Chapter 31: What Kind of Thief Is So Wicked

How could Ge Baocheng dare to say he had slept dead at home, hearing not a single sound? It was only after his mother finished chatting with her old village friends and returned home to prepare dinner that she discovered the house had been robbed, and her eldest brother-in-law was still there. If he told the truth, how embarrassing would that be? "Auntie, let's talk as we walk. My grandmother is still at home, and I'm worried."

Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan thought her nephew was right, and she urgently said to her husband, "Husband, help me ask the team for leave. I'm going back to Ge Lizhuang."

Having spoken, she dragged her nephew away in haste.

The two villages were separated only by a river, and since the work site today was right by the river, they arrived at the Ge family's home in no time.

Before even entering the door, they heard crying and cursing from inside: "Oh, dear mother, this is the end of me! Which thousand-cursed thief stole my home? Truly without conscience! I curse you to be born without an anus, and may your whole family die a miserable death!"

Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan entered the room and saw her own mother with a broken Mao Jin on her forehead, her eyes brimming with tears: "Mother, how are you?"

"Daughter, this is truly the end of me! The house was robbed! Not only were all the valuable things in my room stolen clean, but even the kitchen and the two chickens in the back were not spared. How can we live like this from now on?"

Ge Pozi was a mess of snot and tears; it was clearly a genuine outpouring of emotion, with absolutely no pretense.

Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan's face was full of anxiety: "Did you get the village cadres to come over?"

Not mentioning it was better; once mentioned, Ge Pozi was even more furious: "They did come, but they didn't see a thing! They even stopped us from reporting to the Public Security Bureau, insisting it relates to the village's reputation and that the village must investigate itself first."

Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan looked around and only then realized that on the kang, besides the broken mat under her mother, there was nothing. Her heart raced with anxiety: "Stolen so cleanly... where are my brothers?"

Ge Pozi was crying heartbreakingly. Hearing her daughter's question, she raised her hand to blow her nose, then casually wiped it on the edge of the kang, and choked out, "Your eldest brother went with the village cadres to the homes of those few idlers in the village to see if they could find the things lost from our home."

"I thought we couldn't just drag this on; if we wait any longer, we might not even get a single hair back. So I sent your second brother to the commune to find your sister and brother-in-law. Once Daguo arrives, let's see if those village cadres still dare to stop us."

Looking at the room, which had been robbed almost bare, Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan said, "What kind of thief is so wicked? They even stole the bedding from the kang. Truly, may they die a miserable death."

Speaking of this, Ge Pozi was even more heartbroken: "You don't know. I thought that if your plan succeeded, Baocheng would soon be getting married. Just yesterday morning, we exchanged for over ten jin of cotton. Who would have thought it would end up benefiting a thief's child?"

As she spoke, she began to wail again: "Oh, my heavens! You truly have no eyes! Why don't you send down a thunderbolt to strike dead that thief's child who stole things?"

Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan feared her own mother might cry herself into something serious, so she could only keep trying to guide and comfort her.

She used every trick she knew before finally calming the woman down.

However, the first thing Ge Pozi said once she recovered was: "Our family hasn't saved much money over the years. After this incident, we won't have any money left to get Baocheng a wife. You must take the matter you mentioned earlier to heart."

Thinking of what had happened this morning, Seeing Seeing Seeing Ge Xiulan said with some worry, "I'm afraid it will be difficult."

Ge Pozi immediately widened her eyes and turned directly against her daughter: "You are Baocheng's eldest aunt! How can you renege on an agreed matter? Given the current situation in the family, if the lost money and goods aren't found, do you want him to remain a bachelor?"