My Mother-in-Law is Reborn [Seventies]

Chapter 32

Zhao Guihua ended up buying the bicycle after all.

Her savings became a bit thinner, as a bicycle cost one hundred and sixty yuan.

Just thinking about it made her heart ache, but having a bicycle was very convenient, and Zhao Guihua was still quite happy. Truth be told, people are easily influenced by their environment. When she first experienced her rebirth, Zhao Guihua had been quite dismissive of bicycles.

After all, she, Zhao Guihua, had seen much grander things in her time.

How could someone as worldly as her be impressed by a mere bicycle?

Reality proved otherwise - she was impressed, truly impressed.

Reality has a way of slapping you in the face, and when Zhao Guihua bought the bicycle, her eyes crinkled with joy, a happiness she couldn't hide even if she tried. Humming a little tune while pedaling, she felt like the most stylish elderly lady on the street.

Zhao Guihua rode her bike to the police station, not because of the thief incident, but to get her bicycle registered with a steel stamp. In those days, bicycles were like cars would be decades later - they all needed license plates.

Did you think you could just ride around freely?

That was absolutely impossible.

It might have been possible in remote rural areas, but in the city, the procedures were quite strict. Otherwise, if you were stopped while riding, you'd have no way to explain yourself. And if your bike was stolen, you'd have nowhere to look for it, so no one tried to skip this step.

Everyone would voluntarily go to the police station. Zhao Guihua submitted her bicycle purchase documents, paid a two-yuan fee, and finally got the steel stamp. With all the paperwork done, the bicycle was now completely and officially hers.

Zhao Guihua happily rode home. She had originally planned to go fishing in the mountains, but she was too excited and couldn't wait to show off a bit - fishing could wait until tomorrow. She returned home proudly, and as soon as she entered the courtyard, people noticed her.

When Madam Zhou Li saw Zhao Guihua pushing her bike, her face changed color. The old lady's competitive nature never rested.

Originally, her family had been the first to own a bicycle, and she had been the proudest. But now, even though her family was still the wealthiest in the compound, Zhao Guihua's family had two bicycles, and how could she not feel angry and jealous?

Madam Zhou Li was so irritated she couldn't even manage her usual mockery. She just took one look and slammed her door shut with a bang as she went inside.

The sound was deafening, nearly breaking the door.

Zhao Guihua paid no attention to Madam Zhou Li. She was as proud as a rooster, walking with her head held high. Aunt Wang came out too, looking at Zhao Guihua enviously and giving her a thumbs up, saying, "Old Zhao, you've really got what it takes."

Zhao Guihua cackled with delight, thoroughly pleased with herself. She had no reason to be modest.

Her family had been poor farmers for three generations, and her bicycle permit was obtained completely legitimately, so why should she hide?

She said, "I bought this bike just for fishing. I couldn't handle walking there every time, and taking the bus daily was too expensive. Now with the bicycle, everything's much better."

Aunt Wang laughed and said, "Stop bragging, you haven't caught a single fish since you started fishing."

Zhao Guihua wouldn't have that, saying, "I'm just practicing, aren't I? Just wait! It's been too cold lately, and fish get cold too, so naturally, they're not biting as much. Wait a few days. When the weather warms up, I'll show you what I'm really capable of."

Aunt Wang: "..." Now that was some serious bragging.

Zhao Guihua was very pleased with herself and said, "Oh right, I'm planning to go fishing every day now, so if you need me, come find me in the evening."

Aunt Wang understood: "Got it."

Not just Zhao Guihua, but lately, nobody in their compound stayed home much, and the reason was obvious. Though the smell had somewhat dissipated, it hadn't completely gone away, and you could still catch whiffs of it. It really made it impossible to eat.

Aunt Wang: "We're still keeping the four-day rotation for patrol duty, right?"

Although the septic tank incident had caused quite a stir, since Jinlai wasn't the real thief, the patrols had to continue. But Aunt Wang also said: "After this incident, people have lost their enthusiasm for patrolling."

Everyone had been eager to catch the thief and prove themselves, but instead, it led to the septic tank incident. It really dampened people's spirits - after one day of heightened motivation, everyone deflated again.

Word was that it had become difficult to gather enough people for patrol duty these days, which was worrisome.

Aunt Wang: "From what I can see, we old ladies' patrol team is still the most reliable. These young folks gave up after just one day."

Zhao Guihua nodded in emphatic agreement.

She was quite open-minded about it, saying, "It's fine, we'll keep participating normally even if the young ones can't handle it. We'll keep going. Like I always say, we old ladies are just as capable."

Aunt Wang nodded: "You're absolutely right!"

Sure enough, on the next fourth day, attendance was still sparse, with not enough people showing up. Aunt Wang looked displeased. She went straight to Old Su's house to call people: "Aunt Su, why aren't you coming out?"

Then she went to Old Zhou's house.

Madam Zhou Li also showed no interest in moving.

This really angered Aunt Wang, who scolded: "Look at the state of you all! This is a collective activity - don't you have any sense of collective honor?"

This kind of talk would have no impact decades later, but it was still quite effective now. Aunt Su and Madam Zhou Li reluctantly came out, with Aunt Su swaying as if unsteady, saying: "I got hurt that day and fell ill. I really have no energy. It's not that I don't want to come patrol, but my body really can't take it. If I patrol, I'll collapse. You know my situation. Look at my condition. My Xiu works during the day, comes home to cook, and is exhausted from all the work inside and out. If we have to patrol too, she won't be able to handle it."

Seeing her in this state, Aunt Wang couldn't really force her to participate.

When Madam Zhou Li saw that Aunt Su was getting out of it, she immediately started wailing: "Oh, Aunt Wang, I'm suffering too! Look how much we've been through these past few days! My son and daughter-in-law, neither of them is doing well! It's not that we don't want to help, but we need rest too!"

As the two old ladies cried and wailed back and forth, Aunt Wang remained silent, but Zhao Guihua couldn't stand it anymore: "Will you both shut up!"

She shouted: "If you want to slack off, just say so! Stop pretending to be victims! Aunt Wang, let's go - if they don't want to come, then fine! Damn, what kind of people are they! Don't force them anymore. Just report this to the street committee, and when good things come along in the future, we'll exclude them from everything!"

Aunt Wang listened and thought this made sense, nodding: "That's right."

Madam Zhou Li wasn't happy about this and said: "Zhao Guihua, what business is this of yours?"

Zhao Guihua gave a cold laugh and said loudly: "When you disregard collective interests and act selfishly, anyone has the right to speak up! What's wrong? You can do it but others can't call you out? Just say whether you're going on patrol or not!"

Madam Zhou Li's face alternated between green and white. After a long while, she said defiantly: "I'm not going. We're not feeling well, none of us are going!"

They weren't going, and what could anyone do about it?

Madam Zhou Li gave Zhao Guihua a smug look, snorted, and made a challenging gesture - she wasn't going, and what could they do, hit her?

Zhao Guihua didn't bother with the nonsense and simply said: "Then let's go."

Aunt Su saw this and started to panic. Unlike Madam Zhou Li, she wasn't so bold. While Madam Zhou Li might be mean-spirited and unscrupulous, she was fortunate - her son and daughter-in-law could earn money. They had no worries, but Aunt Su wasn't in the same position.

She was still hoping to get some benefits from the street committee each year.

Though she couldn't qualify as a hardship household by playing the sympathy card, she still managed to get some small "subsidies" each year. If she got a bad reputation, she could forget about these little advantages. So she absolutely couldn't take that risk.

She hesitated helplessly, immediately looking toward Old Man Bai. Old Man Bai instantly understood his sweetheart's predicament and gallantly stepped in: "Since Aunt Su isn't feeling well and can't participate, I'll take her place! I'll come out and fill her family's quota."

Aunt Wang said quietly: "What about your own family's quota?"

Old Man Bai: "Uh... can we pretend my family isn't participating?"

Aunt Wang, Zhao Guihua, and several neighbors twitched their mouths in disbelief, thinking this old fellow was a bit incomprehensible. Was something wrong with his head? Aunt Wang rolled her eyes and said, "Stop giving me this nonsense!"

Old Man Bai stood tall and proud, saying, "Why not? I'm willing to do this for them. You're just counting heads anyway, so just pretend no one came from my household. I'm standing in for old Aunt Su, and given her situation, how can you all be so harsh on her? How can you be so heartless? We're all brothers and sisters living in the same courtyard, can't you show some kindness?"

Aunt Wang exploded, "Damn you! Who are you calling unkind? Should we humor you just because you've lost your mind?"

Aunt Wang was furious, putting her hands on her hips, ready for a fight!

She was a robust and fierce old woman, and truth be told, Old Man Bai, in his current state, might not be a match for her in a real fight.

Old Man Bai shrank his neck a bit but stood his ground: "I'm not participating. I'm standing in for Aunt Su."

Aunt Wang was so angry she said "fine" three times in succession.

Zhao Guihua thought this old fellow was about to faint from anger.

She patted Aunt Wang and said, "It's not worth getting angry over such a fool. We all witnessed what happened here, and we can testify to that. Just report the truth when the time comes."

Aunt Wang took a deep breath to calm herself and said, "Alright!"

As they all left together, it wasn't just Zhao Guihua and Aunt Wang who were confused - other residents of the courtyard couldn't understand it either. Old Sui's son was particularly bewildered, saying, "What's so attractive about Aunt Su anyway?"

He couldn't understand it at all.

Others couldn't understand either, everyone shaking their heads. Of course they couldn't understand - they were either old ladies or young people, how could they?

Only the old men truly understood these matters.

Old Man Bai felt these people had absolutely no vision.

Due to the earlier incident, today's patrol atmosphere was even worse than usual.

However, Zhao Guihua remained spirited. She vaguely remembered that the thief would appear in just a few days. Although she wasn't sure if the earlier incident would affect how things would unfold, she dared not bet that the thief wouldn't show up.

So she remained very cautious. There weren't many old ladies as strict as her. Although everyone carried wooden sticks for self-defense at the beginning, after nearly twenty days, many had become careless and indifferent.

Only Zhao Guihua's team still carried their sticks while patrolling.

If Zhao Guihua hadn't been the first to bring weapons every day, others might have forgotten about it too. Because she always came fully equipped, she influenced those who patrolled with her. Zhao Guihua still marched proudly at the front.

Compared to her, the others' presence was like that of senior and junior eunuchs following the Empress Dowager.

Aunt Wang remarked, "Old Zhao, I think your spirit is really stronger than most people's."

Zhao Guihua smiled and said, "Am I just like most people?"

Aunt Wang laughed too: "Certainly not."

As the patrol team walked the streets, they were unaware that on the street they had just passed, a short man quietly slipped out. This was none other than Zhang San, the thief who had been causing trouble recently.

Zhang San had been in this line of work for several years and had never failed, earning himself a small reputation in the underworld. Although policies were strict now, thieves had never completely disappeared in any era.

No matter the time, there were always thieves.

However, because of stricter regulations now, being a thief had become more difficult. Fortunately, Zhang San was quite cautious, following all the unwritten rules of the trade - never steal from your neighbors, always scout carefully, and so on. He observed all the taboos of the profession.

Because of this, he had managed to operate continuously without getting caught.

He had been living quite comfortably, but recently, after robbing three houses in succession, people had become vigilant, and the Xinghua neighborhood had started organizing patrols. Usually, Zhang San would never hit the same place twice, especially after stealing from three houses in one night in this area and with increased patrols.

Under normal circumstances, he would absolutely not attempt anything.

However, what he hadn't expected was that these vigorous patrols had actually caught someone - reportedly a child who tried to steal from neighbors while everyone was out patrolling, but got caught.

Of course, the subsequent cesspool incident was worth mentioning - the story had nearly spread throughout the entire city.

Truly, it would reach Tianjin any day now.

At any rate, Zhang San had heard about it, and honestly, he was extremely curious about this place.

He wanted to see it!

Such an extraordinary place was worth visiting a second time - he really wanted to go!

Besides curiosity, it was also reverse thinking. He believed his ability to thrive in this profession was due to his clever mind. He reasoned that while the area was being patrolled daily, which would normally deter ordinary thieves, it could actually be an opportunity.

Because of the patrols, many households would be missing their young and strong members - even a child knew this logic. How could he, a master thief, not realize this? Moreover, since everyone believed thieves wouldn't dare come due to the patrols, they would surely become lax in their vigilance. Thinking this way, wasn't this actually an excellent opportunity?

He felt that the patrol team wasn't a force to catch him, but rather a good cover for his activities.

After much consideration, Zhang San reached a conclusion.

The Xinghua area was now the most suitable place to strike. Though there were many places in the city, this location was the most appropriate for his return to action. After observing for several days, he indeed saw how lax their patrols had become.

Moreover, because of the cesspool incident, everyone seemed to lack spirit, just going through the motions.

Zhang San was very satisfied.

Since that was the case, they couldn't blame him for striking again.

So tonight, he put on inconspicuous clothing and smeared his face with soot from a wok bottom. Without careful observation, he looked like a somewhat elderly, dark-skinned old man.

He walked with confident steps to Xinghua neighborhood.

From a distance, he quietly observed the patrol team. No wonder he looked down on this team - they were even worse than a few days ago. There were more elderly people. Although they carried wooden sticks, he felt this further proved their incompetence - they needed to put on a show precisely because they were ineffective.

He nodded with great satisfaction. He had already gathered information that the wealthiest family in the area was surnamed Zhou. Many people could confirm that the old lady of the Zhou family claimed they were the richest in the courtyard.

Such talk might be inappropriate now, but since they were all working people, it wasn't too much of an issue.

However, while the speaker meant no harm, the listener - this thief - took it quite differently.

Under the moonlight, he quietly snuck into the courtyard. Another reason he chose this courtyard was that many of its residents were out patrolling today. While the patrol team wasn't exclusively made up of people from this courtyard, this courtyard had sent the most people today.

Even children understood the logic of breaking into empty houses, so naturally, he understood it even better.

He slipped into the courtyard and quickly found the Zhou household. The family had gone to bed early, their snoring as loud as an electric drill. Zhang San looked around, confirming no one had discovered him. He took out a wire and carefully jimmied the lock a few times. The door creaked open with a slight sound.

Zhang San held the door with one hand, preventing it from making any noise as he tiptoed inside. Although this family was wealthy, the interior could hardly be called luxurious. He crept to the room on the left, where an old lady was sleeping - she was the source of the loud snoring.

However, Zhang San liked it; he actually enjoyed such loud snoring as it could cover up quite a few things. He crept in, and the room wasn't complicated. He went straight for the cabinet drawers, searching quietly. Though the drawers were locked, that was no challenge for him.

He opened them in no time and after searching for a while, found seven or eight yuan. Zhang San was very dissatisfied.

He had done his research thoroughly - in this family, the son was a level-seven electrician earning over ninety yuan per month. Even if the son kept that money, this old lady still had her daughter-in-law's salary. He had heard that the old lady had bragged outside that her daughter-in-law had to hand over all of her thirty-seven yuan salary to her for household expenses.

For a family of three, that was more than they needed.

He had also heard that this old lady was quite stingy with herself and her daughter-in-law, refusing to spend money. So who knew how much she had saved up? He felt that these seven or eight yuan were an insult to both his skills and the old lady's secret stash.

He quickly resumed searching - a good thief should leave no trace of having searched at all.

He soon started searching the wardrobe, but... nothing!

How could this old lady have nothing?

He quickly pulled open the drawers again, looking underneath. Usually, old ladies like her wouldn't hide things too cleverly. After searching for a while, he crawled under the bed. Finally, he found a small compartment under the bed. Sure enough, these kinds of old ladies only had so many places to hide money.

He pried open the small compartment and saw a handkerchief wrapping a small cloth bundle. He quickly opened it to find it full of "big unity" notes - ten yuan each, quite thick. His professional touch told him there must be at least a thousand yuan!

Zhang San clicked his tongue - this was the wealthiest old lady he'd ever encountered, remarkable!

He pocketed the money and silently left the room. He wondered what this old lady ate growing up - the room had such a strange smell. Zhang San wasn't easily satisfied; although he had robbed the old lady, her son must have quite a bit of money too. This mother and son pair were something else.

He entered another room where the couple was sleeping soundly. Seeing them embracing in their sleep, he snickered and started searching. He quickly found a jewelry box in the drawer containing a gold ring, a pair of gold earrings, and even a pearl necklace. He hurriedly pocketed these.

Just as he was about to search more, he looked back at the jewelry box again. Sure enough, there were twenty yuan under it. He felt quite pleased. Nothing could escape his notice.

He continued searching, but this man was good at hiding money. Even after two searches, he couldn't find anything. Who knew where he hid his things? It was proving quite difficult to find. This really sparked his competitive spirit!

He kept searching...

Jiang Lu was sleeping deeply, having a wonderful dream where she had given her husband ten sons, one each year - quite impressive. Everyone envied them and asked for their secret to having sons.

She smiled proudly in her dream, solemnly telling them: others couldn't learn it - it was all because she and her Zhou Qun were too amazing.

This sweet dream made her so happy that Jiang Lu laughed out loud, her sharp laughter suddenly piercing the silence. Zhang San tripped over a stool - thump!

In the dead of night, such a sound was extremely obvious.

Zhou Qun and Jiang Lu woke up instantly, and Zhang San immediately knew he was in trouble. He took off running.

Zhou Qun was still rubbing his eyes when he saw a dark figure dash out, and by then Jiang Lu had seen it too and screamed, "Ahhh... there's a thief!"

"Thief! Catch the thief!"

They quickly threw on some clothes and gave chase, only to see the dark figure had already fled the courtyard.

Zhou Qun and Jiang Lu stood in the courtyard shouting: "Everyone wake up, there's a thief in our compound!"

As lights began turning on in house after house, the couple didn't chase outside but kept shouting from the courtyard. Zhou Qun was quite shrewd - he didn't dare chase outside, what if something like last time happened again? Besides, if it was a real thief, who knew if they were armed? Just thinking about it was scary.

He certainly wasn't going to risk his life fighting a thief.

If even he, a grown man, wouldn't chase, Jiang Lu was even less willing. The couple kept shouting loudly in the courtyard. Finally, people started coming out. Bai Fendou said: "What's all the shouting about? Another thief? Is it real this time?"

Because of what happened last time, it felt somewhat like crying wolf.

Nobody really wanted to chase.

Who knew if this wasn't another bathroom battle?

"It's real, they just broke into our house, we don't even know what they stole yet... everyone hurry and chase! Why isn't anyone chasing?" Zhou Qun was furious.

Bai Fendou sneered: "A thief breaks into your house and you won't even chase them yourself, yet you want us to? You're quite calculating. Whoever wants to chase can chase, I won't. I'm not skilled enough to play the hero."

While they were still arguing...

This gave Zhang San a chance to escape. Hearing the patrol team running from afar, he had a sudden inspiration and ducked into the bathroom. Last time there was trouble with the bathroom, surely no one would think someone would go there again!

This was the perfect hiding place!

Actually, given how Zhou Qun and the others were dawdling, Zhang San could have easily escaped - with no one chasing and the patrol team still on another street, escaping would have taken just a minute. As a seasoned thief, how could he call himself professional without some escape skills?

But suddenly he didn't want to run anymore. After all, this area had quite a reputation. He had heard the tale of the heroic dash through the cesspool several times, each time marveling at it. Somehow, he didn't want to leave.

He could at least stay here and peek outside, right?

Maybe he'd see some excitement.

Don't think thieves don't have curiosity - they do. Thinking this, he simply hid in the bathroom, staying completely still, pressed against the wall, listening to the commotion outside. By now, Zhao Guihua and others had arrived. She looked around, asking loudly: "What happened?"

By now everyone had come out - strength in numbers!

When there were few people, naturally no one would chase, but it was different with more people.

"My money!!! Curse them! Which scoundrel stole my money?!" Madam Zhou Li ran out frantically, not even wearing an outer garment, just in her autumn underwear. Her hair was a complete mess, making her look like a madwoman.

Madam Zhou Li hadn't expected their house to be targeted by thieves again.

She had heard her son shouting about catching a thief immediately, but she hadn't thought their house had been robbed, so she wasn't in a hurry to get up. Other people's business was none of their concern.

Whoever got robbed deserved it, hopefully it was Zhao Guihua's family - they had been showing off with their two bicycles. They deserved to be robbed!

It must be their house.

Madam Zhou Li lay in her bed, cackling, not wanting to move. Though she didn't want to move because of the cold, she couldn't help but listen to such excitement. However, she was soon shocked!

Because from the conversation, it seemed their house had been robbed?

Madam Zhou Li jumped up immediately, quickly turned on the light to check, and upon looking, collapsed onto the floor - the target really was their house!

Their house again!

Were these thieves specifically targeting her family?

Was this going to be endless?

She finally became energetic at this point, letting out a howl as she rushed out, crying: "My money! My retirement savings have all been stolen..."

The scene became even more chaotic. As Zhao Guihua and Aunt Wang returned, everyone immediately mobilized - they couldn't let this thief get away. Madam Zhou Li squinted her triangular eyes at Aunt Su and shouted: "You surnamed Su, tell me, was it your Jinlai who did this?"

This really infuriated Aunt Su, who burst into tears on the spot: "You can't just bully us just because we're a widow and orphan! If it was my Jinlai, may I be struck dead by lightning! Heaven won't let you get away with falsely accusing people, you better watch out for karma!"

She pointed at the sky and shouted, which truly shocked everyone.

People began speaking up: "Auntie Zhou, we should be catching the thief right now, stop making a fuss."

"Exactly! What's the point of bullying a widow? If you're so capable, go catch the thief!"

"But where are we supposed to look?"

"That's right, if they're not even worried about their own home, how are we supposed to find the thief for them? They've probably already run away by now!"

When Madam Zhou Li heard everyone speaking this way, she stomped her feet and cried out: "You cruel-hearted people, you're all just hoping for my family's misfortune!"

Upon seeing Zhao Guihua, she suddenly found someone to blame and shouted: "You, Zhao Guihua, weren't you supposed to be patrolling? Yet you let a thief into my house. You must compensate me, you must!"

Zhao Guihua wasn't one to be pushed around, and she shouted back: "Get lost! Who do you think you're talking to? You've got some nerve! We were all out patrolling while your family was being lazy, not sending anyone out. You deserve to get robbed. Maybe it's karma for being such a terrible person."

"Hey, she's got a point!"

"That's true!"

"It must be because she's so wicked, why else would thieves keep targeting her house?"

"Exactly, exactly."

Bai Fendou stood to the side with a sarcastic tone: "Karma comes to those who deserve it, just not always right away!"

He had long been irritated by how Madam Zhou Li bullied the Su family.

Not to mention, this Madam Zhou Li had swindled him out of fifteen yuan, which he hadn't forgotten.

He said: "You see, some things really show that heaven is watching."

People around pulled at Bai Fendou, telling him not to say such things - wasn't this feudal superstition? Fortunately, no one paid much attention to it. For ordinary folks, it wasn't a big deal as long as things didn't go too far.

Nobody was particularly willing to help, but Aunt Wang said: "Zhou Qun, you go to the police station now; everyone else, let's split up and search, stay in groups. It hasn't been long, the thief might not have gotten far, they might be hiding nearby. They might even be watching us right now, so let's look around."

This showed why Aunt Wang was the building manager - she had higher awareness and quick reactions.

"Alright, let's split up and search."

Although Madam Zhou Li was universally disliked, everyone felt obligated to help catch the thief.

Zhou Qun said: "Mom, our house isn't locked, you go back and watch it. Wife, you stay with mom." He had money in there.

He looked at Bai Fendou and said: "Bai Fendou, come with me to the police station."

He didn't want to go to the police station alone - what if he encountered the thief on the way? His life was too precious. Besides, this Bai Fendou was brainless enough to serve as a distraction if they encountered any bad guys.

He said coldly: "Your family didn't participate in the patrol today, you can't even do this small thing?"

Bai Fendou: "Hey, have you no shame? Who says we didn't send anyone? Don't you count my father as a person?"

"Your father was just substituting for the Su family, your family didn't actually contribute anyone."

Bai Fendou's mouth twitched, his gaze falling on Wang Xiangxiu's face as she watched the commotion. When Wang Xiangxiu gave him a pleading look, Bai Fendou suddenly found his courage and said: "Let's go, I'll come with you! What's the big deal!"

The two left, pushing and shoving each other.

Zhao Guihua was completely exasperated with them, but her gaze fell on the public toilet, showing some hesitation. In her previous life, that person had hidden in the toilet, so in this life... could it be the same?

She hesitated for a moment, torn between whether to go in and search or not.

To be honest, she wanted to catch the thief, otherwise it felt like a hidden danger. After all, in her previous life, her son Zhuang Zhixi had been injured because of this, but that was the previous life, not this one... She remained uncertain.

"Mom, I'll go with you and dad." Zhuang Zhixi had appeared without anyone noticing.

Zhao Guihua's expression changed slightly.

Zhuang Zhixi: "I didn't let Mingmei and sister-in-law come out, there are children at home, and we don't know where the thief is hiding. I feel better with Mingmei at home."

Zhao Guihua nodded, indeed, having Mingmei at home was reassuring.

She hesitated for a moment, looking at her son's face, and quickly decided they should still catch this thief. She wasn't the type to leave potential threats unaddressed. This absolutely wouldn't do. She said: "We'll search this street, you all head that way?"

"Alright!"

Aunt Wang: "I'll go with you. We don't need to check the toilet, right? Our neighborhood has quite a reputation, surely they wouldn't go into the toilet?"

"Thieves aren't stupid, why would they hide in the toilet? No way, definitely not."

Several people around agreed it was impossible.

Zhang San could only hear vaguely from inside the toilet, given the distance, but it was enough to make him feel smug. See, he always said that even as a thief, one needs to use their brain. Only by using your brain can you become a winner in life.

He grinned quite triumphantly.

However, he knew enough about concealment at this moment to quickly cover his mouth, making sure not to make a sound. Everyone at the scene immediately dispersed, and when Wang Xiangxiu and Aunt Su saw the situation, they quietly returned home, not wanting to get involved in such matters. They weren't stupid.

After all, they were "unwell."

After everyone scattered, Zhao Guihua's group headed this way, consisting of Zhao Guihua, her son Zhuang Zhixi, her husband Old Man Zhuang, along with Aunt Wang, two young men from their building, and Auntie Sun and Auntie Xu from the neighboring building - eight people in total.

The eight of them walked this way, checking all the hidden spots, but Zhao Guihua stopped in her tracks when she saw the toilet and said: "Do you think someone might be hiding in the toilet?"

This was a topic they had discussed earlier, and everyone thought it unlikely, shaking their heads.

Zhuang Zhixi smiled and said: "If I were a thief, I'd do the opposite of what people expect and hide in the toilet."

Put that way, it seemed to make sense.

Zhang San: "...???" Hey, why would you think about doing the opposite? Can't you just think like a normal person?

Regardless of his internal anxiety, the people outside seemed completely unaffected. Zhao Guihua said: "I also think someone might be hiding here. The most dangerous place is often the safest place."

"You make a good point."

Zhang San: "..." Old lady, since when did you become a military strategist?

Zhao Guihua: "Everyone grab something handy, we don't want to get hurt if we encounter the thief. Who knows if they're hiding a knife somewhere."

Zhao Guihua spoke earnestly: "No matter how skilled you are, you should still fear a knife. Be careful."

Everyone nodded, feeling that Zhao Guihua made a lot of sense.

Although the thief might not be hiding in the toilet, having something for self-defense couldn't hurt.

Everyone looked around and picked up sticks. When Zhao Guihua saw Zhuang Zhixi about to walk in front of her, she grabbed her son and said loudly: "Don't block me, stay back, I'll take the lead! A young man like you, the thief might fight with you, but I'm different. I'm old, if they so much as touch me, I'll fall and not get up. I'll extort them properly! They'll have to pay hundreds in compensation, or I'll claim to be in pain all over. Let's see if they don't get a heavy sentence!"

Zhuang Zhixi: "???"

Others: "???"

Zhang San: "...???" What kind of person is this?! How can someone be so devious?

He angrily punched the wall. Damn, what kind of person!

In the quiet night, with everyone silent at that moment, the sound of the wall being hit wasn't loud, but since they were already close to the toilet, they heard it clearly. Instantly, everyone's hair stood on end.

There... there seemed to be movement in the toilet!

Whether it was a thief or a ghost, this was terrifying!

Everyone broke into a cold sweat, and Zhao Guihua let out a shout, raising her stick and yelling: "There are eight of us, more than enough to beat up one person! We could beat someone to death with all our sticks! Charge!"

Sure enough, her shouting actually worked, and everyone suddenly realized - yes, there were eight of them.

Aliali: 674db7898ee49abd4e616360Isn't that enough?

Everyone immediately gathered their courage and rushed into the bathroom together. It's worth noting that the bathroom had only one door and a tiny ventilation window placed high up - there was no way to escape through it. Zhang San was caught like a rat in a trap.

As soon as Zhao Guihua burst in, she didn't need to say a word to spot the figure pressed against the wall.

The faint moonlight filtering through the ventilation window cast a dim, hazy glow, but Zhao Guihua recognized the young man instantly. Zhang San's heart skipped a beat, and in desperation, he pulled out a knife: "Stay back! Don't come any closer, or I won't be nice!"

Zhao Guihua, who had been rational until now, saw the knife and her old grudges resurfaced. With a roar, she swung her wooden stick directly at him: "Take this!"

"Holy crap!"

"Oh my god!"

Bang... the wooden stick hit the wall as the thief dodged. Zhang San's knife clattered to the ground, and Zhao Guihua, without hesitation, swung again. This time she didn't miss - Zhang San cried out: "Mama!"

The others immediately rushed forward...

Zhang San fell to his knees with a thud, covering his head and crying out: "I was wrong! Help!"