Qin Huairu tugged her sleeve: "Mother, let's go back inside…"

"Go back to what house!" Jia Zhangshi flung her away, "He's deliberately trying to make me look bad! Fifty yuan, five jin of national grain coupons—what can that buy? He just opens his mouth and demands ten jin of fine grain? Does he think I'm running a grain shop?"

Yanbugui sucked on the empty tobacco pipe, speaking slowly: "Old Jia family, if this money is truly lost, you should report it. If you don't, just shouting here is exactly what Xiao Zhao called—spreading rumors."

"You… are siding with him?" Jia Zhangshi glared.

"I'm not helping anyone," Yanbugui snapped the tobacco pipe onto his belt, "I'm speaking reason. You have no evidence, you bite someone, and they retaliate with the law; who can you blame? Moreover, Xiao Zhao just repaired your radio a couple of days ago for free, right? And now, as soon as the machine makes a sound, you turn around and dump a dung bucket on someone's head?"

Qin Huairu lowered her head in silence, her fingers twisting the edge of her apron.

Dong Xu stood at the doorway, still unmoving. Hearing that, he suddenly spoke: "Mother, how about… we go to the police station?"

Jia Zhangshi snapped her head around: "Are you crazy? Really go file a report? If the police can't find the thief, I'll have to compensate him ten jin of fine grain! Where does our family have that much fine grain?"

Dong Xu's voice lowered: "Then… are you sure the money was still there yesterday?"

"How? You don't even trust me?" Jia Zhangshi thumped the cane on the ground, "Even my own son doubts me?"

Dong Xu fell silent.

Zhao Jianguo was inside, his back against the door panel, ears listening to the sounds outside. He hadn't turned on the light nor sat down; he simply leaned there, his fingertips gently rubbing his ring in his pocket.

He knew that in this round, he couldn't be hasty.

The Jia family's drama wasn't a spur‑of‑the‑moment idea. The pension money and grain coupons were described so specifically, even the year was mentioned, clearly pre‑planned. As for why they chose him, there were only two reasons: first, he had been too conspicuous lately—repairing radios, eating fine grain, basking in the spotlight; second, he was young and easy to bully, thinking a single cry could intimidate him.

But they forgot that to scare someone, you need leverage.

He pulled a small notebook from under the bed, opened to a page, and wrote with his pen: "Rules are the weak's final weapon. Yet when wielded well, they can become the strong's shield."

After writing, he closed the notebook and placed it back where it was.

Outside, Jia Zhangshi kept shouting: "…My old bones have worried about this family all my life, and in the end I can't even protect my pension! Each of you, your hearts are black!"

Zhao Jianguo didn't go out again.

He knew that from now on it would be up to the Jia family to see how it ends.

Should he bite the bullet and file a report, or quietly lower the flag and cease action?

He didn't care.

What he cared about was that, from today onward, a new Rules Sign must be established in the Siheyuan—

If you want to throw mud on his head, you must first consider whether you can withstand the backlash yourself.

He sat back at the table, reopened Electrical Basics, and found the page he had just read. Beneath Ohm's Law, he added a line in small characters: "Voltage = Current × Resistance. But the human heart does not obey Ohm."

Outside, Jia Zhangshi's cries gradually grew weaker, and the sound of the cane also slowed.

Zhao Jianguo picked up a pencil and lightly tapped the page.

The three‑day term has begun.