My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 210: The Death of the Deaf Old Woman

He Yushui returned to her room and tossed and turned, unable to sleep. He Daqing's words kept swirling in her mind, sometimes thinking about the old woman's behavior, sometimes about right and wrong.

"Never look at what a person says, always look at what they do. What they say is superficial; what they do is what matters."

These words struck He Yushui like a stone. She had always thought the older woman was a decent person, but after He Daqing's analysis, she felt more and more that the older woman's actions were actually quite disheartening.

Before you knew it, it was midnight. The entire courtyard was quiet, and you could hear the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves.

Just then, Zhang Lei's door opened slightly, and a figure slipped out.

The man was dressed entirely in black, even his shoes were wrapped in cloth, so he walked almost silently.

It was none other than Zhang Lei.

He quietly circled around to the wall of his own yard, using the corners of the walls and the shadows of the trees as cover, then climbed over and landed at the door of the deaf old lady's house.

Zhang Lei first squatted down at the doorway, looked around carefully, and listened intently to make sure no one was moving around in the yard before he felt relieved.

With a thought, he used the system space's capabilities to remotely retract the bolt from the deaf old lady's door and then put it back.

With a soft "click," the door opened.

Zhang Lei pushed open the door and entered. The room was pitch black, with only a sliver of moonlight filtering in from the window. By this light, he saw the deaf old woman lying fast asleep in bed.

Zhang Lei walked quickly to the bedside, reached out, and gently touched the deaf old lady's body.

The next second, the deaf old lady disappeared from the bed and was taken into his system's portable space.

The room was empty except for the bed.

Without pausing, Zhang Lei immediately began searching the deaf old lady's room, his eyes sharp and his movements swift, as if he were looking for something important.

After searching for a while, Zhang Lei actually found quite a few good things.

One of the two small boxes contained about fifteen small yellow croakers, some silver dollars, receipts, and cash; the other box contained the deaf old lady's jewelry, including two emerald green bracelets, which, based on Zhang Lei's experience, should be imperial green.

Upon seeing these items, Zhang Lei didn't hesitate and immediately stored them all into his system space.

He quickly restored everything in the room to its original state and released the deaf old woman from the system space. At this moment, the deaf old woman still looked like she was asleep, but she was no longer breathing.

After doing all this, Zhang Lei quietly slipped out, using his personal space to remotely re-lock the door latch, and then quickly ran back to his own home, making sure to clean up any traces of his arrival.

After doing all this, Zhang Lei finally felt relieved and lay back down on the bed.

The reason he was doing this tonight was because during the day, he saw the deaf old woman return from prison, and her eyes were filled with hatred as she looked at him. Zhang Lei thought that now that Ye Shuqin and her two sisters were all pregnant, he absolutely could not allow his family to be in any danger.

The next day, the entire courtyard was as peaceful as ever, as if nothing had happened.

Early in the morning, people from all walks of life opened their doors one after another, some going to work, others cooking.

Only the door to the deaf old woman's room remained closed.

At this time of day, the deaf old lady would usually be sitting in the doorway sunbathing, but today there was no sound at all.

At first, nobody cared.

It wasn't until an older woman brought breakfast to the deaf old lady that she realized something was wrong.

She knocked on the door: "Grandma? Grandma, are you there?"

There was no response from inside the house.

The woman's heart skipped a beat, and she knocked harder: "Grandma! Please open the door!"

Still, no one answered.

At this moment, several neighbors gathered around.

Uncle Liu Haizhong walked over with a frown: "What's going on? The old lady usually comes out at this time."

The second aunt was also a little worried: "Yes, could it be sick?"

Liu Haizhong snorted from the side, "I think he overslept, didn't he? Getting old, he needs more sleep."

Even so, he also felt that something was amiss.

The older woman grew anxious and turned to Liu Haizhong, saying, "Second Uncle, how about... we break down the door and see?"

Liu Haizhong thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Alright, just in case nothing really happens."

With the combined efforts of several people, they smashed open the deaf old lady's door with a loud bang.

The room was dimly lit.

An older woman was the first to walk in. When she reached the bedside and saw the person on the bed, she froze instantly.

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

Aunt Er and Liu Haizhong also quickly went over.

The deaf old woman was lying on the bed with her eyes closed and her face still showing the expression of someone asleep, but her face was frighteningly pale and her body was already cold.

Liu Haizhong reached out to check the person's breath and pulse, then shook his head: "The person... is gone."

The woman's legs went weak, and she almost collapsed to the ground: "How could this... how could this happen? She was perfectly fine yesterday..."

Liu Haizhong was also stunned. The smugness on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a trace of panic.

The news quickly spread throughout the entire courtyard.

Upon hearing the news, He Daqing was only stunned for a moment before sighing, "People can just disappear like that."

He Yushui lowered her head and didn't speak, but for some reason, she thought of her father's words from last night.

Zhang Lei rushed over from the back house and stood at the door of the deaf old lady's house. He watched as the door was surrounded by people, but his face remained expressionless.

For him, all of this was part of the plan.

The death of the deaf old lady threw the entire courtyard into chaos.

Zhang Lei looked at the third uncle, Yan Fugui, who had rushed over, and said, "Third uncle, shouldn't this matter be reported to the neighborhood office? After all, the deaf old lady was a recipient of the Five Guarantees, and now that she has passed away, the neighborhood office must be informed."

Yan Fugui thought for a moment and nodded: "You're right."

After saying that, he turned to look at Liu Haizhong, who was pale with fright, and said, "Old Liu, Old Liu, come here, let's discuss what to do about the old lady's situation."

Suddenly remembering something, the older woman hurriedly spoke up: "The old lady's cause of death hasn't been determined yet, what are you trying to do?"

Zhang Lei looked at the middle-aged woman and said calmly, "Ma'am, aren't we discussing this? What's the rush?"

Liu Haizhong was also a little angry and said, "That's right, we're discussing this! It's obvious that the old lady was old and died of natural causes."

Many people agree with Liu Haizhong's statement, since the deaf old lady looked as if she had passed away in her sleep.

But the older woman kept shaking her head, muttering, "Impossible, impossible, the old lady was perfectly fine yesterday..."

Yan Fugui sighed and advised, "Auntie, we know you and the old lady were close. But that's just how it is when people get old; you never know when they might be gone. The old lady was able to pass away peacefully in her sleep; she was truly blessed."

The other elderly people in the courtyard nodded in agreement.

Some people said, "Yes, an old lady like that, she's a blessed person."

Someone else said, "Auntie, just listen to the old man in charge."

The crowd was talking noisily about the deaf old lady.

After discussing it, Zhang Lei and the other two decided to report it to the subdistrict office.

Soon, Liu Haizhong arrived with Director Wang from the subdistrict office.

Director Wang glanced at the scene, immediately frowned, and said loudly, "Alright! Those who need to go to work should go to work, and those who need to go to school should go to school. Stop crowding around here!"

After hearing Director Wang's words, the crowd, though somewhat reluctant, slowly dispersed.

However, most people did not go far; they simply stood at a distance and watched, wanting to see how the neighborhood committee would handle the matter.