Chapter 148 The Little Feet Detective Team Goes Online (from the neighborhood committee)...
The neighborhood committee officials weren't doing anything, and Grandma Ma couldn't do anything about it.
She sighed deeply and turned to go home.
Mingxi, who had already arrived at work, was naturally unaware of this. As soon as she put down her bag in her office, Yu Xiaomin slid her chair over and said, "Xiaoming, have you heard? We're having a New Year's Day party this year, and each office is going to put on a performance."
Mingxi: "What, you're going to put on a show?"
She really didn't know about this.
Yu Xiaomin: "That's right. In previous years, it was all voluntary. Anyone who wanted to perform could sign up. But last year, there were too few volunteers, and the leaders were not satisfied. So this year, they require each office to put on a performance."
Speaking of this, she frowned in distress: "I hope Director Shen won't make me perform. I don't have any talents, it would be so embarrassing to just stand there like an idiot on stage!"
Mingxi frowned in distress as well.
She sings off-key and dances with her hands and feet moving in unison. If Director Shen were to ask her to perform on stage, she would probably only be able to break bricks with her bare hands.
Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin huddled together like two little quails, hugging their arms and praying that Director Shen wouldn't come after them when he was looking for people to put on a show.
Soon, Sister Wang arrived. As soon as she came over, she saw the strange looks on Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin's faces and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? What's wrong with you two?"
Mingxi/Yu Xiaomin looked at her pitifully: "Sister Wang~"
"Huh? What happened?" Sister Wang asked, puzzled.
Yu Xiaomin: "Sister Wang, you don't know."
Mingxi: "For this year's New Year's Day party, the leaders required each of our offices to put on a performance."
Yu Xiaomin: "It has to be released."
Mingxi: "There's no escaping it."
The two of them took turns explaining the situation to Sister Wang.
Seeing the two looking so bitter and resentful, Sister Wang thought something terrible had happened, but it turned out to be just this little thing.
She waved her hand dismissively: "Hey, is that all? Do you guys really need to make such a fuss? We have so many talented singers and dancers in our office, how could we not put together a performance?"
Sister Wang glanced at the two listless young people and said, "Let's not talk about others, just take Director Shen for example. He has a famously good voice in our unit. Do you know what Director Shen's nickname was when he was young?"
Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin shook their heads together: "We don't know, what's it called?"
Sister Wang: "The lark!"
She said, "Director Shen has such a clear voice. When she was young, she even represented the cultural troupe to support the army on the front lines."
Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin both widened their eyes.
They hadn't worked at the Women's Federation for long; they'd only heard that Director Shen used to work in the military, but they didn't know anything else.
This is truly shocking.
Director Wang: "Besides Director Shen, we have quite a few talented people in our office. To name one, Old Zhang is a very good saxophone player."
Sister Zhang was sitting not far away. When she heard this, she turned around, smiled at Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin, and said, "No, no, you're just listening to Old Wang play. I can only play it barely."
Sister Wang: "Old Zhang, you're being modest. If you're only barely good at bragging, then what are we?"
She turned to Mingxi and said, "You'll see when Sister Zhang shows you her skills another day."
Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin quickly looked at Sister Zhang with expectant eyes. Under their puppy-dog-like, wet gazes, Sister Zhang silently nodded: "When there's an opportunity."
Mingxi/Yu Xiaomin: "Okay!"
Sister Wang: "And Liu Wenhong, don't let her appearance fool you, she's an amazing dancer. We'll have her perform 'On the Golden Mountain in Beijing' for you sometime. And that other one..."
After listening to Sister Wang's explanation, Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin realized that the people working at the Women's Federation were all highly skilled, and the two little quails immediately calmed down.
With so many talented colleagues in the Women's Federation, even if there were to be performances on stage for New Year's Day, it wouldn't be their turn.
Sure enough, when the meeting started and the topic of the New Year's Day performance came up, Director Shen didn't even glance at Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin.
Mingxi was relieved.
After get off work in the evening, the colleagues who were going to participate in the program stayed to rehearse, while Mingxi left without any problems.
Mingxi rode his bicycle and picked up Zhao Sulan from the steel mill. The mother and daughter went home together. As soon as they stepped into the courtyard, they heard Aunt Ma say, "Xiaoming, you're back just in time. There's a meeting in the courtyard. If you're free, you can stay and listen."
Mingxi: "A meeting?"
Why hold a meeting when it's neither a holiday nor a festival?
Mingxi was completely bewildered, but since Aunt Ma had spoken up, it must be something important. She quickly parked the car in front of her house, moved a stool, and gathered with Zhao Sulan in the front yard.
There were already quite a few people standing in the front yard. Mingxi scanned the crowd and found that almost every household in the yard had arrived.
Aunt Ma clapped her hands and raised her voice: "I see almost everyone in the courtyard is here. I won't wait for those who aren't. If you need anything, please pass it on to each other after the meeting. Here's what happened: Last night, Mingxi from our courtyard told me that she saw a suspicious-looking man at the entrance of the alley and suspected he was a bad guy. After she told me, I immediately reported it to the street office this morning, but they don't seem to be taking it seriously. Plus, Mingxi didn't get a clear look at the man's face in the alley yesterday, so neither the street office nor the police can take any action right now. I just can't shake this feeling, so I'm reminding everyone to keep an eye out for unfamiliar faces in the alley these next few days. If you see anyone acting suspiciously, come find me immediately or report it to the street office or the police station."
Back home, Aunt Ma thought about it again and again, but she still couldn't put her mind at ease.
She believed Mingxi. She believed Mingxi when she said that the two men she saw at the alley entrance yesterday were the same person.
In addition, with the New Year and the end of the year approaching, it is a time when thieves and robberies are frequently seen, so she decided to hold a meeting to remind everyone.
Even if you don't know what the other party wants, it's always good to be a little more cautious.
"What the hell? The neighborhood committee isn't doing anything about it? Why aren't they doing anything? Even if they don't want to, shouldn't they report it to the police station?"
"Well, you can't say that. After all, nothing happened, so we can't be sure whether Mingxi saw a bad person or not. Besides, she didn't even see what the other person looked like. Even if she reports it to the police station, there's nothing they can do."
"Hey, Xiaoming, what did you see yesterday that seemed off?"
Everyone was talking at once, saying all sorts of things. Soon someone asked about Mingxi, and Mingxi didn't hide anything. She told the whole story in detail about the strange man she met at the alley entrance the night before.
Upon hearing this, the eldest daughter-in-law of Aunt Liu's house in the front yard immediately exclaimed, "Ah! I saw that person last night too!"
“Last night around 7 p.m., I went to the toilet and saw that man at the entrance of the alley. He was tall and strong, wearing a military overcoat, and he was standing at the entrance of the alley. I don’t know what he was doing. As soon as I approached, he turned his face away, as if he didn’t want me to see what he looked like.”
This statement only fueled everyone's suspicions.
When Mingxi first mentioned it, no one thought much of it, although it was a bit strange for someone to be standing outside alone late at night. But it wasn't impossible that he might be waiting for someone at the alley entrance.
But after hearing what Liu's eldest daughter-in-law said, everyone sensed that something was amiss.
What kind of good person would deliberately hide from others and not let them see their face?
"Could it be a thief staking out the place?"
"Thieves can't just camp out at night."
"Could they be human traffickers?"
"Hey, maybe they really are human traffickers. No, I have to go back and give my dog a good talking to. He's not allowed to run around these two days, and he has to come home as soon as he gets out of school."
"I need to go back and tell my child..."
Seeing everyone getting agitated, Aunt Ma stepped forward and said, "Don't be afraid. We don't know if the other person is a bad guy. I'm telling you this today to remind everyone, whether you're an adult or a child, to be more alert when you see strangers in the alley."
Everyone knew that Aunt Ma meant well, so no one said anything. However, they had many guesses about the identity of the man that Mingxi and Liu's eldest daughter-in-law saw.
Some were convinced the other person was a thief, some guessed he was a human trafficker, and others suspected he might be a robber, since the thief Li had encountered recently hadn't been caught yet.
Unbeknownst to everyone, Old Sun in the crowd had a flicker in his eyes when he heard this.
The well-informed Aunt He whispered, "You all don't know, do you? I heard that two more people in our area were robbed, both at night. One was a woman working the night shift at the textile factory, and the other was a man working at the agricultural machinery station. Not only were they robbed of their money, but they also had their heads cracked open and are still in the hospital. I heard they're still unconscious."
Mingxi's eyes widened: "Really?"
Aunt He: "How could it be fake? It happened in Guihua Hutong, not far from here. I don't even know if the person who robbed these two is the same person who robbed Old Li."
Mingxi touched her chin, feeling it probably didn't look like it.
The guy who robbed Aunt Li was clearly inexperienced. He dared to rob someone in broad daylight, especially someone like Aunt Li who didn't seem to have much money. He was probably a novice.
But the two robberies that followed sounded far more experienced than the first one. Committing the crimes in the middle of the night, with ruthless methods, including splitting the victim's head open, they were clearly seasoned criminals.
However, it's hard to say for sure. Mingxi isn't a professional police officer, so it's hard to say exactly what happened.
However, when the people in the courtyard heard that two robberies had occurred nearby, they began to panic.
Ever since Aunt Ma held the meeting in the yard, everyone has become nervous. No one dares to go out alone at night, and even fewer people go to the toilet at night. As for those who work the night shift, they either make plans with two or three colleagues to go home together, or they stay at the factory until dawn before heading home.
Seeing the growing fear and the reluctance of everyone to go out at night, the older women in the courtyard sprang into action. These unemployed women took advantage of the daytime when everyone else was at work to set up a stakeout in the nearby alleys. If they saw someone unfamiliar, they would approach them, question them, and follow them to find out what they did for a living and whether they were behaving suspiciously.
They not only kept an eye on her during the day, but also at night. One night, Mingxi had an upset stomach and couldn't hold it in any longer, so she went to the alley to use the toilet. As soon as she pulled Zhao Sulan out of the gate, she felt a beam of flashlight shining on her, followed by Aunt He's voice.
"Xiaoming, what are you and your mother doing out so late at night? You scared me."
Mingxi: Who scared whom?!
She hadn't seen the person's face clearly and thought he was a bad guy, so she clenched her fists in fear and was about to punch him.
Thankfully, Aunt He spoke up, and she quickly stopped.
Mingxi: "I'm going to the restroom. By the way, Aunt He, what brings you here so late at night?"
Aunt He: "Your Uncle Zheng has been working the middle shift at his workplace recently, and he doesn't get off work until after nine o'clock at night. I was worried about him, and I couldn't sleep at home alone, so I came out to wait for your Uncle Zheng to come back. I also wanted to keep an eye on whether any strangers were coming or going in the alley."
Mingxi: "It's so late at night...aren't you cold?"
Aunt He held the flashlight to her chin, shone it on her face, and said, "I'm not cold, I'm dressed warmly."
She was wearing a large military overcoat, which covered her from head to toe, keeping her completely warm. Mingxi guessed that Aunt He was probably not cold at all.
Mingxi instinctively wrapped her cotton-padded coat tighter around herself. Aunt He wasn't cold, but she was.
Mingxi: "No, I need to use the restroom urgently, I'm leaving now."
Mingxi left Aunt He and Zhao Sulan and rushed to the toilet. After taking care of this important matter, he came out to find the alley completely dark and deserted, except for Zhao Sulan at the alley entrance under the streetlight.
She wrapped her cotton-padded coat tighter around herself and leaned closer: "Mom, has Aunt He gone home?"
No.
The moment Mingxi finished speaking, another voice immediately rang out. Along with the voice, a beam of light shone in front of Mingxi's eyes. She subconsciously squinted and saw a pale white face floating in the air not far in front of her.
"Oh my god!"
Mingxi was so frightened that her hair stood on end, and a cold sweat broke out all over her back. Her voice trembled as she cried out, "Mom, this..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Sulan interrupted, "Old He, who are you trying to scare? Quickly move the flashlight away from your chin."
"oh."
As the flashlight was moved away, Mingxi finally saw clearly that the floating white face was Aunt He.
Mingxi: "Oh my god, Aunt He, you scared me to death! I thought I had encountered a ghost. My legs were so weak from fright."
Aunt He scratched her head: "Hey, I didn't mean to scare you, the flashlight wasn't very bright, I was afraid you wouldn't be able to see me."
Mingxi was still feeling uneasy. She pouted and said, "Even if the flashlight is out of power, please don't do this. It's so late at night, and you might scare someone badly."
This is why Mingxi is in good health and not easily frightened.
If it had been an older person with a heart condition, touching it like that could have really caused an accident.
Seeing how frightened Mingxi was, Aunt He realized she had gone too far with her joke and said sheepishly, "I promise, there won't be a next time, just this once."
After calming down for a while, Mingxi looked at Aunt He and asked, "Are you going back, or...?"
Aunt He waved her hand: "I'm not going back yet, I'm going to patrol around one more time."
It's so late at night, and Mingxi is really worried about Aunt He being all alone.
She asked, "Are you alright by yourself? Or would you like me to come with you?"
Aunt He waved her hand: "No need, no need. You young people have to go to work during the day, so go back and get some rest."
Seeing Mingxi's worried expression, she patted the pocket of her military coat and said, "You guys go back, don't worry about me, I've made all the necessary preparations."
As she spoke, she took a few things out of her pocket and showed them to Mingxi in a small way.
"This is chili water I made with ground chilies, the spiciest of the hottest little chilies. If you spray it in someone's eyes, they won't be able to open their eyes for a long time. And this is a self-defense weapon I made myself."
Aunt He took out a stick covered in nails, with the sharp ends facing outwards, making it look like a small spiked club.
Mingxi: ...
Calling it a self-defense weapon is a bit of an exaggeration; Mingxi feels it's a controlled weapon.
But that wasn't all. Aunt He reached into her pocket and pulled out a tightly screwed-on glass jar. Mingxi wasn't sure if it was just her imagination, but the moment Aunt He took the thing out, she smelled a foul odor.
Mingxi wrinkled her nose: "What is this thing?"
Aunt He: "Oh, this is the leftover broth from my pickled stinky tofu. I was thinking that if I really ran into a bad guy and couldn't beat him, and he got away, wouldn't that be a waste? So I put this stuff in a bottle. In case the guy tries to run away, I can just splash this stuff on him and find him by following the smell no matter how far he runs."
Mingxi: ...
Aunt He really prepared everything perfectly...
This thing is really hard to describe.
When Aunt He saw Mingxi's strange look, she thought Mingxi looked down on her stinky tofu soup.
She defended her stinky tofu soup indignantly: "Xiaoming, don't underestimate my stinky tofu soup. This is my old broth, it's very flavorful. Once you get this smell, it won't wash off for days. If you don't believe me, I'll open it and let you smell it."
"You'll know once you smell it," said Aunt He, as she opened the jar to let Mingxi smell the aroma.
Mingxi quickly shook her head: "No need, no need, I trust you."
"Alright then," Aunt He said, putting her hand down with a hint of regret in her expression.
Honestly, this was her secret weapon. She only planned to show it to Mingxi because she knew Mingxi wasn't an outsider, but she didn't expect Mingxi to be so clueless.
Mingxi: ...
Yes, she doesn't know its value, so never show it to her!
Aunt He put the things she had taken out back. Mingxi knew that Aunt He was capable of protecting herself, so she felt relieved. She greeted Aunt He and then took Zhao Sulan's hand and went home.
To be honest, the patrols and questioning by Aunt He and her team of elderly women with bound feet have been quite effective. Ever since Aunt He started taking action, the atmosphere in the alley has changed dramatically. The old folks who used to loiter around here rarely come anymore. Not to mention, Aunt He even caught a "thief".
However, this thief wasn't human; he was a parrot.
This all started when people in the alley kept throwing away cured meat and sausages.
Although the northern part of the city is not like the southern part of the city where every household has the habit of making cured meat and sausages, there are still quite a few people who will pickle some cured meat and sausages in winter. Everyone is used to putting the cured meat and sausages outside the windowsill. Anyway, it's cold outside, so putting them outside is like putting them in the refrigerator.
However, starting last year, the residents in Mingxi's neighborhood noticed that cured meats and sausages left to dry outside their windows were always going missing.
At first, everyone suspected that stray cats or dogs might have taken them, so they deliberately hung the cured meat and sausages in a high place and wrapped them tightly in oil paper, thinking that they would definitely not be stolen.
But it was no use; it was still thrown away.
Everyone realized something was wrong. They were all hanging under the eaves. How could stray cats and dogs be so easy to steal? Besides, there weren't many stray cats and dogs in their area to begin with.
People suspected that someone might have stolen it while everyone was sleeping in the middle of the night, and some even staked out the place all night, but they still couldn't catch the thief who stole the cured meat and sausages.
It wasn't until recently, when Aunt He was on patrol late at night, that the thief who had been stealing was finally exposed.
It turned out that it wasn't a person who stole it, but a bird. Aunt He said that she saw a bird flying away with a bag of sausages in its beak.
Moreover, Aunt He recognized the bird; it was the parrot kept by Wang Mazi from the next alley.
Wang Mazi takes very good care of his parrot, feeding it millet three times a day, and often dragging it out on his shoulder to show it off, which is why Aunt He has such a deep impression of this parrot.
Of course, Aunt He, running on two legs, couldn't catch up with a parrot that could fly with two wings, but she didn't chase after it.
Since we already know whose bird it is, there's no need to chase it. We can just wait until dawn to find Wang Mazi.
The next morning, Aunt He told everyone in the alley about it. Most of the people in the alley had lost things before, and even the Ming family was not spared. Last year, a large piece of cured meat that Zhao Sulan had hung under the eaves was stolen.
But when Mingxi heard Aunt He say that the cured meat was stolen by the parrot, she still found it unbelievable.
Not only did Guangxi think so, but most people in the alley found it unbelievable when they heard what Aunt He said.
Why would a parrot steal cured meat? It can't eat meat anyway.
Besides, Wang Mazi cherishes this parrot so much, he certainly wouldn't let it go hungry.
But Aunt He spoke with such conviction, as if she wanted to guarantee that everyone would believe her. So, the skeptical group followed Aunt He to Wang Mazi's house in the next alley to demand an explanation from him.
Mingxi and Zhao Sulan, as the owners of the lost cured meat, naturally went along as well.
The group arrived at Wang Mazi's house with some skepticism, but as soon as they opened the door, they were greeted by the aroma of stir-fried cured meat.
Alright, now there's nothing to doubt. The one who stole the cured meat was Wang Mazi's parrot.
Moreover, Wang Mazi was aware of this matter.
Everyone was furious when they saw Wang Mazi with his mouth dripping with oil.
Wang Mazi was taken aback when he saw the menacing crowd. He was a sensible man and knew that he had been discovered by everyone, so there was no use in denying it. He simply admitted it.
According to Wang Mazi, he did know that his parrot was stealing cured meat, and he noticed something was wrong from the first time it stole it, because the parrot didn't eat the meat, but just thought it was fun to steal it. It would just throw the cured meat it brought back from outside into the house and then ignore it.
At first, when Wang Mazi saw the extra cured meat in his house, he didn't know it was stolen by the parrot. He thought his wife had bought it and cooked and ate it. Later, as cured meat and sausages continued to appear in his house, and he also heard about the neighbors losing things, he began to have doubts.
One night, I was awake and discovered that my parrot was bringing something back with it.
After he learned that his parrot was the thief who stole the cured meat, he didn't make a fuss. He figured that since the parrot hadn't stolen anything, it was probably okay to just pick up the cured meat that had fallen into his house, so he continued to tolerate the parrot stealing cured meat.
Wang Mazi explained everything clearly, but it still infuriated Mingxi and the others.
They've been searching for this thief who stole cured meat in the alley for a year, but Wang Mazi hasn't come forward to confess. Instead, he eats their food without a care in the world.
If Aunt He hadn't discovered it, who knows how much more food this guy surnamed Wang would have eaten from them!
The group surrounded Wang Mazi and wouldn't let it go. In the end, Wang Mazi had no choice but to agree to compensate them.
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