When Wang Minzhi got home from get off work in the evening, she found that her husband had already prepared dinner.

"You're back so early today?" Wang Minzhi asked.

Xu Damao saw his wife take off her work clothes, revealing her increasingly voluptuous figure. After giving birth to two children, his wife had completely shed her childishness and transformed into a full-figured young woman.

"I'm about to attend a three-month training program. I arranged my work at the office today and came back early," Xu Damao said.

"Why is the training happening now? I didn't hear you mention it beforehand. Is there something going on over there?" Wang Minzhi was very suspicious.

Years later, Wang Minzhi became the deputy head of the propaganda department, a proper cadre. Thanks to Xu Damao's nightly influence, she was very familiar with the internal workings of the steel rolling mill. She knew her husband's relationship with Li Xuewu wasn't as good as before, which made her see Li Tong less often now.

"Well, it's hard to explain in a sentence or two. But going out for training might not be a bad thing."

After speaking, Xu Damao asked his son to call his grandparents and aunt over for dinner.

They had just finished eating when they heard a commotion outside. The two little brats, even more eager than Xu Damao, rushed out at the sound of it.

“Slow down. Your son and daughter learned their love of watching excitement from you.” Wang Minzhi pinched Xu Damao’s arm.

The central courtyard was surrounded by layers upon layers of people, including those from their own courtyard houses and many from neighboring houses. The two little kids couldn't squeeze in and were sweating profusely with anxiety.

"Excuse me, excuse me." Relying on the factory director's influence, Xu Damao led the child inside.

"Qin Huairu, just tell me how you're going to compensate me, stop with the nonsense. It's a fact that your son Banggeng stole and ate my old hen, don't try to deny it," a woman from the next courtyard shouted.

"Haohao's mom, you can't say that. This hen was given to my son by your child, how can you say that my child stole it?" Qin Huairu retorted.

"You're talking nonsense. Your son does nothing but cause trouble at school every day, and now he's even causing trouble for the neighbors next door."

Being your neighbor is incredibly unlucky; everyone in your compound should watch out.

"Explain yourself clearly. What do you mean by 'harming others'? My son is behaving very well at school. When has he ever harmed anyone?" Qin Huairu said angrily. Her son was her lifeblood; no one could say anything about him.

"You still won't admit it, huh? Your son doesn't study properly at school, he's always forming cliques, and it's common for him to be punished by the teachers. This afternoon he didn't even go to school and took my son outside to play."

What's even worse is that she encouraged my son to steal the hen from our house so she could roast it for him outside. That was a hen! I kept it to lay eggs, and your little rascal ate it like that!" The older woman became more and more furious as she spoke.

“My son has been at school all afternoon, what nonsense are you talking about?” Qin Huairu clearly did not believe that her son would skip school.

"Xiao Dang, did you come home from school with your brother this afternoon?" Qin Huai asked her eldest daughter.

"Yes, my brother and I walked home together at the door," Xiao Dang replied.

Hearing her daughter's answer, Qin Huairu became even more convinced that someone was slandering her son. This was all just women arguing; she had no talent for it. She now somewhat missed the days when Jia Zhangshi was around. If Jia Zhangshi were still alive, who would dare come to her house to argue?

“Your whole family is obviously covering for each other. Qin Huairu, I won’t argue with you anymore, let’s just say whether you’ll compensate us or not. If you won’t, we’ll report it to the police station directly,” the older sister said.

"It doesn't matter who you report, we can't admit to things that Bang Geng didn't do."

The two continued arguing, but the more they argued, the more the surrounding residents talked. Xu Damao gleaned the meaning from their comments: the famous scene of Banggeng stealing chickens was back, just in a different form. It seemed the title of "Master Thief" was well-deserved.

This guy seems to genuinely skip school often to go out and mess around with petty thugs. His teachers had mentioned this to Qin Huairu before, but she didn't take it seriously, so the teachers stopped coming to her house.

Logically, Yan Fugui should know, but since he's no longer called Banggeng, he's unwilling to take on any responsibility and pretends not to know about Banggeng's affairs.

As for whether he encouraged someone else's child to steal their chickens today, no one is sure, but given Bang Geng's nature, it's quite possible.

Because it was a father-daughter argument, Yi Zhonghai didn't get involved and stood on the sidelines like everyone else. But the more he listened, the more something seemed off. How could his godson have done so many things he didn't know about?

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. If he reported it to the police station, Banggeng might really get into trouble.

"Alright, everyone, stop arguing. Here's the deal, Sanzi's mother, how much compensation do you want? Let's not argue about whether it's true or not." Yi Zhonghai resolved the matter decisively.

"I don't need much, just 10 yuan will do. My old hen can not only lay eggs, but also raise chicks, so it's actually worth more than 10 yuan. But we're neighbors, we see each other all the time, so I'll give you a discount."

The older woman came to argue because she wanted money, and since Yi Zhonghai was willing to give it to her, she was naturally very happy. Yi Zhonghai's salary as an eighth-grade worker was among the highest in the entire alley.

"Don't bring up the chicken-and-egg problem. I'll give you five yuan. You can buy two chickens at the market. Take them if you want, or keep arguing," Yi Zhonghai said.

Seeing Yi Zhonghai's firm attitude, and thinking that 5 yuan was indeed a lot, the older sister took the money and left, and the courtyard instantly became much quieter.

"Grandpa, you've given me too much. Even if the chicken wasn't taken by a thief, it shouldn't cost five yuan." Qin Huairu was a little angry.

For Qin Huairu, the money of Yi Zhonghai's family and Sha Zhu was now just like her own money; it would all be hers to keep in the future. Therefore, she felt even more pain than Yi Zhonghai himself.

"Don't say so much yet. Go back and ask Banggeng if what they said is true. I just heard from the neighbors that Banggeng has been skipping school and playing outside a lot lately," Yi Zhonghai whispered to Qin Huairu.

Upon hearing this, Qin Huai felt a chill run down her spine. These rumors are the most dangerous; they often become accepted as true by the time they reach the end.

"Uncle, Uncle, how's Banggeng doing at school?" Qin Huairu only then remembered to ask Yan Fugui about the situation.

Old Yan was watching the commotion from the sidelines, unable to dodge it.

“I’m not handing over the baton right now, so I really don’t know anything about his situation. Why don’t you ask the school teachers tomorrow?” Yan Fugui said.

"Okay then, I'll take half a day off tomorrow and go to school with you."

That evening, no matter how Qin Huai asked, Bang Geng remained steadfast and refused to reveal any information that might be detrimental to him. He was unaware that his mother would be going to school the next day.