Chapter 19: Jia Zhangshi Is Taken Away

Jia Zhangshi, feeling uneasy, wrapped the bowl in cloth, left the house, and then entered the restroom.

She looked carefully, confirmed no one was present, and with a splash— tossed the bowl into the toilet.

The bowl began to sink slowly like to the bottom of the sea, and Jia Zhangshi turned and left the restroom.

Then she arrived at the backyard.

In the backyard, Ge Liang had already collected the evidence.

The footprints and fingerprints were all very clear.

He is now questioning Yang Qing about what was lost.

"In the kitchen, a bowl was missing, and some sweet‑potato noodles were also gone."

"On the bed, the 196 yuan hidden in the quilt disappeared, along with the few mao we had saved before and some tickets, which are also gone."

"By the way, the candy Director Wang gave us at our wedding and some needles, thread and brain are also missing."

Hearing that from behind, Jia Zhangshi's head almost exploded.

"Where is the 196? There's only a few mao. This is outright framing; Yang Qing, you bastard, you're trying to trap me."

The police's footprint and fingerprint evidence made her shiver all over; she had never imagined they would expose her identity.

Quietly, she turned and tried to leave.

The sharp‑eyed Chen Hong immediately shouted.

"Aunt Jia, where are you going?"

Chen Hong's words caught Ge Liang's attention.

Seeing Jia Zhangshi's guilty demeanor, he instantly ordered someone to intercept her.

"Name?"

Jia Zhangshi's eyes darted around as she feigned innocence.

"What are you doing? I need to go home to cook for my grandson."

Two police officers blocked the way.

"Everyone on the scene is a suspect; no one may leave."

Ge Liang came over, but instead of asking anything, he looked at Jia Zhangshi's hands and feet.

"Take her to compare the footprints and fingerprints."

"Don't, don't."

Jia Zhangshi struggled wildly, reflexively shouting.

"Old Jia, come quickly and see, someone is bullying my wife and children."

At first the police didn't understand, thinking the old woman was just making a scene, while Yang Qing explained beside them.

"Old Jia was her husband; he died in 1953 from a work injury."

Ge Liang's complexion darkened quickly.

"How dare you spread feudal superstition; seize them."

Seeing the handcuffs, Jia Zhangshi immediately softened and dared not shout.

The other officers quickly took casts of her footprints and fingerprints and compared them.

"Captain, it is indeed her."

Ge Liang hadn't expected the case to be solved so easily.

"Take her away; stealing others' property in huge quantity, enough for criminal prosecution."

Then he turned to Yang Qing and said.

"The stolen money, we will help you recover it as soon as possible; you should first do some Household Chores."

Yang Qing and his spouse quickly expressed thanks.

"Thank you, thank you, many thanks to the police comrades."

At this moment, Jia Zhangshi suddenly thought of something.

"No, I didn't, I never stole the 196 yuan."

"The Yang family doesn't have that much money; everyone in our courtyard knows that Yang Qing is so poor he doesn't even have a few yuan, so where did the 196 come from?"

"This is framing, a set‑up; police comrades, you must stand up for me."

Chen Hong smiled and walked out.

"Originally we didn't have any, but a few days ago, didn't you force us to hold a wedding banquet, and didn't the elder give our family 100 yuan as a gift?"

Jia Zhangshi was dissatisfied.

"Then what about the 96? Where did that 96 come from? Could it be that you speculated and profiteered it?"

Chen Hong sneered.

"You think everyone is like you? The money is because yesterday an old woman and her grandson were snatching someone else's fish; someone wanted us to keep it secret, so that night he gave us the remaining gift money, just the right amount, 96."

Ge Liang, upon hearing this,

"What? Is there such a thing?"

One of the police officers beside him said.

"I've actually heard about this, didn't expect it to be her."

Jia Zhangshi was dumbfounded; her resistance failed and she only dug herself into another hole.

Ge Liang's face grew grim; he hadn't expected such vile deeds in his jurisdiction.

"Let's go, search her house and see if there are other stolen goods."

Upon entering the Jia Family.

Qin Huairu looked at her mother‑in‑law, then at the police, and almost had a miscarriage from fright.

Fortunately she is broad‑minded and reacts quickly.

"What's wrong with my mom?"

The police had you recount the whole thing, then asked.

"Do you know about this?"

Qin Huairu shook her head like a rattle drum.

"I really don't know; this is impossible. The Yang family is so poor—how could my mother-in-law possibly steal from them?"

The police again explained the source of the money, and Qin Huairu nodded.

"I know about the 100, but not the 96; we'll have to wait for the eldest master to return and ask him to confirm."

The police asked again.

"What about yesterday, when your mother-in-law and your son fought over fish?"

Qin Huairu opened her mouth wide.

"Snatching fish? Impossible—my son said my mother-in-law gave it to him, and I even thought she went fishing herself."

"The news of fish in Shichahai came from my mother-in-law, who told the big courtyard; that night we organized the whole courtyard to go fishing, and everyone in the courtyard knows about it."

San Da Ma also contributed here, but in the end it all got credited to Jia Zhangshi.

"My son is still young—how could he go snatching others' things? There must be a misunderstanding."

The police were in her house, looked around, and on the stove saw the imprint of a sweet‑potato‑noodle bowl.

"What about the bowl and sweet‑potato noodles stolen from the Yang family?"

Qin Huairu kept pretending not to know.

"Oh, stealing?"

"I poured the noodles into the vat."

"My mother-in-law said to return the bowl to the eldest master."

"Is this stolen? The eldest master often helps us—there's no need to steal."

The police also saw through her act of playing dumb.

You clearly said Jia Zhangshi stole from the Yang family, but you shifted the blame onto Yi Zhonghai, leaving yourself spotless.

But the other party is still pregnant, and Jia Zhangshi also didn't admit that Qin Huairu took part.

They also couldn't do anything to Qin Huairu.

Ge Liang said.

"All right, what about Jia Zhangshi's bowl?"

Jia Zhangshi stammered.

"I threw it in the toilet."

When the police arrived, the bowl hadn't completely sunk yet.

The weather was cold; although the surface had thawed a little, underneath it was still ice, so the bowl wouldn't sink.

The police could only hold their noses and scoop it out.

Jia Zhangshi also knew it was over, the evidence was complete, and denying it was useless.

She shouted at Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi.

Qin Huairu, I'm sorry; you must take good care of Dong Xu, Bang Geng, Xiao Dang, and my future grandson.

This is me telling Qin Huairu that I will bear this guilt myself.

After Old Jia left, I struggled hard to raise the whole family, scrambling and scraping, not letting anyone bully you; without me, you shouldn't contend with others—just endure any anger and it will pass.

This is me telling Qin Huairu to hurry up and save me, otherwise you'll just wait to be bullied—do you even know what sort of people are in the courtyard?

Qin Huairu cried, reaching out her hand, not wanting Jia Zhangshi to be taken away.

"Mom, mom, my mom!"

"We will save you."

"Police comrade, police comrade, how can we get my mom released? Our whole family is counting on her."

Ge Liang glanced at her—what a beautiful daughter-in-law, how did you become such a drama queen?

"He said."

"Trying to be exempt from guilt is impossible, but gaining the victim's forgiveness can reduce the sentence."

"All right, we should head back; you can discuss the other matters among yourselves."

As soon as the police left, the siheyuan was shaken like an earthquake.

Even Old Lady Dragon was shaken out.

"What? Jia Zhangshi was taken away by the police?"

"Ah, I've advised her many times to accumulate virtue, but she wouldn't listen—look, in the end she met with retribution."

"This person still needs to have a sense of reverence."

"Those who act recklessly will surely face heavenly retribution—hasn't that come true?"