“I remember breaking that window before,” Ye Cheng said, pointing to the window of Li the Cripple’s shop.
"It seems like they even climbed over the wall to steal instant noodles. Hmm, I think they've also stolen a few of your chickens."
"And then, I think I've probably plugged your door lock with bubble gum a few times too."
"And your circuit breaker, I think I also ran copper wire through it."
As Ye Cheng looked at Li the Cripple's shop, he slowly recalled the events in a low voice, but Li the Cripple heard it and his heart skipped a beat.
Ye Cheng did all of these things back then!
They all fucking gotta do it!
Indeed, he was very certain.
But today is clearly not the time to talk about this.
"Oh, those are all minor matters, nothing to worry about, they're over and done with," Li the Cripple said, waving his hand dismissively.
"Ah, it's all a small matter," Ye Cheng suddenly raised his voice, his face full of innocent naiveté. "Then, can I still...?"
Seeing Ye Cheng's gaze, Li the Cripple immediately surrendered, "No, no, I know what you're going to ask, I'll talk, I'll talk, okay?"
Ye Cheng nodded, looked at him, and remained silent.
Li the Cripple glanced nervously outside, then lowered his voice and said, "Your fish trap, right? I didn't see who did it, but yesterday the village chief's two nephews bought a fish trap from me, and they seemed very happy to have made money."
"Chen Zhangfu, Chen Zhanglong?" Ye Cheng asked softly.
Li the Cripple nodded. "It was the two of them. When they left, I paused for a moment. They were saying smugly, 'Let's see if that kid still dares to be so arrogant. We've destroyed the cage, let's see what he can do now.'"
Later I went to check it myself, and there it was, lying on the beach, so I guessed he did it.
Ye Cheng nodded. During the last village meeting, the brothers Chen Zhangfu and Chen Zhanglong also jumped out and started arguing with him. If Xiao Hu and his older brother hadn't been there, who knows what might have happened.
These two were originally from Chen Jinhai's family, so it's normal for them to want revenge.
Seeing that Ye Cheng didn't speak, Li the Cripple quickly put on a smile and said, "Second brother, it's nothing, they're just jealous of you, it's a small matter."
A glint of light flashed in Ye Cheng's eyes, startling Li the Cripple into swallowing back his next words.
"Give me two more packs of cigarettes, and I'll pay you," Ye Cheng said.
Li the Cripple knew this was a thank you for providing information, so he wasn't going to be polite. Since he'd already said so, he took three pieces of information and said with a smirk, "There are only three left, why don't you take them all?"
Ye Cheng rolled his eyes. "Who just said I didn't need that many?"
"That was just now, now is now."
"Okay, leave them all there."
Ye Cheng tapped the counter lightly. Six packs of cigarettes for a message—not expensive, better than holding his breath.
Li the Cripple thoughtfully put it in a black plastic bag, then repeatedly clasped his hands in a gesture of respect, saying, "Second brother, you mustn't tell anyone I told you."
"I understand. You only have one good leg. I won't hurt you."
After saying that, Ye Cheng tossed the cigarette behind his back and left.
After leaving the house, he went around to Xiao Hu's place. Xiao Hu looked at Ye Cheng, shook his head, and said...
"Brother, my parents don't know who did it either."
"I understand. Grab the stick, let's go," Ye Cheng said calmly.
"Oh." Xiao Hu turned around and took out two iron pipes.
Ye Cheng glanced at it and said, "Change to a wooden stick."
"A wooden stick?" Xiao Hu was stunned for a moment, and his expression immediately became serious.
He understood Ye Cheng's actions during this period; the iron pipe was mostly used to scare people, while the wooden stick meant he was planning to take action.
"The wooden stick isn't the murder weapon, but the iron pipe is. Let's go and tell Uncle and Aunt."
"OK."
Xiao Hu went inside to say goodbye to his parents, telling them he wouldn't be home for dinner that night, and then left with Ye Cheng.
Xiao Hu's parents stood at the door watching the two of them walk away.
"Honey, I'm going too." Little Tiger's dad suddenly threw down his cigarette and said. He was sure his son was going to fight, how could he not feel at ease?
“Then I’ll go too.” Aunt Wang gritted her teeth. “At least I can intimidate them with my presence.”
After Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu came out, Xiao Hu asked, "Brother, who did this?"
"Chen Zhangfu and Chen Zhanglong."
"Damn it! It's those two bastards. They tried to make a move at the last big meeting. Bro, we can't let them off easy this time."
"I know, that's why I changed to a wooden stick. Be careful later, don't get hit on the head, that's more expensive, hands and feet are cheaper," Ye Cheng said expressionlessly.
As they were walking, Ye Cheng's phone rang. It was his older brother, Ye Guowei.
Ye Cheng answered the call and said in a deep voice,
"Big brother."
Ye Guowei's voice was hoarse, "Where are you?"
"Oh, I'm with Xiaohu." Ye Cheng didn't say where he was going; he didn't want his older brother to get involved if a fight really broke out.
"I'm coming too. Wait for me and tell me where I am," Ye Guowei insisted.
Ye Cheng paused for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said, "Big brother, let's go see Chen Zhangfu and Chen Zhanglong."
"Okay, I'll be right there."
Ye Guowei hung up the phone after he finished speaking.
Xiao Hu glanced at Ye Cheng, somewhat puzzled as to why he was called Ye Guowei.
Ye Cheng shook his head. "He's also my older brother."
The two didn't speak again, but continued walking towards the back village. A few uncles and aunts came out to take a look. They were all too familiar with Ye Cheng and Xiao Hu's village slacker appearance, so they decisively shrank back.
"Little Tiger, do you think we've been a little too kind lately?" Ye Cheng remarked.
When I was a village thug, I seemed to live a carefree life. Although sometimes people would block my door and yell at me, no one dared to bully me like that.
Now they dare to secretly smash their own trap cages, do they really think they've become good people?
Ye Cheng dragged his stick to an intersection, beyond which lay the homes of Chen Zhangfu and Chen Zhanglong.
He paused for a moment, and as the autumn wind blew by, Ye Guowei walked over from another path, carrying a wooden stick in his hand.
Ye Cheng smiled. As expected of the two brothers, they still have a great understanding.
"Acheng, let's go." Ye Guowei patted Ye Cheng and walked ahead.
Chen Zhangfu and Chen Zhanglong are brothers. Their father, Chen Jinli, is of the same generation as Chen Jinhai and lives next door to him.
Ye Cheng and his two companions stood at the door of Chen Jinli's house. Ye Cheng was still wondering what to do: should they rush in directly or call out first?
Unexpectedly, Ye Guowei kicked Chen Jinli's door open.
With a loud bang, the metal door was kicked open.
A yellow dog rushed out and started barking wildly at the three of them.
Ye Cheng went up and hit the yellow dog with a stick. The dog didn't expect Ye Cheng to actually hit it. It was so frightened that it yelped and ran into the yard with its tail between its legs.
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