Chapter 22 Sometimes the evil of human nature is beyond your imagination!

“Understood, understood,” Su Meijuan said somewhat awkwardly. “I really feel bad that I couldn’t help you, mother-in-law.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Bai Xiuying waved her hand as she said, “Mother-in-law, you see, there are still so many things waiting for me at home, so I’ll take my leave first.”

“Take care. If you need any help, just let me know.”

It was all just an act—Su Meijuan knew exactly what she was doing. Indeed, Zhang Chunhua, hearing Su Meijuan’s words, kept praising her, “The Tang family really are good people. Over the past year, if it weren’t for them constantly helping out, even if Wanning worked herself to death, she wouldn’t have been able to take care of the sick Old Xu couple and all the work in their fields.”

“That’s right. Over this past year, without the Tang couple, the Xu family’s fields would have long been left fallow.”

“The Xu family really hit the jackpot marrying Wanning as their daughter-in-law—such luck. It’s a pity Zhenhua had a short life.”

Hearing these words, Su Meijuan was delighted, while Bai Xiuying’s face turned green with anger.

After a while, Su Meijuan, showing concern, approached Zhang Chunhua and asked, “Springflower Sister, has the Xu family reported the theft to the police?”

“Yes, yes. As soon as the village chief learned, he had their eldest child report to the police. Now we’re just waiting for the police to arrive.”

Seeing Su Meijuan take the initiative to speak, Zhang Chunhua was thrilled. “You don’t know how tragic the Xu family’s situation is—they were completely emptied out overnight, not even a single green vegetable left behind.”

Lowering her voice, she continued, “I’ll tell you, but don’t spread it around… everyone says the Xu family must have done…”

Zhang Chunhua repeated the earlier conversation she had with several village women, imitating it perfectly.

Su Meijuan was stunned after hearing it—this was incredible. She couldn’t think of any other explanation; after all, moving furniture makes a lot of noise, and some bumps and knocks are unavoidable.

Meanwhile, Tang Wanning was rolling with laughter on her bed. These people were quite imaginative, even thinking the “dirty things” were on someone. Luckily, she hadn’t stayed at the Xu house last night, or they might have started fabricating stories, claiming she’d been tainted by something filthy. That could very well have happened—human nature is unpredictable, and people’s evil can exceed imagination!

As for Xu Zhenhua, after learning about this, would he still welcome the two old people? And would they go to the military district because of it? Clearly not—they knew their son was alive but hadn’t seen it with their own eyes. So the wedding would have to wait.

On the other side, after returning to the Xu house, Bai Xiuying explained the full story to Xu Dingbang. Upon hearing it, a wave of anger flared up in him. His already gloomy face grew even colder with a terrifying edge.

“You useless woman! You can’t even handle something this small!”

Just one glare and Bai Xiuying’s legs trembled; her face turned pale. Xu Dingbang gave her a cold look, his voice harsh, “Go borrow from other families too. Borrow from as many as you can. If you delay me from seeing our son, I’ll make you pay!”

“All right, all right, I’ll go now!” Bai Xiuying said, scrambling out of the yard. If it weren’t for the old man relying on her to borrow money, or for fear of missing the train, she might have even suspected he’d take action against her.

Thanks to the few women who witnessed the scene in the morning, news of the Xu family’s misfortune spread throughout Tao Yuan village within half an hour. This made Bai Xiuying’s borrowing a bit easier. Within about thirty minutes, she managed to borrow money from several families she had connections with. Even though she borrowed from seven or eight households, it only amounted to thirty yuan in total. After all, the Xu family was now destitute—there was no one in the household who could earn money. They survived entirely off the crops, so no one dared lend too much for fear it couldn’t be repaid.

Bai Xiuying cursed those people in her mind—they acted close, calling her sister, but in a crisis, they all played dumb. If it weren’t for Zhenhua repeatedly warning her not to spread the news that he was alive, she would have wanted to tell them and slap them with the truth. Did they really think the Xu family had no one left?

Still, no matter how angry she was, it could only stay in her thoughts. With a nervous heart, Bai Xiuying clutched the thirty yuan and returned home. She knew Xu Dingbang would not be satisfied, but she had truly done her best—this morning, she had borrowed from everyone she could.

As expected, when Xu Dingbang learned the news, his eyes could have cut Bai Xiuying to pieces, scaring her to slump onto the ground. Just as he was about to act, they suddenly heard the voice of the village chief’s eldest son, Sun Guodong, outside the yard.

“Police officer! Yes, this is the house.”

Xu Dingbang lowered his voice to scold, “Get up already! How shameful!”

Bai Xiuying dared not disobey, trembling as she climbed up. Although Xu Dingbang’s temper had improved over the years, and he hadn’t hit her for a long time, she never forgot how badly she had been beaten once after angering him. Just thinking about it made her afraid to breathe.

Xu Dingbang nodded slightly to Sun Guodong. “Guodong, thank you for making the trip.”

“No trouble at all, uncle,” Sun Guodong smiled. “I’ve already brought the police officer here. I’ll go call my father.”

“Go ahead, go ahead.”

After Sun Guodong left, Xu Dingbang recounted the events at home to the police officer, then led the officer through the entire Xu property. They even examined the surroundings, questioned the neighbors, yet found nothing.

This left the investigating officers completely baffled.

One officer looked at Xu Dingbang, his tone serious. “Sir, are you sure your house was emptied overnight?”

Without hesitation, Xu Dingbang nodded firmly. “I’m certain!”

The officer’s expression showed doubt. “This is strange. Logically, it would be impossible for one person to empty an entire household overnight, especially since moving large items requires multiple people. Yet neither you nor the four neighboring households heard any noise, which is unreasonable. That’s one.

“Second, our team has already inspected the entire Xu property and its surroundings, yet we haven’t found anything suspicious. Moving large items inevitably leaves traces. Whether by handcart or vehicle, there should be marks. Even if moved manually, heavy footprints would remain.”