Chapter 144 Catching the Thief
The kitchen windows are usually open for ventilation. The window frames are made of five thick, round wooden bars arranged in an orderly manner to form a fence, without any dark green glass panes.
He only had a light-colored waterproof coat to protect him from the wind, rain, and prying eyes. Although the wall separated him from the outside world, accidents could still happen, like at this very moment.
To allow for ventilation, the window frame of the water jacket was lifted, and two furtive eyes slowly approached from the frame.
Get closer, even closer, and you'll see the entire process of making sugar-roasted chestnuts.
The squinting eyes, filled with the owner's excitement and anticipation of making a fortune, were wide open as if spying.
There was the sound of machinery inside. The large pot, emitting a burnt aroma, wasn't by the window, but at the far end of the stove. Even with your eyes wide open, you couldn't see clearly what was inside.
All you could see was a girl wearing an apron, scooping up a spoonful of sticky stuff, preparing to pour it into the pot.
But it suddenly stopped.
Then he put the spoon back into the bucket.
I walked to the sink, reached into an enamel basin full of chili peppers, and scooped out the peppers that covered the surface of the water.
She put it in the small vegetable basket next to her, and then the girl picked up a basin of water that had been soaking chili peppers and splashed it forward.
"ah--"
"My eyes!!!"
A heart-wrenching, piercing scream rang out from outside the window, accompanied by the sound of a heavy object falling.
The water used to soak chili peppers doesn't have the same intense effect as water made with real chili peppers; it won't burn your eyes.
But it can cause eye pain for a period of time, making it difficult to see things or the road, let alone escape by climbing over walls.
Bai Lu calmly put down the enamel basin, unhurriedly turned off the electric stir-fry machine, and leisurely went to catch the thief.
Unsurprisingly, outside the kitchen and inside the wall, a figure was caught in the middle, blindfolded and running around aimlessly.
It was that plump and alluring daffodil.
Now that his peeping had been exposed, he was screaming in pain as he ran along the wall, taking two or three steps toward the front yard.
Bai Lu guessed that she wanted to escape to the vegetable garden. Across the small river from the vegetable garden, another five or six hundred meters away was the old street and alley.
Unfortunately, his eyesight was poor, and he stumbled and fell into the front yard, walking right into the trap.
"Come on, walk this way, left, left, then two more steps forward, and I'll take you out."
A familiar, cold voice rang out not far ahead. Li Shuixian, who was walking with her hand on the wall, was startled and suddenly opened her eyes.
"ah!"
A sharp pain shot through me, making my eyes water.
The pain was so intense that Li Shuixian couldn't open her eyes at all. She could only cover her eyes and open her mouth to angrily curse in front of her: "Bai Lu! You vicious woman! What did you throw at me!"
"Didn't you see it?"
Bai Lu strolled leisurely to Li Shuixian's side, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far, avoiding being touched by Li Shuixian's aggressive behavior, and making sympathetic "tsk tsk" sounds.
"With your superhuman weight, you definitely couldn't get over my high wall. You must have accomplices outside, right? Why didn't they come in to save you when they heard your screams? Could it be... that they've already run away?"
Li Shuixian's face flushed red, whether from anger or from panic after her scheme was exposed by Bailu, it was hard to tell.
The burning pain in her eyes seemed to have lessened, so she opened her eyes a crack and saw the faint mockery on Bai Lu's face. She was furious and slapped Bai Lu across the face.
Bai Lu grabbed her wrist with one hand and slammed her to the ground, her face hitting the ground so hard it shook.
This clearly shows that the force this time was more than ten times stronger than the previous two times, enough to knock over even a piece of beef.
The sting of the chili pepper instantly sobered Li Shuixian, reminding her of her previous two experiences. A chill ran down her spine, and she scrambled backward, squinting her eyes.
"Don't come any closer!"
"Xiao Cheng has already gone on a long trip, and you're all alone at home. If you dare to lay a finger on me, I'll send people to take revenge tomorrow! Your pathetic skills are only good enough to deal with me; against anyone else, you'll just get beaten up. You'd better let me out right now, and I'll pretend nothing happened today, or you'll be sorry!"
Bai Lu, unhurried and leisurely, walked up to Li Shuixian and looked down at her condescendingly: "Are you threatening me by crying 'stop thief'?"
Li Shuixian gritted her teeth and struggled to get up from the ground. When she stood up straight, she was not even as tall as Bai Lu, and she was already at a disadvantage in terms of momentum.
But that didn't stop her from squinting at Bai Lu with a fierce look in her pained eyes: "What thief! I just came to your house to see you, and I'll leave after I'm done. Don't try to frame me with these baseless accusations!"
After saying that, he turned and left.
The direction is towards the front gate of the yard.
Bai Lu grabbed Li Shuixian's wrist, forcefully stopping her from escaping.
"Let me go!"
Li Shuixian turned around and roared, trying to shake off Bai Lu's hand, but she couldn't shake it off no matter how hard she tried.
"What do you want? Let me out!"
Unable to break free from Bai Lu's grasp, Li Shuixian swung her other hand, which was covering her eyes, at Bai Lu, and raised her foot to kick Bai Lu hard.
Unfortunately, before she could even touch Bai Lu, Bai Lu ruthlessly threw her to the ground again, then grabbed her wrist and dragged her up.
"Have you learned your lesson?"
Li Shuixian, who was dizzy and disoriented from the fall, finally realized the danger and dared not fight back. She tried her best to break free, her eyes narrowed in pain as she stared at the courtyard gate.
She wants to go out!
There are people waiting for her outside!
Bai Lu seemed to see through Li Shuixian's thoughts, grabbed her wrist, and walked straight towards the courtyard gate.
"Don't worry, I'll take you out right away."
Her tone was so friendly that it sent chills down Li Shuixian's spine; she instinctively felt that she must have some underhanded trick up her sleeve.
"What do you want! I'm warning you, let me go right now, don't try anything funny, or else..."
"Squeak—"
The door opened.
Although it was early, many neighbors were already out on the street, heading to the market to buy vegetables, as the vegetables were freshest in the morning.
Hearing the door open, the neighbors turned around and saw Bai Lu, wearing an apron, pushing out a fat woman who was covering her face with one hand and looking down.
She smiled and greeted everyone: "You're all up so early! Aunt Fang and Sister Wu are already back from grocery shopping? That's fast! I was just saying I'd come out and wait to see if any of the uncles or aunties were at the market and could help someone get back to the street."
The most sincere greeting is remembering how someone addresses you; it's more heartwarming than saying "hello" a hundred times.
Aunt Fang and Sister Wu immediately stopped in their tracks and came over with a smile to greet her, "Good morning to you too."
"Look, you're still wearing that apron. You must have been busy roasting chestnuts early this morning. Xiao Cheng has gone out. It must be tiring for you to roast so many chestnuts by yourself. You're so young, you need to take good care of yourself. You can't earn all the money in the world. When your Xiao Cheng comes back with a lot of money, you can enjoy your retirement."
"Who is this person? She's looking down and covering her face, so we can't see her features. You just said you wanted to ask someone to take her back to the street. Who does she belong to? She seems to be standing quite steadily. Can't she walk back?"
What Aunt Fang really wanted to say was, "He doesn't look like a blind or lame person, so why does he need someone to deliver him?"
Li Shuixian finally realized what Bailu was up to; she definitely wanted to expose Bailu's spying plot in public.
no!
(End of this chapter)
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