Chapter 279: Catching The Thief
The night was dark and windy, perfect for small thieves to engage in petty pilfering.
Around 1:30 AM, the entire Bailong Village fell into silence, with only the sounds of insects and birds audible.
Inside Yun Jiao’s room, the fan whirred loudly. A long cooling mat lay on the ground, and she and her older brothers were all sprawled on it, only covering their stomachs.
The weather was getting hotter and hotter. At Yun Jiao’s strong request, two more electric fans were added to the house. She had one here, and her older brothers all came to sleep with her.
One fan was in Father and Mother’s room, and another in Uncle and Aunt’s room.
The night, which had originally been quiet with only the sounds of cicadas, birds, and the fan, was interrupted by an unusual barking.
Yun Jiao’s eyes snapped open.
Her older brothers weren’t as alert as she was; they were still sleeping with their bellies exposed, almost drooling.
Yawning and pushing away a hand that was resting on her stomach, Yun Jiao didn’t wake her brothers but instead got up and quietly left the room.
And at this time outside, three men, their faces masked, were acting sneakily. But no matter how quietly they moved, the family’s dogs heard them.
Instantly, the three dogs at Yun Jiao’s house, along with the tabby cat that had been sleeping on the roof, became alert.
As the three men approached Yun Jiao’s house, they began barking warningly.
“Damn, these two families are indeed wealthy, they even have three big dogs.”
Nowadays, people barely have enough to eat, so who could afford to keep three big dogs without some means?
“Quick, throw in the prepared meat laced with medicine.”
“Are we really throwing this meat away? It’s such a waste to just feed it to the dogs.”
“You can’t catch a wolf without sacrificing a cub. We’ll just take the dogs with us when we leave. Three big dogs like these are more valuable than this little bit of meat.”
“Heh, Brother Na Wa, you’re indeed smart.”
Several pieces of pork mixed with sleeping pills were thrown into the courtyard. Big Black stared with glowing eyes at the outside. He walked forward, lowered his head, and sniffed the meat. He didn’t eat it, but instead turned and barked at the two children.
Baozi and Tangyuan immediately stopped barking and each found a spot to squat down quietly.
Big Black also fell silent. The three dogs crouched in different locations, appearing relaxed but actually ready to attack at any moment.
“Brother Na Wa, it seems like there’s no more movement inside.”
The three thieves outside waited patiently for a while. When they realized there was no more barking from inside, they rejoiced.
“This trick really works.”
“Heh, what dog in the world isn’t greedy for food? We’ll have a good feast later!”
“Let’s go in quickly. That motorcycle can fetch a good price. We’ll each get several hundred yuan!”
Among the three thieves, one kept watch outside, while Brother Na Wa led a younger subordinate and crept towards Yun Jiao’s house.
“Stay alert, I’ll open the door.”
Brother Na Wa fumbled with a wire at the door lock.
“Click…”
Brother Na Wa’s expression immediately brightened. It worked.
“Na Wa… Brother Na Wa.”
The subordinate behind him stammered and nervously patted Brother Na Wa’s shoulder.
“What is it? Don’t speak.”
“Na Wa… Brother Na Wa, the dog, the dog…”
At this moment, Brother Na Wa’s door also opened.
But something seemed to be blocking the doorway.
Brother Na Wa looked up and met the eyes of two men holding iron bars, staring at him menacingly.
“Run!”
His reaction was quite quick; he turned to run immediately.
“Woof woof woof…”
At this moment, Big Black led the charge, lunging towards the two men.
“Ah!!!”
Men in front, fierce dogs behind.
Brother Na Wa and his subordinate were bitten and beaten, and two piercing male screams immediately filled Yun Jiao’s courtyard.
The lookout outside saw that the situation was bad and tried to slip away, but he soon joined his companions in the chorus, and another loud male scream rang out.
The sound was comparable to the screams when pigs were slaughtered during New Year.
The silence of Bailong Village was broken by the continuous barking of dogs, and even the sounds of chickens, ducks, and geese joined in.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
Those living close to Yun Jiao’s house, hearing the noise, quickly threw on a coat and ran over.
At this time, Yun Jiao had finished beating the lookout and was dragging him by one leg back to the courtyard, like dragging a dead pig.
“Father, Uncle, there’s another one here.”
Shen Yunlian and Wang Mei came out with flashlights and shone them directly into the faces of the three thieves.
Yun Linhe directly pulled off their masks, his gaze lingering on one man’s face for a moment.
“You’re Brother Na Wa, aren’t you?”
After days of searching, they had naturally gathered clear information about Brother Na Wa’s appearance.
Brother Na Wa still tried to cover his face, but Yun Linhe sneered, “Give it up, why are you still covering your face? At the police station, you won’t just have to state your name, but also your date of birth in full detail.”
By this time, people from the village who had heard the commotion had already arrived.
“Lin Hai, what happened at your place?”
“Is everything alright?”
Yun Lin Hai replied, “It’s fine. Just three petty thieves who came to steal a motorcycle. We’ve already caught them.”
“What? Thieves came?!”
“Let me see. Who was so bold? Why didn’t they do honest work and become thieves instead?”
“Where are these three from? They don’t look like they’re from our village.”
Yun Lin He nodded, “Correct, they’re not from our village. Could someone please go call the Village Chief? We need to borrow his tractor.”
“I’ll go, I’ll go.”
“Lin He, you’re taking them to the police station, right? I’ll go with you. We can’t let these three thieves escape.”
“We’ll go too.”
That’s how the village was. During normal times, minor disputes and conflicts were common, but when something happened, everyone was willing to lend a hand.
When the three thieves heard they were being taken to the police station, they began to beg for mercy, talking about their elderly mothers and young children, trying to elicit sympathy by playing the victim.
But no one paid them any mind. Everyone has their difficulties; does that give you the right to steal from others?
If everyone acted like this, how chaotic would society become?
In the end, all three were taken to the police station.
Yun Lin He specifically said to a familiar Public Security Comrade at the police station, “Comrade Zhao, the one named Brother Na Wa has a connection to the second wife of my wife’s eldest brother. Please try and interrogate him for me. If you can get any information, that would be best. If not, we’ll think of other ways to have my brother-in-law get a divorce.”
Zhao Jianguo was shocked. “There’s something like this involved?”
“So you’re saying you knew in advance that the three of them were going to your house to steal a motorcycle?”
Yun Lin He gave a bitter smile. “When the children were playing, they accidentally overheard something and told us when they came back. However, we didn’t know who Brother Na Wa actually was, nor when they planned to steal the motorcycle. We didn’t have any evidence, so it wasn’t easy to come to you. We could only be secretly vigilant.”
Zhao Jianguo patted his shoulder. “I understand. I’ll ask about it during the interrogation.”
Yun Lin He was reassured and went home to wait peacefully. It was late today, and they might not be able to interrogate them.
The next day, after eating breakfast, Yun Lin He and Yun Lin Hai went to the police station again.
