Chapter 95 The Stupid Thief's Unfavorable Beginning
There was no conversation along the way. The six of them hurried and finally arrived at the destination quickly.
This is a courtyard located in the middle of Liushugou. When Xiao Er entered, all the residents in the courtyard gathered in the front yard. When they saw the police coming, they swarmed over.
"Comrade police officer, my family lost five pounds of flour. I just bought it from the grocery store yesterday. You can't just ignore it."
"Comrade police officer, my family also lost three pounds of flour. That's three pounds of flour. These damn flour thieves are really killing us. How can there be food stealers?"
Everyone was talking about it. Wow, the whole thing was flour. But it wasn't surprising. At the beginning of the month, grocery stores would get new food, and budget-conscious families would usually rush to buy the month's supply to avoid running out later. The thief probably knew this, having chosen this time to steal.
Zhou Zhixing raised his hand and said seriously, "Everyone, please be quiet. We're here to investigate. If anyone has lost something, please come and register. After registering, we'll go back to your house to see if there are any leads. Don't worry. There are six of us here, and we'll register everyone as quickly as possible. Where are the wardens? Please have them maintain order."
An old man in his sixties stepped out cheerfully: "Comrade police officer, I'm Uncle Niu, the director of the courtyard. You just register, I'll be watching, and no one dares to do anything naughty."
After saying this, he turned to the crowd and called out, "Everyone, be quiet. If you've lost something, go and register it with the police. If you haven't lost anything, don't make a fuss. Our compound was an outstanding compound last year, and we can't embarrass ourselves in front of the police. Everyone, line up quickly."
Clearly, Uncle Niu was somewhat present in the compound. The crowd was silent for a moment, then quickly dispersed and began registering in front of several police officers. Unsurprisingly, the most people stood in front of Jiang Nan. Because she was a woman, she looked the least aggressive and the most approachable.
An old lady in her sixties had a gleam in her eyes. She grabbed Jiang Nan and said anxiously, "Comrade police officer, my husband's surname is Xu. He lives in the two rooms in the east wing of the backyard. This morning when I got up to cook, I found that the five pounds of flour in our house were gone. You have to register it. Five pounds, five pounds."
Xiao Nengzi exclaimed, and immediately broke free from Mr. Qianniu's hand. He trotted over and asked, "Auntie Gu, didn't you say you lost three pounds this morning? How come it's only five pounds now?"
Upon hearing this, Uncle Niu was so angry that he blew his beard and glared: "You are so good, Sister Gu, you just ignored what I said, right? How many pounds did you lose? Tell the police clearly!"
Aunt Gu's eyes wandered. She glanced at Jiang Nan, who had a stern face, and said stubbornly, "His snotty kid is ignorant and must have remembered it wrongly. I said five kilograms this morning, five kilograms."
Jiang Nan's eyes were serious, and his tone was firm. "Auntie Gu, right? You can't lie to the police. If you are found to have lied, and the situation is serious, we can arrest you and send you to re-education. You must think carefully. Let me ask again, how many kilograms of flour were lost from your family? Take out the grain certificate, we need to verify it clearly."
Aunt Gu glared at Xiao Nengzi secretly, and under Uncle Niu's death gaze, she hesitantly said, "Well...well, I thought about it again, it should be three pounds. Yes, three pounds. People get older, their memory is not good, and they are easily confused, hehe, hehe."
Jiang Nan's face was serious. He extended his hand and said in a businesslike manner, "Grain certificate."
The old lady didn't dare to act presumptuously anymore and went home to get her grain tax book.
Xiao Nengzi scratched his head, earning a glare from a nearby woman in her thirties. "This nosy little son! Aunt Gu is a troublemaker! Who knows how they'll pick on his family when the police get back?" Even though his father-in-law is the one in charge of the compound, he's still a man after all. Aunt Gu is shameless and will definitely find trouble with the women in the family in the future. Just thinking about it makes me upset.
Xiao Nengzi's mother, who looked to be in her thirties, spoke up at this moment, "Officer, my family also lost five pounds of flour. Look, this is my family's grain book. I just went to the grain store yesterday to buy this month's supply. There were five pounds of white flour, and it's all gone. Officer, you must investigate thoroughly and arrest the thief. Don't let him commit crimes again."
She didn't even mention compensation. These days, if someone stole flour, wouldn't they just eat it right away, saving it for fertility? It would be a wonder they could ever pay it back! She just wanted the thief to be caught quickly, so she couldn't lose anything again next month.
Jiang Nan looked at the grain book, nodded, and lowered his head to start checking the records.
Aunt Gu came over with the grain book. Seeing Xiao Nengzi's mother registering, she curled her lips. There was clearly room next to her, but she squeezed the person so hard that he stumbled. She said unhappily, "Is there still a first come first served? I was the first to register. Move aside. Police officer, please take a look. This is my family's grain book. I don't care about other people's, but I must get back my three pounds of flour. Look, what we lost was fine grain, the best Fuqiang flour! If you catch that thief, you have to compensate us first!"
She looked as if it was a matter of course.
But Jiang Nan didn't respond. She took the ration book and quickly wrote it down. There were six households living in this compound, and three of them had lost something. After recording, Zhou Zhixing divided the team into three groups and visited each household to check on the situation.
Jiang Nan followed Zhou Zhixing to Xiao Nengzi's house. Uncle Niu, the warden, did not follow them in, but remained outside to help maintain order.
Xiao Nengzi's family lived in a three-room main house in the backyard, making them the best off in the compound. However, with five grandchildren, the living quarters were also very crowded.
Jiang Nan went to take a look at the kitchen where he had lost the things. It was called a kitchen, but it was actually a small room separated by the entrance. It was less than three square meters and was very small.
Jiang Nan: "Did you hear any noise from last night to this morning?"
Xiao Nengzi's mother shook her head. "No, we were all sound sleepers and didn't hear any noise. If we had heard anything, how could that bastard have succeeded?! He's so shameless that he even stole flour. What a bastard."
Jiang Nan continued to ask: "Have you checked everything? Is there anything else missing?"
Xiao Nengzi's mother shook her head again: "No, I just lost the flour, nothing else."
Jiang Nan looked around and found no signs that the door lock had been forced open. He bent down and took a closer look. There were scratches on the lock. The thief must have been skilled. He used wire to open the lock. The bird sneaked in and stole the flour directly. He didn't steal anything else. His target was very clear.
Zhou Zhixing went to the main hall and looked carefully at the window. There was no sign of external damage. It seemed that the thief entered through the front door, stole the flour and left without entering the main hall.
The two men went out to meet up with the others and exchanged information. It was pretty much the same: the thief went straight to his target, stole, and left without a second thought, clearly having done some damage before.
Zhou Zhixing asked the warden, Uncle Niu, "Uncle Niu, as the warden, have you noticed any strangers coming in and out of Liushugou recently?"
Grandpa Niu shook his head. "I usually play chess at the ping-pong table out front. I watch the young people play when I have nothing to do. I don't go to other courtyards very often, so I don't know about this. But in the past few days I've been playing chess, I haven't heard of any strangers coming."
Zhou Zhixing continued to ask, "So, your courtyard bought flour at the beginning of the month. Does everyone in the neighborhood know about this?"
Uncle Niu nodded naturally. "Of course I know. Everyone who buys rationed grain buys it on the first day of the month. It's the same all over the place. And this May Day, the oil fields are having a welfare event, so everyone's happy. Most people bought fine grains, hoping to have something good to celebrate."
Zhou Zhixing: "Have the other courtyards also bought fine grains?"
Uncle Niu shook his head. "That's not true. Our compound is small, but we're not the worst off. We can still afford fine grains if we try hard enough. Some of the poorer compounds have to rely on coarse grains, but even that's barely enough to fill their stomachs. They have to go to the mountains every day to dig wild vegetables to barely fill their stomachs. Alas, we can't farm anymore. I didn't expect life in the city to be so hard."
Uncle Niu was feeling a little emotional. Zhou Zhixing was about to ask a few more questions when a little girl peeked in from the door. She looked about seven or eight years old, chubby and very cute.
There were very few chubby children these days. When she showed up, Uncle Niu was delighted and waved, saying, "Hu Niu is here? Are you here to play with my little Nengzi? Come in quickly."
Hu Niu looked at Jiang Nan in her police uniform, hesitated for a moment, then cautiously stepped over the threshold. Like a cautious duckling, she stood still at a distance, looked up, and said, "Sister, something's missing from my house too. Can you go and take a look?"
Jiang Nan was surprised: "Where do you live? What did you lose?"
Seeing everyone looking at her, Hu Niu felt a little embarrassed, but she still insisted: "I live next door to the neighbor next door. My family lost a piece of meat and a bowl. But my grandfather didn't let me come, so I came secretly. My family bought the meat with great difficulty, how could I not find it back? Sister police, don't say it was me who said it when you go there, you..."
She thought for a moment and said, "Just say you heard it from Xiao Nengzi, okay?"
Jiang Nan was amused. He glanced at Xiao Nengzi, who nodded in agreement, and exchanged glances with Zhou Zhixing. Zhou Zhixing said, "Zou Li, stay here with Zili and Gengsheng and continue gathering clues. Wen Qiang, let's go check on Huniu's home."
Uncle Niu spoke first, "I know Huniu's grandfather, Lao Hu. I'll take you there. Huniu, come on, Grandpa will go with you."
"I'm going too." Xiao Nengzi jumped up, grabbed Hu Niu's hand, and walked in front to lead the way.
Huniu: "Brother Nengzi, what's missing from your house?"
Xiao Nengzi: "Flour, the flour my family lost. Huniu, why didn't your grandfather let you come?"
Hu Niu shook her head: "I don't know, but I don't care. I want to eat meat. If Grandpa doesn't let me come, I can do it myself."
She slurped her saliva and continued, "I haven't eaten meat for a long time! The thief is so mean. How could he steal other people's things! He could steal anything else, but why would he steal meat? I've been looking forward to it for a long time, but who knew it was lost." She pouted as she spoke, looking very angry and distressed.
"That's right, thieves are all bad people!" Xiao Nengzi nodded continuously.
Jiang Nan and the other two followed behind, listening to the two children's childish chatter. They couldn't help but wonder: What's wrong with this old man? Why wouldn't he let anyone know even though a thief had broken in?
After passing through two gates, they quickly arrived at Huniu's courtyard. This was a three-courtyard compound, with Huniu's family living at the front gate. As soon as they entered the courtyard, they immediately attracted the attention of other people in the courtyard.
"Why are the police here? Nothing happened in our compound."
"How come nothing happened? The Hu family started arguing early this morning, saying some meat was missing, but the old man didn't want to call the police. I think that's probably why."
"You didn't call the police when the meat was stolen? Why?"
"Oh, you stupid guy, can't you think about it? Maybe this meat was bought on the black market."
Jiang Nan could only pretend not to hear it. Nowadays, everyone goes to the black market. This kind of thing is not easy to pursue seriously.
She knocked on the Hu family's door. The old man inside had heard the noise outside. He came out with a sullen face, glared at Hu Niu, and said unnaturally, "Comrade police officer, don't listen to Hu Niu's nonsense. Nothing is missing from my house. Seriously. You can go back. Nothing is missing from my house."
Zhou Zhixing said seriously, "Uncle Hu, don't worry. We are here to investigate the theft case. We are not responsible for other matters. Just don't worry."
Uncle Hu didn't know if he was relieved, his face finally no longer looked so dark. He said, "Well, I...my meat is lost, but my family is not going to pursue the matter. Really, I just think it's bad luck..."
"Dad, why should I admit that I'm unlucky? I have a pound of meat. No, I have to get it back."
A man in his thirties, with a strong build and broad shoulders, strode out of the house and said in a gruff voice, "Comrade police, what's missing from my house is some pork belly, more than a pound. We were planning to stew it today, but now it's all gone. You must help us find it. This damn thief even stole the meat. He's a real scoundrel."
Zhou Zhixing: "Is it just the meat that's missing? Is there anything else?"
The man's eyes flickered, and after receiving his father's look of disappointment, he shrank his neck unconsciously and muttered, "No... I didn't lose anything else."
"No, there's also a bowl missing, the one I used to put the meat in. I know it's missing." Hu Niu was unconvinced. She had already told the police officer everything, so how could her grandfather and uncle deny it? She was a good girl, and she didn't lie.
Hu Niu snorted in frustration, saying, "I know. That bowl isn't pretty. It's been broken, like... like a spiderweb, but it's still usable. I went to the kitchen today, and the bowl was gone. It must have been stolen."
"Tiger Girl!"
Uncle Hu shouted in a low, urgent voice, glaring at Hu Niu, signaling her to shut up. Seeing the three policemen looking at him from the corner of his eye, Uncle Hu laughed awkwardly and explained, "Well, that bowl is an old one from our family. It's leaking and not worth much, so there's no need to change it."
Even a novice like Jiang Nan could see the guilty look on his face, not to mention the experienced Zhou Zhixing and Wen Qiang. It was obvious that there was something wrong with the bowl.
Zhou Zhixing winked at Jiang Nan, who understood and pulled Hu Niu aside. Uncle Hu was about to speak to stop them, but Zhou Zhixing and Wen Qiang immediately blocked Uncle Hu's view from either side. Zhou Zhixing said, "Uncle Hu, please take us to your home. Leave the things outside to Jiang Nan, you don't have to worry. And what's this big brother's name?"
The man lowered his head, like a child who had made a mistake, and secretly glanced at Uncle Hu. After a long pause, he said in a muffled voice, "Just call me Second Brother Hu."
Zhou Zhixing took advantage of the situation and said, "Brother Hu, let's go in together. Don't worry, Hu Niu is a young girl, Jiang Nan won't make things difficult for her." He extended his hand and made a gesture of invitation, his attitude was humble, but his tone was firm. "Let's go."
Jiang Nan ignored what was happening over there. She pulled Hu Niu to a corner, squatted down, and pulled out a White Rabbit tea from her pocket. She whispered, "Hu Niu, can you tell me more about that bowl? What does it look like? Where did it come from?"
Seeing the White Rabbit, Hu Niu cheered and happily took the candy. As if afraid Jiang Nan would change his mind, her chubby little hand deftly peeled back the candy wrapper and was about to put the whole thing into her mouth. Xiao Nengzi, watching from the side, drooled. Hu Niu paused, sighed softly, and used her chubby little hand to split the candy in half. The two little guys each took half, slurping on the candy with a smile on their faces.
Hu Niu tilted her head, thought for a moment, and said, "That bowl has been in our house for a long time. I've had it since I was born. It's ugly and looks cracked. We've always used it to hold things, not to eat."
Jiang Nan: "Is it because of what your grandfather said? Is it cracked?"
Hu Niu nodded and then shook her head. "Grandpa said it was cracked, but I know it's not. The bowl is like that. It looks like it's cracked, but it's not cracked at all."
She lowered her voice and whispered, "I tried it before. It didn't leak at all when I filled it with water."
Jiang Nan continued to ask: "Oh, why do you want to try it?"
Hu Niu said proudly, "Grandpa said I was a lucky child and wanted to give me that bowl as a dowry. But I heard him say outside that the bowl was cracked, so I was worried, so I secretly tried it. Hehe."
Jiang Nan's heart skipped a beat. How could this resemble the Ge Kiln porcelain from her past life? It was that kind of cracked porcelain. She had never seen the real thing in her past life, only seen it in short videos. The cracks were a bit like the spider webs the little girl had mentioned. Could this be it?
She remained calm and continued, "That Hu Niu is quite favored. What do your family prepared for you as a dowry? Just a bowl?"
"No!" Hu Niu raised her head, thinking of something, and said happily, "I have a set of teapots in my room. They are very beautiful. My grandfather said he would give them all to me."
As she spoke, she trotted into the main room and started to act coquettishly towards Uncle Hu: "Grandpa, where is the teapot? I want to see the teapot. The policewoman wants to see my dowry."
Uncle Hu glared at her and scolded her, "Hu Niu, stop messing around! You're already old enough, you can't lie in front of a police officer! There's no such thing as a nice teapot at home. You can't lie in front of a police officer."
He looked up, smiled flatteringly at Zhou Zhixing, then turned to the second son of the Hu family and said, "Second son, bring Hu Niu into the house. There are so many people at home, we can't let her act recklessly."
Hu Lao Er nodded and turned to pull Hu Niu back to the room. But Hu Niu burst into tears and said unwillingly, "Yes, yes, Grandpa, you said you gave it to me. I didn't lie. Wuuwuwu..." But Hu Niu was still a little kid, so she was finally pulled into the room.
Jiang Nan raised his eyebrows and couldn't help but look at Uncle Hu twice. This old man is quite capable.
She didn't stop him. Instead, she stood up and stared at Uncle Hu, asking sternly, "Uncle Hu, let me ask again, where is the teapot Hu Niu mentioned? Please show it to me."
Uncle Hu rubbed his hands, looking innocent: "Well, it's just one of those teapots sold outside, nothing to see."
Seeing that Jiang Nan didn't respond, he sighed, went into the house, and took out a set of red double happiness pattern teapots that were very common on the market. He smiled and said, "Comrade police officer, look, this is it. That little girl Hu Niu doesn't know anything, but she likes this. Take a look."
Jiang Nan glanced at him and knew that Uncle Hu wouldn't tell the truth today. It was a serious matter, and the courtyard was crowded with people watching, not a good place to talk. They had no reason to take him to the police station, so they had to let it go today.
Elsewhere, Zhou Zhixing and Wen Qiang had already inspected the scene. Before leaving, Zhou Zhixing confirmed, "Uncle Hu, let me ask again, do you really not want to retrieve that bowl?"
Uncle Hu smiled bitterly and shook his head: "A broken bowl, it's not worth it, not worth it. Haha, I won't look for it anymore. Even that pound of meat, I didn't expect to get it back. Tell me, who would steal meat these days and not eat it right away? Would they keep it for the New Year? Officers, don't blame me for not wanting to report it. It's no use reporting it, I'm sure I won't get it back."
Uncle Hu's words attracted the approval of others.
"Yeah, it's really unlucky to lose food. You'll never be able to find it back. Even if you catch the thief and compensate him, he won't be able to compensate for the ticket."
"That's right, the Hu family is really unlucky."
"Who told him that his family is well off? He still buys pork belly. It's really not impressive enough."
Jiang Nan and the other two walked out of the yard, and Uncle Niu followed closely behind with Xiao Nengzi.
Jiang Nan glanced at him and whispered, "There's something wrong with this Mr. Hu."
Zhou Zhixing and Wen Qiang naturally noticed it too. Wen Qiang said, "I guess it's an old item he bought from somewhere. He's afraid of getting into trouble, so he doesn't dare to tell me."
If Jiang Nan didn't have a system, she would definitely think so, but Mr. Hu was obviously not that simple. She nodded, but said nothing. She had to go back and plan things carefully. There was no rush.
Several people were walking on the street. Jiang Nan caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of his eye. The figure lowered his head and hunched his chest as he hurriedly turned into an alley. Jiang Nan asked in surprise, "Tong Lili?"
What was she doing here? The Liushugou compound was a mixed bag, much messier than Courtyard No. 1, and few people from their compound came here.
Jiang Nan rolled his eyes and pulled Zhou Zhixing and Wen Qiang towards the alley. When he looked out, he saw Tong Lili turning into the innermost house. Before entering, she looked around carefully, as if she was afraid of being followed.
Fortunately, the three of them acted quickly and hid quickly, so they were not discovered.
Jiang Nan was wondering in his heart, could it be that Tong Lili left her two younger brothers here to raise them?
Jiang Nan was puzzled and was about to click on Tong Lili's channel to confirm when she heard Uncle Niu whisper, "I remember now. That's Old Ma's family. They have a separate house and courtyard, and they live in this alley. I remember someone mentioned that they had a new son, an unwanted child from a relative, who gave him his child. He's not even two years old yet, a healthy, chubby boy. Old Ma and his wife love him so much, and they've been so happy every day these days. Officer, is this considered a stranger?"
Jiang Nan twitched his lips and nodded, "Alright. We know. Has this woman been here before? Have you seen her?"
Uncle Niu shook his head. Little Nengzi, who was standing next to him, whispered, "I've seen her. Hu Niu and I were playing on the street when we saw her carrying the child into this alley. Is it her child? Is she a relative of the old Ma family?"
Zhou Zhixing waved his hand and said, "Since you've seen it, go and take a look. If it involves human trafficking, it's a serious crime."
Uncle Niu was startled and quickly waved his hands: "Impossible, impossible. The Ma family has spent all their money on folk remedies in recent years to have a son. They are so poor that they can't afford it. It's impossible."
Of course, the three of them wouldn't listen to Uncle Niu and quickly arrived at Old Ma's door. There seemed to be voices inside, so Zhou Zhixing raised his hand and knocked. There was silence for a moment, and then a moment later, a woman with half-white hair and a bitter face opened the door. Seeing it was the police, she was immediately startled and stammered. She lowered her head and said, "You...what are you doing here in our house?"
She was shaking, and suddenly turned around and shouted into the house: "Boss, boss, the police are coming, come out quickly. The police are coming!"
Zhou Zhixing and the other two frowned. Although the woman was trembling, she stubbornly stood in front of the door, not letting anyone in.
Soon, a thin man in his forties came out and said with a smile, "Comrade police, why are you...why are you here?"
Zhou Zhixing said in a businesslike manner, "I heard that you have a new child. Where did they come from? Where is the child? Please tell me the truth. If you are suspected of human trafficking, you will be severely punished."
It's not that Zhou Zhixing can't speak and deliberately leaked information. The three of them all know Tong Lili and know what's going on. They came here just to confirm it and don't want to really convict anyone.
The man was startled and quickly waved his hands, "No, it's not human trafficking. Hu Zi... Hu Zi is the child of a distant relative of mine. They couldn't raise the child themselves, so they sent him to my family. It's true. My wife has a health problem and can't have children. Everyone knows this, and my relatives also know this, so they sent him to our family."
As expected, both sides had been tricked into giving each other the gossip they'd expected. As police officers, having witnessed what was happening, they had to come over anyway, to at least act as a deterrent.
Zhou Zhixing's face was furious as he continued, "Where's the woman who just came in?"
The man shuddered, patted the woman, and scolded her, "What are you standing there for? Go get your niece!"
The woman lowered her head and responded softly.
The man smiled apologetically, "Comrade police officer, come in, come in. Look at my family. We're dirt poor, how can we afford to buy a wife? Apart from this house, we have nothing else, seriously."
He glanced at Uncle Niu and said excitedly, "Uncle Niu, you know, my family is so poor that we can barely afford to wear pants, how can we afford to buy people?"
Uncle Niu chuckled twice. He had just said it, but the police insisted on making this trip. What could he do?
Tong Lili came out quickly. Seeing Jiang Nan and Zhou Zhixing, she looked flustered for a moment, but quickly composed herself. She said, "It's Xiaonan and Xiaoxing. I...this is my cousin's house. Well, you may not know this, but my mother was kind-hearted. When she was alive, she found a child less than a year old outside, saying that the child had been abandoned. She felt sorry for him, but she insisted on raising him. I tried to persuade her many times, but he wouldn't listen. He raised him for half a year. Now that my mother is dead, I can't raise a stranger who is not related to me by blood, so I thought of giving the child to my cousin to raise. Really, my cousin has always wanted a child, so I'm doing a good deed."
She looked miserable. "I have no choice. I'm already married and don't have any children of my own. I can't raise an outsider. Even if I want to, my father-in-law and the soldier won't agree. My cousin is different. He will definitely treat the child well. Really, my cousin has always wanted a child. I sent you here because I knew this."
The man nodded repeatedly, his eyes filled with clumsy flattery. "I will definitely treat the child well, police comrade. Please don't take the child away. I will raise the child, seriously. Even if I have to sell everything I have, I will raise the child well. Don't worry, I will send the child to school, buy new clothes for him, and feed him delicious food. He will have everything other children have, seriously."
Next to the man, the woman held her child tightly and looked at everyone with a vigilant expression.
Jiang Nan looked at Tong Lili deeply and asked, "Then what are you doing here today?"
Tong Lili spread her hands and said, "I went back to my hometown the day before yesterday and yesterday to pack some things. Now, I'm sending them to the child."
The two parties' statements were consistent. Jiang Nan checked the man's household registration book and saw that he had already registered the child. He said, "Since you have adopted the child, you must raise him carefully. You can't abuse the child just because he is not your biological child. We will come to see him from time to time. You can't fool people..."
Jiang Nan continued to speak a few more profound words, and the couple listened with a nod of respect. In less than a quarter of an hour, the group left. No one wanted the child, so giving him away was a solution.
The group returned to the yard where Grandpa Niu was. Zou Li, Wang Zilii and Wang Gengsheng were still questioning them. The people being questioned were no longer limited to the people in the yard. Anyone who was near Liushugou was also questioned.
Seeing the three people return, Zou Li asked the last question and walked over to say, "In the southernmost area, near the reservoir, two strangers are said to have rented the place. There are currently no strangers entering or leaving the other tenements."
Zhou Zhixing nodded and said to Uncle Niu, "Uncle Niu, please lead the way. Let's go to the southernmost part."
Uncle Niu nodded cheerfully, "No trouble, no trouble. I know that house. It belongs to Old Li's family. It's a small house with its own door and yard. Hehe, distant relatives often come to stay here. Come with me."
Grandpa Niu was so happy to be able to help the police that he completely forgot about the five pounds of noodles he had lost. Little Nengzi trotted after him; even children loved to join in the fun.
Not only the children, but also Jiang Nan and others were walking in front, with a group of people following far behind them. They were all walking towards the southernmost yard, and it was obvious that they were following to watch the fun.
Zhou Zhixing didn't take it seriously and turned to ask Zou Li, "A stranger has come. Have you registered with the street office?"
Zou Li nodded. "Zi Li checked and registered. He said he was a distant relative of the owner, who came to the oil field to do odd jobs."
Zhou Zhixing nodded in understanding. It was against the rules to rent a house privately these days. On the surface, they were all saying that they were visiting distant relatives, so it wasn't surprising.
Liushugou wasn't a big place, so after walking for less than half an hour, they reached the southernmost courtyard. Wang Zili, with a keen eye this time, walked up and knocked on the door.
While someone in the house was opening the door, Jiang Nan took a look around. This place was isolated and quite far away from the other courtyards. She asked Uncle Niu, "Why is this house so far away from the others?"
Grandpa Niu explained, "This house was originally used for night watch when the reservoir was being built. After the reservoir was completed, the house wasn't demolished and was allocated to Old Li's family. His family's house was right next to the reservoir before, and now it's been taken away. This is compensation from the reservoir. It's a blessing in disguise for them. Their house used to be a mud house, but now it's all brick and tile. They're a respectable family in Liushugou."
Jiang Nan nodded and asked, "So his family used to live some distance from the village?"
Uncle Niu nodded. "Old Li's father was a hunter before liberation. He killed a lot of animals. The villagers didn't want to be around them, so... well, that's all old thinking. It's no longer the case. Everyone is equal, haha, everyone is equal."
Jiang Nan didn't pursue the matter. He didn't know what the person in the house was doing, as they hadn't opened the door for so long. Uncle Niu was puzzled: "Could he have gone out?"
Wang Zili knocked again, and finally there was movement inside. A man in his sixties opened the door, yawning. He was obviously asleep at home. Seeing that it was the police, he was not very polite and said in a gruff voice, "What are you doing here? My relatives are staying here for the night, and we've registered. Why are you still here? You're just looking for trouble!"
Uncle Niu looked a little anxious. He said hurriedly, "Old Li, what are you doing? The police are here to investigate the case, and they still need to talk to you? Stop talking nonsense and invite the police comrades in."
Old Li snorted, his eyes full of disdain: "Lao Niu, you're just a coward. What's wrong with the police? I'm not afraid of the police. I'm upright and honest. What's there to be afraid of?"
After saying that, he curled his lips, opened the door reluctantly, and said, "Come in, it's true, you can't even sleep."
Uncle Niu scolded: "It's so late and you're still sleeping."
Old Li: "Then don't worry about it. I can sleep in whenever I want. I've given all the work to my son, and I can't sleep in? You're really meddling too much."
Zhou Zhixing interrupted their meaningless conversation and asked, "Where does your distant relative live? Call him out so we can see him."
Old Li was impatient and yelled at a house in the west wing, "Big Black, Big White, come out! The police are here!"
Just as he finished speaking, there was a thud, as if a bench had fallen to the ground. Old Li asked curiously, "What's going on? The police are here, so why are you afraid? They're just distant relatives, there's nothing to be afraid of."
Zhou Zhixing looked at Lao Li coldly. This Lao Li, in front of the police, deliberately provoked the two of them. He was really a fearless person.
Little did he know that Old Li was feeling contempt at this moment. He thought that young people just couldn't stand things. The street office had already registered it, so why would they be so scared if a few policemen came?
But no one in the house answered. Instead, there was the creaking sound of wood opening and closing. Zhou Zhixing hurriedly said, "Oh no! They're trying to escape. Hurry!"
The six of them rushed through the door and entered the room, only to see the window open. A fat, dark-skinned young man was about to jump out of the window. Another thin, pale man, seeing the door was knocked open, pushed the fat, dark-skinned man and said, "Hurry up! What are you dawdling for?"
The fat black man held on to the window frame, his fat flesh trembling as he said, "Brother, it's high, I, I, I'm afraid of heights."
Bai Shou was almost going crazy, his eyes red, and he yelled, "This is only the first floor, why are you afraid of heights?"
As they were talking, both of them were restrained and unable to break free. White Skinny simply stretched out his legs and kicked Black Fat several times, angrily saying, "If you are so scared of heights, just let me go first. What are you trying to steal?"
The fat black man felt very aggrieved and curled up into a ball, saying, "I... I didn't know I was afraid of heights before. Brother, this is not my fault."
"Alright, stop fighting," Zhou Zhixing scolded. "Xiao Nan, Zou Li, you two check inside the house to see if these two are the ones who stole it."
He held the thin, pale arm behind his back and asked sternly, "Tell me, why did you run when you heard it was the police?"
Bai Shou rolled his eyes, pondering. The stolen goods were in the house, and the police would have found them if they searched. They definitely couldn't get away. Might as well confess everything. They didn't steal much anyway, so if they admitted it, they'd only get a few words of criticism and admonition. Such a small amount of stuff, not even enough to put in the fence.
Weighing the pros and cons, Bai Shou's voice was filled with grievance. He said, "We...we only borrowed 13 pounds of flour and a piece of pork belly. Seriously, police comrades, if you don't believe me, feel free to search. We really stole... No, we only borrowed a few things, we really didn't steal. When we have money, we will definitely return it. Oh, by the way, there is also a bowl for the meat, but nothing else. We still have 10 pounds of flour, you can go and see, we really didn't do it on purpose, we were just hungry, so we went out to borrow food."
Zhou Zhixing said sternly, "Whether it's stealing or borrowing, we police officers know better than you. Be honest and don't try to play tricks."
Seeing that Bai Shou was a cunning person, he turned to Hei Pang and asked in a very stern voice: "Tell me, what are you doing in the homework office?"
Seeing that his eldest brother had confessed, Heipaung thought he could say anything, so he simply said, "We, we are here to find the legal advisor. Oh my God, we thought we could live a good life after coming to the oil field, but who knew your oil field is so scary, with a case of dismemberment. Dismemberment, it's terrifying! My eldest brother and I stayed in the house and didn't dare to go anywhere. We ate all the food we brought with us. We had no choice but to go out and steal. No... not steal, we borrowed. We went out to borrow some food. We really didn't mean to do this. You... you take us to find the legal advisor, yes, find the legal advisor, the legal advisor will compensate us."
Bai Shou roared: "Da Hei, what are you talking about! Stop talking!"
Dahei shrank his neck when he was yelled at. Wen Qiang immediately tightened Baishou's other arm and said sternly, "Shut up if I didn't ask you!"
Seeing that Bai Shou had stopped moving, Zhou Zhixing continued to ask Heipang, "Who is your master?"
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