Standing before the ruins of the Meng family home, Meng Shuyun stared in disbelief at the house that had been burned to a mere shell.

The house was burned down, leaving only blackened mud bricks and roof beams.

Li Quan was leading several men, who were huffing and puffing as they carried the bricks and tiles off the ground.

Looking at the house she had lived in for so many years, now reduced to a dilapidated shell, Meng Shuyun couldn't suppress the sorrow in her heart.

This fire burned not only the house, but also her past memories.

She couldn't help but mutter to herself, "This fire, it just so happened at the perfect time. Why did it start earlier or later? It just happened as soon as I wasn't home..."

Without even thinking about it, she could guess roughly who was behind it.

Seeing Meng Shuyun approaching, Li Quan wiped the sweat from his brow and jogged over to greet her: "Auntie, you're back. Kang Shun said he wants to build a new house and told us to tear down all the walls. Do you think we should keep the beams and bricks?"

With a determined look in her eyes, Meng Shuyun said without hesitation, "No! If we're going to build, we'll build brick houses. Smash all of these!"

Upon hearing this, the people working around them stopped what they were doing in shock and looked at each other in disbelief.

"What? The Meng family is going to build a brick house!" Everyone gasped, their faces filled with disbelief.

"That's a brick house! When did the Meng family become so wealthy? What did they do to make such a fortune that they can build a brick house!"

Upon hearing this, Li Quan shouted at the top of his lungs, "Stop yelling here! Instead of wasting your time, do some more work! If you're so capable, build a brick house for everyone to see!"

Just as the two were talking, a man on a bicycle came to a screeching stop at the entrance of the neighboring yard.

This man was Hu Tao, the owner of the house. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his house was unharmed and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Oh, Meng Meizi, you're here too."

Hu Tao, all smiles, stepped forward and exchanged a few polite words with Meng Shuyun. Then he took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Li Quan, saying, "Here, have a smoke."

Li Quan waved his hand, refusing with a serious expression, and turned back to supervise the workers, muttering, "Working, not smoking."

Meng Shuyun looked at Hu Tao; this man was quite capable.

In his early years, he made a good living by running his own grocery store, and later he moved to the city to enjoy his retirement.

"What do you need me for?" Meng Shuyun asked directly.

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Hu Tao's face. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "I heard Su Xiangbei was taken to the police station. I only rented this house to him because of you. So... how about the rent...?"

"He's in jail, but his wife is still there, and they're still living in the house. If you want rent, go ask Jiang Xue." Meng Shuyun deftly deflected the question, stopping short of causing a major problem.

Hu Tao's eyes lit up immediately, and he slapped his thigh: "Hey, Meng, you're absolutely right! How come I didn't think of that!"

But he couldn't help asking one more question, "Su Xiangbei, was he really taken to the police station?"

He rushed back after hearing the news, never expecting that his longtime neighbor, the Meng family, would suffer such a terrible fate, burned to the ground and reduced to ruins.

It's true what they say, speak of the devil and he appears.

Jiang Xue, leading a group of her family members, charged over aggressively, looking as if she wanted to devour him whole.

"Meng Shuyun! Where are Su Dahai and Su Xiangbei? Did you take them away?" Mao Xiaolan took the lead, pointing her finger at Meng Shuyun and questioning her aggressively.

Meng Shuyun didn't even lift her eyelids, coldly glanced at her, and said, "You're not anyone to me, why are you looking for me?"

Before Mao Xiaolan could get angry, Hu Tao spotted Jiang Xue, quickly stepped forward, pulled out the rent receipt, and said with a smile, "Jiang Xue, it's time to pay the rent. It's fifteen yuan in total. Last time you didn't pay the deposit and only paid half the rent. Today is perfect, so you can pay it all at once."

Jiang Xue, holding her child, stood at the back of the crowd, completely stunned.

Su Xiangbei had been handling the house matters all along, so she had no idea what was going on.

Asking her to pay rent now is going to drive her crazy!

"Go ask Su Xiangbei for the rent. He's the one who rented it. It has nothing to do with me!" Jiang Xue said irritably.

"Are you trying to renege on your debt? Su Xiangbei has already been taken to the police station, how are you going to pay?" Hu Tao was so angry that his nose was crooked and his face turned red.

"What? Su Xiangbei was taken to the police station? Where did you hear that?" Jiang Xue asked, her face full of shock and her eyes wide.

"Impossible! How could Su Xiangbei have been arrested? You're not just saying this to trick me into paying rent, are you?!"

The Jiang family was also in an uproar, discussing it amongst themselves with expressions of disbelief on their faces.

Mao Xiaoli looked at Jiang Xue first, wondering to herself: Could it be that she already knew Su Xiangbei had been arrested and deliberately went back to her parents' home to ask for help?

Thinking of this, Mao Xiaoli's face instantly darkened.

But then I thought about it again and realized that something was wrong. If Jiang Xue knew from the beginning, why would she go home and call people to cause trouble?

Mao Xiaoli grew angrier the more she thought about it, glaring fiercely at Meng Shuyun as if she could see right through her: "Did you deliberately have someone put on an act just to fool us? What are you really up to!"

"Lie to you?" Meng Shuyun sneered, mocking, "Do you think I'd get any money from lying to you? With your meager savings, you don't even have ten thousand yuan in total. Is it worth my trouble to lie to you?"

Mao Xiaoli's chest heaved violently with anger, and her whole body trembled.

Upon seeing this, her two sons immediately stood in front of her, glaring fiercely at Meng Shuyun like two angry bulls.

"Aren't you Su Xiangbei's mother? How come you don't know where he went? He's your own son, how can you just abandon him?"

"Exactly! How could you say he was arrested and taken to the police station? Do you think the police station is your private property, where you can just walk in whenever you want?!"

Meng Shuyun's lips curled up slightly, revealing a confident smile: "Hehe, that bastard Su Xiangbei, even if he doesn't go in himself, I'll still send him in!"

"What do you mean by that?" Upon hearing this, Jiang Xue rushed to Meng Shuyun like a madwoman. The child in her arms was crying loudly in fright, but Jiang Xue was completely unaware of it. She held the child tightly in her arms and questioned, "What did you do to Su Xiangbei? Did you take him to the police station?"

Just as tensions were rising, two police officers arrived on bicycles.

They frowned as they looked at the chaotic group of people at the entrance of the courtyard and asked, "Who are Su Xiangbei's family members?"

When the Jiang family saw the police, they were not surprised at all; instead, they assumed that Meng Shuyun had hired them to put on an act.

"Meng Shuyun, you're really something! Where did you find these actors? They're quite convincing as police officers. Where exactly did you hide Su Dahai and Su Xiangbei?" Mao Xiaoli asked loudly, her face full of sarcasm.