Yang Xuan naturally understood He Yuzhu's thoughts, but he still felt a bit soft-hearted and couldn't bring himself to deal a fatal blow to Qin Huairu's family. However, after this incident, he and He Yuzhu had reached the end of their relationship with the Jia family, severing all ties.
“Fine. You can handle your own affairs however you want!” Yang Xuan turned and walked away.
Xu Damao was anxious: “Silly Zhu, you’re such a fool. No wonder you’ve been tricked into becoming a lifelong bachelor! How can you endure such outrageous treatment?”
“Xu Damao, what does my business have to do with you?” He Yuzhu was not in the mood to accept Xu Damao's sympathy. Besides, Xu Damao wasn't genuinely trying to help him; he was just seizing the opportunity to get back at him for the chicken theft.
When Qin Huairu returned home, she said to Bang Geng, “Later, you need to return the oil can and flour from Silly Zhu’s house. Mom, you took Silly Zhu's money, right? You need to take it out and return it.”
“Why should I? The money has Silly Zhu's name on it. As long as we stick to our story that we didn’t steal, who can do anything to us?” Jia Zhangshi had already hidden the money away.
“Mom, if they really start searching house by house tonight, they’ll find everything. The flour bag has a mark on it. Many people have seen Silly Zhu’s oil can; it can be recognized at a glance. Do you think we can just run away?” Qin Huairu was truly speechless at her greedy mother-in-law. Not only was she greedy, but she was also foolish and shortsighted.
“Qin Huairu, why are you so stupid? I’ll cut the bag into pieces and burn it in the stove, pour the oil from the can into our can, then smash it and throw the pieces into the public toilet. No one will know! Do you think Silly Zhu can recognize the oil in our can as his?” Jia Zhangshi said.
“Doing that means Silly Zhu won’t be able to do anything to us. But do you think Silly Zhu will help our family again in the future? Do you know how much money I borrowed from Silly Zhu this month? And how much leftover food he brought back for us? Didn’t you eat any? If Silly Zhu feels cold towards our family, will he still do that in the future?” Qin Huairu was getting anxious.
“Why did Silly Zhu lend you money? Isn’t it because he’s after you? You tell me honestly, what have you done with Silly Zhu behind our backs? Have you done anything to betray our Jia family or Dongxu?” Jia Zhangshi immediately started to make baseless accusations.
“Mom, if you keep saying this, I really can’t hold this family together anymore. From now on, you can manage the household expenses and see if you can support the family!” Qin Huairu couldn’t help but shed tears.
“Qin Huairu, don’t act pitiful every time this comes up. Don’t think I don’t know anything about your little affairs at the steel factory!” Jia Zhangshi said.
No matter how much Qin Huairu pleaded, she couldn’t get Jia Zhangshi to pull out the dozens of dollars belonging to He Yuzhu.
Bang Geng had already poured the oil from He Yuzhu’s can into his own can, then smashed the can with a clang, stuffing the shards into the flour bag from He Yuzhu’s house. Taking advantage of the darkness, he sneaked out the door and quickly ran out of the courtyard, heading straight for the public toilet.
“Catch the thief!”
It was quite a coincidence that Yang Xuan was about to go to the toilet. Just as he stepped out, he saw a shadow darting across the front yard, vaguely noticing that the shadow was carrying something. Yang Xuan shouted and quickly chased after it.
Yang Xuan's shout startled everyone in the courtyard, and they all rushed out of their homes.
Yang Xuan also quickly ran out of the courtyard.
Bang Geng hurried to the toilet, preparing to dispose of the flour bag quickly.
The public toilets of this era were quite unpleasant, with plenty of urine stains on the floor. In his panic, Bang Geng slipped and fell flat on his back. The flour bag flew out of his hands and hit the toilet wall.
Although Bang Geng fell, he couldn't stop his body from sliding directly toward the pit. As a child, he was relatively small, and although the pit wasn't large, his body still squeezed in. If he hadn't managed to brace himself with his hands in a panic, he would have surely fallen into the cesspool. This public toilet was shared by the entire alley, and the cesspool was not shallow; if he fell in, he would probably be submerged in filth.
Bang Geng was stuck at the edge of the pit, unable to go down or come up.
Yang Xuan ran in and saw Bang Geng covered in filth, immediately laughing: “Bang Geng, what are you doing in the cesspool?”
Bang Geng looked at Yang Xuan, gritting his teeth in anger: “I slipped down accidentally. Yang Xuan, come pull me up!”
Yang Xuan pinched his nose and ignored Bang Geng, glancing around the toilet until he quickly spotted the flour bag.
“Bang Geng, you came here to destroy evidence, didn’t you? That flour bag is from Silly Zhu’s house, right? Oh, and Silly Zhu’s oil can was smashed too. Your family is really ruthless. Silly Zhu left you a way out, and your family just cut off all ties.” Yang Xuan said.
“That flour bag has nothing to do with me; I just came to use the toilet. I could say that flour bag is yours!” Bang Geng was stubborn.
Yang Xuan wasn’t in a hurry to argue with Bang Geng.
People from the courtyard were quickly arriving.
This matter didn’t need any debate; everyone could see what was going on.
Yan Jiefang ran in, panting, the first to enter the public toilet.
“Yang Xuan, did you catch the thief in the toilet?”
Yang Xuan pointed at Bang Geng and said, “He’s right there!”
“Yang Xuan, you’re talking nonsense. You’re clearly the thief. I saw you destroying evidence here and then pushed me into the pit!” Bang Geng had truly inherited Jia Zhangshi's genes.
Yan Jiefang naturally wouldn’t believe Bang Geng and said to Yang Xuan, “I knew it was this kid. Previously, he even stole Xu Damao’s chicken!”
“Oh, you know about the chicken theft too?” Yang Xuan was quite surprised.
Yan Jiefang laughed: “This kid thought no one knew what he was doing. In fact, someone saw him stealing the chicken that day; it’s just that Xu Damao has no friends in the courtyard, and no one is willing to testify for him.”
Xu Damao was indeed a selfish person and had not made any friends in the courtyard. Plus, Lou Xiaoe was the daughter of a capitalist, so the people in the courtyard kept their distance from her.
“Yan Jiefang, you’re talking nonsense. I didn’t steal Xu Damao’s chicken. I found that chicken in the front yard!” Bang Geng quickly argued when he heard someone had seen him.
“So, you really did eat Xu Damao’s chicken.” Yang Xuan said.
Yang Xuan said this loudly, and everyone in the nearby courtyard could hear it clearly.
“How would I know that was Xu Damao’s chicken? If I hadn’t caught it, that chicken would have run away long ago. That chicken was mine!” Bang Geng insisted.
Xu Damao immediately shouted: “Everyone heard that! The hen that went missing from my house was stolen by Bang Geng!”
As everyone entered the public toilet and saw Bang Geng stuck at the edge of the pit, they couldn’t help but laugh.
Qin Huairu rushed over, angrily saying to Yang Xuan and Yan Jiefang: “What have you done to Bang Geng? He’s still just a child!”