My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 55: Not a hair

At this moment, Zhang Lei spoke up slowly again: "We definitely want to go in. But I have a way to test whether we can get down inside first."

Upon hearing this, Liu Haizhong grasped at a straw and hurriedly asked, "Zhang Lei, since you know a way, why don't you tell me? What are you dawdling for!"

At this moment, Zhang Lei picked up a mouse that he had prepared in advance from the corner. The mouse had a thin rope tied to its leg. He waved the thing in his hand and said, "We'll rely on this."

Yi Zhonghai stared at the squeaking mouse, then suddenly realized what was going on and blurted out, "You want the mouse to scout ahead for us?"

Zhang Lei laughed and said, "This old man is indeed an old man; he's very knowledgeable. This rat is there to check if there's enough air inside."

Yan Fugui looked at Zhang Lei and said, "Zhang Lei, as expected of you, you've prepared all this in advance. Hurry up and put it in."

At this moment, Zhang Lei quickly stopped him, saying, "Hey, Third Uncle, you can't let this go."

Yan Fugui asked, his face full of confusion, "Zhang Lei, why is that?"

Zhang Lei said in a serious tone, "This rat is no ordinary rat; it's my pet."

Yan Fugui stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "What? This rat is your pet?"

Liu Haizhong immediately realized what was happening and scoffed, "Zhang Lei, do you think we're blind? Who keeps a mouse as a pet?"

Zhang Lei adopted an unyielding attitude and said, "I don't know what your hobbies are, but no matter what, this mouse is my pet."

Seeing Zhang Lei's shameless demeanor, Yi Zhonghai spoke directly, saying irritably, "Tell me, how much is this rat worth?"

Jia Dongxu exclaimed in disbelief, "What? Rats need money?"

Zhang Lei clicked his tongue and said seriously, "No matter what, this rat is still a life. If it dies while scouting down there, I'll be heartbroken."

Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth and squeezed out, "I'll give you 5 cents, is that alright?"

Zhang Lei didn't even look at him, shaking his head vigorously: "This rat is my beloved pet, it costs extra."

Upon hearing about the extra money and seeing Zhang Lei's expression, Yi Zhonghai was so angry that he almost lost his balance and had to lean against the wall to steady himself.

Then Yi Zhonghai, his chest heaving with anger, gritted his teeth and said, "One yuan at most! If you're not willing, we'll call the police!"

Seeing that Yi Zhonghai was truly enraged, Zhang Lei stopped trying to smooth things over and quickly nodded, saying, "Alright, alright, we'll do it your way."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand towards Yi Zhonghai, who then took out a dollar and shoved it firmly into Zhang Lei's hand.

Upon receiving the money, Zhang Lei immediately rushed to the entrance of the secret room, grabbed the rope used to tie the rat, and lowered it down.

About three minutes later, he slowly pulled the rope up.

Seeing that the rat that had been pulled up was still alive and kicking, the men breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai could no longer hold back. He grabbed the torch and took the lead down the path, with Jia Dongxu quickly following behind.

Then Liu Haizhong followed with a torch, and Yan Fugui quickly followed as well.

The four of them quickly went down, where the light from the two torches illuminated the area below.

The four of them looked down at the empty space below and their eyes turned red with anxiety.

Yan Fugui snatched the torch and shouted, "Let me see, let me see!" He squatted on the ground and rummaged around haphazardly, his fingertips covered in dust, but there was nothing there but dirt.

He couldn't help but wail, "What the hell is this? There's nothing here! Where's the treasure? Where's the promised treasure?"

Liu Haizhong was also anxious and paced around, reaching out and groping at the surrounding walls, wishing he could dig a hole in them.

Yi Zhonghai stared intently at the empty secret room, his face ashen, unable to utter a single word.

Before Zhang Lei could go down, four people with dark faces walked up from the secret room.

At this moment, Zhang Lei quickly went up to him and asked anxiously, "Grandpa, where's the thing? Did you find it?"

Looking into Zhang Lei's innocent, clear eyes, Yi Zhonghai suppressed his anger and stared straight at him, asking, "Zhang Lei, did you already know there was nothing down there?"

Zhang Lei immediately feigned disbelief, raising his voice several decibels: "What? There's nothing down there? How is that possible?" As he spoke, he leaned forward, staring at the four men and pressing them for an answer, "Tell me, did you four hide the thing?"

Looking at Zhang Lei's self-righteous demeanor, Yi Zhonghai suddenly realized that his earlier suspicions were wrong, and he even felt a little guilty.

At this moment, Zhang Lei grabbed Yi Zhonghai's arm and wouldn't let go, shouting at the top of his lungs, "No, the four of you can't leave! Hand over what you've hidden right now!"

Liu Haizhong's face flushed with anger. Pointing towards the secret chamber, he roared, "Hand over what? There's not a single hair down there! What are we supposed to hand over?"

Upon hearing the words "not even a hair," the people who had been waiting outside to watch the commotion couldn't stand it any longer and rushed over, surrounding Yi Zhonghai and his three companions.

Zhang Lei pushed his way into the crowd, raised his chin, and shouted, "Everyone, keep an eye on those four! Only those four went down. I didn't even have a chance to go down before they ran up to tell me there was nothing down there! Do you believe me?"

Seeing the suspicious looks from everyone, Yi Zhonghai and his three companions hurriedly waved their hands and explained, "Everyone, you have to believe us, there really is nothing down there!"

At this moment, Zhang Lei spoke up, "Uncle, who would believe what you're saying? Such a big secret room, how could it not even have a hair? It's obvious that the four of you went down and secretly hid the treasure, and now you're trying to fool everyone!"

Hearing Zhang Lei's framing, Liu Haizhong and Yan Fugui also became agitated. They pushed through the crowd and shouted to everyone, "It's really nothing! There's nothing down there! If you don't believe me, go down and see for yourselves!"

Taking advantage of the chaos, Madam Jia secretly pulled Jia Dongxu aside and asked in a low voice, "Dongxu, what treasures are down there? Quickly hand them over to your mother!"

At this moment, Jia Dongxu shook off her hand and said irritably, "Mom, there really is nothing down there!"

Madam Jia didn't believe him at all, grabbing his arm and pressing him, "Dongxu, are you hiding the things and unwilling to give them to me? I'm your mother!"

Jia Dongxu rolled his eyes speechlessly and said patiently, "Mom, there really isn't anything there. Didn't you hear what the three stewards said?"

At this moment, when everyone heard what Yi Zhonghai and the other two managers said, they didn't know whether to believe them or not. They just kept surrounding them and no one left.

Yi Zhonghai glared at Zhang Lei and said, "Zhang Lei, you tell me, you started this, what do you suggest we do?"

Zhang Lei spread his hands innocently: "Grandpa, what do you mean I started this? Only the four of you went down into this secret room from beginning to end. We were all watching from the sidelines. It's the four of you who should give us an explanation!"

Hearing Zhang Lei's words, Yi Zhonghai frowned, suppressing his anger as he asked, "So what exactly do you want to prove we didn't take anything?"

Zhang Lei grinned and said loudly, "That's easy, just search them! Everyone agrees, right?"

Upon hearing Zhang Lei's words, someone in the crowd immediately joined in the chorus: "Yes! Search them!"

At this point, Yan Fugui couldn't help but retort: ​​"Searching people here?"

Zhang Lei immediately interrupted him, raising an eyebrow and saying, "What? Third Uncle, are you afraid of being exposed and don't dare let us search you?"

Yan Fugui's face turned red with anger, and he shouted, "What do you mean you dare not search me? Searching me in public like this is utterly disrespectful!"

Zhang Lei sneered, pressing closer: "Third Uncle, if you don't search us here, where else do you think you'll go? Home? What if you secretly move the treasure? Where will we find it then?"