“Who’s so bold as to steal from several villages?”
That evening at dinner, Yun’s mother and older brother, who had been out during the day, returned. The family gathered around the table and began discussing the biggest event that had happened in the village that day.
Yun’s mother asked the question, and Yun’s father shook his head. “They haven’t caught the thief yet! I hear three villages were hit. Ours suffered the greatest loss. The other two villages didn’t have as many households targeted. Their thief seemed to pick on wealthier families. Ours was hit house by house.”
Everyone found this quite strange.
Logically, if three villages were robbed around the same time, the pattern should have been similar. But in reality, their village was hit from one end to the center, while the other two villages only had well-off families targeted. Such precise theft suggested an insider.
Their village, on the other hand, had every household visited—which was odd. Could it be that the thief, unfamiliar with the area, simply searched house by house? But if the thief was unfamiliar, how would they know that few people would be home in their village that day?
In short, it was very strange.
After hearing this, Yun’s mother sighed. “We were lucky. We took all our money and ration tickets with us today because we were planning to shop. Our things were just tossed around—annoying, but that’s all.”
When the public security officers came that day, they recorded everyone’s losses.
Some families lost little to nothing, while others lost cash, ration tickets, and gold or silver jewelry.
It was only then that Yun Su realized there were hidden wealthy families in the village.
Among them was their neighbor across the way, Liu Zhaodi.
Yes, Liu Zhaodi had over fifty yuan stolen, along with a pair of gold earrings.
Everyone who heard this was stunned. Liu Zhaodi’s household finances were controlled by Second Uncle Yun. How had she managed to save so much private money and own gold earrings?
But Yun Su quickly learned from her father that the earrings were actually part of Grandma Yun’s dowry. Because Liu Zhaodi was always causing trouble, Grandma Yun had given them to her just to keep her calm.
Hearing this, Yun Su was speechless.
Having lost everything she owned, Liu Zhaodi was raising a ruckus at home. In the end, she blamed Yun Yan, who had gone to register at the processing factory. She said if Yun Yan had stayed home instead, she could have guarded the house, and the thief wouldn’t have dared to strike.
That was ridiculous. Though Yun Su didn’t like Yun Yan, this was blatant scapegoating.
Still, Yun Su guessed that Second Uncle’s household hadn’t lost much. Second Uncle Yun didn’t seem very angry. Even Grandma and Grandpa Yun’s hidden retirement money hadn’t been found.
Clearly, the elderly were quite skilled at hiding valuables.
—
“Speaking of Yun Yan, while we were queuing to register, she just disappeared somewhere.”
Yun Huaimin got angry just mentioning Yun Yan.
That day, everyone had arrived at the processing factory together. The staff were startled to see such a large crowd. The recruitment notice had just been posted. Registration was open, but typically only children of factory workers showed up on the very first day.
Often, by the time outsiders heard about the job openings, registration had already closed.
This wasn’t unique to the processing factory—many state-owned enterprises operated the same way. It was a form of favoritism toward employees’ families.
That’s why rural folks had such a hard time finding jobs back then. The restrictions came from household registration, education, and information asymmetry.
Though displeased, the factory let them line up and fill out registration forms one by one.
While queuing, Yun Yan snuck away.
Yun Huaimin didn’t find out until everyone had finished registering and was about to leave.
At that point, the brigade captain—Old Uncle—was furious and nearly told him to report her missing to the police.
Then Yun Yan came running back, out of breath, carrying a box of pastries.
The captain assumed she had just gone to buy a snack. Since they were relatives, he didn’t say anything too harsh.
But many people were upset. They had waited around for Yun Yan for over half an hour.
Yun Huaimin, however, used that half hour to buy two jin of brown sugar at the factory’s supply and marketing cooperative.
“To be honest, if it weren’t for that brown sugar, I’d be angrier. Nobody spoke to Yun Yan on the way back. But she seemed pretty happy.”
Yun’s mother was puzzled. “That doesn’t make sense. Since when is Liu Zhaodi so generous? She gave Yun Yan four jiao for the bus ride just to gawk at the excitement and even money for pastries? That’s really strange.”
Among those who went to the processing factory that day, anyone without a primary school graduation certificate was disqualified from registering. That condition had been clear from the start. Those who didn’t qualify but came hoping for a lucky break were especially disappointed. And Yun Yan was one of them.
—
After Yun’s older brother finished his complaints, Yun’s mother said, “Enough of that. When I went to the canteen, a plump, fair-skinned woman pulled me aside and asked if I knew Yun Su.”
Hearing this, Yun Su laughed. That plump, fair-skinned woman who worked at the canteen—it had to be Auntie Bai. The same one who, that day at the Ji family’s courtyard, had said not to look for girls from fishing villages, only to be scolded by Ji Xiangtian and his mother.
And now this woman was asking about Yun Su and had tracked down her mother.
Yun Su told them exactly what had happened. Yun’s mother slapped her thigh. “Why didn’t you say so earlier? If I’d known how bizarre that woman was, I would have given her a piece of my mind.”
Yun’s father was curious. “So what did you say to her?”
Yun’s mother chuckled. “I told her Yun Su is the prettiest and smartest girl in our Yun Family Hollow Brigade. Her parents are also excellent and hardworking villagers, and our family is a very good one…”
Upon hearing this, Yun’s father chuckled too. “Wife, you sure know how to talk.”
He clearly liked hearing his wife praise him as excellent and hardworking.
Yun’s mother smiled along.
The whole family felt it was a good answer and laughed together.
Yun Su could easily imagine how frustrated Auntie Bai must have been. She had probably come prepared to dig up dirt on Yun Su, but all she got were glowing praises. Her mood must have been terrible.
That night before bed, Yun’s mother found a moment to express relief to Yun Su that they had hidden those gold bars in advance.
Yun Su shared her suspicions with her mother, warning her to be cautious. If those people were truly after the gold bars, they might try something else.
Returning to their room, Yun’s mother mentioned it to Yun’s father.
In short, the whole family became more vigilant after the burglary.
—
It wasn’t just Yun Su’s family. Many households in the village were on high alert too. Whether they had lost anything in the burglary or not, everyone started reinforcing their doors and windows. The next day, many came to the supply depot wanting to buy better locks.
But the supply depot didn’t sell them. In the end, the brigade captain stepped in and applied to the commune to see if they could sell a batch of good locks to the village under the commune’s name.
After all, the locks were made of metal, and the villagers couldn’t buy them without industrial ration tickets.
Of course, these actions by the villagers infuriated the Li siblings.
Yes, they had indeed participated in the burglary. In fact, they had orchestrated the whole thing for their own purposes.
“I told you not to make such a big scene. Look at the fishermen now—they’re all reinforcing their doors and windows. We didn’t find what we were looking for this time. In the future…”
“Stop. How was I supposed to know these country bumpkins would be even more cowardly than mice? Reinforcing doors and windows! Hah. With how poor they are that even rats won’t visit, what’s even worth stealing?”
Li Biao retorted, brushing off Li Hong’s questioning. He was furious inside.
This operation had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The village was nearly empty. Such a good chance wouldn’t come again. To ensure success and avoid exposure, Li Biao had even leaked information about nearby villages through other channels.
He told potential thieves that if they wanted to steal, they could hit those villages that morning when few people would be around.
With those others providing cover, Li Biao and Li Hong had searched several households they’d previously marked as suspicious.
They found nothing.
Sure, they’d swiped some cash and valuables, but that wasn’t their original goal.
“Besides those villagers, how many families from that boat haven’t been checked?” Li Hong asked, cutting to the heart of the matter.
Li Biao: “There weren’t many passengers on that boat. We’ve checked everyone living in the nearby villages. The rest are from the military district.”
Hearing “military district,” Li Hong’s expression changed slightly.
That meant they had no way to retrieve the items. It would be extremely difficult for them to get inside the military district.
Li Hong thought for a while, then said, “Hu Chunhua mentioned that a village girl named Yun Feng has a fiancé who’s a regiment commander in the military district. And Yun Su, the girl who sells goods at the supply depot, has a fiancé who’s a doctor at the military district hospital. I heard their family is coming to the village tomorrow to propose. Let’s see if we can find an opportunity to work through those two.”
Seeing that Li Biao’s expression remained sour, Li Hong didn’t want to continue. She coldly added, “After this incident, some people in the village are suspicious of us. You’d better get Hu Chunhua pregnant soon. That way, the villagers will see us as one of their own.”
No one had said anything outright. But Li Hong could clearly feel the shift in how the villagers treated her today. Fair enough—they’d only moved in recently, and now this happened. It was natural for them to be suspicious of strangers.
Since they couldn’t get the items for now, they might as well integrate into the village quickly. Only then could they continue their search.
Speaking of which, Li Hong had also learned that Yun Su’s fiancé had been on that boat. She heard he’d fallen into the sea and been rescued. Li Hong actually remembered him.
She knew exactly why he’d fallen into the sea.
—
Friday had been tense in the village, but Saturday was very calm. Everyone was either working or tidying up their homes after the burglary. Yun Su had people constantly asking about locks, but the brigade captain resolved that issue, so she had a fairly easy day.
Saturday passed in this relaxed atmosphere, and soon it was the weekend.
This was the day the Ji family of three came to visit.
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