Chapter 44

iang Nengneng was sucking on a candy in his mouth, tilting his head to listen to his aunt’s instructions. After listening, he stretched out his hand: “Aunt, I need two more candies.”

Liang Lanlan opened the cabinet, took out two pieces of candy and handed them to him: “Here, go ahead! Look for it carefully, and tell me when you find it.”

Liang Nengneng nodded repeatedly.

“Lao Liu’s room is locked, how did he get in?” Li Yuan asked.

Liang Lanlan sneered, “A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse’s son will dig holes. Don’t forget, my dad is a locksmith, and the skill of unlocking was passed down to my brother and me. Even if Neng Neng can’t open it, I can.”

“How can this be possible!”

“Don’t be afraid. Let Nengneng climb in through the window. Once he finds where he hid the money, I’ll go in and help unlock it.”

“Will this work?”

“Sure! Don’t hesitate, or you can pay for it! It costs 17 yuan per family. 17 yuan! Why don’t you buy something else?”

Li Yuan no longer hesitated: “Okay!”

Liang Nengneng is good at climbing up and down on weekdays, so it is not a problem for him to climb into the house through the window.

He went around the back of the house, climbed up the tree, leaned forward and crawled in through the window.

The windows now are not glass windows, but paper windows.

In summer, a layer of white window paper is pasted on the window to let in light. It is so thin that it will break if poked with saliva. In winter, a few pieces of waste newspapers or kraft paper can be used to keep out the cold and wind.

There were holes in the window paper in Ning Jia’s room, so Liang Nengneng opened the window with almost no effort.

The window faced the kang, and his shoes fell on the edge of the kang as soon as he took them off.

After searching the house for a while, he finally found that only the boxes and drawers were locked. He concluded that the money and good things must be kept in there.

So, he took some effort to climb out, went in through the main door and called Liang Lanlan to come and take a look.

Liang Lanlan followed Liang Nengneng, climbed up the tree branch, then flipped into Ning Jia’s room and ran to the drawer first.

“Nengneng, don’t move, just stand by the window and keep watch for your aunt!”

“Okay.” Liang Nengneng agreed.

Liang Lanlan took out a thin wire from her pocket, bent it a few times, and inserted it into the keyhole to open the drawer. She fiddled with it twice and felt it seemed to be right, so she was about to force the lock open.

Then I heard Neng Neng shouting, “She’s back! She’s coming through the gate!”

Liang Lanlan was startled and cursed in her heart: What bad luck! Retreat! We have to retreat quickly!

Li Yuan was strolling in the yard with the baby in his arms. When he saw Ning Jia and An Ye coming back together, he was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. His wife was still in Ning Jia’s room.

He had to hold Ning Jia back.

“Ning Jia, you’re back! You must be tired after coming back from town!”

“I’m not tired. I’m feeling good.” Ning Jia had beef buns in her pocket. She had to hurry back to the house for safety. She didn’t have time to talk to Li Yuan.

“Ning Jia, ouch, my stomach hurts. Please hold the baby for me while I go to the bathroom.” In desperation, Li Yuan had no choice but to hand the baby to Ning Jia.

“No, don’t give it to me! I don’t know how to hold a baby. Who will be responsible if it falls?” Ning Jia stepped back repeatedly.

“It’s okay, it won’t hurt to hug you.” Li Yuan insisted.

“There’s something wrong with him.” An Ye said quickly, “Don’t pick up the child. Be careful if anything goes wrong. He might blackmail you!”

Ning Jia also thought so.

“I’m sorry, Third Brother, my stomach suddenly hurts. Ouch, ouch, I have to go to the bathroom quickly. Let someone else hold the child!”

Ning Jia was afraid that Li Yuan had some bad intentions, so he hurried to the door and unlocked it.

Gada——

The lock is open.

As soon as Ning Jia entered the room, he slammed the door shut.

The moment the door closed, the box also slammed shut. Ning Jia thought she was hallucinating. She looked back and saw no one in the room.

After walking all day, my ankles are sore from fatigue.

She sat down and was about to take the safflower oil from the kang to rub her ankles when she suddenly heard a “no”.

The noise was not loud, but Ning Jia’s ears were particularly good and she instantly knew the direction from which the sound came. She looked towards the cabinet on the head of the kang.

She remembered clearly that the two large cabinets were locked before she went out, but how come the locks of the cabinets were gone now?

Ning Jia’s heart sank: There’s a thief in the house!

She held her breath, took the feather duster from the wall, and tiptoed to the cabinet.

“Third daughter-in-law! Third daughter-in-law!” In the yard, Mrs. Xu called Liang Lanlan’s name loudly, “Your eldest sister-in-law is not feeling well today. Please make dinner for her.”

Li Yuan hurriedly said: “Mom, she’s out!”

“Where did you go?”

“I don’t know, he said he went to visit someone!”

“It’s useless. I can’t rely on you.” Old Mrs. Xu cursed. “The wives in my family are lazier than each other. They go to visit relatives without taking the children with them. Can’t they see that it’s getting dark and they haven’t cooked? The whole family is hungry. How can they eat?”

After scolding, Old Mrs. Xu went to the kitchen to cook.

Ning Jia felt strange. Didn’t Li Yuan need to go to the toilet just now? Why didn’t he say so now?

Could it be that he was trying to stop her just now?

A light bulb went off in Ning Jia’s head, and in an instant, she understood something.

She knew that the person hiding in the cabinet should be Liang Lanlan.

This woman actually sneaked into her room and picked the lock. What on earth did she want to see?

“Ahem!” Ning Jia coughed twice and said deliberately, “Oh, I’ve been walking all day. I’m so tired! Let me lie down on the kang and rest for a while.”

Ning Jia had just laid down when Li Yao came back.

When he walked in, he had a clear smile on his face and seemed to be in a good mood.

“Ning Jia, I have good news for you.” Li Yao was eager to share today’s gains with her.

Ning Jia sat up from the kang, put his index finger to his lips, made a gesture to him to keep quiet, and then pointed at the cabinet on the head of the kang, indicating that there was someone inside.

She pointed to the third brother’s room again, reminding Li Yao that the person in the box was related to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan understood instantly and nodded slightly.

“Good news? Can there be good news in this family?” Ning Jia deliberately curled her lips and said, “Just say what you want to say, don’t keep me in suspense.”

Li Yao smiled and said, “I heard from someone today that at the end of the year, in addition to the dividends, there will be fish and pork to be distributed. This year we can have a prosperous year.”

“Oh, I see.” Ning Jia nodded. “You must be tired after a busy day. Since dinner is not ready yet, why don’t you lie down on the kang and take a rest?”

Li Yao readily agreed: “Okay.”

The couple both lay down, and neither of them said anything to leave the house.

Liang Lanlan and Liang Nengneng hid in the cabinet, unable to stretch their legs or raise their heads. They felt extremely uncomfortable, but no one dared to make any noise.

I just hope the meal is ready in the kitchen soon so I can call these two people out.

“Aunt.” Liang Nengneng suddenly said in a low voice, “I have a fart in my stomach and I can’t hold it anymore. What should I do?”