Chapter 20: A Magnificent Courtyard
Gu Nankai leaned in and said, "Auntie, the Tibetan mastiff won't break free, will it?"
Li Meng frowned and stood beside him: "Captain Gu, so you are afraid of dogs!" He patted his chest confidently: "Don't be afraid, I will protect you! When I was in the team before, I killed a wolf with my bare hands. I can also kill this Tibetan mastiff with a fight. What are you afraid of!"
Gu Nankai smiled bitterly, but Zheng Yi's mother explained, "Don't worry, Hu Zi has been locked in the cage. It's okay. You can come in."
His view was blocked by Zheng Yi's mother just now. When she said this, she turned sideways, and Gu Nankai realized that the ferocious Tibetan mastiff had been locked in a huge iron cage next to him. Its sharp and ferocious eyes were looking at him aggressively and roaring.
Gu Nankai and Li Meng entered Zheng Yi's house. Only when they stepped through the door did they suddenly realize that they were only at the outermost part of Zheng Yi's house. No wonder no one came after they knocked on the door for so long. It turned out that his house was so big.
"How much does it cost for just this one hospital?" Li Meng approached Gu Nankai in amazement and said carefully. Gu Nankai felt the same as him.
Entering through the red gate, apart from a large Tibetan mastiff that looked out of place on their right, what appeared in front of them was a circular arch. Zheng Yi's mother led them through the arch, and the two saw a different scene.
There is a path starting from the archway. Both sides of the path are surrounded by fences, and in the fences are colorful flowers competing for splendor. The air seems to be filled with the smell of pollen. There is a big grape tree just after the archway. The branches of the grapes are well-tended. The length and width of the branches are just the length of the path, which not only ensures the coolness of the path, but also ensures the light exposure rate of the flowers on both sides . Gu Nankai sighed as he walked: "Auntie, this yard must have taken a lot of time, right?"
Zheng Yi's mother was obviously very satisfied with the yard. She was a little proud: "It's been a few years. It took a lot of time!"
"That's right." Gu Nankai responded to her as he walked. Soon they came to the end of the path and they saw a three-story Western-style building standing in front of them. It was still made of blue bricks and white porcelain, which matched the fragrance of flowers along the way very well. It was simple and elegant. Gu Nankai had a new opinion of the old couple. It was beyond his expectation that they could clean up such a yard. It was not easy for two old people who lost their only son to still be in such a mood to live.
Zheng Yi's mother led Gu Nankai and Li Meng into the house. To their surprise, there were other people inside . In addition to a white-haired old man who could be seen as Zheng Yi's father, there was another man in his thirties and a pretty woman who was coaxing a child in her arms. The child was about three or four years old, and from the toys scattered on the ground, it could be seen that it was a boy.
"The police officer is here, please take a seat." Zheng Yi's father looked like a very easy-going old man, but from the situation from when they knocked on the door before to when they entered the house now, Gu Nankai seemed to have some deviation from the word easy-going.
"Who are these two?" Gu Nankai looked at the two young men and asked Zheng Yi's father. He laughed and said, "Yes, yes, yes, I haven't introduced them to the police officer yet. This is Zheng Hai, my godson."
Zheng Hai was a man of few words. He smiled at Gu Nankai and expressed his greetings. Gu Nankai nodded in return and listened to Zheng Yi's father's explanation: "We are old, Zheng Yi is gone, and Zheng Hai is the child of my distant relative. His parents passed away early, so we got together and formed another family."
There is nothing wrong with saying that, and Gu Nankai expressed his understanding. At this time, the old man waved his hand to signal the young woman to take the child away. Zheng Yi's mother seemed to like the child very much. She and the young woman coaxed the child into a room, and Zheng Hai sat next to Zheng Yi's father.
"You come here to know what happened ten years ago," the old man asked directly.
"Yes, uncle, can you tell me in detail what happened back then?"
The old man lit up his cigarette and said, "If you want to know anything, just ask."
Gu Nankai glanced at Li Meng, motioned him to take notes, and then began his own questions.
"Besides you and Auntie, was there anyone else who knew about Zheng Yi's insurance money?"
"No, how could anyone else know about this? Apart from me and my wife, the only third person who would know about this would be the employees of the insurance company. They have to protect their privacy." The old man said firmly.
"What about the accident involving Zheng Yi...can you tell me about it?" Gu Nankai said it hesitantly, but the old man didn't mind.
"Zheng Yi is a thoughtful kid. No one can stop him from doing anything he wants. He insisted on cooperating with others and signed a full responsibility agreement with them. In the end, something went wrong. They came to our house every day to collect the debt, and we couldn't do anything. We sold the land and house in our hometown, but we couldn't raise the money. Zheng Yi couldn't bear it in the end, and he had an accident when he went out to raise money. Then the insurance money suddenly became useful..."
Gu Nankai probably figured out why the couple didn't live in the original village anymore. It should be because they had put everything into paying off their debts. But he was a little puzzled: "Why do you say it's suddenly useful?"
"Because we didn't even think about asking for the insurance money at the time. It was the insurance company's employees who contacted us. Even after Zheng Yi's death, the debt collectors continued to come. The insurance money saved our lives!"
Gu Nankai pondered in his heart and asked, "How much is the insurance money, to be more precise?"
The old man thought about it, hesitated for a moment, but still answered Gu Nankai.
"Five million."
Gu Nankai subconsciously felt that he was lying, but there was nothing wrong with his expression.
"How much did you pay back?"
"All of it, not a penny left of the five million. In fact, Zheng Yi owed us much more than that, but they promised not to bother us again after taking the money. We old couple couldn't stand it anymore, so we gave the money and hid here." Gu Nankai couldn't find any flaws in the old man's words, but he had a strong sense in his heart that what the old man said was definitely not true!
Gu Nankai nodded and looked back at Li Meng: "I've written it down."
Li Meng answered in a low voice, and the old man and Zheng Hai, who was standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the young man next to Gu Nankai close the notebook in his hand.
"Uncle, this yard must have taken a lot of effort." Gu Nankai asked casually, "Your house is really well decorated. You can't buy such a good house in the city."
The old man chuckled twice in response to Gu Nankai's praise. Seeing Gu Nankai stand up, he also stood up: "To be honest with you, Officer, I didn't build this yard. It was my godson who did it. From the design to the decoration, it was all his idea."
The old man seemed very satisfied with his godson. Gu Nankai couldn't help but think highly of him. His eyes fell on Zheng Hai. He saw that he had been reserved with Xiou. The man had long hair that covered half of his face. He looked like an artist. "Mr. Zheng, where is your high position? It's great that you can design such an elegant courtyard."
Zheng Hai also chuckled: "I don't like being bound, so I just start a small business and get by."
Gu Nankai agreed with his point of view and seemed to be very interested in the house. He looked here and there and uttered a few exclamations of admiration from time to time. At this moment, a child's crying suddenly came from inside, and everyone's attention was attracted, especially Zheng Yi's father, whose face changed when he heard the child's crying.
