Life in siheyuan era

Four hours had passed, and Yuan Shi had yet to write a single word on the stationery in front of him.

He was no longer considering the problem of "leniency for confession" versus "severity for resistance." With a certain conjecture, he decided to take things as they came.

With this preparation, he saw the burly young man walk into the room and immediately entered a state of full alert.

This tall and robust young man was wearing a blue police uniform, with a resolute, square face. His eyes, full of wisdom, immediately put Yuan Shi on guard.

The burly young man looked at him, walked to the chair across from the desk, picked up the stationery, glanced at it, and put it down, asking blandly, "Why haven't you written anything?"

Hearing his question, Yuan Shi stared into the other man's eyes and slowly replied, "I don't know what the problem is?"

The burly young man met his gaze, a slight smile playing on his lips, and calmly replied, "Think carefully."

"I've thought it over carefully," Yuan Shi said, determined not to utter a single unnecessary word.

"Is that so?" the burly young man asked casually. "What are your plans for the future? Are you going to continue as a manual laborer, or return to your old profession?"

The burly young man's question made Yuan Shi pause for a moment. He looked up and softly asked, "Why didn't Zhou Zhiyuan come?"

He had thought of Zhou Zhiyuan earlier.

Faced with the current situation, Yuan Shi analyzed it and realized one thing: he hadn't committed any thefts in the past few years, so if something had happened, it must be related to his early days as a thief.

Having figured this out, Yuan Shi turned his attention to the few people who knew about his past, carefully calculating the possibility of being betrayed.

Then, thinking about being brought to the police training base, he overturned his previous idea. If he had been betrayed by those people, he shouldn't have been brought here. The police wouldn't have the time to play a "self-report" game with him; they would have interrogated him directly based on the betrayer's confession.

So, he shifted his thinking, "Why did the police bring me to the training base?"

When he came in, he had observed that there weren't many police officers here, indicating that police training hadn't started yet, and the location was relatively remote in the suburbs.

Thinking of this, he guessed at a possibility: "They want to keep it a secret."

Making this guess, Yuan Shi was puzzled. His biggest problem was theft, so why the need for secrecy?

Then, he thought of another possibility: "They want me to do something."

Thinking of this possibility, a thin, square face with pure eyes appeared before him.

Thinking of Zhou Zhiyuan, he was even more puzzled. This man was his nemesis. If there was anything, they could just come to him directly, so why use this method?

He thought of Zhou Zhiyuan, and seeing the burly young man, he immediately confirmed his guess.

The burly young man had a different appearance and temperament from Zhou Zhiyuan, but their movements were very similar.

Soldiers from different units have the same standards, but there are subtle differences. Soldiers who always walk together have the same pace.

Yuan Shi, born into the thief's profession, paid close attention to subtle details. From the burly young man's gait, he determined that they were together.

This observational ability impressed the burly young man, who then asked, "What do you think we want you to do?"

"Maybe it's to steal something, or maybe it's to tail someone."

Yuan Shi frankly said. The burly young man pondered for a moment and asked, "Don't we have people like that?"

"It's different..." Yuan Shi replied calmly. "You are bound by strict discipline. There are some things you can do but don't dare to do."

"Heh..." The burly young man smiled and then said, "What are your conditions?"

"Only one condition..." Yuan Shi said in a deep voice, "If I die, please treat my mother well."

"Are you willing to do it?"

This question made Yuan Shi smile bitterly. He replied frankly, "Do I have a choice?"

Yuan Shi spoke honestly, and the burly young man pondered for a moment before replying, "One fellow suggested treating you as a comrade."

These words made Yuan Shi's breathing quicken. He understood that this 'comrade' was not the common term used outside, but meant they were treating him as one of their own.

Listening to the burly young man speak, Yuan Shi's heart surged with stormy waves. He couldn't help but think, "What kind of department is this?"

As a descendant of the thief's profession, the first thing he learned was to observe. An important factor in why he came along obediently was, "Those two middle-aged men are definitely experts."

He trusted his own eyesight. The only misjudgment was Zhou Zhiyuan, who was his nemesis; he accepted that.

Now he knew one thing: Zhou Zhiyuan belonged to a certain department, and with those two middle-aged experts, this department was definitely not simple.

But such a complicated department couldn't even solve the problem of a comrade. The superior's superior had to ask the superior for instructions, which showed how high the threshold of this department was.

Yuan Shi thought of a broad picture from a single point. He listened as the burly young man continued to say, "This matter can't be solved by us, but there's one thing we can guarantee: we'll treat you as one of our own comrades. If you sacrifice yourself, we'll be your mother's sons."

"If the higher-ups recognize you, you'll be a martyr, and your mother will be supported by the state. But your name as a martyr won't be made public. Your name will be registered in the internal list of martyrs, and only our own people will know."

This condition might be a bit harsh for later generations, but for people at this time, it was completely acceptable. Although the thief's profession was a low-class one, the words 'loyalty' and 'righteousness' had always been passed down.

This inheritance seemed a bit ridiculous. Thieves also valued loyalty and righteousness?

But the fact was that the thieves who could pass down their skills all valued loyalty and righteousness; otherwise, their skills couldn't be passed down.

Yuan Shi also valued loyalty and righteousness, so he immediately agreed.

For him, as a thief, being able to do something for the country and possibly becoming a martyr after his sacrifice was too attractive.

His attitude surprised the burly young man, who solemnly asked, "No financial conditions?"

"You won't let my mother starve." For him, this condition was enough.

Hearing his reply, the burly young man smiled, stood up, extended his right hand, and solemnly said, "Comrade Yuan Shi, my name is Shen Lanbo."

Yuan Shi stood up and shook the big hand, excitedly replying, "Comrade Shen Lanbo."

He was a little excited because this 'comrade' was different from that 'comrade.' He had been called 'comrade' before, but the 'comrade' from an organization was different from the 'comrade' outside. This feeling made people feel fulfilled.

Now that they were calling each other 'comrade,' he could ask, "What is Comrade Zhou Zhiyuan doing?"

Shen Lanbo smiled and said, "An old comrade entrusted his grandson to him to discipline. Zhiyuan is teaching him a lesson. Let's go take a look."

Shen Lanbo said, turning and walking out. Yuan Shi followed behind him, walking more than ten meters along the corridor. Shen Lanbo pushed the door open, and Yuan Shi, standing outside the door, heard Zhou Zhiyuan's voice: "I told you not to study properly."

Then came a weak voice, "Don't hit my head."

Following that, Zhou Zhiyuan's voice came, "A head as stupid as yours needs to be hit. A few more hits and you'll be smarter."

Zhou Zhiyuan was speaking, but the roll of stationery in his hand wasn't idle, slapping a head repeatedly.

The owner of this head was squatting on the ground, covering his stomach with both hands, and stubbornly resisting, "Besides hitting my stomach and knocking my head, what else can you do?"

He was unconvinced, so Zhou Zhiyuan continued to wave the roll of stationery, hitting the head, casually replying, "Pinching your neck, kicking your butt, or a full-body faceplant, which one do you choose?"

Zhou Zhiyuan gave the other party a choice, but the other party covered his stomach, thought carefully, and then solemnly replied, "You should still hit my stomach. Anyway, I've already taken three punches, so I'm not afraid of one more."

The owner of this head seemed to be used to being beaten. He didn't want to accept other methods. Covering his stomach and squatting on the ground was much more dignified than those three results.

Zhang Quanyi finally understood that he really couldn't beat Zhou Zhiyuan. He had tried three times and been punched three times. He knew he would be hit in the stomach, but he just couldn't dodge it.

After three times of excruciating pain, he prepared to surrender. The tall figure named Zhou Zhiyuan was the person his grandfather had told him to turn to. Surrendering wouldn't be too shameful.

But the problem was how to surrender. He couldn't just shout, "I surrender," could he?

The sixteen-year-old boy valued face very much and couldn't do something so embarrassing.

He was waiting for Zhou Zhiyuan to recruit him, but Zhou Zhiyuan seemed to be addicted to hitting him and didn't mean to do so.

Fortunately, a burly young man came in just in time and said gently, "Persuading someone to return from the wrong path isn't something that can be done overnight. You have to be patient and take your time."

So Zhou Zhiyuan stopped hitting him, put down the roll of stationery, sighed, and said, "Grandpa Hua entrusted him to me. I really want to make him understand things overnight."

The two men's back-and-forth made Zhang Quanyi suspicious and uneasy. He thought to himself, "What do you two mean? Are you going to hit me later?"