Chapter 95 Extraordinary Performance

Seeing that Yao Fanghua had finally gotten excited, Sister-in-law Wang became even more thrilled.

"You know what else? This morning, do you know what happened at the Shen family's place?" Sister Wang became reserved and mysterious. This was firsthand information that she hadn't even had a chance to share with her own husband yet.

Sister-in-law Wang picked up a big mouthful of braised beef. "Goodness, I haven't eaten much all day. I can't let all this food go to waste. I need to eat something. Someone's treating me to dinner, so I shouldn't miss out."

Yao Fanghua's heart tightened as she listened, but then Sister Wang stopped. She and Wu Peng had been out all day and hadn't mentioned the Shen family's affairs, but they were both still thinking about them. Yao Fanghua beckoned to the waiter and ordered another plate of braised beef, another dish of braised pork with preserved vegetables and sweet and sour pork, and another bottle of wine.

"No, no, we can't possibly eat so much," Sister Wang said, embarrassed.

"We can finish it later. It's rare for my sister-in-law and I to get together, so let's have a few more drinks." Then she quickly started telling him about the Shen family.

Now Sister-in-law Wang was even more delighted. She felt that among Wang Huaizhi's group of drinking buddies, only this couple were decent people. She bumped into Yao Fanghua, and saw Yao Fanghua looking at her. Her husband and Wu Peng seemed to be chatting, but were actually waiting to hear her speak. Sister-in-law Wang was in a great mood, feeling incredibly accomplished. Especially her husband; usually, if she gossiped and spread rumors, he would scold her harshly. Today, he was so encouraging.

"Didn't that happen yesterday? That old man from the Shen family is shrewd; he definitely knew something bad was going to happen. He got up in the middle of the night to hide money, and not in his own house, but in the old man's house next door, where they dug a pit and hid it. In the morning, when they were found, the two of them were unconscious by the pit. There was a box in the pit, and money was scattered all over the yard and the street. A bunch of people were scrambling to grab it. Oh my god, why wasn't I there?" Everyone who heard this regretted not being there. Otherwise, they would have picked up so much money, free money! They probably wouldn't have encountered such a thing twice in their lives.

"When the police arrived, everyone who had picked up the money ran away. In the end, the police took away the box, the two unconscious people, and the unlucky old neighbor. I heard that when they entered the old man's house, he was sleeping. They even knocked over his chamber pot. Oh dear, that made the police and the onlookers all feel disgusted. When the old man woke up, he was still unhappy and urinated in it again in front of everyone. Oh dear, that old scoundrel."

Sister-in-law Wang was exceptionally good; everyone at the surrounding tables was straining to listen. Even the young girl serving the dishes didn't move an inch after putting them down, completely absorbed in the conversation.

"I heard it was a chest full of gold and silver jewelry! The police found someone capable, and when they opened it, the whole police station was illuminated! Good heavens, how much gold and silver jewelry was that? How much did that man surnamed Shen embezzle! How could he be so greedy!" Wang's wife drooled as she spoke, then sighed in despair. Good heavens, she had never seen jewelry that could light up a room in her entire life. She glanced at Wang Huaizhi; why didn't her husband have that kind of ability!

Wang Huaizhi's brow twitched when this silly woman glanced at him; he really wanted to curse her to death!

"He's in education, and he's even messing with his own daughter-in-law! Oh my god, what a terrible way to mislead the youth! What kind of people will he raise?" Sister Wang said, spitting everywhere. "That old man next door is either deaf or mute. When he got to the police station, he knew nothing. He just waved his hands, shook his head, or pointed to his ears and mouth. The police had no choice but to let him go." Sister Wang slapped her thigh and laughed.

"That couple is still in the hospital, under surveillance. Everyone says they did too many wicked things, and God couldn't stand it anymore, so they got their comeuppance! Ugh~" Sister Wang scoffed and took a sip of her drink. "The police went to the Shen family's house this afternoon and searched it thoroughly."

Someone couldn't help but chime in, "I heard that daughter-in-law was almost strangled to death. Her neck was covered in bruises."

One of them quickly chimed in, "It must have been her husband who pinched her; no one can stand that."

Another person commented, "That's not necessarily true. I think it was the old woman who pinched him. That old woman must hate him to death. She's mocking her son for flirting with her old man. Who could stand that? She couldn't stand it."

The entire dumpling restaurant was in an uproar, filled with talk of things from the machinery factory to the Shen family; some were even exchanging orders.

Yao Fanghua felt a little relieved. In the end, she ordered sweet and sour pork and two plates of dumplings again for Sister Wang to take back for the children and the elderly.

On the way back, Yao Fanghua and Wu Peng didn't mention the incident, just looked at each other and chuckled. It seemed nothing serious had happened. They'd talk about it again once they got home.

After arriving home, Wu Peng dug the box out and carried it back into the house. "This isn't a good solution. We can't just keep burying and digging like this." He didn't dare buy a safe either, fearing that it might attract the attention of someone with ulterior motives at a time like this.

Wu Peng: "We'll drive back to Shenzhen and move everything there. We'll buy a few large safes and put them in the fifth-floor bedroom."

Yao Fanghua nodded: "This suitcase is still too conspicuous."

So the two of them took everything out of the box, stuffed some of it into a hidden compartment in the study, and filled the safe. The remaining jewelry and the box of money had to be put in their handbag for the time being.

As for this handbag, just keep it with you tonight and bury it if they go out together during the day.

That's all we can do for now.

The two men placed the five empty boxes on the workbench, dismantled them all with scissors and daggers, and then took an iron basin and slowly burned the contents inside.

That evening, Shen Gongming finally woke up in the hospital. He insisted that he didn't know what had happened, that the box of things wasn't his, and that he didn't know how he ended up next door. Pointing to the thick bandage wrapped around his head, he insisted that it was a setup.

Lanjuan kept complaining of a headache, and when asked, she said she couldn't remember anything and knew nothing.

The couple, Shen Gongming and his wife, swallowed their anger and refused to acknowledge the box, insisting that it had been a setup.

A search of the Shen family's residence yielded nothing.

The box of stolen money couldn't possibly belong to the deaf-mute old man; Shen Gongming was the prime suspect, but no evidence could be found. There were no witnesses or physical evidence. The police made no progress for the time being, finding nothing except the box of stolen money.

Shen Gongming had finally suffered a setback, and Wu Peng wasn't the only one eyeing the Shen family, just as Wu Peng wasn't his only enemy. Having fired the first shot, Wu Peng dared not act rashly for the time being.

Others are different.

Before Shen Gongming was even discharged from the hospital and allowed to return home, a woman turned herself in to the police, claiming that she had been paid to take an exam for someone else years ago, and that Shen Gongming had arranged for her to do so. The woman wept bitterly at the police station, saying she realized her mistake and shouldn't have accepted money to take the exam for Shen Jiao, hoping for leniency in light of her confession. Immediately afterward, a series of accusations surfaced against Shen Gongming for embezzlement and bribery, alleging that he had used the revolutionary cause to commit murder and amass wealth. Even his own son, Shen Dongchuan, came forward, bringing evidence to the police station to denounce his father and sever ties with him.

More and more things are getting involved.

Sun Baoshan finally couldn't sit still any longer. He stopped mentioning his son getting a divorce, only telling him to be patient and discuss it later. He was genuinely afraid that old man Shen Gongming wouldn't be able to withstand the interrogation and would reveal some old grievances, dragging him down with him. At times like this, it's better to stay put, to keep quiet, and if he could just weather the storm, everything would be fine. Qi Dongming was unlucky; he hadn't even had a chance to celebrate before this mess happened.