Chapter 38 [38] Thief.
This is destined to be a sleepless night.
It was not until the second half of the night that Aunt Zhao's crying was heard again in the Zhao family. Zhao Dong was in the room and was tied up with a rope and left.
Tang Yuanyuan tossed and turned several times in bed before she finally realized that this case happened too long ago, and Li Mu never trusted the police.
She had contacted the police herself and understood the disappointment. If you are disappointed, you will not have any expectations.
What he wants is Zhao Dong's death.
Human life is actually divided into two kinds: one is physical life, and the other is reputational life.
With Zhao Dong's behavior, no one would want to associate with him. His colleagues and neighbors would look at him with tinted glasses.
Zhao Dong’s true face is revealed, and he has no courage to live anymore.
Li Mu has actually wanted to kill Zhao Dong for a long time, right?
Before leaving, Li Mu not only filled the house with mousetraps, but also placed a burning paper in each of their bedrooms to prick people.
If the other party endured the pain to turn over the money, he would probably be scared to death.
There was a tent in front of the Zhao family's door, with paper figures made of white sails floating in the air. Only a few uncles and brothers were busy, and it was very deserted.
Li Mu did not go to see Zhao Dong, and went to the south with Tang Yuanyuan to purchase goods as usual.
Zhao Shun rushed out of the shed and punched Li Mu.
Li Mu was not polite at all. After a few fights, he knocked him to the ground.
Zhao Shun bared his teeth in hatred, but he couldn't deal with Li Mu, so his eyes turned red: "You little bastard, you are really ruthless. My father raised you for so long and treated you so well, and you didn't even come to see him when he died."
Li Mu sneered: "Zhao Shun, I don't owe you the Zhao family anything."
"Five years ago, your father should have died. It was my father who took his place, and that's why he lived five more years."
"You've always resented him, saying it's worse than not having a father."
"Now, I'm just correcting your fate. You and your mother no longer have to feel unbalanced because someone else is sharing your father's salary."
"Your father is dead, and there is no one to support you and your son anymore."
"Silly."
Zhao Shun stared at Li Mu with his scarlet eyes, which were filled with coldness, but Li Mu didn't care.
When the two arrived at the train station, Teresa Teng was already there.
Li Mu presented a box of beautifully packaged silk scarves: "You are Aunt Xu, but you don't look like an aunt at all. You look more like the sister next door."
Li Mu has the image of a well-behaved child, with a pair of big eyes flickering under neat bangs, delicate features, a perfect amount of flesh on his cheeks, and small lips. All together, he looks like someone's good child, the type that parents are reluctant to be mean to.
Xu Xiaofeng is no exception, and since she is Tang Yuanyuan's partner, she has an even better impression of him.
"You are Li Mu, right? Good boy, good boy, and you are so polite."
The two had a very pleasant conversation.
Tang Yuanyuan sipped from a bottle of Wahaha, pulled the corners of his lips, and muttered "flatterer".
Xu Xiaofeng hasn't taken a train for a long time. Her shop has a special purchasing channel, so she doesn't need to travel to other places.
In the past few years, there were not as many people traveling as there are now. Although there were good and bad people, it was still quite comfortable.
Now the seats are almost all occupied, the air doesn’t smell so good, and it’s noisy.
She covered her nose with a handkerchief, feeling uncomfortable.
People with low blood sugar are generally more sensitive to smells. Tang Yuanyuan feels even more uncomfortable than Xu Xiaofeng. She has to endure it every time she goes to get the goods.
Tang Yuanyuan took out some snacks and said, "Auntie, eat something, you'll feel better."
There are toffee, instant noodles and spicy strips, which is very rich.
Seeing her listless appearance, Xu Xiaofeng knew she wasn't feeling well either: "You guys worked so hard to earn this money."
Tang Yuanyuan: "Earning money is hard work for everyone."
Li Mu took a pack of instant noodles and said, "Tang Yuanyuan, is the sun rising from the west today? You're so generous that you even bought instant noodles?"
Tang Yuanyuan: "Now that people have the ability, why don't they treat themselves well?"
Li Mu: "That makes sense."
Teresa Teng was also very pleased that Tang Yuanyuan had this awareness. You know, many people are used to being poor, and even if they have money, they are reluctant to spend it.
Even some people, after becoming rich, still only pursue the numerical increase in their savings. They feel uncomfortable spending money and are unable to overcome that psychological barrier.
Xu Xiaofeng also prepared snacks, took them out of her bag, and gave them some Xizhilang jelly.
"By the way, Yuanyuan, I see that the clothes you picked are all very beautiful. Do you have any secret?"
Li Mu pricked up his ears when he heard the key words.
Tang Yuanyuan: "Maybe it's because of my mom."
Although Zhang Lancao grew up in poverty and even went hungry, she has a heart that yearns for beauty.
She was very envious when she saw other children wearing beautiful skirts.
I also want to give my daughter a life like that.
"Our Yuanyuan is so pretty. If she could wear a skirt like that, I wonder how beautiful she would look."
She has suffered a lot herself, and her biggest dream is for her daughter to live a good life.
When Tang Yuanyuan was young, it was not popular for her parents to buy new clothes for her. They always picked up old clothes from other people's homes. Even if they occasionally made a new piece of clothing, they would first wear the older one and then the younger one.
Zhang Lancao would always buy Tang Yuanyuan a new set of clothes all year round, and would also prepare new clothes for her during the Chinese New Year.
These new clothes made Tang Yuanyuan feel particularly proud in front of her friends.
Next door to the Tang family, Wang Hui has always been the most fashionable mother, the opposite of Zhang Lancao. She spends all her money on her own dressing, food and clothes.
Tang Yuanyuan also wanted her mother to live a fashionable life like that. When she was seven years old, she knew that she had to save pocket money to buy clothes for her mother.
This is probably how aesthetics is developed.
Li Mu chewed the instant noodles with a crackling sound. No wonder he couldn't sell women's clothing well. He had never seen his mother and had never paid attention to what kind of clothes looked good on women.
Let’s talk about the Tang family again.
Tang Aiguo made such a fool of himself that he didn't even have dinner. Tang Anguo was so worried that he didn't sleep well all night. He got up at dawn to cook noodles. It was almost time to go to work, but Tang Aiguo still didn't show any sign of waking up, so he had to go and wake him up.
"Dad, get up and eat."
Tang Aiguo rubbed his eyes and stood up, first scanning the room: "Where's your mother?"
Tang An: "Dad, you are confused. Mom is gone."
Tang Aiguo said "Oh", got dressed, washed up, and ate.
Tang An stared at Tang Aiguo anxiously: "Dad, how about you take a rest for two days and I'll go to the factory to ask for leave for you?"
Tang Aiguo ate his noodles and said, "I'm fine, why are you asking for leave?"
Tang An paused while picking up the noodles and looked carefully at Tang Aiguo's expression.
As usual, it seemed that what happened yesterday did not bother him at all.
His father is such a face-conscious person, yet he was punished in public by his own daughter... Yesterday, he was worried that Tang Aiguo would be unable to get over it.
Recover so quickly?
"Dad, are you really okay?"
Tang Aiguo: "What do I need?"
It’s good to be able to let this matter go.
Tang An: "Just be optimistic. Come home early for dinner tonight and I'll stew some pork ribs for you."
Tang Aiguo put down his chopsticks, picked up his pipe and went to work.
Uncle Tang Er and Uncle Tang San would gather around him and talk during their breaks.
"Brother, I was thinking of you with good intentions, why are you dumping the blame on us two brothers?"
Uncle Tang regretted it and should have stayed out of this matter. He didn't gain any benefit from it and now he even got the reputation of being a troublemaker.
Tang Aiguo looked bewildered: "When did I ever put the blame on you?"
Uncle Tang: "Brother, don't try to hide it from us. We all know it. You asked for 5,000 yuan from the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and you said we were the one who instigated it."
Tang Aiguo walked away with his hands behind his back: "What five thousand yuan? I don't know what you are talking about."
Uncle Tang: "Second brother, why doesn't Big Brother admit it? Isn't this just a lie?"
Uncle Tang looked at Tang Aiguo's back thoughtfully: "Do you think that big brother is a little strange today?"
Uncle Tang: "What's so strange about that?"
Today, Tang Aiguo seemed to be unaware of the alienation and sarcasm towards him from everyone.
It seems like I really forgot what happened yesterday.
Uncle Tang: "...I hadn't noticed it before you mentioned it. Something seems amiss."
Uncle Tang expressed his doubts again: "How could he have forgotten what happened yesterday? This is impossible, right? He's not in his seventies or eighties."
Uncle Tang: "It's impossible to forget. I guess I just don't want to mention it. It's too embarrassing."
Uncle Tang nodded, it was embarrassing.
He was beaten in public by his own daughter and had to kneel down.
He said that at worst he could kneel down to his daughter, but that wasn't the way to kneel.
Not only did he not get his daughter's forgiveness by kneeling down, but his reputation was completely ruined. What kind of thing is this!
In the afternoon, Tang Aiguo remembered the wrong mold size. Fortunately, the team leader discovered it in time and modified the size, so the loss was not too great.
However, Tang Aiguo had never made this kind of mistake before.
The 22-hour train ride still feels like a year. No matter how slow the train is, it will eventually arrive.
In recent years, the railway station has been a gathering place for gangs and evil forces, and it is bound to get into trouble.
The three of them got off the train together. Just as they were out of the train station, Xu Xiaofeng suddenly felt her arm lighten. The string of her briefcase had broken and fell into the hands of a young man.
"Grab the bag!"
When Li Mu turned around, the thief flashed by like a gust of wind and the sack in his hand was snatched away.
Tang Yuanyuan also stuffed the sack in his hand to Xu Xiaofeng: "Go find the police."
After saying this, Tang Yuanyuan also started to chase after him.
But she saw a shoulder pole carrying peaches leaning against a tree on the roadside and took it away. "I'll give it back to you later."
Li Mu chased the thief into the alley through many twists and turns, and finally drove the thief into a dead end.
The other person was standing in front of a brick wall with a briefcase in one hand and a sack in the other.
Li Mu panted, holding his knees, and gave a wicked smile: "If you run again, you'll be able to pass through that wall."
The thief shook his bag and smiled at Li Mu: "Look behind you."
Li Mu looked behind him and saw several big men lined up at the entrance of the alley. The woman walking in front was wearing a fashionable shirt and leather skirt, with a silk scarf tied around her neck.
If it wasn’t the rich female con artist on the train, who else could it be?
She walked with ease, "Smelly boy, do you still remember me?"
Li Mu scratched his nose and forced a nice smile: "Have we met this beautiful auntie before? If so, I would definitely remember her."
"You're quite good at pretending," the woman said, playing with her nails in amusement. "I've been walking around for so long, and I've never been fooled by a kid before. You're the first one."
Li Mu had an innocent expression: "Auntie, you got the wrong person, didn't you? This is my first time taking a train."
The woman waved her hand, signaling her brothers to come forward. "It's okay if you can't remember, kid. We can beat you until you do."
Tang Yuanyuan picked up the carrying pole and was about to leave, but a Chinese character blocked her way.
Tang Yuanyuan: "I was just passing by. It has nothing to do with me. If you want to collect the debt, ask him for it."
Li Mu: "Tang Yuanyuan, you are so heartless. At least we live under the same roof."
These days, many couples in the countryside get married at the age of seventeen or eighteen. The woman's gaze fell on Tang Yuanyuan: "I can't tell, are you still a young couple?"
Tang Yuanyuan: "No, it's the relationship between landlord and tenant. Your business has nothing to do with me."
Li Mu: "Tang Yuanyuan, you are too powerful!"
Tang Yuanyuan: "Didn't you say that you shouldn't be a good person? Of course, I won't interfere. Why don't you just return the money to them and that's it."
But the big man stopped Tang Yuanyuan and said, "You want to leave? No way."
The woman also became impatient. "Stop talking nonsense and get to work. The police will be here soon."
Li Mu: "Auntie, I'll give you the money back, will you let me go?"
Woman: "It's too late to regret now."
The carrying pole in Tang Yuanyuan's hand hit the man's arm and leg hard. It must be said that the carrying pole became her advantage. After two hits with the carrying pole, the man held his arms and supported his legs to breathe.
It hurts so much.
Over there, Li Mu was in trouble. Three big men surrounded him and he had already been punched in the face.
Tang Yuanyuan hesitated for a moment, then aimed the stick at the woman's legs. With one hit, the woman fell to the ground and screamed "Ah!", attracting the attention of the four big men.
Tang Yuanyuan swung the carrying pole again, but it was grabbed by another big man. Tang Yuanyuan was not as strong as the other man. If the carrying pole fell into their hands, both of them would be completely finished.
"Li Mu!"
Li Mu roared and kicked the big man he was fighting with at his weakest spot. He quickly ran over, jumped up, and kicked the big man on the butt.
Tang Yuanyuan fell to the ground with a thud. Li Mu took the carrying pole and beat the big men madly. He also hit their legs specifically. One of the big men took out a knife, and Li Mu hit him on the wrist with a stick, and the knife fell to the ground.
Xu Xiaofeng brought the police over in time, and several thieves were taken to the police station together.
Li Mu had no choice but to cough up the thousand yuan and was lectured by the police again.
The police returned the bag to Xu Xiaofeng and said, "Please check to see if anything is missing."
Xu Xiaofeng opened her purse and unfolded her wallet, which was empty: "It's all here."
Tang Yuanyuan: "Aunt Xu, why is it empty?"
Xu Xiaofeng: "I didn't put any money in there in the first place. It was just to confuse people. Putting money in a purse is like asking for robbery."
As expected of an old hand, I used to think that Teresa Teng was too high-profile for carrying a handbag.
After a lot of running around, the sun was already quite high, so we went to have breakfast together.
Xu Xiaofeng asked the shopkeeper to boil a boiled egg, peeled it, and rolled it on Li Mu's face: "Is it better?"
Li Mu: "It still hurts."
"Alas, Tang Yuanyuan, you have no conscience. I'm in this state, and you still can eat?"
Tang Yuanyuan ate steamed dumplings and asked, "Why can't I eat it?"
Li Muqijie: "Look at how gentle Aunt Xu is, and then look at yourself, you are also a woman."
Tang Yuanyuan put down her chopsticks, looked around Li Mu's face, and pinched the bruises: "The flesh is not lost, it's still fine."
Li Mu slapped her hand away: "Are you a human being? I'm already in this state, and you're still pinching me and hurting me!"
"Aunt Xu, let me tell you, this guy is heartless. He just wanted to abandon me and said it had nothing to do with me."
Tang Yuanyuan rolled her eyes at him.
Li Mu: "Why are you glaring at me? I'm telling the truth!"
Tang Yuanyuan: "If it weren't for me, you would have died today. I am your savior."
Li Mu: "Humph, if that gangster hadn't stopped you from leaving, would you have cared about me? You wanted to leave directly, and you still want to ignore me."
Tang Yuanyuan: "Are you stupid? I wanted to find the police. If they dared to let me go, it meant they just wanted to teach you a lesson. If they didn't dare to let me go, it meant they really wanted to deal with you. That's why I didn't leave."
Li Mu: "You still want to abandon me!"
Tang Yuanyuan: "You deserve it. You dare to mess with a liar. You may not be so lucky next time."
Seeing Li Mu's mouth puffed up like a frog, Xu Xiaofeng immediately tried to smooth things over: "Xiao Mu, although Yuanyuan's words may not sound good, they are indeed true. Those people really dare to kill and set fire. Don't mess with them. If you are not careful, something bad will happen."
Li Mu touched his nose guiltily. At that time, he just wanted to make a fortune. Who would have thought that he would encounter such bad luck again.
Tang Yuanyuan and Xu Xiaofeng went to look at women's clothing, while Li Mu went to buy men's clothing.
This time when he came to purchase goods, Tang Yuanyuan wanted to find a purchasing channel at the same time. He chose a stall that was very close to his own vision, left the phone number of Xu Xiaofeng's store, and also recorded the other party's landline number.
This batch of goods that Tang Yuanyuan bought is mainly youthful and beautiful women's clothing, but she plans to sell half of the store's clothing for youthful women and half for student clothing in the future.
There are many children from wealthy families in No. 1 Middle School. Tang Yuanyuan felt that this was a ready-made business and it would be a waste not to do it.
Xu Xiaofeng's women's clothing is positioned as mature women's clothing, and she has also chosen the style she wants to operate.
Tang Yuanyuan now has the financial resources to buy four sacks of clothes, but three sacks is her limit.
Li Mu still put in four sacks of clothes. He was a big man of 1.8 meters, and now he could hardly be found in the sacks.
Xu Xiaofeng tried to help Tang Yuanyuan carry a sack and was almost crushed to the ground.
Her eyes moistened unconsciously: "If your mother saw this, she would definitely cry out of heartache."
People are about to be surrounded by sacks. At this age, they are still studying: "This is too heavy."
“It’s too bitter.”
Tang Yuanyuan: "It's not hard, it's something that can make money."
"I was so happy when I carried the sack for the first time."
Compared to not being able to go to school, Tang Yuanyuan felt that the physical suffering was nothing.
On the way back, they still took turns sleeping and watching the goods. Xu Xiaofeng felt that she had already lost half her life. With tears in her eyes, she said that these two people had suffered too much and they really deserved to earn this money.
It was already midnight the next day when we returned to Yucheng.
There were no buses at this time, but fortunately Xu Xiaofeng's husband drove a car to pick them up, otherwise Tang Yuanyuan and Li Mu would have to walk home carrying the sacks.
A Santana couldn't even hold seven sacks, so Xu Xiaofeng asked Tang Yuanyuan to take the goods into the car first, and then let her husband go there later.
Santana ran very fast and arrived at the entrance of the alley in just ten minutes.
But difficulties also arose. The alley was too narrow and the car could not enter.
Tang Yuanyuan carried three large sacks on her back and said, "Aunt Xu, you guys go get Li Mu. I can carry them in by myself."
The alley is pitch black, without even a street light.
Xu Xiaofeng felt that she was afraid even to walk: "It won't matter if we take you in for a few minutes and then pick up Li Mu."
Xu Xiaofeng's husband barely managed to carry a sack on his back. Xu Xiaofeng supported him from behind and they weaved around in the alley until they finally arrived at the gate of the Li family's yard.
The couple breathed a sigh of relief, but unexpectedly, there was a sudden sound of something falling to the ground, and all three of them were startled.
Tang Yuanyuan vaguely saw a figure: "Who!"
Just as she was about to chase him, Xu Xiaofeng's husband stopped her in time: "Don't chase him. Who else could it be? It must be a thief."
It's too dark here and there are no street lights. I can't see people or the road. If the other party is carrying a weapon, something serious might happen.
Xu Xiaofeng: "Let's go in and see if there is any damage."
Aunt Huang's family probably heard the noise, and the light bulb in the house lit up.
Tang Yuanyuan opened the gate and asked Xu Xiaofeng and his wife to stand at the gate to avoid being injured by mousetraps. With a little light, they saw bloodstains on the ground winding all the way to the courtyard wall.
Avoiding the mousetrap, I went to the living room and turned on the light bulb. It was obvious under the light that there was a dried red bloodstain extending to the gate of the yard.
In the past three days, a thief has visited the place and someone has been injured by a mousetrap.
The man just now was running very fast and was obviously not injured.
There were two people who came to the Li family to steal.
Aunt Huang, still drowsy and still wrapped in her coat, screamed, "God damn it! Who among the wicked did this?"
Xu Xiaofeng held her forehead and said, "Yuanyuan, save up some money, buy a house immediately, and move away from here. It's too dangerous."
Tang Yuanyuan: "Buy a house?"
Xu Xiaofeng: "Yes, buy a house."
"There's a residential complex behind No. 1 Middle School called Shuxiang Garden. It's open for sale. If you have money, go buy a house there."
Tang Yuanyuan: "Can I buy it too?"
Xu Xiaofeng: "Silly child, if you have money, of course you can buy it."
Tang Yuanyuan: "How much does it cost?"
Xu Xiaofeng: "It seems to be about 30,000 or 40,000."
Aunt Huang's eyes were as big as copper bells: "Thirty thousand!"
"Who has so much money?"
From this moment on, Tang Yuanyuan had a new goal.
She wants to earn enough money to buy herself a shop and a house.
"Aunt Xu, I should be fine now. Please go and get Li Mu."
When Aunt Huang learned that Li Mu was still at the train station, she waved her hand proudly and said, "You guys go ahead, I'm here for you."
Tang Yuanyuan picked up the mousetrap, while Aunt Huang filled a basin with water and wiped the bloodstains on the ground with a rag.
After being busy for about ten minutes and finishing the cleaning, Li Mu came back.
His clothes were torn, and there were two bruises on his face and several bloodstains.
Aunt Huang yelled loudly: "Xiao Mu, what's wrong with you? Why are you still injured?"
Li Mu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb: "It's okay."
"A few little hooligans, they don't know who I am, they want to steal my goods without even noticing who I am."
"They were in a much worse situation than me. I broke their legs."
Aunt Huang: "How unlucky I am! A thief came to my house and I met a gangster at the train station."
Aunt Huang was worried about them: "What are you going to do with your two children?"
Tang Yuanyuan: "There are bloodstains on two mousetraps. The first thief who came must have had his foot caught in it. If it's anyone in this area, ask around tomorrow to see who's injured. He must have been the one who stole it."
Aunt Huang: "Leave this matter to me, I will find out for you."
Li Mu pinched his waist and said, "Young Master, I want to see which bastard sneaked into my house."
"I broke his legs. I don't want anyone to dare to come to my house again."
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