As night fell, Lu Qiqi took a bath in her spatial dimension, changed into clean clothes, and went to sleep fully clothed.
Lu Qiqi drank three cups of strong tea tonight in order to stay alert and catch the shadowy figure.
This tea was given to her by the Zeng family. After finishing her tea, Lu Qiqi couldn't help but praise it, "It's really good tea!"
After staying up most of the night, Lu Qiqi neither saw the dark figure nor heard any sound.
Just when she thought the dark figure wouldn't appear again tonight, she heard a loud noise coming from the factory!
Lu Qiqi quickly got up, rushed out of the house, gripped the dagger tightly in her hand, and ran towards the factory.
As soon as she rushed out, she saw a figure emerge from the factory gate, fleeing for his life as if being chased by a dog.
Immediately afterwards, a four-legged figure lunged straight at the human figure.
The figure mustered all its strength and took off running, putting on a life-or-death race against time in front of Lu Qiqi.
When Lu Qiqi arrived at the factory gate, the two figures chasing each other had already run far away.
"Qiqi, what happened?"
"Seventh Girl, are you hurt?"
Li Changlong, Lu Dahai, and Li Qingshan were all awakened by the noise from the factory and rushed over.
The wind was strong at night, and they got up, put on their coats, and went out of the house, which took a lot of time, so they didn't see anything.
As they approached the factory, they saw Lu Qiqi standing alone at the factory entrance.
"I'm fine," Lu Qiqi shook her head and said, "Someone tried to steal something, but Wangcai chased them away."
When Lu Dahai saw that the factory gate was open, he remembered the key he had left on his bedside table. He quickly told Li Changlong to go home and find the key, and also to bring out some lighting tools.
Li Changlong quickly brought the items over, and Lu Dahai saw the copper lock lying on the ground under the light of the oil lamp.
Lu Dahai picked up the copper lock, which still had a wire attached to it, and said, "This lock is opened with this wire. If you have this skill, why bother stealing charcoal? It would be easier to just pry open someone else's door."
“The locks on this factory building are easy to pick; you can just pry them open with anything,” Lu Qiqi said, taking the brass lock from Lu Dahai and demonstrating it to him.
"I'll replace the lock with a brass one tomorrow!" Lu Dahai said angrily.
“It’s not the theft itself that’s scary, it’s the thief’s ambition,” Lu Qiqi said. “I don’t think the thief will come back tonight. Let’s go back and get some sleep, and then go to the village chief tomorrow to make a decision.”
Lu Dahai thought Lu Qiqi made sense. They entered the factory in the dark and couldn't find anything missing. It would be better to go to the village chief first thing tomorrow morning to explain the situation.
"I'll lock the door, everyone go back first," Lu Dahai said.
Lu Qiqi didn't linger. Although she was dressed more warmly than Lu Dahai and the others, she couldn't help but shiver in the cold night and quickly went back inside.
......
The next morning, the villagers arrived at the factory gate, and Lu Dahai went to find the village chief before they arrived.
The village chief sat in his chair, slammed his cane into the ground, and roared, "We must find this thief! We can't let him ruin the foundation of Li Family Village!"
Without Lu Dahai's explanation, the village chief knew that this person must be from the village. Other villagers wouldn't think of stealing worthless charcoal, as anyone could make it themselves, so there was no need to steal it.
"Dahai, go and gather everyone for a village meeting. Tell them that the government is registering the population, and everyone in the village must be present!" the village chief said after a moment's thought.
Lu Dahai's eyes lit up. He thought that experience was the best teacher. This way, he wouldn't have to worry about any thieves escaping the net and making it difficult to catch the thieves who broke into the factory yesterday.
After Lu Qiqi finished washing up, Wangcai came to her with a piece of clothing in its mouth, eager to show off its accomplishment.
Lu Qiqi took the black hem of clothing from Wangcai's mouth and examined it carefully through the light. She could still see the dried bloodstains.
Yesterday must have been a fierce battle between humans and wolves. Lu Qiqi patted Wangcai's round head.
Then I took a piece of raw pork from the kitchen and gave it to Wangcai as a reward for its hard work last night.
Wangcai lowered his head and tore at the pork with force, devouring it.
Lu Qiqi hissed coldly, wondering where the figure was now. She hoped the person was alright, so they would have a chance to find them.
Otherwise, if the incense powder is lost and the charcoal is also short, and they can't catch the culprit, they might eventually be accused of embezzlement.
Lu Qiqi will absolutely not let her family take the blame for this!
With the government's registration and census in place, Lu Dahai quickly gathered all the villagers together, without even revealing a word to his wife, Li Shi.
Lu Qiqi and Lu Dahai exchanged a glance and immediately understood what the other wanted to do.
Lu Qiqi knew that this method was definitely not Lu Dahai's idea. Her third uncle was just an honest farmer and would never have thought of such a plan.
Lu Qiqi couldn't help but think that the village chief, this elderly man in his sixties, was truly remarkable and capable of fulfilling his duties as village chief.
"I remember registering once, didn't I?" Zhang Cuihua sniffed.
She felt sorry for her youngest son, who had studied hard all night and was then woken up early to register again.
Zhang Cuihua's voice was loud enough for all the villagers to hear, and they all raised questions.
"Yes, village chief, we already registered a few days ago, why do we need to register again?"
“We arrived at the factory very early this morning, and this registration process will take up most of the day. What if we can’t complete the orders?”
The village chief coughed.
Li Shoucai immediately understood and shouted, "Everyone be quiet and listen to the village chief."
Upon hearing this, the villagers' voices gradually faded until they fell silent.
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