Chapter 152 The Aftermath of the Robbery: Old Sun's face was clearly visible...
Old Sun's face was visibly pale. In the freezing cold, his breath produced white mist, and a layer of sweat had seeped from his forehead. Anyone with eyes could see that he was guilty.
Old Sun wiped the sweat from his brow, forced a smile, and said to the police officers, "I...I am Sun Baomin. What can I do for you, comrades?"
Police officer: "We need you to come with us to the station to investigate something."
Old Sun nodded hurriedly: "Investigation? I will definitely cooperate with the investigation."
The police officer spoke politely, but Old Sun knew that cooperating with the investigation was just a nice gesture; if he didn't cooperate, they might take him back to the police station.
Seeing that Old Sun left without saying a word, the neighbors at the alley entrance understood perfectly well what was going on.
"Old Sun spoke so confidently just now, was it all fake, a lie?"
"It's definitely a lie. If he didn't hire a robber, why would the police come looking for him and take him in for questioning?"
"I never would have guessed. Old Sun always seemed so honest, who would have thought he was involved with robbers?"
"That's right..."
Apart from Mingxi and a few others, no one present could have imagined that their neighbors, whom they saw every day, actually knew the criminals!
Everyone was a little scared at this point. No one knew why Old Sun had hired a group of robbers to deal with Aunt He and her family. If it was because Aunt He had spoken ill of Old Sun before, then since they all lived in the same alley, they had all talked about Old Sun to some extent. What if Old Sun had sent someone to retaliate against them...
But when it comes to this, everyone is curious: "Old He, what exactly happened? How did you offend Old Sun?"
Aunt He curled her lip: "Hey, who offended him? He's just acting crazy. You don't know, those three robbers told the police that Old Sun approached them, wanting them to play the robbers and rob Old Li, so he could jump out and be the hero. Who would have thought that Old Sun was blind and went after real robbers, and they actually started to play the role?"
Haha!
Everyone was really surprised that Old Sun's purpose was this.
Looking for someone to pose as a robber and rescue a damsel in distress?
This tactic is truly despicable, and he doesn't even consider his own age. An old man half-buried in the ground, yet he still has the mind to resort to such underhanded tricks.
Huh—
I really don't know what to say to them.
An older woman in the crowd curled her lip and said, "What's so great about a hero saving a damsel in distress? Old Li is already dating Teacher Hou. Does he think that Old Li would dump Teacher Hou and get back together with him just because he saved a damsel in distress? He's really clueless."
These words really resonated with everyone.
Even Mingxi could roughly guess Old Sun's purpose, but not his true thoughts.
What was this person thinking? Between Teacher Hou and Old Sun, who would Aunt Li choose? Isn't it obvious?
After all, Teacher Hou has a good job, a gentle personality, is caring, has better financial conditions, a higher level of education, and is even better looking than Old Sun. Old Sun can't compare to Teacher Hou in any way.
In fact, Old Sun was really that confident; he felt that he was no worse than Teacher Hou.
Although Teacher Hou is the principal and a leader, he is well-liked and influential in the steel mill, and his words carry weight, making him comparable to the leaders. Although he is not as financially well-off as Teacher Hou, money is money, and as long as it's enough to get by, that's fine. Although he is not as caring as Teacher Hou, he has a long-standing relationship with Li Chunzhi, and he doesn't believe that Li Chunzhi can just let go of it so easily...
In short, Old Sun didn't think he was any worse than Teacher Hou.
To be honest, he only lacked one opportunity, one chance to win Li Chunzhi back. And wasn't it that the man surnamed Hou who won her heart and became her lover by taking care of her after she was injured?
Why not just let Li Chunzhi get injured again?
No, we can't let Li Chunzhi get hurt, otherwise that guy surnamed Hou will definitely rush to fawn over her before he does. This time, he has to get ahead of Hou and pull off a hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress act!
With this in mind, Old Sun set his sights on the robbers who were scouting the area. The reason was simple: the robbers didn't look like good people.
Old Sun didn't expect that as soon as he paid someone to find him, Mingxi said he saw suspicious people in the alley, and Old Ma and Old He, those two busybodies, started patrolling the alley.
Fearing suspicion if he got into trouble, he asked the robbers to cancel his plans, but he ended up getting beaten up and robbed of all his money. Afraid of getting the news out, he didn't dare to call the police and could only accept his bad luck.
Unexpectedly, those three bastards really were robbers, and now that they've been arrested, it's implicated him!
Why is he so unlucky!
After learning the whole story of the incident at the police station, Old Sun finally understood why the police had summoned him. He clutched his hair and let out a painful wail: "Why am I so unlucky!"
Police officer: "What do you mean by unlucky? Just tell the truth. Tell us what we ask you."
Old Sun: "I'll talk, I'll talk. Don't worry, officer, I'll tell you whatever you ask. I said I was unlucky because I really didn't expect those three bastards to be robbers. I didn't know they were robbing people! I just saw the leader on the roadside and he didn't seem like a good person. I thought if he jumped out and robbed someone, no one would think he was a fake. But I didn't know he really was a robber!"
Police officer: "What do you mean by 'real' or 'fake'? Do you know that hiring someone to impersonate a robber to commit a robbery is illegal! As long as you commit robbery and threaten or intimidate the other party with a knife, that's against the law, and you'll go to jail!"
The police officer, with a stern face, reprimanded him sharply.
Old Sun was so frightened his legs went weak: "I don't know, officers, I don't know. I didn't expect it to be illegal. I just wanted to joke with my wife—no, my ex-wife. I didn't expect things to get so serious. Officers, I beg you, please forgive me this time."
As he spoke, he slid off the chair in the interrogation room, his legs buckled, and he knelt down.
The two police officers conducting the interrogation frowned.
"What are you doing? Get up right now!"
"We don't observe kneeling here, so get up right now!"
Two police officers forcibly pulled Old Sun up. He sat down, but then burst into tears, his nose running and his eyes brimming with snot.
"Officers, please, please forgive me this time! I, Sun Baomin, have always been law-abiding and have never done anything wrong. I never even blew up a latrine when I was a kid. I really had no choice this time. My wife, who has been with me for most of my life, wanted a divorce, and less than three months after the divorce, she started dating another old man. I tried to win her back, but she wouldn't listen to me. I was desperate, and in a moment of madness, I came up with this terrible idea. I know I was wrong now, please let me go this time. I can't go to jail, I can't go to jail!"
The police officers didn't even have a chance to speak.
Old Sun cried and sobbed for half an hour until the police officer finally had no choice but to interrupt him.
"Stop! Who said you were going to jail?"
Police officer: "Given that your intention was not robbery, and that you stopped the plan before it happened and even tried to stop the other party, although unsuccessfully, you did say such things, all of the above circumstances are not serious enough to warrant imprisonment. However, your behavior seriously disrupts public order, so we need to give you a reprimand and education, and we will also report this matter to your workplace and the neighborhood office."
When Old Sun heard that he wouldn't go to jail, he breathed a sigh of relief and didn't listen to anything else the police officers said.
Old Sun was eventually released.
He came back from outside around 7 p.m.
Everyone in the courtyard had finished dinner and was chatting at Aunt Ma's house in the front yard. Mingxi was talking about the robbers he encountered that morning when he suddenly heard Aunt He shout.
"Who's back? Old Sun? How come Old Sun is back so soon?!"
Upon hearing this, Mingxi immediately leaned against the window and looked out. The others followed her and looked into the courtyard, where they saw Old Sun walking back from outside with his head hanging low.
Aunt He rushed to the door and shouted at Old Sun in the yard, "Hey Sun, what brings you back? You didn't escape from the police station, did you?"
Old Sun's face was grim.
Listen to what that damned woman surnamed He said; anyone who didn't know better would think she was a fugitive.
They can't even say a kind word!
Old Sun was unhappy, but he still spoke politely: "The police investigated and found that I had nothing to do with this robbery, so they released me."
Aunt He stared wide-eyed in disbelief: "How could it be unrelated? You were the one who led those robbers here!"
Old Sun: "Anyway, the police investigation has nothing to do with me!"
Old Sun was too lazy to waste words with Aunt He. The reason he was willing to say more was not for Aunt He's ears, but for the neighbors in the courtyard.
Did you hear that? The police said he has nothing to do with this robbery, so they're releasing him!
He is innocent!
After Old Sun finished speaking, he didn't even look at Aunt He, turned around and went back into the house, slamming the door shut. Aunt He was left furious.
She grabbed Mingxi: "Xiaoming, you know so much. Tell me, what kind of mess is this? It was clearly that guy surnamed Sun who led the robbers there, so why does the police investigation say he has nothing to do with it? Why were they released?"
Mingxi: "Aunt He, don't worry."
She said, "When we questioned the police this afternoon, didn't they say that Old Sun didn't participate in the robbery? Besides, he had told the robbers beforehand that the plan was canceled, but the robbers didn't listen to him, which led to this incident. Can't they arrest Old Sun based on this alone? Can't they put him in jail?"
Now that you mention it, Aunt He remembered.
She had completely forgotten about it just now.
Thinking about it now, she was still indignant: "Why? If it weren't for that guy surnamed Sun, this wouldn't have happened at all. Why didn't he get any punishment? It's so unfair!"
Mingxi glanced at Aunt He and said, "Don't worry, it's impossible for Old Sun to be completely unharmed."
Although Old Sun won't go to jail, the police can't possibly fail to report this to the factory.
Based on her understanding of the factory leaders, she knew they wouldn't let Old Sun off easily.
Mingxi's guess was right. The next day at work, the steel mill leaders received a notification from the Public Security Bureau. Upon hearing about this, the factory leaders' faces darkened.
He bribed the robbers to put on an act, pretended to be a hero saving a damsel in distress in order to reconcile, and accidentally led the real robbers into his house.
This is something that a veteran colleague who has worked in their unit for almost forty years actually did!
Has Old Sun lost his mind? Has he eaten his brain?!
This is a shameful thing to talk about, not only for Sun Baomin himself, but also for the people in their steel rolling mill!
The factory leaders felt utterly humiliated!
When the factory leaders found out, they immediately summoned the workshop director of the workshop where Old Sun worked.
After learning from the other party that Sun Baomin hadn't made any special contributions to the company over the years, and that his skills were only average compared to other experienced workers of the same age, and that he had only risen to the fifth-level worker rank through seniority, he had no qualms and simply waved his hand, transferring Old Sun to clean toilets.
Because it was so embarrassing, the factory leaders didn't even issue a factory-wide announcement. Only the people who worked in the same workshop as Old Sun and lived in the same alley knew what had happened. But, there are no secrets in a factory; it spread like wildfire.
Mingxi heard about this from Aunt He after get off work, and Aunt He gloated as she spoke.
"That guy surnamed Sun deserves it. Who told him to do such a bad thing? He's being spared by cleaning the toilets. If you ask me, the factory should just fire him!"
As Aunt He was talking, she saw Director Wang from the neighborhood office walk in from the alley entrance. She quickly went up to him and said, "Director Wang, what brings you here today? Is there something you need me to do again?"
Director Wang: "Where's Old Sun? I'm here to find Old Sun."
Aunt He rubbed her hands together: "Old Sun hasn't come back yet. Director Wang, is there something you need from him?"
Director Wang: "I'm here to inform him of the punishment imposed on him by the subdistrict office. Since he's not here, please pass on the message for me."
He said, "The police station contacted us today and told us what he had done. Since he did not cause any particularly bad influence, the police station released him. However, the punishment is inevitable. After discussion by our street office, we decided to punish him as follows: disqualify him from the three-year 'Five Good Family' selection and punish him by making him clean the alley toilets for six months."
Aunt He's eyes lit up: "Director Wang, if that's the case, then for the next six months, we won't have to take turns cleaning the toilets in our alley?"
Director Wang nodded.
Grandma Sun and Mingxi's faces lit up with surprise. After Director Wang left, Grandma He immediately shared the good news with everyone in the alley.
There are no cleaners in the alleys; cleaning is done by everyone, with residents taking turns, each family cleaning for a day.
Nobody likes cleaning toilets; they're smelly and filthy.
Making Old Sun clean the house as punishment was a decision that resonated with everyone.
So when Old Sun came home from get off work, he learned from Aunt He that he would not only have to clean the toilets in the factory, but also the toilets in the alley.
After enduring a day of restraint, Old Sun was finally about to lose his temper.
The moment the news of his transfer came out today, his former colleagues who used to call him "Master Sun" and "Master Yang" all changed their attitudes instantly. They stopped being polite to him, their smiles vanished, and everyone acted as if they were afraid of being associated with him, not even daring to look him in the eye.
Not to mention how uncomfortable he was after being transferred to clean toilets.
He had never done such dirty work before, and he had to clean not only the men's restroom but also the women's. While cleaning the women's restroom in the afternoon, he wasn't paying attention and forgot to ask if anyone was inside. As a result, the people inside mistook him for a pervert and beat him up without saying a word.
He was almost wrongly accused. When he went in, the woman was fully clothed, and he didn't see anything. The person opposite him, without saying a word or any reason, called him a pervert. He even picked up a plunger from the toilet and started hitting him repeatedly in the face.
He explained that it was a misunderstanding, that he wasn't a thug, but a cleaner, but the other person wouldn't listen. They eventually had to call the logistics director, and only then did the other person stop. However, because he had just started working and caused such a scene, the logistics director scolded him again.
The reason Old Sun came home later than others was because he thought he smelled too bad, so he took a shower after get off work before coming home.
Who would have thought that as soon as I got back, I would find out that I was also responsible for cleaning the toilets in the alley.
Old Sun finally couldn't hold back anymore. His eyes reddened as he demanded, "Why? Why am I made to clean the toilets?!"
Aunt He glanced at him and said, "Who are you asking and on what basis? This punishment wasn't decided by me, it was decided by the neighborhood committee. Go ask whoever made the decision. Go ask Director Wang of the neighborhood committee!"
"I..." Old Sun was short of breath. Don't be fooled by how loud and boisterous he was when he was yelling at Aunt He. That was only with Aunt He. He wouldn't dare to talk to Director Wang like that.
Aunt He nudged Mingxi, and Mingxi couldn't help but give Aunt He a thumbs up.
Just now, Aunt He told her that even if Old Sun was dissatisfied, he definitely wouldn't dare to go to Director Wang for an explanation.
Sure enough, this guy is a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong.
Mingxi curled her lip in disdain.
The crowd looked at him with disdain. They had genuinely assumed that Old Sun hadn't been involved in the matter since he had returned last night looking like nothing had happened.
So it turns out he just didn't participate in the robbery, and the police didn't put him in jail.
That's absolutely shameless.
After this incident, Old Sun's reputation is completely ruined.
Actually, Old Sun's reputation was already bad when he divorced Aunt Li, and this time it's only made it worse.
Actually, hiring someone to stage a heroic rescue isn't that outrageous. It's just that they hired someone to pretend to be a robber, but they accidentally ended up with a real robber. And the old man who did this was already in his late fifties, almost sixty.
It's rare to see someone almost sixty years old with such cunning.
So in just a few days, the news spread throughout the entire North City, and even the Sun family children, who were not often at home, heard about it.
Sun Lili went home and gave Old Sun a dressing down, telling him to shut up and stop causing trouble. Old Sun didn't want to listen to her lecture and simply shut the door and refused to see her.
Sun Lili didn't care about that; she mainly came back to see Aunt Li, afraid that Aunt Li would be frightened by what happened. Fortunately, Aunt Li was alright.
Sun Xuewen and Fang Yan also came back. On the surface, the two of them didn't say anything, but the implication was that they were blaming Old Sun for doing such a foolish thing at his age, which made them lose face.
Sun Xuewen is Old Sun's eldest son. Old Sun has always placed his hopes for his old age on him. Of all his children, he favors Sun Xuewen the most.
Unexpectedly, even with such a minor incident, Sun Xuewen and his wife came back to complain about him. Old Sun got angry and kicked them out of the house.
Sun Xuewen and his wife sighed deeply in front of everyone in the courtyard, pretending to be helpless, and then turned to fawn over Aunt Li.
Mingxi saw it clearly. Not long ago, Sun Xuewen kept saying he couldn't accept Aunt Li and Teacher Hou dating, but now that he knows Old Sun isn't going to make it work, he calls Uncle Hou so affectionately.
If you ask Mingxi, it's no wonder Old Sun kicked Sun Xuewen out.
Sun Xuewen really has the potential to be an ingrate.
The last person to hear about this was Sun Xuewu. He had been away on a business trip for a week and had just returned when he was bombarded with one shocking piece of news after another.
What?!
His dad was trying to hire someone to pose as a robber so his mom could "save the damsel in distress"?!
His dad hired real robbers, so his dad got robbed?!
The robber, still not satisfied, went to rob his mother, but was utterly defeated by Mingxi and ended up in the police station!
The robber went to the police station and implicated his father, so now his father has been transferred to clean toilets at the factory and has been punished by cleaning alley toilets for six months?!
What is all this?!
After listening to the news in a daze, Sun Xuewu didn't know what to say for a moment. In the end, he went home and asked Old Sun.
"Dad, why are you doing this? Do you know what people will say about our family if word gets out? I'm not even married yet, aren't you just ruining my wedding?"
Sun Xuewu also complained to Old Sun, who was so angry that he kicked him out of the house. Sun Xuewu had no choice but to apply for accommodation in the dormitory.
Some busybodies spread the word about the three Sun children's reactions, and Old Sun was the subject of much gossip again.
Finally, unable to bear everyone's disdainful looks, Old Sun began to live a secluded life, and even though they lived in the same courtyard, he was rarely seen.
The presence of Old Sun in the courtyard makes no difference whether he's there or not, and no one seems to react much to it.
After all, the compound is bustling with activity, and there's always plenty to do every day.
Today, someone's child gets beaten up; tomorrow, someone's son and daughter-in-law fight; the day after, someone loses a green onion—these are all big news stories in everyone's eyes.
But no matter what happens, the sun will rise again after it sets, and life goes on day by day. In this repetitive daily routine, December will come to an end in the blink of an eye, and the first year of the 1980s will pass by. We will soon step into the brand new year of 1981!
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