Meng Tao walked to the right side of the fence and gestured with her hand. Shen Yu asked, "What are you going to do?"

"Master Wang will buy materials tomorrow to raise the wall so that Zhong Xiaomei won't be able to climb up anymore. But Aunt Wang said that Zhong Xiaomei had stolen several pots of flowers from Grandpa Jia before. It would be okay if they were ordinary flowers, but wouldn't it be a pity if they were precious orchids or antique pots? I don't know how to do Qinggong, but I have strength. How about I climb over the wall in the middle of the night to check on the Zhong family?" Meng Tao said softly.

Shen Yu: "You will make some noise, I will go."

"Can you do it?"

Shen Yu patted her head and said, "A wall like this is nothing. It's no problem to make it higher. I can still take you there."

"OK."

They went back to the house and sat down to drink some tea, then boiled some water for a bath. Xiao Wangcai refused to eat other people's food, so Meng Tao took out a piece of ham and wanted to cook it for Xiao Wangcai. Shen Yu said that he was also hungry. The food cooked by Aunt Wang was strong in flavor and too salty. He just drank and talked with Master Wang, and didn't eat much.

Meng Tao caught a crucian carp from the lotus pond in the space, made a pot of fish porridge, and added a few side dishes, so that the family of three had a full meal.

At around two o'clock in the middle of the night, Shen Yu climbed over the wall and went to the Zhong family's yard, and soon came back to bring Meng Tao upstairs.

Meng Tao stood on the wall and watched, feeling dumbfounded: Zhong Xiaomei didn't even need to climb a ladder to come up and pick flowers or peek into other people's yards. The Zhong family had simply built a two-meter-wide wooden frame on this side of the wall. The frame was quite sturdy and stable, and was probably just for Zhong Xiaomei to play with. There were bamboo chairs, a lounge chair and a small table, with a row of more than a dozen flower pots placed on the side.

Meng Tao and Shen Yu looked at these flower pots. There were no orchids in them, and there were no old flower pots.

There are five pots of roses, camellias, and peonies, which obviously belong to Mr. Jia, but have been spoiled by Zhong Xiaomei and are about to turn into wild flowers. There are also a few old enamel pots with cacti, tiger plants, succulents, and aloe vera, which should be planted by Zhong Xiaomei herself, but they are also neglected and half dead. She claims to be a flower lover, but she is unwilling to take good care of the flowers. She only hopes that the flowers in the yard over there will bloom so that she can enjoy and pick them. No wonder she doesn't want to raise the wall.

Shen Yu walked down from the shelf and took a look around. Apart from the flowers and plants on the wooden shelf, there were no other plants in the Zhong family yard.

The two of them went back with peace of mind.

The precious orchids raised by Grandpa Jia and the old flowerpots he had preserved for many years are now in Meng Tao's hands and cannot be lost.

The nephews and nieces of the Jia family do not know yet how valuable these things are. In a few years, when they realize what is happening, they may come back to make trouble. Meng Tao is not afraid of their making a fuss, as they are not in the right and are not protected by the law. But it is still troublesome, and no one lives here permanently. It is empty most of the year. To prevent theft, Meng Tao discussed with Shen Yu and decided to gradually transport the valuable flowers away in batches.

The next day, Uncle Wang and Wang Jiancheng brought back the materials, and the other two sons of the Wang family also came to help. Shen Yu worked with them and tried to finish the wall within a day. He had to go back to the provincial capital tomorrow.

While the men were busy, Meng Tao went to the street alone to buy some meat and vegetables to entertain the Wang father and son. She also went to the post office and called Ma Fengnian. This time Ma Fengnian answered the call and told Meng Tao: the new tea is ready, and other local specialties and medicinal materials have also been collected in large quantities. He will drive to Mengzhou City in three days to deliver the goods.

Meng Tao came here specially to wait for this batch of goods, and asked Ma Fengnian to buy more of them, including local products and medicinal materials. There is no problem selling special and first-grade tea, so just bring them in, the more the better.

Carrying bags and bags, she returned to Xingzi Lane and found a group of women gathered at the gate of her yard. Aunt Wang stood in the middle of them with messy hair, gesturing and cursing. Meng Tao asked what happened. Aunt Wang angrily told her, "Zhong Xiaomei came to your house again, crying like someone bullied her. She refused to raise the fence, scratched my Jiancheng, dragged him out of the door, and the Zhong family's wife came with a broom to beat Jiancheng. I'm here, how can I let my son suffer? I had a fight with them, and kicked the woman and her daughter back directly - the mother and daughter are so shameless!"

Meng Tao found this funny: I didn’t expect Aunt Wang to be so tough.

Now the whole alley knows that the new owner of No. 9 Courtyard raised the wall just to prevent his neighbor Zhong Xiaomei from stealing flowers.

The wall was completed in the evening. It was raised and reinforced, and sharp glass shards were inserted on it. Not to mention Zhong Xiaomei, even big thieves and petty thieves would not dare to walk on this side of the wall.

In the evening, the four Wangs finished their meal at Meng Tao's house and went back to their rooms to rest. Uncle Wang lay on a bamboo recliner, hiccuping and humming a little tune. Aunt Wang brought him a glass of water and said angrily:

"How much have you drunk? It's fine for Xiao Shen to come to our house for drinks and meals, but you went to his house and got drunk. How can that be wrong?"

Uncle Wang smacked his lips and said, "Miss Meng's cooking is delicious, and her wine is tasty, too. Your three sons are like starving ghosts. If I hadn't stopped them from drinking too much, they would have been drunk a long time ago."

"Xiao Meng looks smart and capable, so it's no surprise that he can cook. Did you and Xiao Shen drink too much tonight?"

"Xiao Shen... uh, don't call me Xiao Shen anymore, just call me Comrade Shen."

"What's wrong with calling him Xiao Shen? He's young and junior, so he can be my son."

"Haha! Your son, a young boy like Wang Jiancheng is your son. Comrade Shen...he is not an ordinary person!"

"Didn't you say that the last time I saw his grandpa and grandma getting out of the car, they were high-ranking officials? His grandpa is a high-ranking official, but Xiao Shen is not."

"How do you know he's not?"

"Xiao Meng told me that he is a physical education teacher."

"He is also a physical education teacher in the provincial capital. Comrade Shen thinks he is a capable person and will definitely become a principal in the future."

"What does this have to do with us?"

"It's okay... Alas, you are a person with long hair and short knowledge. You won't understand even if I tell you. Just remember that we are good neighbors. When you have nothing to do, you can help them watch the door and listen to the noise in the yard. They don't live here often, so we have to be on guard against petty theft."

"Yes, yes."

Early the next morning, Meng Tao sent Shen Yu away. She felt empty and uncomfortable in her heart, so she locked the door and took Xiao Wangcai out to play. However, she was familiar with several streets in Mengzhou City, and there was nothing attractive in the black market. Meng Tao thought that Zhang Fu had been doing well in various scrap yards during this period, so she also planned to look for a scrap recycling station in Mengzhou.

After wandering around for a long time, I found the scrap station, but couldn't get in, and finally returned disappointed: Mengzhou scrap recycling station is well managed and looks like a formal unit. There are two rows of warehouses in a yard, and each warehouse has a big lock. There are three people on duty: an old man guarding the gate, a young man who organizes and moves things, and a girl who is responsible for issuing invoices. The division of labor is clear, and they supervise each other. It is impossible to enter this place privately to shop on Taobao.

Zhang Fu was lucky. He told her on the phone that he visited five or six scrap yards during the Spring Festival. Meng Tao was very curious about what treasures he had found.

(End of this chapter)