Chapter 150: Do You Want Eggs?

Aunt Hua, with her former status, went to the police station with an attitude of demanding an explanation for their inaction.

“We have helped you catch the mastermind, but you haven’t caught the accomplice for so long? What have you been doing all this time?”

The police officers at the station explained with difficulty, “They don’t have a fixed residence, making them hard to catch.”

The car thieves were either former educated youth who had returned home to visit relatives and then secretly stayed behind, or educated youth who had simply stayed in the city and refused to leave.

They were all people with questionable identities and dared not appear in public. They couldn’t stay at home, because if anyone reported them, they would be arrested.

At night, they would stay in the slums on the outskirts of the city, relying on the chaos to hide.

With their accomplices caught, the few who escaped wouldn’t dare to return to their old haunts for a while, opting to move to a new location.

They were all like foxes with multiple burrows, making them extremely difficult to catch.

“So you just let them steal cars? Is this how you protect the property of the people?” Aunt Hua questioned angrily.

Although this police officer didn’t know Aunt Hua, he couldn’t help but feel intimidated.

“We’ve been contacting the victims who reported the case, and we’ve been able to help them recover some of their losses.

“Besides, they shouldn’t be stealing cars anymore. The ones who knew how to fix cars have been arrested, and the others don’t have the skills.”

Aunt Hua’s face remained expressionless, clearly dissatisfied with this answer.

The police officer sighed and continued, “The one who knew how to fix cars, Qian Ming, only has his grandmother and a nine-year-old sister left at home. When he went to the countryside, his father was sick, and he wasn’t an only child, so he hadn’t found a job yet and had to go to the countryside according to the regulations. This year, his father passed away, and he returned to the city for the funeral. He couldn’t bear to leave his family behind, so he secretly stayed in the city…”

Not all city dwellers had jobs. Many vulnerable groups only had a glamorous city hukou (household registration) with nothing else.

Qian Ming couldn’t bear to leave his family behind, so he secretly started fixing cars and used the money to support his family.

His accomplices also had their own hardships.

However, they had stolen many cars in this period, and the amount involved was quite large. Even though his family was struggling, Qian Ming and the others were sentenced to two years of labor reform.

The accomplices who had run away were still loyal. Seeing that Qian Ming and the others had been arrested, they didn’t embezzle the money but instead distributed it to Qian Ming’s family.

Qian Ming’s family felt the money was too hot to handle and turned it all over to the police.

The car owners received compensation, and Qian Ming and the others received a reduced sentence. Their original two years of labor reform was reduced to six months.

As for the ones who had run away, the police couldn’t catch them, so they could only let them roam free.

Aunt Hua, who had initially been furious, couldn’t help but soften her expression after hearing the police officer’s explanation.

Qian Ming and the others had made a mistake, but in this world, they had no other choice.

“Since the case is closed, let it go.” Aunt Hua decided not to pursue the matter further.

After leaving the police station, Lin Xiangnan couldn’t help but say, “I told you they were a bunch of tough nuts to crack.”

They all knew that doing these things was dangerous, and no one would willingly take risks if they weren’t forced by reality.

“That kid we met today probably switched to selling eggs,” Lin Xiangnan guessed.

The car theft business was over, so they had to find another small business to do to make a living.

Knowing the background of this group, Aunt Hua no longer thought about eradicating them, but only about eating.

“Let’s go have lunch first, then go for a walk.”

Lin Xiangnan also put the car thief gang behind her and changed streets with Aunt Hua.

“That stone stool in front of that house looks pretty interesting.” Aunt Hua was easily drawn to old objects.

“Do you want to buy it?” Lin Xiangnan asked.

“No. The stone stool is too heavy, it would be too conspicuous to move it back.”

“The patterns carved on it are quite cute.” Lin Xiangnan commented.

After discussing the stone stool, they were about to move on, but they ran into the car thief carrying eggs again after a few steps.

“Why are you still chasing me?” The car thief screamed, turning and running.

Lin Xiangnan didn’t really want to chase him, but she still asked Aunt Hua’s opinion, “Should we chase him?”

“No. I’m too lazy to chase him.” Aunt Hua said indifferently, “They returned all the money they earned to the victims, there’s no point in chasing them.”

Not taking this young man to heart, Lin Xiangnan and the others continued along their original route.

But the city was so small, and they ran into the young man again after only a couple of days.

The young man was almost on the verge of a breakdown.

“I only stole your car, why are you so obsessed with catching me?”

“Auntie, Big Sister, please let me go. I have an eighty-year-old mother and a three-year-old child, I really have no choice…”

The young man cried with tears streaming down his face, looking extremely pitiful.

“Gao Ziqiang, right? Stop crying, where did you get an eighty-year-old mother? You only have a mother who has lung disease and a blind younger brother.”

His information was provided by the police. Qian Ming and the others hadn’t revealed them.

They must have made an agreement back then, that if anyone got into trouble, the people outside would help take care of their families.

Gao Ziqiang didn’t disappoint Qian Ming’s expectations. He had taken out all his savings, but Qian Ming’s family was more enlightened and turned the money over to the police.

Gao Ziqiang awkwardly stopped his act and begged, “I really know I was wrong. Please stop chasing me, okay? Qian Ming and the others have already gone in, and now I have to support my mother, and I also have to support Qian Ming’s grandmother… I really have no choice.”

Even Aunt Hua couldn’t do anything with this tough nut, and she said with disdain, “Who’s chasing you? We’re busy, we don’t have time to chase you.”

Hearing this, Gao Ziqiang stopped pretending and ran away like a flash of lightning.

Before they knew each other, even though they often met, they wouldn’t pay attention to each other.

But after knowing each other’s names, Lin Xiangnan discovered that they would encounter each other every now and then.

The city wasn’t big, and they were both street urchins running around, so it wasn’t strange to meet.

Later on, Gao Ziqiang became more relaxed, and when he saw them, he would ask, “Auntie, Big Sister, do you want eggs? These are fresh, just taken from under the chicken’s butt.”

“Yes.” Lin Xiangnan took the eggs and offered to pay.

“Sister, don’t pay, you can help me look at something.” Gao Ziqiang furtively took out a jade ring and asked eagerly, “Is this real or fake?”

“Where did you get it?” Lin Xiangnan asked.

“I traded it with an old rich man in the countryside.”