Fang Qiao was also shaken upon hearing this: "You did the right thing. That house was definitely uninhabitable; we should have gone home immediately. Luckily, the thief was unconscious, otherwise, who knows what might have happened!"
"Yes, yes," Xiaojing nodded. "I still get chills when I think about it."
"Did you later have someone go to the police station to ask? What's the situation with that thief? How did he target you?"
"Xiaoqiang went to ask. The thief was a local hoodlum in the county town. He was always up to petty theft and had even been sent to a labor camp for having an affair with a widow. This time, he lost all his money gambling, and after drinking some alcohol that night, he acted impulsively and went out with a knife."
"As for why they targeted my family..."
"According to the thief's confession, he said that he overheard a woman saying that there was a mother and daughter from the countryside in Yongshun Hutong who were very wealthy. They were neither workers nor cadres, and they ate meat or stewed fish all day long. He didn't know where their money came from."
“He took it to heart right away, went to scout out the location, and followed my mother a few times. According to him, he even met me once, but I didn’t know that. I was focused on preparing for the exam at the time, and I had no recollection of anyone I met on the street.”
"Anyway, that's how it is. He thought that my mother and I, two women, were easy targets. After drinking a bit, he acted impulsively and decided to target us."
What Xiaojing didn't know was that the thief's original words were much filthy.
He said, "These two women don't work and eat lavishly every day; something's definitely not right. I have a feeling that this mother and daughter are either kept women by some family or prostitutes; their money is definitely dirty. If I rob them, they definitely won't dare to say a word, and they might even have to serve me diligently, begging me to let them go."
Xiaoqiang was furious when he heard it, but afraid of offending Xiaojing, he kept it from his family.
"He deserves to die!"
Fang Qiao was already furious just from hearing what Xiao Jing said, and she gritted her teeth and cursed.
After venting his anger, he quickly got to the point: "Where's that woman? Which gossipy woman was that beast listening to? Have the police found her yet?"
"No." Xiaojing shook her head: "The police officers searched the surrounding area based on the physical characteristics provided by the thief, but they couldn't find anyone who matched the description."
"Impossible. Since the thief overheard gossip in that area, the woman must live nearby. It's impossible for her to be missing. Unless..."
"Unless what?"
Fang Qiao's expression hardened as she considered a possibility: "Unless that woman didn't live in that area at all. She knew that the thief was up to no good, so she deliberately went to him and gossiped about him."
"Why?" Xiaojing's voice trembled.
Who could be so malicious as to come up with such a way to harm people?
"Why? Of course, it's to lure that thief into targeting you and your daughter!" Fang Qiao said seriously, "Xiao Jing, think carefully, have you made enemies with anyone recently?"
"No, no." Xiao Jing was flustered. She never imagined that someone around her hated her to this extent.
The mere thought of a venomous snake lurking nearby, ready to bite me at any moment, sends chills down my spine.
“I’ve been studying all this time, and I’ve only been at home and at school. I haven’t been anywhere else. My mom hasn’t had any conflicts with anyone either.”
"Think about it again. As long as there has been a conflict, even if it was just a few words of argument, it counts."
"Liu Qing?" Xiao Jing tentatively said a name.
“I’ve only argued with her a few times recently. But we don’t have any deep-seated hatred for each other. We just had a few arguments about the college entrance exam. It’s over and done with. She wouldn’t go that far, would she?”
“How could it not be? Don’t underestimate some people’s jealousy.” Fang Qiao’s eyes turned cold. “Besides, Liu Qing has a very extreme personality.”
"But... those were really just two very small things. The first was the day I came back, when I went to the village branch to get my college entrance exam registration form. She mocked me for wanting to go to college after only graduating from elementary school, and I got angry and argued with her. The second was on the day of the preliminary exam, when she broke her arm and wanted to take the school bus back to the county, but I didn't help her."
"It happened only twice, and it was really a very small thing. I forgot about it as soon as it happened, so much so that when you first asked me about it, I didn't even think about it."
"This...this is just a couple of words, isn't it? People in the village are always arguing. Yesterday your chickens pecked at my vegetables and we argued. Today your dishwater spilled at my door and we argued. Tomorrow you'll get in my way while you're drawing water from the well and we'll argue...and after arguing, we fight, tearing clothes and pulling hair. Their faces are scratched all over with fingernails, but I've never seen anyone hate anyone like this."
Xiao Jing's voice was muffled: "Sister-in-law, I really don't understand. If it really is her, why would she do this?"
“It’s normal that you can’t understand it. How could a kind person possibly comprehend the thought process of a bad person?” Fang Qiao said softly, “Don’t think about it anymore. Go home and wait for your college acceptance letter. Have a good New Year.”
"What about this matter?"
“Your brother’s got it,” Fang Qiao said. “Your brother has a comrade-in-arms who transferred to the county’s public security system after his military service. Ask him to keep an eye on things for you.”
After hanging up the phone, Xiaojing was still somewhat uneasy.
Her sister-in-law told her to go home and wait for her college acceptance letter, but now that she knew the situation, how could she possibly stay at ease?
After thinking for a moment, Xiao Jing turned around and walked towards the northwest corner of the village.
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