Chapter 1775: Thieves

Now that they've come back, the children all stay in the new house, while just the two of them live in this old house—the elder brother's and second brother's families next door are the same.

Ye Ye Chenghai and Ye Chenghe are married with children, so it's not right to bring them all over for Ye Fu and Ye Mu to raise, and besides there aren't enough rooms—they have to give them up to the younger brothers and sisters below who aren't married yet.

But during these days back for New Year, the whole big family eats and drinks together, and Lin Lin Xiuqing along with her three sisters-in-law head over to help Ye Mu with the cooking every day as mealtime approaches.

The whole big family is lively and bustling too.

When people get old they naturally hope to see the whole family gathered together. Ye Fu is especially satisfied with this newly built house—it has gathered the whole big family together once again.

Normally they can each live their own lives, but for New Year they still have to be together. Having a bright, spacious big house is much more convenient, and the children can run around freely too.

On the second day Lin Lin Xiuqing also moved the valuables from home over to the new house and locked them up.

Ye Yaodong also took the three children, along with the New Year gifts he'd prepared in advance, into the city to pay New Year visits early.

Just as the house was empty, what the two of them had worried about still happened.

That night, Lin Lin Xiuqing suddenly heard a pack of dogs barking wildly. She jolted awake from her sleep, quickly threw on an outer garment and went out.

At this moment the barking outside seemed to be moving away.

Next door there was immediately movement too—Ye Ye Yaohua and Ye Ye Yaopeng opened their doors and came out one right after the other.

"What's going on? So many dogs barking in the middle of the night?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing was already standing at the courtyard gate, watching a pack of dogs tearing off into the village with a look of alarm and uncertainty.

"Seems like there are strangers—a pack of dogs chased them running into the village."

"Huh? Let's go chase and see." Saying this, Ye Ye Yaopeng quickly grabbed the carrying pole leaning against the wall corner and ran toward the barking.

Ye Ye Yaohua also grabbed a stick and followed right behind.

Lin Lin Xiuqing also hurriedly locked the door.

Ye Ye Dasao and Ye Ye Ersao were a step late but also hurried out after them.

"What's going on?"

"Oh? Why is the ground covered in buns?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing was even more certain someone was up to no good. Running as she spoke, she said, "There are thieves—they must have been trying to poison the dogs. Right now they're being chased running into the village."

"How dare they?" Ye Ye Dasao shouted out the moment she heard, "Come quick, there's thieves—catch the burglars…"

Ye Ye Ersao also shouted right after her: "Catch the thieves, everyone get up and catch the thieves…"

Ye Ye Chenghai and Ye Chenghe live upstairs and were a step slower. They opened the window and listened for a moment, then hurried downstairs as well.

Ye Ye Yaopeng and Ye Ye Yaohua ran like the wind toward the barking with their weapons, while the three women behind followed, running and shouting as they went.

Originally a pack of dogs was running and barking, and in the deep of night the commotion was already considerable. Quite a few villagers were also woken by the barking, and upon hearing people shout to catch thieves they all hurriedly got up, turned on lights and opened windows, and rushed out of their homes.

"Where are the thieves?"

"The dogs are barking—the dogs chased the thieves off. Everyone hurry and help catch the thieves."

"Right ahead—they definitely haven't gotten far."

The village's able-bodied men are all home now. Hearing there are thieves, every household's lights came on. Some of the men didn't even bother putting on clothes before rushing out and grabbing weapons.

"Tired of living—daring to steal during New Year."

"Catch the thieves, everyone hurry up and catch the thieves…"

"The barking is right ahead—they haven't gotten far, hurry and chase."

"Thieves? If we catch them, beat them to death…"

The shouts of "catch the thief" rose one after another—more than half the village had their lights on.

Ye Ye Yaopeng and Ye Ye Yaohua, along with Brother Brother Ahai and Chenghe, the two brothers, were running at the very front following the barking.

It was unclear whether the dogs had the thieves pinned down. The barking had gradually receded at first, but now it was getting closer and closer, no longer moving farther away—the barking grew clearer and clearer.

"Right ahead, everyone hurry and keep up—don't let the thieves get away."

The closer they got, the louder the barking, and they could also hear exasperated shouting.

"Right here, right here…"

"There really are thieves…"

"Beat them to death…"

They had cornered the men on a secluded side road in the village that led to the main road. A pack of dogs in the bushes was biting three men, making it impossible for them to move an inch—one of them had even fallen to the ground and was being bitten by the dogs.

The village men swarmed forward, swinging carrying poles and weapons at the three men.

The women, meanwhile, kicked at and drove off the dogs.

"Beat them to death—daring to come to our village to steal."

"Tired of living—hit them hard."

"We're home and still have thieves coming to our door. If we weren't home, what then? Kill them."

"Beat them to death…"

The men each swung their weapons and hit hard, spitting and cursing as they struck.

The women were also shouting on the side: "Have to teach them a lesson, or they'll think our village is easy to bully."

"Stealing into our village in the middle of the night—if the men were gone, what then?"

"Kill them—they even brought poisoned buns to poison the village dogs."

"Good thing our village has so many dogs."

"Kill them—daring to steal into our village…"

The three men being beaten had already crouched on the ground covering their heads and begging for mercy.

"We didn't steal, we didn't steal—we just had a look and the dogs chased us…"

"We didn't steal anything…"

"Stop hitting us—we drank too much and were just wandering around…"

"Bullshit. In the middle of the night, you can wander from another village all the way to ours? Do we look like fools to you?"

"Exactly, and you still dare to talk your way out of it. You came right to our door with poisoned buns to poison our dogs, and you still claim you were just wandering around? This was premeditated."

"Who in the middle of the night doesn't sleep and goes wandering around someone else's village? And woke up the dogs at their door?"

"Why don't you wander around your own village? Outrageous — in the dead of night you dare come to our village to poison dogs, you deserve to die…"

"Feed them the buns they used to poison the dogs — let's see if they dare eat them."

The crowd rose up in fury, hitting, cursing, and kicking.

Their own men had come back and they still ran into thieves — if they hadn't been home, just imagine? The elderly, wives, and children at home would have suffered terribly.

Everyone put themselves in the shoes of the victims. Since they'd caught the thieves tonight, they all went at them with lethal intent.

"We have to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, beat them until they're afraid, or there'll be more petty thieves later."

"Right, if we weren't home, just imagine? The elderly, women, and children at home would have been bullied. Anyone who dares sneak to our door in the middle of the night should be ready to be beaten to death."

"Even if we beat them to death, it's no loss."

"It's almost New Year, and there are always more petty thieves around. Beat a few of them to death to scare the rest — let's see who still dares come to our village."

No one stopped them. Everyone worried that if their own men weren't home, thieves breaking in would cause them great harm.

Now everyone within a hundred li knew their village was famous for being well-off, and most of the men weren't home — only the elderly, women, and children.

If they didn't kill a chicken to warn the monkey once, repeat offenders would be visiting their village every day.

As for why no one had come to their village before, it was probably thanks to the village having so many dogs — especially at night, in the dead silence, if a stranger dared come, the pack of dogs would chase them for miles.

Over the past few years, some dogs had occasionally been caught by the neck and stolen to be killed, but the dogs kept breeding too. The villagers were united — the men earned money outside with Ye Yaodong, the women earned money at the workshop, and the dogs were naturally raised by the whole village together, everyone conscientiously keeping them to guard the homes.

Even someone with thieving intentions would think twice when they remembered how many dogs the village had, including the big wolfhounds.

The men, as the beating went on, found their tools getting in the way and tossed them aside, fighting with bare hands and feet. When they got tired, they'd swap in another person. No one held back, all thinking: what if we hadn't been home?

By the end, the men were all lying on the ground, and no one had held back. The women were on the outermost ring driving the dogs back.

It wasn't until the village cadres arrived, late and unhurried, that everyone stopped, panting. Even before stopping, they all had to land one last kick.

"Pah, what trash — dare come to our village to be thieves and poison dogs. Beat to death, serves them right."

Village Head Chen nudged the men lying on the ground with his foot. "Don't kill them, now. It's almost New Year — take it easy."

"Who would say anything if we beat a few thieves to death?"

Village Party Secretary Li said, "We're a civilized village, after all. It wouldn't look good if someone died. Let's see if they're dead? See who they are, which village?"

Someone squatted down and flipped them over. "Oh, isn't this Lin Lin Jianqiang from Lotus Flower Village?"

"These two are also from Lotus Flower Village — Li Damin and Chen Zhigang. Always fighting and brawling, their reputation is completely rotten."

"One just got out of prison, and the other two had also been caught and locked up before. They came out and didn't mend their ways, still causing trouble — none of them are good people. Beat them to death, serves them right."

Ye Fu stood in the crowd listening and felt a bit uneasy.

"They're still breathing — lucky for them, they didn't die from this beating. Should we just drag them to the seaside? The tide's coming in, right?"

"Are you crazy? Are we still going to eat seafood for New Year or not?"

"Then just beat them to death with one stick."

Everyone chimed in, one after another, all talking at once.

Secretary Li cleared his throat twice. "It's almost New Year — it wouldn't be good to have a death on our hands, it's unlucky…"

"But we can't just let them off!"

"Right, send them to the border defense station."

"Sending them to the border defense station is useless — they hadn't even started anything before our village dogs chased them, and we've already beaten them half to death. They definitely won't be locked up for more than a few days."

"If we send them to the border defense station, the station will have to send them to the hospital."

"Then what do we do?"

Everyone looked at Secretary Li.

"How about we just beat them to death? Normally we're not home — what if they take revenge on our village? We don't have many able-bodied men, so the elderly, women, and children would be bullied to death."

"Right, we're all back home and they still dare sneak into our village in the middle of the night. If we wait until we've left, won't they just come?"

Secretary Li and Village Head Chen exchanged a look, thought for a moment, and said: "Lock them up. Tomorrow, after we interrogate them about the purpose of sneaking in at night, we'll hold a public struggle meeting, announce their deeds to the whole village, parade them through the village for two days, and release them on New Year's Eve. If they survive, they live."

"That works. Anyone who dares sneak into our village in the middle of the night should pay the price."

"Our village has never done a public struggle before. If the tiger doesn't show its might, people think we're sick cats. We have to let the other villages come see their fate, so no one dares sneak in to steal in the future."

Village Head Chen soothed everyone. "Let's interrogate them first, see what their purpose was sneaking into the village at night, then we'll talk."

"What other purpose could there be? Definitely to steal. Everyone knows we big fellows made a lot of money out there and came back. They figured they'd sneak over during New Year to make a haul — who knew they'd kick an iron plate."

"Alright, they're already beaten half to death. Help drag them to the village committee and lock them up."

Everyone rolled up their sleeves, and a large group dragged the men to the village committee in grand fashion, cursing as they walked, and asking along the way who had first spotted them.

Lin Lin Xiuqing said, "They were sneaking toward our side. It happened that no one was home. I'm a light sleeper — as soon as I heard the dogs barking, I quickly got up to look. My eldest brother and second brother and the others all got up right after me and chased after them. Luckily those dogs chased and bit them, didn't let them get away."

Ye Ye Yaopeng chimed in, "Good thing those dogs held them back, otherwise we wouldn't have caught up. These three definitely planned this in advance — they absolutely weren't just wandering around drunk, otherwise they wouldn't have prepared the buns."

"Oh no," Ye Ye Dasao slapped her thigh hard, "the buns on the ground weren't cleaned up. I don't know if those dogs will go sniff at them."

Lin Lin Xiuqing panicked. "I'll go back and check first — don't let any other dogs get poisoned to death."

"Anyone whose home is empty, hurry back, in case thieves really did come."

"No way?"

Some families had all run out to watch the excitement, and upon hearing this, they all hurried back.

Lin Lin Xiuqing also ran back quickly.

Brother Brother Ahai's wife and Ye Chenghe's wife were standing at the door talking. Seeing her run back, they quickly asked, "Third Aunt, what happened? Were there thieves?"

"Yes, thieves snuck around our area in the middle of the night, so there was a chorus of dog barking up ahead. Everyone chased out and already caught them."

Lin Lin Xiuqing replied, and by the moonlight also looked at the ground. The buns were gone, but not far away two dogs were still lying there.

They had seen it when the door opened earlier, but hadn't had time to deal with it; besides, there were no dogs left nearby—all had gone chasing after people.

"We heard the commotion, got up, and swept the buns off the ground, but we still saw two dogs poisoned to death."

"It looked terrifying to us, so we didn't dare touch them; we planned to wait until everyone returned before doing anything."

Lin Lin Xiuqing looked regretfully at the two dogs. "What a pity. We saw them as soon as the door opened earlier. They were too greedy. Later, I'll ask Father and the others to help bury them."

"Do you know who was sneaking around in the middle of the night? How many people were there?"

"It was three people from Hehua Village nearby; one of them was even a relative. But they're no good either—all three are bad people. They've already been beaten half to death and dragged to the village committee for detention. They'll be interrogated once it's light."

"Ah? A relative? That's too disgusting. Sneaking here in the middle of the night—there must be something fishy. Otherwise, who wouldn't be sleeping? Why leave their own village and come to another?"

"They definitely meant to steal. Beating them half to death is what they deserve. What kind of relatives are they, bringing outsiders to harm their own kin?"

Lin Lin Xiuqing asked, "After we chased them out, did you all get up right away? Did you see anyone suspicious?"

"No. As soon as Brother Brother Ahai got up, we got up immediately too. We've been guarding the entrance the whole time and haven't seen anyone suspicious."

"Yes, we didn't dare follow them. The children at home were still sleeping, so we waited at the entrance first to see what was happening. We didn't see anyone else come by."

"That's good."

Lin Lin Xiuqing breathed a sigh of relief. When she went out, there wasn't a single person left at home. Although there wasn't much cash on the surface now—all valuable items had been moved to Ye Mu's place—there were still hidden valuables, so she remained worried about thieves.

"Will they be back soon?"

"They should be returning soon. I was worried no one was home and that there were poisoned buns on the ground, so I came back first to check."

Just as they were speaking, the distant noise slowly grew closer.

"They're back."

Ye Mu asked Lin Lin Xiuqing, "Is everything alright at home?"

"Nothing's wrong. After we chased them out, Xiu Ni and the others got up too and have been watching the entrance. Nothing major happened, except two dogs were poisoned earlier."

"Have your father put them in a basket and carry them up the mountain to bury them."

Besides the two large wolf dogs that looked different from each other and the earliest black dog they had raised, Ye Mu didn't recognize the other dogs, so she felt no particular sorrow over them.

"Then I'll take them up the mountain to bury them right now."

"Father, I'll go with you."

"I'll go too. We can dig the hole faster. Getting it done early in the middle of the night means we can sleep sooner."

Ye Fu immediately carried out the order with his two sons. They took two baskets, placed the dogs inside, then grabbed a carrying pole and a hoe to carry them up the mountain.

They also dumped the poisoned buns into the baskets for Ye Fu to bury along with the dogs.

"You all should go back to your rooms and sleep early too. Nothing's wrong anymore; as long as the people were caught, that's what matters."

Lin Lin Xiuqing asked, "Mother, since Lin Lin Jianqiang is my cousin's husband, if we beat him half to death and parade him through the village tomorrow, will Uncle and Auntie be upset..."

"No. They'd be delighted if he were locked up in a big jail cell for life, never to come out again, so he stops harming people. Since he was released a week ago, we've scolded him eight hundred times. The whole family wishes he'd die out there and never return."

Ye Mu's face was full of disgust. "Locking him up in a big jail cell brings peace to the whole family. We've enjoyed ten years of peaceful days; the home has been so comfortable. Ever since he returned, it's been chaos. Your cousin gets beaten half to death every day, yet that rascal won't listen to anyone, no matter who comes to reason with him."

"He must be locked up, locked up for life. If he hadn't stolen anything, sending him to the border guard station would only mean a few days in detention, which is useless. Otherwise, we'd send him back in again."

"The few children your cousin raised are also honest and cowardly. Like the ones at your cousin Brother Ye Datang's house, they'd just break Laozi's legs and dump them on their parents to raise. That way, they wouldn't cause any trouble, and the home would be a bit more peaceful."

"We've had terrible luck for generations to be related to such people. Moreover, they sneaked up near your place—they must have come specifically for you. Everyone knows you've made a fortune these past few years."

"Instead of encountering ordinary petty thieves, you ran into your own relatives acting as thieves targeting you. People would laugh themselves to death hearing about it."

Lin Lin Xiuqing said, "What can we do? The same rice feeds a hundred different kinds of people. Fortunately, the village has been very peaceful these past few years."

"That's true. Fortunately, our village has many dogs. Anyone with thieving intentions would be scared off even during the day when scouting the area."

Ye Ye Chenghai interjected, "Third Aunt, I'd really like to raise a small wolf dog. When your two wolf dogs have another litter, please save one for me."

"I want one too; save two for me," Ye Chenghe quickly added.

"I only want one, yet you're greedy enough to want two!"

"Raising two gives them companionship."

"Then I want two too!"

Lin Lin Xiuqing smiled and said, "We don't even know when they'll have a litter yet. The year before last, they had two puppies, which were taken to Shanghai to be raised."

"Then we'll reserve them in advance."

Ye Mu said, "There are so many local dogs; just take two back to raise. Why make such a fuss and need to reserve them in advance?"

Ye Ye Chenghai: "That's different. Wolf dogs are fiercer, bigger, and look more imposing when guarding the house."

Ye Chenghe: "Yes. Last night, someone's foot was bitten bloody by a wolf dog, which is why he's been lying on the ground."

"Alright, if they do have a litter, I'll save some for you."

Ye Mu waved her hand, urging them to go back to sleep. "Go back to your rooms. It's freezing cold at night. Don't stand outside in the cold. If you catch a cold during the New Year, that won't be good."

"Then we're going back to sleep. You should go home early too."

"I'm heading back right now."

Lin Lin Xiuqing closed the courtyard gate, the doors, and the windows, turned off the lights, and lay down, yet still felt uneasy.

For the first time, she was the only one left in the entire house; it felt truly empty. Now, even if she tried to sleep, she couldn't fall asleep at all.

After a while, Ye Ye Yaohua from next door must have returned after burying the dogs. She heard the sound of the door opening and the voices of the couple talking.

She couldn't hear clearly, but she could tell they were speaking, which made her feel a bit more at ease.

It was already past 3 a. m. The incident had occurred around 1 a. m.; in another two and a half hours, dawn would likely break.

Since she couldn't sleep, she simply closed her eyes to rest. She didn't know what time Adong would return. According to the voyage schedule, he should be home by noon, and the interrogation should have yielded results by then.

Truly, plans cannot keep up with changes.

Yesterday, when the couple lay in bed, they had even talked about this person. Adong had thought he couldn't spare the time right now, and with the New Year approaching, he planned to deal with it after the holiday and send the person to jail.

Who would have expected that tonight, the man would invite two drinking buddies to bolster his courage, and while the house was empty, sneak into the village.

Fortunately, there were so many dogs near the house. They might have poisoned one or two, but they couldn't poison dozens. Before they could kill all the dogs, the household heard the commotion, got up, and caught them red-handed.

These past few years the dogs hadn't been raised for nothing; it was also thanks to them that the village had been relatively peaceful.

Wondering how Adong would react when he came back tomorrow and heard about it, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep, thinking about it the whole time.

It was New Year's, so the border post probably only had people on duty left; whatever the matter was, it would have to be handled after the New Year. Fortunately, the man had already been beaten half to death, so sending him in after the New Year would still be in time.

If she didn't send this person back in, she really wouldn't be able to sleep, after all it counted as a deadly grudge.

She let her thoughts run wild for a while, and when it was just getting light outside the window, she simply got up to clean. After it was fully bright, she went over to Ye Mu's place to help cook breakfast.

When the old lady saw her come over as soon as it was light, she knew she hadn't slept all night.

She also knew about the commotion last night. The old woman herself was a light sleeper; with such a ruckus in the night, she had long since gotten up.

"Go upstairs and sleep for a bit in the children's room. It's perfect that none of them are here, the room's empty. I've got things here, the porridge is already cooked, the chickens and ducks are fed too, you don't need to busy yourself."

"It's fine, I can't sleep either."

"Even if you can't sleep, go lie down. Otherwise you'll have no energy all day. Once the man's caught, it'll be fine, nothing to worry about. Dongzi should be home around noon."

The old lady snatched the spatula, not letting her work, and pushed her toward the stairs.

Two big pots of porridge were already cooked, just needed to be left to steam. On top, wooden sticks had also been set up at the same time, steaming salted fish.

The old lady had just scooped up half of the salted duck eggs when the spatula was snatched away by Lin Lin Xiuqing to do the work.

She's old now, so she could only handle these simple things; other stir-fries and the like, she didn't touch. She could wait until Ye Mu got up to stir-fry, there'd still be time.