Chapter 54: The Truth Comes to Light, Yi Zhonghai Suffers a Setback

Zhao Jianguo put the matchbox on the wooden stool outside Yi Zhonghai's door, turned and left with steady steps; once inside, he immediately took out the crumpled note from his pocket and, together with the matchbox, slapped it onto the desk. He stared at the matchbox for two seconds, then opened the system sign-in interface and placed both items into the frame.

【Testing in progress…】

A line of small text popped up, followed by two prompts:

【Handwriting tracing completed: the anonymous note writer's handwriting matches Jia Zhangshi's market ledger from yesterday with 98.7% similarity】

【Item tracing completed: match batch number 0417, the only person in the courtyard who received a whole box (100 boxes) from the factory logistics section on the 23rd of last month was Yi Zhonghai】

Zhao Jianguo's mouth twitched as he muttered lowly, "What a pair, one writes, one passes, putting on a double act?"

He slid his finger on the interface, calling up the system‑generated spread‑path diagram: the note's content was dictated by Yi Zhonghai, copied by Jia Zhangshi, slipped into the security section's mailbox by the vegetable‑seller aunt, then spread by his nephew from the building‑materials factory with remarks like "lightweight bricks are toxic" and "after marriage you'll surely lose your husband," while also smearing him for using workers' trial materials.

"This blame‑shifting is faster than the cafeteria ladle‑slinging." Zhao Jianguo smirked, casually stored the diagram in his mind, ready to release it publicly later.

He had just closed the system when footsteps sounded outside, accompanied by Sha Zhu's loud voice: "Jianguo! Jianguo! Guess what? The technical section's report is out!"

The door was flung open with a bang; Sha Zhu held up a sheet in one hand and wiped sweat from his forehead with the other: "Compressive strength is 210 kilograms per square centimeter—higher than ordinary red bricks! Director Li on the spot approved it for submission to the factory as an innovation case."

Zhao Jianguo took the report, glanced at it, and nodded: "Just in time."

"What are you planning to do?" Sha Zhu leaned in, "You won't really expose everything in front of the whole courtyard, will you? Old fox Yi Zhonghai is slick with his words."

"Slick?" Zhao Jianguo folded the report and slipped it into his coat pocket, "Then I'll make him slip in public."

Sha Zhu stared, then broke into a grin: "You usually look honest, but when you act you pull out vicious moves."

"I'm not vicious; otherwise others would just step on my head and piss." Zhao Jianguo picked up the enamel basin, poured a cup of hot water, "Tomorrow the courtyard will hold its monthly meeting; I'll apply to speak. You, keep an eye on Yi Zhonghai then—don't let him slip away early."

"Count on me!" Sha Zhu thumped his chest, "If he dares to run, I'll block the door with a carrying pole."

Early the next morning, an old table was set up in the central open space of the courtyard; Yanbugui sat in the middle leaning on his cane, cleared his throat and said, "Meeting! First, hygiene ratings—Jia Zhangshi's windowsill has the most dust, deduct two points!"

Jia Zhangshi immediately shouted, "Who doesn't get dust? Why am I being deducted? It's unfair!"

"Ask Zhao Jianguo whether it's fair or not," Yanbugui glanced at the crowd, "He's applied to speak, saying he has something important."

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhao Jianguo. He slowly stood, pulled the test report from his pocket, and slapped it on the table: "First, the main point. This is the technical section's freshly released "Lightweight Brick Compressive Strength Test Report"; the data are here—feel free to pass it around."

After everyone had read it, they nodded. Qin Huairu whispered, "This strength is enough for two stories."

Zhao Jianguo nodded, then shifted tone: "The report is genuine, but someone insists it's fake. A few days ago someone slipped a note into Su Qing's hand that read "Lightweight bricks are toxic; after marriage you'll surely lose your husband." Who said that?"

The crowd fell silent.

Jia Zhangshi immediately stood up, "I didn't write it! I was just worried for everyone; the public has a right to know!"

Zhao Jianguo smiled, "Your "public" writes with quite a flair."

He pulled out an enlarged photo, stuck it on the wall: "This is the handwriting comparison I asked the technical section to do. Left is your market ledger from yesterday—"one jin of tofu, three mao two"; right is the note's text. Look—the hook at the end of the "one", the pause in the middle of the "three"—doesn't it look like the same person wrote it?"

Jia Zhangshi's face turned white, she protested stubbornly, "There are countless writers; how could one be identical?"

"What about this then?" Zhao Jianguo produced the matchbox, opened it, and tipped out a stick: "These matches—only one person in the courtyard received a whole box last month—Master Yi Zhonghai of the logistics section."

He turned his gaze to Yi Zhonghai sitting in the back row: "The matches you used to fix the stool and the ones I used to light the lamp are from the same batch. The number on the bottom of the box is 0417, registered with the logistics section. Tell me, how did these matches end up in the room where I lit the lamp, and how did they come back intact to your doorstep?"

Yi Zhonghai's face twitched, he gave a dry laugh: "Jianguo, I don't know where your matches went; maybe you lost them yourself."

"Lost?" Zhao Jianguo shook his head, "Then why were you crouched outside my new house's back wall yesterday at three p. m., staring for seventeen minutes—what were you after? I was boiling water, steam rising from the kettle's spout, and you watched closely. If you were really afraid the house would collapse, why hover so close? Aren't you afraid of getting hit?"

The crowd murmured.

"Oh, someone really was peeking?"

"I said I saw grass moving outside then and thought it was a cat."

"Seventeen minutes? You must have been staring up at the underside."

Yi Zhonghai jumped to his feet, "Nonsense! When did I ever go there? Show me proof!"

"Proof?" Zhao Jianguo smirked, "You're the one who always trusts "public oversight." Well, the public is right here—do you dare to explain publicly why your matches turned up at the rumor‑mongering scene, and why you were peeking at the building details?"

"I… I was just checking for hidden dangers for everyone!" Yi Zhonghai's voice tightened, "Your house's origins are unclear—where did the cement come from? Who made the bricks? Who can guarantee safety?"

"The cement came from the factory's abandoned tool‑room renovation project approved by the factory; the bricks are the new material I'm testing in the technical section's innovation trial," Zhao Jianguo said, word by word, "All procedures have been filed. As for you, sneaking into the scrap yard at midnight, knocking over a brick pile, getting coal dust all over your pants—Sha Zhu asked you the next day if you were scavenging coal slag."

Yi Zhonghai's breath caught, he turned and walked away.

Just then a commotion arose outside; Sha Zhu came running in, laughing as he ran: "Quick! Quick! Come see—Master Yi tried to climb over the wall, slipped, and landed his whole leg in the septic tank!"

Everyone froze for half a second, then burst into laughter.

Zhao Jianguo hurried out to see Yi Zhonghai half‑submerged in the tank's edge, foul mud smeared half his face, still clutching a half‑length measuring tape; coal dust mixed with sewage dripped from his pant legs. Jia Zhangshi lunged to pull him out, slipped her foot, got splashed all over, and doubled over retching.

"Oh my goodness!" Sha Zhu slapped his thigh laughing, "Master Yi, you're practically doing an on‑site load‑test of the foundation!"

"Quick, pull me up!" Yi Zhonghai struggled, his voice changing, "This… this isn't what I intended!"

"Not what you intended?" Zhao Jianguo stood at the tank's edge, looking down at him, "You said the public has a right to know—now everybody knows: you sneaked photos, spread rumors, framed me, all to suppress my house‑building and ruin my relationship with Su Qing."

"I didn't!" Yi Zhonghai shouted hoarsely.

"Whether you did or not, you know it yourself." Zhao Jianguo turned to the crowd gathering around, "I've laid out all the evidence here—the technical section's report, the handwriting comparison, the match source, the peeping record—if anyone wants to hear it again, I'll repeat it."

Nobody spoke.

Qin Huairu silently walked over, pulled a folded paper from her pocket, and handed it to Zhao Jianguo: "This is… what I picked up at the security section's gate yesterday; it reads "Please investigate the toxicity of lightweight bricks," signed "Concerned veteran worker for public safety"—the handwriting is identical to Jia Zhangshi's."

Zhao Jianguo took the paper, said nothing, just folded it neatly and slipped it into his pocket.

The crowd gradually dispersed; some shook their heads, some smirked, others whispered, "All this just to stop someone from building a house—is it worth it?"

"They're starting a family and a career—who are they hurting?"

Zhao Jianguo stood in the courtyard, lifted his gaze to his own rear window—the light was still on, the kettle's spout puffing white steam, drifting upward in wisps.

Qin Huairu walked over and handed him a clean towel: "Jianguo, this house… I'll bring the kids over tomorrow to hang out."

He took the towel, wiped his hands, looked toward that window, and nodded slightly.

At the courtyard gate, several young workers hauled Yi Zhonghai up, his whole body reeking, his trouser leg torn, the half‑length measuring tape in his hand snapped with a "crack" and fell to the ground in two pieces.