Chapter 32: Use That One-Inch Brain of Yours to Think

With that shout from Zhao Gangzi, the entire Siheyuan was instantly ablaze with light; even the lights in the Front Courtyard turned on.

Once they heard that a thief had entered the Siheyuan and was apparently still inside Zhao Gangzi's home without having escaped,

they all grabbed whatever tools they could find and rushed out, charging into the Back Courtyard in a swarm. Looking at Zhao Gangzi, who was blocking the doorway, they asked, "Gangzi, where's the petty thief? I hate nothing more than people who steal!"

"That's right, my eggs were stolen too. We must drag this person out and let me see who it is!"

"It's truly outrageous. Who knows how many households in this courtyard have fallen victim? I suspect it's an inside job!"

"You'll know in a moment. Right now, the most important thing is to drag the little thief out," Zhao Gangzi said deliberately, then opened the front door behind him, and the group of neighbors armed with tools rushed straight in.

"Charge!"

Liu Guangfu led the charge at the very front. He didn't know who had stolen his only pair of underwear, so now that he had found the little thief, he raised a large wooden club in his hand and smashed it inside.

The others were the same, each of them gritting their teeth.

They didn't think about dragging the thief out first; instead, they rushed in and gave them a sound beating. After all, legal awareness was quite weak at this time, and in a situation like this, even if someone was beaten to the point of disability, it wouldn't be a big deal.

Jia Zhangshi and Bang Geng, who were inside the room, were in for a miserable time.

It was pitch black in the middle of the night, and since the others didn't have Night Vision Eyes, they beat the two of them wildly, to the point where they couldn't even let out a sound.

With such a huge commotion, many people who were sleeping soundly were startled awake. Qin Huairu, currently bleary-eyed, put on her clothes and said, "Mom, Bang Geng, it sounds like they caught a thief outside. What's going on?"

But after a moment of hearing no response, Qin Huairu instantly sobered up.

In the entire room, apart from the soundly sleeping Jia Dongxu and Huaihua, there was absolutely no sign of Jia Zhangshi and Bang Geng.

"Dongxu, Dongxu, stop sleeping!"

"Our mom and son are both gone!"

Qin Huairu panicked and shook Jia Dongxu awake, saying with a panicked look on her face.

"What's the rush? They must have gone out to watch the thief-catching scene. Just go out and look, don't disturb my sleep!"

Jia Dongxu cursed, then laid his head back down and started snoring again.

Qin Huairu thought about it and realized that was indeed the case.

She hurriedly got up to go out and check the situation.

When she arrived at the scene, she didn't see her mother-in-law or son. Qin Huairu grew anxious. Seeing the First Uncle standing in the courtyard with a cold face and a jacket draped over his shoulders, she rushed over to ask, "First Uncle, have you seen our Bang Geng?"

"Bang Geng's mother, I advise you to go take a look at Zhao Gangzi's place!"

Before Yi Zhonghai could answer, the Second Uncle, Liu Haizhong, took over the conversation, saying with a bit of schadenfreude.

"You'd better prepare yourself mentally!"

The First Uncle sighed with a straight face and pointed toward Zhao Gangzi's house. He understood that Zhao Gangzi was definitely behind this incident.

Seeing Qin Huairu arrive at the Back Courtyard, many people remained silent and tactfully cleared a path for her. At this moment, Qin Huairu's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately looked toward Zhao Gangzi's house.

Someone even thoughtfully used a flashlight to illuminate the area. She only saw two human-shaped creatures lying peacefully on the ground, their faces beaten black and blue, making it very difficult to tell who was who.

The one next to them, with that build, fat-headed and big-eared, and wearing that old-fashioned thick wool jacket, was definitely her dear mother-in-law.

The other one was small in stature, with a mouthful of baby teeth, of which not many were left...

Thump.

Qin Huairu collapsed directly onto the ground.

"Bang Geng! How did you end up like this? What on earth happened?!"

Qin Huairu instantly entered her state, her eye sockets turning red, tears and snot streaming down. Looking at Bang Geng's current miserable state, her heart was nearly broken.

After crying for a while, she suddenly stood up.

She looked at the indifferent-looking Zhao Gangzi not far away, her hatred erupting to the extreme. She rushed to Zhao Gangzi's side and cursed fiercely, "You heaven-forsaken eunuch, I could overlook my mother-in-law, but you actually didn't even spare a child!"

"Are you even human?! I'll fight you to the death!!"

Qin Huairu was like a rabid female dog at this moment, baring her fangs and brandishing her claws as she prepared to fight Zhao Gangzi to the death.

"Hmph, crazy woman!"

"You've stolen things right to my doorstep. Let me tell you, this matter won't end just like this!"

Zhao Gangzi snorted coldly.

He raised his foot and kicked Qin Huairu far away.

She should be thankful that she and her son weren't beaten by him personally; otherwise, given Zhao Gangzi's strength, Bang Geng's small frame would likely have been crushed to pieces.

"Impossible, our Bang Geng is so well-behaved, how could he steal things from your house?"

"You're framing us! I'm going to report you for intentional injury!"

Qin Huairu stood up trembling and pointed directly at Zhao Gangzi, cursing.

"Enough! Stop making a scene. Now that the witnesses and evidence are all here, I have nothing more to say."

Unexpectedly, Yi Zhonghai stepped forward to speak.

After all, he was the First Uncle of the Siheyuan. A thief had been caught in the courtyard, and all the evidence was there. No matter how great the grudge or favor, he had to step forward at this time.

Even the other neighbors began to scold them one after another.

"Look at how you raised your child! Stealing at such a young age—stealing needles when young leads to stealing gold when grown. Is this acceptable?!"

"I suspect the eggs laid by my little hen were stolen by your child, and your mother-in-law isn't a good thing either!"

"I think we should report this to the authorities and let the public security comrades handle this kind of thing!"

Facing a thief, the neighbors of the Siheyuan chose to stand united; otherwise, who could bear it if things kept going missing?

"First Uncle, can you put in a good word for our Bang Geng? He's still so young. If you want to punish someone, just punish my mother-in-law!"

Seeing this situation, Qin Huairu panicked and hurriedly begged the First Uncle for help, but Yi Zhonghai dared not wade into such muddy waters at this time; he didn't want to get involved in this mess.

Seeing that there was no hope with the First Uncle, Qin Huairu immediately went to seek help from Shazhu, who was trying to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Jia Zhangshi.

Seeing this, Shazhu immediately got energized. Completely forgetting how Zhao Gangzi had dealt with him earlier, he went up and said, "I say, we're all from the same courtyard; we see each other every day."

"Besides, Jia Zhangshi and Bang Geng have already been beaten like this, and you haven't lost any of your things. Why not do me a favor..."

Before Shazhu could finish his sentence, Zhao Gangzi cut him off, looking at Shazhu with a mix of anger and amusement as he said, "Are you out of your mind? Just like your old man, you can't even walk straight the moment you see a widow?"

"Have you forgotten how your family's money went missing?"

"Hurry up and use that one-inch brain of yours to think! You idiot!"

Only then did it dawn on Shazhu.

Looking at the situation at Zhao Gangzi's house, it was very similar to the state of his own home a week ago!

Thinking of this, Shazhu's expression changed instantly, and anger flared up from the bottom of his heart; seeing this, Qin Huairu immediately comforted him, "Pillar, don't listen to his nonsense, our Bang Geng would never do such a thing..."

Moreover, Qin Huairu was using a soft, affected voice to comfort him.

This immediately extinguished the fire that had just flared up in Shazhu.

Right, Sister Qin is right, Zhao Gangzi must be framing them! He can't stand seeing the Jia Family blessed with both a son and a daughter, so he is deliberately using this trick to frame them.