The two hit it off immediately. Watching their son eagerly walk out the door, Widow Liu opened her mouth but said nothing in the end.
In her heart, she thought, since their family was so wealthy, they wouldn't miss this small loss.
Liu Dabao was cleaning the kitchen after dinner. Yue Hongmei had been suffering from severe morning sickness these past two days, so he had taken on almost all the household chores.
Yue Hongmei, sitting nearby, frowned. "How many times have I told you, after washing the dishes, you need to wipe the water stains from the stovetop. Why are you so careless when you work?"
"Yes, yes," Liu Dabao replied good-naturedly, quickly grabbing a rag to wipe it again.
If this were in the past, he would have certainly cursed. But now, with Yue Hongmei carrying his precious son, just thinking about having a son made him energetic while working.
When Liu Xiaobao and Chen Baozhu came in, they were surprised to see him working with an apron on.
"Brother, I need to talk to you about something."
Yue Hongmei had no regard for Widow Liu and her son. She glanced at Liu Xiaobao with displeasure and said, "Your uncle is here. Whatever it is, say it in front of me."
Hearing her words, Liu Dabao retracted his leg that had already stepped out.
This shrew was too bossy.
Despite his anger, Liu Xiaobao still had to force a smile and say, "Sister-in-law, it's a private matter."
Yue Hongmei said nothing more.
After Liu Dabao went out and listened to their conversation, he hesitated.
Liu Xiaobao urged, "We did this once before, and we got over a hundred yuan. Think about that vast mountain, we can hide anywhere and no one will find us."
"This time, we're planning a big haul. A fat pig should be worth at least one to two hundred yuan. If we get three or five, everyone will have more spending money," Chen Baozhu said, narrowing his eyes. Since they wouldn't lend him money, he wouldn't be polite.
"I..." Go.
"Oh, my stomach suddenly hurts a bit. Dabao, quickly help me lie down for a while." Just as Liu Dabao was about to agree, Yue Hongmei interrupted him. Hearing that her stomach hurt, he immediately became anxious. "Why does it hurt all of a sudden? Is something wrong? Hurry, go inside." Da Feng Novel Network
Before going back into the house, Yue Hongmei turned around and said coldly to Liu Xiaobao and Chen Baozhu, "No matter what it is, my Dabao is busy. You two should leave now."
These two were good-for-nothing hooligans. Now that her life was finally a little better, she couldn't let Liu Dabao have any more dealings with them.
Liu Xiaobao and Chen Baozhu returned without success, but it didn't deter them from their plan to steal pigs from the mountain.
After preparing all the tools, they waited until the middle of the night before quietly sneaking onto the mountain.
The pigs in the sty, even if not yet ready for market, weighed at least one hundred and forty to fifty jin. Neither of them were strong men, so they needed to lift together.
"It's the same as last time, jump in through the back window," Chen Baozhu whispered. Under the moonlight, they skillfully headed for the pigsty's back window.
Initially, they thought it would be as smooth as last time. However, as soon as they climbed in, with two 'crackling' sounds under their feet, a sharp pain shot through their legs.
"Ah!!"
The two couldn't help but cry out in pain. Then, belatedly realizing they were stealing, they immediately gritted their teeth and fell silent.
But those two cries of pain immediately alerted Lin Da Zhong, who was on night duty. He quickly grabbed his flashlight and ran towards the pigsty.
As Chen Baozhu and Liu Xiaobao pried the pig jaws off their feet, they felt a strong beam of light shining at them. Terrified, they hurriedly tried to escape through the back window.
"Catch the thief—"
Lin Da Zhong shouted and, without slowing his pace, chased after them.
Hu Si'er and the others, who were sleeping soundly, were awakened by Lin Da Zhong's cry.
It had only been a few days since the last pig theft, and they were already daring to come back. Everyone was filled with anger. Without a moment's delay, some didn't even have time to put on their outerwear, rushing out in slippers.
"You two bastards won't get away!" Lin Da Zhong quickly climbed over the back window and relentlessly pursued them.
Chen Baozhu and Liu Xiaobao, injured in the feet, couldn't run fast. Seeing that Lin Da Zhong was catching up, and with several flashlight beams also approaching from a distance, they knew they would be in serious trouble if caught.
Thinking of this, Chen Baozhu suddenly stopped and quickly pulled out a pig-killing knife from his body.
"Brother Zhu, why did you stop? Run, or they'll find out it's us." Liu Xiaobao, seeing he wasn't following, hurriedly turned back. When he saw the knife in his hand, he froze in place, his voice trembling as he asked, "Brother Zhu, you..."
Before he could finish, Lin Da Zhong had already caught up. Upon realizing it was Chen Baozhu and Liu Xiaobao, he panted and said, "You, you two young rascals, instead of doing proper work, you're stealing pigs. Chen Baozhu, you're even stealing from your own home. Hurry and come back with me. They..."
Lin Da Zhong didn't finish speaking before he saw Chen Baozhu charging at him.
As the knife pierced his body, he was still somewhat stunned, looking at Chen Baozhu with disbelief.
"Who asked you to meddle," Chen Baozhu said viciously, his hands not stopping as he quickly stabbed twice more.
If Lin Da Zhong hadn't ruined his plans, perhaps he and Liu Xiaobao would have already gotten the pigs. In any case, he couldn't account for it to Zhu Lao Liu without money, so he might as well go all the way.
"Brother Zhu, they're catching up! Let's run!"
Liu Xiaobao, trembling, came over and pulled Chen Baozhu along as they ran down the mountain.
When Hu Si'er and the others arrived, they immediately saw Lin Da Zhong lying in the snow and rushed to help him up. "Dazhong, what happened?"
As the flashlight shone on him, they saw a patch of crimson, and they were horrified.
"How did this happen? Quickly, quickly carry him down the mountain to the hospital!"
"It was Chen Baozhu and Liu Xiaobao. Make sure those two don't get away," Lin Da Zhong said weakly.
...
The Gu family, who were sleeping soundly, were suddenly awakened by a rapid knocking on the door.
"What happened?" Li Xiulan and Gu Shoufu, putting on their clothes, got up. Gu Shoufu went to open the door.
Gu Xingdong and his brothers also came out of their rooms upon hearing the noise.
"Elder brother, are Third brother and his wife here? Something big has happened, Dazhong has been stabbed." The messenger was gasping for breath, clearly having run all the way.
Gu Shoufu: "Dazhong was stabbed? How is he? Has he been sent to the hospital?"
"We don't know how he is yet, only that he lost a lot of blood. The village is using a tractor to send him to the town."
"Uncle Changjiang, please wait a moment. I'll go back and put on some clothes and then I'll come with you." Gu Xingdong said with a serious expression, then turned back into the house.
He just got inside when he found Chen Lishu already putting on clothes.