Chapter 3: No Toilet Paper!

The neighbors took a look around the place. Aside from the living room, the kitchen and several rooms had already been almost entirely emptied.

One neighbor blinked in disbelief. What kind of thief could manage to rob a house this thoroughly?

If such a thief came to their house, would it be even worse?

Was it possible their own home might be emptied out like this too?

That was a terrifying thought.

The neighbor’s eyes darted around rapidly. Zhao Minghua rubbed his temples and said, “I’m going to report this to the police right now. Don’t touch anything! Don’t disturb the crime scene!”

Hearing this, Gu Qiangwei couldn’t help but find it ironic. Zhao Minghua, who didn’t know much about anything else, actually knew the term ‘don’t disturb the crime scene.’

Back at home, Wang Shufen and Gu Qiangwei both put on very sorrowful faces, looking like wilted eggplants after a frost.

Zhao Minghua quickly rushed out to contact the police.

The neighbor who had just peeked in hurried back to her own house.

The moment she got home, she started gathering all the valuable items in the house.

Her husband noticed her odd behavior and asked what was going on. She immediately spilled everything she had just seen and heard. The couple started to panic.

They needed to hide their valuables right away. If they got found out and targeted by the thief too, what would they do?

Gu Qiangwei just sat blankly in the corner, looking like she’d lost the will to live. In truth, her mind was racing, replaying everything that had happened recently.

If she remembered correctly, in her past life, it was around this time that she met the young woman who would later become her business partner.

It was thanks to that meeting that the two of them started building a successful business together.

That was what led to everything that followed.

Now that she had been reborn, she still wanted to return to that same place. If she could meet that partner again, it would be wonderful.

Wang Shufen was sitting nearby, crying and stealing glances at Gu Qiangwei from time to time.

“How could you have slept so deeply last night? Half the stuff in your room is gone!”

“Mum,” Gu Qiangwei replied with a tearful expression, “what about you guys? Didn’t you lose a bunch of stuff too? Didn’t you hear anything last night?”

“What exactly was taken?”

As soon as Gu Qiangwei asked, Wang Shufen shot to her feet and rushed into her room.

Gu Qiangwei slowly followed and saw Wang Shufen rummaging in the exact spot where she had taken the box last night.

“Oh heavens! Damn that thief!”

Wang Shufen couldn’t find her box. She plopped down on the floor and started slapping her thighs in despair, sobbing dramatically.

Gu Qiangwei raised an eyebrow in amusement.

That box must have held something pretty valuable.

Wang Shufen had always cared a lot about money. Last night, when Gu Qiangwei had moved everything into her spatial storage, she hadn’t even checked the contents—just went straight to bed.

Looks like she had to take a look tonight!

“Mum, what’s wrong?” Gu Qiangwei asked, playing innocent.

Wang Shufen sobbed even harder, but didn’t say a word, which only confirmed for Gu Qiangwei that whatever was in that box was extremely valuable.

Her curiosity was completely hooked now.

She had to find out what was inside.

After crying for a while, Wang Shufen hiccuped and clutched her stomach, clearly feeling unwell. She grabbed her waistband and ran toward the bathroom.

She cried as she went, and Gu Qiangwei smirked in the direction of the bathroom.

She had taken everything she could last night—including the toilet paper.

A few minutes later, just as expected, Wang Shufen’s voice echoed from the bathroom:

“That damn thief even stole the toilet paper!”

“Qiangwei! Qiangwei! Bring me some paper! There’s no toilet paper! I can’t stand up!”

Gu Qiangwei pretended not to hear her.

Soon after, Zhao Minghua returned—with two police officers in tow.

He immediately said, “I’m not joking with you—our home was totally ransacked! Even the pots and pans are gone! We won’t be able to cook anymore!”

The officers stepped inside, surveyed the scene, and were stunned.

Everything really had been taken?

When Zhao Minghua first went to the police station and claimed their entire house had been emptied, even the furniture, the officers thought he must be dreaming.

Usually, thieves go for small, valuable items—cash, jewelry—things that are easy to carry.

Who on earth steals furniture?

How many thieves would it take to pull off something like this?

They hadn’t intended to take the report seriously, but since it had been formally filed, they had to check it out. And now that they saw the place—completely cleaned out—they were genuinely shocked.

As they inspected the rooms, a voice suddenly called out from the bathroom:

“Hurry up and bring me some toilet paper! Anyone home?”

“I still haven’t wiped!”

Wang Shufen had been squatting in there for over ten minutes—her legs were numb.

Hearing her cries, Zhao Minghua rushed over. “What happened?”

Wang Shufen was frantic. “Find me some toilet paper! I’ve been in here for over ten minutes!”

He started looking everywhere for some.

Finally, it was Gu Qiangwei who strolled in from outside, slowly, holding a bit of paper in her hand. She handed it over—on purpose.

The two police officers were speechless.

When Wang Shufen finally came out of the bathroom, she looked even worse. She was limping because her legs had gone numb, and nearly fell over trying to stand up. If there hadn’t been a handle nearby, she might’ve tumbled straight into the pit—what a disaster that would’ve been!

“You’re sure this wasn’t just you moving house?”

The officers looked around the place, still incredulous. Just as the words left his mouth, Zhao Minghua smacked his forehead in frustration.

“Why would we move house like this? Do you think we’d go through all this trouble if we were just moving? You need to help us catch this thief!”

“They cleaned out our entire house—even the pots and pans! They’re trying to starve us!”

“This is a death sentence for our family!”

Even Zhao Minghua, a grown man, started to cry, and the officers had to get serious.

The more they looked, the weirder it seemed.

Every room had been emptied. All that remained were the beds people were sleeping on and a few worthless things like old kettles.

Everything else was gone.

Pots, pans, rice, flour, oil—not a single grain left.

This didn’t seem like a normal theft. It was practically a raid.

Gu Qiangwei and the others sat nearby looking miserable while the officers examined the whole house.

Once they finished, Zhao Minghua rushed forward.

“Officer, what do we do now?”

“We looked around. The doors and windows weren’t damaged, so we’re not sure how the thief got in. We’ll need to ask around the neighborhood to see if anyone saw anything suspicious.”

“Given how much was stolen, it couldn’t have been quiet. Someone might have seen something. We’ll do our best to investigate.”

Hearing that, Zhao Minghua’s heart sank.

“We’ll do our best” — wasn’t that just a polite way of brushing them off?

And in the end, didn’t that mean they’d never find the culprit?

Seriously?

So many of their things—gone—and they might never get any of it back?

Then what would they eat? Drink?

How would they live?

Was it because both of their sons were away on duty, leaving only women and the elderly at home, that the thief thought it was a good opportunity?

“So… you’re saying we might not find anything?” Wang Shufen looked as if she’d been struck by lightning. “If we can’t recover anything, what are we supposed to do?!”

She pounded her thighs and wailed, playing the part of the devastated victim to perfection.

The officers shook their heads. “We’ll try our best to find the thief, but this is a major case. If we really can’t find anything…”

He trailed off. Even they found the whole thing ridiculous.

Just how many thieves would it take to rob a house this thoroughly?

After gathering all the details and recording everything, the police finally left.

Learning that there was a high chance the stolen goods would never be recovered, Wang Shufen broke down completely, bawling and screaming inside the house.

The neighbors didn’t come to gawk. Instead, they whispered behind closed doors while quietly securing their own valuables.

Who dared visit?

In a situation like this, they needed to protect their own stuff. What if the thief came back and targeted them next?

No way.

News of the theft spread quickly through the entire compound.

Back at home, the family sat together, weighed down with worry.

“Zhoushan and Qingming still haven’t come back. What are we going to do?”
“That damned thief is trying to ruin us!”

Gu Qiangwei rubbed her nose and listened.

And in her last life—how had they treated her?

Hmph!

This is exactly what they deserve.

Now that she had a second chance at life, Gu Qiangwei would never give her heart to people who never truly cared for her.

After a morning of sorrow, someone’s stomach growled. Zhao Minghua and Wang Shufen turned to look at Gu Qiangwei.

“Qiangwei, what do we do now?”
“Both the boys are away, and we don’t even have food for breakfast!”

Wang Shufen started crying again, covering her eyes. Everything she had carefully saved up was gone.

It was tragic.

“I’ll figure something out. I’ll go ask the neighbors for a small loan so we can buy something to eat.”

“And next,” Gu Qiangwei sighed, “I’ve thought it over. We don’t know how it happened, but the truth is—we were robbed. We have no money left. There’s only one option now.”

Hearing that there was still an option, the old couple turned to her in unison, eyes wide.

What could it be?

They wanted to know.

“At this point,” Gu Qiangwei said slowly, “the only thing we can do is… all of us have to go out and find work.”