Chapter 178: Fleeing in Fear of Crime

The person who was pushed nearly fell and took several steps back before regaining balance. By the time everyone reacted, Kong Yuru had already run out.

Someone in the courtyard shouted, “She’s really planning to flee in fear of crime.”

Upon hearing this, Kong Yuru ran even faster.

The captain looked at Shitou and asked, “Shitou, are you injured?”

Shitou shook his head and replied, “Uncle captain, I saw a second auntie stuffing something into her pocket just now, but I didn’t see what it was clearly.”

The captain arranged for several people to guard the scene and led others to chase after Kong Yuru to the Sun family’s house.

Kong Yuru returned home, closed the main gate, and then found a place to bury whatever she had in her pocket. She ignored how many people outside knocked on the door.

The captain sent someone to fetch Sun Baoqing from the fields and told him of the situation.

Sun Baoqing hadn’t expected Kong Yuru to cause trouble at Lu Yichen’s house. Whether she hadn’t thought it through or wasn’t willing to face it, or perhaps she felt it wasn’t embarrassing enough, he couldn’t say.

He said that this woman was absent-minded in the fields all morning and came back early to cook. She couldn’t finish her own work, so she stayed in the fields to help.

Now that he’s been called back, he knows this woman is up to no good again.

Kong Yuru kept insisting she hadn’t done anything. The captain asked her to open the door, but she refused. Sun Baoqing became anxious and shouted inside, “What are you planning? Are you trying to get yourself into trouble or spend a few years in jail?”

He had worked at the factory for several months, Sun Baoqing often attended legal education sessions organized by the factory union, so he knew a bit about the law. This woman was simply ignorant and foolish.

Coincidentally, Lu Yichen happened to return on his tractor at that moment, with several bags of grain he had asked someone to buy.

When hearing the tractor, everyone instinctively felt uneasy. Lu Yichen wasn’t from their village; they heard from the commune machinery station that he came from a big city background and had strong connections. Villagers usually didn’t dare to provoke him.

Instinctively, they worried for Kong Yuru, afraid she might have taken something from his house and could end up in prison.

As Lu Yichen parked the tractor and began unloading the grain, they heard Shitou shouting from the slope across with his voice full of anguish.

This startled Lu Yichen, who abandoned the grain and quickly locked the door of the tractor shed before rushing home.

Earlier, Luo Qiao had gone back with the captain to check on Shitou and realized her own cooking was still simmering so she hurried back home.

When Lu Yichen arrived at his front gate, he saw Shitou with eyes red from crying. “What happened?” he asked.

Shitou explained, “Second auntie came to the house. At first, she wanted to ask me for the scar removal gel. When I said we didn’t have any left, she didn’t believe me and started searching the house. I couldn’t stop her, and she pushed me and even hit me.

Later, I saw her take something and put it in her pocket. Uncle Captain and some others came, and she ran away.”

Lu Yichen was furious now. He had a slight cleanliness obsession, and the fact that this woman dared to touch his things meant she had brought this upon herself.

Lu Yichen pushed his bicycle out from the nearby room and said, “No one should enter the house.”

Then he reassured Shitou, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.”

With that, he turned and rode down the slope. The captain saw Lu Yichen coming down the slope and noticed he didn’t head towards their direction but left the village instead. He sighed in relief.

Sun Baoqing had initially thought to stop him, but Lu Yichen was riding too fast, clearly ignoring them. Sun Baoqing thought to himself, “This is bad.”