When Xu Cui woke her up, the two thieves had already been thoroughly dealt with, their hands and feet were tightly bound, and their mouths were stuffed with waistbands.

The bald thief wasn't seriously injured by the poisonous stinger, and he was able to move around early this morning. The wound on his head wasn't serious either, and it had been simply bandaged last night. However, he still hadn't woken up, and his eyelids only twitched occasionally. It was hard to tell whether he was truly unconscious or just pretending to be unconscious.

Another skinny thief woke up early this morning, but his situation was a little different. It was probably because Cheng Yan "accidentally" went too far last night, so he still couldn't move and could only lie straight on the ground, his eyes filled with fear as he looked at the Cheng family.

Ruyi couldn't help but rub her forehead when she saw this, so she simply blindfolded them both, out of sight, out of mind!

"Didn't we apply the antidote to him last night? Why can't he move now?" Ruyi asked Cheng Yan and Xu Cui in a low voice.

Cheng Yan was a little embarrassed, "Last night was so chaotic, I accidentally forgot. I applied it this morning, but it probably won't work that quickly..."

"Just apply it, it won't cause any problems!" Ruyi asked out of curiosity.

Unexpectedly, Cheng Yun'an suddenly spoke up: "Mother, is it really okay to just send them to the authorities like this? What if they say something they shouldn't? What if it affects our family? For example... Poison Sting."

As expected of the calmest and most meticulous person in the Cheng family, Yun An's words immediately caused the other members of the Cheng family to worry.

Cheng Ruyi walked over and patted her eldest daughter's head. "Don't worry, the whole county has been in chaos lately. The yamen is definitely short-staffed and may not even have time to interrogate them. Besides, even if they do talk, the yamen won't be interested in a few poisonous thorns. Poisonous thorns aren't uncommon. If they want them, what's wrong with sending them a few pots?"

According to Ruyi's memory, she vaguely remembered hearing Shenyun say that the Huai Shan County government office was not large in scale and the number of yamen runners was always insufficient, so it was easy to get into chaos in the event of any emergency.

Moreover, based on the county government's behavior during the lockdown, she could easily guess that the current magistrate of Huaishan County was probably not a reliable person. Furthermore, the fact that Wang Liu's brother knew people in the county government was enough to allow him to act arrogantly for so many years showed that the other people in the county government were also unreliable.

Such an unreliable management organization, amidst various external and internal troubles, is certainly too preoccupied to pay much attention to petty theft cases.

Since one of the two thieves was unconscious and the other was unable to move, the Cheng family had no choice but to move them onto a cart and carry them to the county government office.

According to the plan, Cheng Yan, Cheng Ruyi, and Xu Cui were the three who went out, while the others stayed behind at the Cheng family home.

However, as soon as he pulled the cart out of the door, he was startled by the lively scene in the alley!

The narrow alley was packed with people, who became even more excited when they saw the two thieves on the cart. The noise was deafening.

Cheng Ruyi suddenly had the illusion that she was a superstar and was surrounded by fans as she left the airport. With this scene and this number of people, it felt like all the neighbors living in the nearby alleys had come out!

"Wow! Old Yan, your family actually caught a thief? That's amazing, you're still going strong!"

"Not at all, it's all thanks to the younger generation, haha." Cheng Yan said as he struggled to clear the way ahead, interacting with the neighbors from time to time.

"Why are those two thieves lying there motionless? Could they be dead? Aunt Cui, did you kill someone?"

“Don’t talk nonsense! They’re just dizzy. We’re law-abiding citizens.” Xu Cui and Cheng Ruyi pushed the cart from behind, one on each side.

"How could the Cheng family, with its old and young members, possibly catch a petty thief?"

"Yeah! Look closely, these two thieves are tall and strong, but they're not that bad after all!"

"Don't you know? The Cheng family are carpenters, right? I heard they made a lot of traps in their house, and those two thieves couldn't get out once they went in!"

"Really? But I did hear several screams last night. What kind of trap is that powerful?"

"I heard that Cheng Yan is very familiar with the hunters in the nearby mountains and often goes into the mountains with them. He must have learned how to make traps from those hunters!"

"I heard that Lao Yan once studied under a master, and that master was a descendant of Lu Ban!"

"Nonsense! Why would a descendant of Lu Ban open a shop here!"

"That's called true seclusion in the city! What do you, a commoner, know?"

As Cheng Ruyi walked and listened, she couldn't help but sigh: This is how rumors start! Just listen! Sure enough, they get more and more outrageous, even bringing up Lu Ban!

"Hey, that bald guy on the left looks familiar. I remember there was a bald guy over at the dock, and his build looks pretty similar!"

"Could it be the Zhang family from the docks? If we mess with them, we'll be in big trouble!"

"I feel like I've seen that skinny guy on the right somewhere before... That's it! The brothel! Isn't he... isn't he the pimp from the brothel Yixiang?"

"You bastard! How dare you go to Yixiang Courtyard! You must have a death wish!"

"I'm just going there to deliver goods, deliver goods!"

Ruyi never expected to find useful clues amidst all sorts of unreliable gossip. Although their credibility was questionable, at least it was a direction to follow.

This actually aligns with her previous assumptions.

The docks and the West Market area of ​​the county town were all within the Zhang family's sphere of influence, and there were many casinos and brothels there, which were probably all under the Zhang family's control.

Ruyi only knew that the Zhang family was headed by two brothers, whom everyone called Uncle Zhang and Second Uncle Zhang. She heard that they had wandered here from the north, starting as dockworkers and gradually becoming one of the three major powers in Huaishan County. They were probably not kind people, and she did not want to provoke them at the moment.

It took the Cheng family almost fifteen minutes to walk out of this short alley. Just as Cheng Ruyi was about to remind the other two to hurry up, she noticed several people standing on the street.

Leading the group was Wei Zhi, who walked over as soon as he saw the Cheng family members, followed by Xu Xiucai and Zhang Hui.

“Old Yan, let us accompany you to the yamen. Scholar Xu said that we are all witnesses and can vouch for you.”

Upon hearing this, Ruyi looked at Xu Xiucai standing next to Wei Zhi with some surprise, only to see him calmly nod at Cheng Yan, still ignoring the gazes of Cheng Ruyi and Xu Cui.

"That's right, we're not comfortable with just the three of you going. You've never been to the county government office before, you don't know the ins and outs, and you could easily get taken advantage of!"

As Zhang Hui spoke, he effortlessly took over Cheng Ruyi's position, and Xu Cui was also pushed away by Wei Zhi. So the two of them could only watch helplessly as the men in front pushed the cart further and further away, speechless.

Ruyi once again felt the warmth and kindness from her neighbor, and with a smile, she took Xu Cui's hand and followed.