Chapter 72 : Discovering that the House Was Robbed

“Old Li, all our money is gone.” Xu Ziying spoke hurriedly, her voice tinged with tears. The over 2,000 yuan her family had saved, along with the 1,000 yuan gift from the Shu family, had all disappeared.

“How could that be? Weren’t they all there yesterday?” Li Gang remembered clearly that he had seen the money when he took it out of the box the day before.

He dropped his pipe in alarm and rushed forward to search the box. Not a single coin remained, and all the bills were gone too. Refusing to give up, he quickly opened the cabinet. When he saw it was empty, a flash of panic appeared in his eyes. He cried out in disbelief, “How is this possible?”

Standing beside him, Xu Ziying looked at the empty cabinet and asked anxiously, “Where are my bacon, rice, flour, wine, and malted milk?” She pushed Li Gang aside, stared helplessly at the sight before her, and felt overwhelmed with grief.

Li Gang glanced at the now-missing bacon, rice, flour, and other precious supplies, and his panic grew.

He quickly ran his hand along the wall, removed two bricks, and looked into the small hidden hole inside. It, too, was empty.

He staggered backward and fell to the ground. His life savings were gone. He was the only one in the family who knew where the money was hidden. No one else should have known.

He began to recall whether there had been any unusual movement the night before but nothing came to mind. He and his wife had gone to bed early and woken up early, without hearing a single sound. He checked the locks on the boxes and cabinets again. There were no signs of forced entry. This was strange, where had everything gone?

“All gone.” Li Gang stood leaning against the bed’s armrest, his eyes dark with confusion. Who could have stolen the money?

“Old Xu, have you ever misplaced the keys?” Li Gang looked at the locks again. There were no signs of tampering. He glanced at Xu Ziying, he knew she wouldn’t have dared move anything on her own.

“No, I always wear the key on a cord around my neck it never leaves me,” Xu Ziying replied firmly. She even wore it while bathing and sleeping.

“Old Li, let’s call the police!” Xu Ziying, thinking of the over 3,000 yuan and the stolen food, felt her heart wrench.

“No. I’ll investigate this myself. This thief clearly isn’t an ordinary person. If we call the police now, we won’t have any leads.” Li Gang’s face turned grim. They couldn’t afford to involve the police.

At the same time, he was thinking hard who had he offended over the years? Who among them had the skills to pull this off?

Seeing Li Gang’s ashen face, Xu Ziying suddenly seemed to recall something. Her own face turned pale. She hesitated and then said, “Okay, I’ll listen to you.”

“Mom, Dad, what happened?” Li Minglang, who had been in his room, rushed over after hearing her mother cry out. He saw his father searching around frantically, clearly distressed. Something serious had happened, and he felt a wave of worry.

“Minglang, all our money and precious food are gone. You’ve been home recently have you noticed anyone suspicious hanging around?” Li Gang looked to his son, hoping he might offer a clue.

“What? How much was stolen?” Li Minglang was shocked. He knew his family had a lot of money and valuable food stored up.

“All of it. Think carefully, did anything strange happen last night?” Xu Ziying asked, her expression both heartbroken and furious. If she ever found out who had done this, she would never let them off the hook.

“No, I didn’t notice anything unusual. It couldn’t have been my sister and brother-in-law who took it, right?” Li Minglang thought for a moment but really couldn’t think of anything suspicious.

Xu Ziying considered it. That’s right! The only unusual thing recently was that after Li Yanyan got married, Shu Chengzhi had moved into their home. But rice and flour weren’t small items, how could he have taken them without anyone noticing?

“It wasn’t them,” Li Gang said with certainty. After the couple had left, he’d checked the cabinet and seen the money in the box, along with the cash and gold bars hidden in the wall. Everything had still been there at that time.

Whenever the couple left the room, they would lock the door immediately. Both keys had always been with them. So how had the money and other items been stolen? He had no suspects now, and tracking down the thief would be difficult but what he lacked most was patience.

—-

“Mom, are you feeling better?” Xue Zhiqiang had rushed back home. As soon as he walked into the courtyard, he saw his supposedly sick mother looking full of energy and complaining loudly about his eldest sister-in-law.

At that moment, he felt helpless. It was clear now that his mother was just impatient to push him to come home and get married. But he really didn’t like Li Yinyin. That woman’s eyes were far too greedy. Ever since his accident, she had completely changed her attitude toward him.

“Zhi… Zhiqiang, you’re back.” Zhang Fengying looked both guilty and delighted when she saw her son appear. After all, she’d faked a serious illness and now had been caught. She hurried to open the door and welcomed him inside.

“Mom, looks like I arrived at just the right time!” Xue Zhiqiang said seriously.

“Hmph! You! You’re old enough to get married, why haven’t you come home to settle down? If you’d just listened to me and come back earlier, would I have had to pretend to be sick?” Zhang Fengying straightened her back immediately.

“Mom, people have the freedom to choose who they marry now. I want to find someone I actually like. And besides, you all know my situation. Li Yinyin doesn’t like me anymore because of my condition. I don’t want to get married and spend my life arguing every day,” Xue Zhiqiang quickly stated. He had no intention of living a chaotic and unhappy life.

“It’s not about Li Yinyin. She’s now the granddaughter of a big official in the capital.” Zhang Fengying rolled her eyes at her son, clearly annoyed. The daughter-in-law she now had in mind was Shu Ruxue.

“What?” Xue Zhiqiang looked at his mother in confusion. Hadn’t she been pushing him to marry Li Yinyin for the past year?

“Third Brother, Li Yinyin’s name is now Shu Ruxue. She was switched at birth in the hospital and has now found her biological parents. Your current fiancée is the educated youth, Yun Siying,” said Xue Zhigang with a smile.

“No matter who it is, I’m not interested. Mom, cancel the engagement!” Xue Zhiqiang said firmly as he set down his luggage and sat on a bench.

“That young educated youth is so pretty definitely your type. You’ll definitely like her when you meet her tomorrow,” Zhang Fengying said confidently. She knew very well her son had a soft spot for pretty girls.

“No.” With that, he picked up his luggage and headed to his room.

“Hey! You ungrateful child, I’m doing this for your own good! Why can’t you appreciate that?” Zhang Fengying took off her shoe, ready to throw it at him, but only saw the closed door making her even angrier.