"Mom, don't get agitated. The item isn't going anywhere; it's at their house. It's a bicycle, after all. Let's just hear what Dad has to say first," Chen Lishu said, stopping Li Xiulan as she was rolling up her sleeves, ready to charge forward.
If they made the first move, they would lose the moral high ground.
"Yes, Mom. Once we find the item, let's see if she can still be as arrogant as she is now. Don't get so angry that you hurt yourself," Zhang Qin added, also trying to console her.
Li Xiulan could only huff and glare fiercely at the three members of the Liu family.
"Alright, I'll agree to any conditions you set, but there's just one thing. If the bicycle is found here in this courtyard, I won't settle this quietly. Those two brothers must go to jail," she declared.
Stealing a bicycle wasn't a major crime, but two to three months of re-education through labor was almost a certainty.
Upon hearing the prospect of jail, the two brothers visibly panicked. They exchanged glances, confident that their hiding spot for the bicycle was foolproof and that ordinary people would never find it. A surge of confidence immediately filled them.
"Fine, you search. If you don't find it, compensate us quickly," Liu Dabao moved aside slightly, clearing the doorway.
The Liu family had no one who worked diligently. Besides a bare house, the courtyard was almost in plain sight.
Chen Lishu's gaze fell upon the three members of the Liu family. She felt that their easy agreement meant the bicycle was definitely not hidden in the house.
As expected, after the village head Sun Yuzhu and the public security director Zhao Shucheng turned around and searched the house, they quickly came out and shook their heads at the party secretary Zhang Changhe and Gu Shoufu.
A bicycle, being such a large item, was almost impossible to hide, and would be spotted at a glance.
The Gu family members looked displeased when the two found nothing. For a moment, no one spoke.
Widow Liu immediately became spirited. "I already said your whole family is wrongly accusing us, bullying people. What more do you want? What's the difference between this and riding on our necks and defecating? It's not even dry poop, it's liquid!" she exclaimed. "Secretary, Captain, you've all seen it, twenty yuan..."
"We haven't finished searching yet. What are you clamoring about?" Gu Xingmin suddenly spoke up, turning and walking towards the courtyard entrance.
Chen Lishu noticed the Liu brothers' expressions change rapidly. Only when she saw Gu Xingmin heading towards the outhouse did their stiff expressions relax.
Gu Xingmin, enduring the stench, took a look around the outhouse and emerged with a rather unpleasant expression. He found nothing, but was instead disgusted by the Liu family's outhouse.
While rural outhouses usually had a strong odor, the excrement could be exchanged for work points, and each family kept theirs quite clean. Only the Liu family's was almost impossible to step in.
"How is it? Are you convinced now? Hurry up and pay the money and leave. We still have to sleep and get up early to go to work tomorrow. If we miss work, can you afford to compensate us?" Widow Liu, seeing that everyone had found nothing, was delighted. She spoke to the Gu family with her chin held high.
"You lazy good-for-nothings are suddenly so diligent. Hurry up and tell us where you hid the bicycle, or else I'll guard your house starting tonight. If you have the guts, hide the bicycle forever!"
Li Xiulan was furious, her voice practically squeezed through her teeth.
"If you want to stay up all night, you can. Pay the money first," Liu Dabao said dismissively, still fixated on the twenty yuan.
Gu Shoufu had promised earlier, and without a word, he reached into his pocket to get the money.
Seeing his movement, the Liu family members' eyes lit up.
"Dad, wait a moment," Chen Lishu said, stopping him. Then she turned to Gu Xingguo and Gu Xingmin. "Eldest Brother, Second Brother, go and check the cellar next to the outhouse."
Chen Lishu swept her flashlight over the cellar entrance, which was covered by two bundles of corn stalks.
Every rural family dug a cellar to store things like potatoes and carrots. To prevent water leakage or things falling in, most families would use wooden boards or old iron pots as covers. However, the Liu family was lazy and simply used two bundles of corn stalks as a lid.
As soon as Chen Lishu spoke, the Liu brothers' expressions changed in unison.
"What's there to see in the cellar? We said we didn't steal it," the brothers still tried to obstruct them, but Gu Shoufu stepped forward to block them. At the same time, he turned to his two sons, "You two go and look."
Gu Xingguo and Gu Xingmin immediately went over with their flashlights and soon saw the bicycle standing upright inside the cellar.
Widow Liu and her two sons were completely stunned when the bicycle was found.
"Now what else do you have to say?" Li Xiulan snorted heavily at the Liu family.
"Yuzhu, we'll have to trouble the team to provide a vehicle. Shucheng, you'll have to work hard and accompany me to the Public Security Bureau," Gu Shoufu said after glancing at the Liu family.
"Alright, Brother Gu. I'll go find someone to harness a cart," Zhao Shucheng, as the public security director, had to accompany them.
"Uncle, the children are still young and acted out of impulse. For the sake of our many years as neighbors, please don't send them to the Public Security Bureau, alright? Look, the bicycle is right here, and you haven't suffered any losses. I'll have them apologize to you and kowtow." Widow Liu panicked and quickly stepped forward to beg for mercy.
"If you can't teach your children properly, don't protect them. It's a good opportunity to send them for labor reform for a while, perhaps they'll learn their lesson," Gu Shoufu said, his attitude firm.
After the villagers organized to escort the brothers away, and listening to Widow Liu's wailing, the Gu family members pretended not to hear. They had to go to work early the next day and each returned to their rooms to sleep.
"I really didn't expect the Liu family's two boys would hide the bicycle in the cellar. If these two brats put their minds to good use, they wouldn't have to let their mother support them at such an old age," Li Xiulan sighed. Everyone then went back to their respective rooms to sleep.
The next day, after Li Xiulan and the others went to work, Chen Lishu worked for half the day. In the afternoon, before leaving, she picked some beans, eggplant, and tomatoes from her private plot, then packed the thirty-odd 'fake collars' she had already made before riding her bicycle back to town.
Upon arriving in town, Chen Lishu first delivered the goods home, then went out again to buy some rice and flour. Returning home, she saw that the time was about right and began to roll out noodles.
Gu Xingping, returning from school, knew Chen Lishu was back when she saw the bicycle parked in the yard. Smelling the aroma of cooking from the kitchen, she went straight in without even putting down her schoolbag.
"Third Sister-in-law, you're back! I missed you so much."
Chen Lishu smiled. "The noodles are out of the pot. Go back to your room, put down your schoolbag, and wash your hands. I brought some vegetables from home. I'll also take some to the two neighboring families later."
"Okay." Gu Xingping went back to her room to put away her schoolbag. Chen Lishu picked up the divided vegetables and went out the yard gate. She first went to the Wang family, and later delivered to the Ding family.
"I picked these from our private plot and brought some over. I also brought some for you."
Sun Shuzhen and her husband had also just returned from work. Seeing the vegetables in her hand, they smiled and said, "I was just worrying about what vegetables to buy, and you've brought them over."