Chapter 262: Thieves in the cellar?

Chapter 262: Thieves in the cellar?

Chapter 262: Thieves in the cellar? (Subscribe!)

After picking up the general's golden seal, Li Kailang naturally had some unrealistic ideas and went to eight or nine scrap collection stations.

In the end, apart from buying a bunch of scrap copper and iron, and badly damaged ancient books and papers, I didn't come across any antiques.

"There really is no such thing as a cheap thing in the world. How can such a simple thing always happen? I am just daydreaming."

Li Kailang sighed and went home.

"Although I didn't find any antiques, I did buy a lot of scrap copper and iron. It's good to restore them and use them as recycling resources."

Li Kailang went to the container for all professional maintenance and took out the rust removal tools. There were a lot of things in it, even a gasoline engine.

After a lot of hard work, Li Kailang had nearly ten kilograms of repaired scrap copper and iron, which provided him with the resources to turn back time.

After all, just one component requires 1 kilograms of rice, and four components require 700 kilograms of rice, and rice is the most expensive grain.

From this we can see that the more precious something is, the more food it consumes, so it is better to buy suitable materials.

With scrap copper and iron available, Li Kailang tried again. To reverse a component, only 4 kilograms of scrap iron was needed, which was much cheaper than food.

It is even cheaper than using gold. These 4 kilograms of scrap iron cost less than 4 yuan.

After repairing the General's Golden Seal, Li Kailang will no longer be able to use the time travel machine this month.

As soon as the thought came to his mind, he left the space.

Before he knew it, Li Kailang was busy until almost evening, and everyone in the yard went home to cook.

"Oh no, oh no! Something terrible has happened. Everyone, come to the backyard and take a look!"

Suddenly, a voice came from the backyard. Everyone's heart tightened. They didn't even have time to put down the work in their hands and hurried to the backyard.

At the entrance of the cellar in the backyard, Aunt Chen paced back and forth with an anxious look on her face.

Seeing everyone coming, she hurried forward, pointed at the cellar with a trembling hand, and said in a trembling voice:
"There's a thief in our cellar! My food has been stolen!"

When everyone heard this, they were immediately shocked.

"What! Aunt Chen, are you kidding me?"

"Yes, our cellar is guarded by someone every day, how could it be stolen?"

"Aunt Chen, are you mistaken?"

Everyone asked questions at once, and the scene suddenly became chaotic.

Aunt Chen waved her hands and explained: "Really, I'm not lying to you guys. My family's food is gone, a full 10 kilograms of flour is missing. I put it in a bag, and now the bag is gone."

Yi Zhonghai stepped forward and asked, "Are you sure you remembered it correctly? The lock of the cellar was intact. How could the thief get in?"

Aunt Chen shook her head firmly: "Really, I didn't find it. I searched the cellar and it's nowhere to be found. I put it there well. The bag is where my food is."

"No!" Yi Zhonghai frowned and continued to ask: "Did you take it home to eat?"

Aunt Chen hurriedly shook her head and denied: "No, I put this white flour in when I was on duty last time. There is no white flour at home, so how could I have eaten it?"

Then, he turned to look at his son Chen Tongjing, "Son, has our family eaten white flour this month?"

Chen Tongjing lowered his head and thought for a while, then said with certainty: "Definitely not. My family has been eating coarse grains for the past month, and the best thing is cornmeal."

Hearing this, everyone suddenly felt something was wrong.

"Oh no! My food, my food!" Yan Bugui suddenly shouted and rushed into the cellar.

"Oh no, my flour is also stored in the cellar."

"Alas, my rice is also stored in the cellar."

Everyone also remembered their own food and rushed into the cellar to check.

Soon, the cellar was crowded with people, all checking their own food.

"Oh no! Oh no! We are running low on rice."

"Ah! I'm running low on white flour too!"

"Where's my cornmeal?"

A resounding scream erupted in the cellar, and everyone's face showed a look of fear. Everyone had lost some food.

In an instant, everyone's eyes widened, their eyes were bloodshot, and they were filled with fear.

“The food was stolen!”

“The food was stolen!”

"There's a thief in the cellar!"

There was a great deal of noise and confusion in the cellar.

"Quiet!" Yi Zhonghai yelled, "Everyone go out and talk!"

The crowd came out of the cellar in a large crowd.

"Uncle, let's go and call the police. There's a thief in the cellar!" Yan Bugui said hurriedly.

"Yes, this is our food, we can't let anyone steal it."

"No!" Yi Zhonghai shook his head and shouted, "You can't call the police!"

"Why?" everyone couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, the food was stolen, can't we call the police?" everyone couldn't help but ask.

Yi Zhonghai explained: "We have so much food in our cellar. If we call the police, everyone outside will know that we have food."

"When there is a shortage of food, everyone will come to us. We all know how scarce food is out there, so we can't call the police."

When everyone heard this, they fell silent.

Yi Zhonghai's worries are not without reason. In this age of food shortage, any disturbance may cause unnecessary trouble.

However, how could people be willing to watch their own food being stolen?
Aunt Chen asked, "Uncle, why don't we call the police? Are we just going to watch the thieves steal our food?"

Yi Zhonghai thought for a moment and said, "There are people guarding our cellar every day. It is impossible for a thief to steal food without being able to hide it from someone sleeping in the cellar."

"Besides, the cellar is locked at night, so even if a thief gets in, he can't get out."

After saying that, Yi Zhonghai looked around at the anxious crowd.

"I think the food in the cellar was stolen by someone from our yard. Whoever stole it, please come forward and confess."

"Don't force everyone to get to the bottom of this. Otherwise, if you're discovered, don't blame me for being merciless!"

"Yes, whoever stole it, please come out now!"

Everyone echoed, and everyone's eyes were focused on each other, looking for the guilty thief.

For a moment, the yard was silent, with only the heavy breathing of the crowd remaining.

However, no matter how hard people searched, no one came forward to admit it.

At this time, everyone's eyes turned to Jia Zhang and Sha Zhu.

Jia Zhang was a repeat offender and had been to jail.

Sha Zhu is a chef. As the saying goes, if a cook doesn't steal, the crops won't be harvested. Sha Zhu often brings back food from the canteen.

Sha Zhu said confidently: "Why are you looking at me? I have my own food. I do better than you. Why would I steal your food? I won't do such a despicable thing!"

Sha Zhu straightened his chest out with confidence, looking as if he had a clear conscience.

Seeing this, everyone turned their attention to Jia Zhang.

Jia Zhang imitated everyone else, staring at the people around her and pretending to share the same hatred for the enemy as everyone else.

There was no trace of guilt or remorse on her face, as if it really had nothing to do with her.

Yi Zhonghai shouted, "Okay, since no one has come out to admit it, let's ask them one by one? One by one?"

"Third Uncle, please take note of what everyone is missing. I don't believe that we can eat all the food at once if we are missing so much."

Suddenly, everyone's eyes lit up. Yan Bugui hurried home to get paper and pen to record, and began to ask everyone about their losses.

"After counting, we found that everyone lost a few pounds, a total of 42 pounds. The Chen family lost the most, 10 pounds of flour," Yan Bugui concluded.

At this time, Aunt Chen suddenly looked towards the Jia family, her eyes full of suspicion: "Jia Zhang, how come we are all short of food, but your family has nothing short of food?"

Jia Zhang hurriedly explained, "How would I know? Besides, it's not just our family that has a lot of money. The Third Master and the Li family kid also have a lot of money, right?"

Yan Bugui quickly explained: "Hey, please don't blame me, I didn't store the flour in the cellar, and the thieves couldn't steal it from me."

Although the words were somewhat self-deprecating and revealed a bit of helplessness, they seemed prescient at this moment.

Everyone looked at Li Kailang, waiting for his explanation.

Li Kailang said calmly: "Don't forget, who helped you get the food?"

Everyone nodded. Since Li Kailang helped them get food, he must be able to get food on his own without stealing.

So, everyone's attention was once again focused on Jia Zhang.

Seeing this, Jia Zhang's heart tightened, but she pretended to be calm on the surface: "Why are you looking at me? Maybe the thief hasn't come to my house yet. If it's a few days later, he will come to my house."

Although she spoke lightly, her tone revealed a hint of nervousness.

However, no one bought into the explanation given that morning, and they began to talk among themselves, suspecting that Jia Zhang was the culprit who stole the grain.

"Cough cough!" Yi Zhonghai coughed twice to attract everyone's attention.

He said seriously, "Excuse me, Third Uncle. There is so much food missing. I don't believe anyone can finish it so quickly. Who was on duty yesterday? Stand up!"

"I, I!" Jia Zhang replied.

Aunt Chen saw this and quickly pointed at her and said, "It turned out that you stole my food!"

Jia Zhang denied it flatly: "You are talking nonsense! Why would I steal your food? What right do you have to accuse me of stealing your food? Have you found your food?"

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai shouted, "Enough! Stop arguing! Wait until I finish asking questions!"

He looked at Jia Zhang and asked, "Jia Zhang, you were on duty yesterday. Did you find anything?"

"No, no."

"Really? Don't lie!"

"Really not!" Jia Zhang insisted.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai already had the answer in his mind.

"Okay, let's assume what you said is true. Who was on duty the day before yesterday? Who was on duty the day before yesterday? Everyone, stand up!"

Yi Zhonghai asked around and everyone said they didn't find anything unusual, so someone must have lied.

Yi Zhonghai's face turned pale and he scolded: "It seems that someone is still stubborn and refuses to admit it. I'll give you one more chance. If you don't come out, don't blame me for being rude!"

But still no one came forward to admit it.

Yi Zhonghai said. "Okay, since you don't admit it, let's check them one by one, starting with the cellar."

"With so much food, it will take time to take it away. The cellar door was opened and closed by the three of us uncles. The food must not have been taken out yet."

"Second uncle, third uncle, if one more person comes out from each courtyard, the six of us will check and search one by one. I don't believe that we won't be able to find the food."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone echoed and expressed their approval of this decision. "What the eldest uncle said is right. The food must still be in the cellar. We can definitely find it."

Aunt Chen volunteered: "I want to go! I'm short of 10 kilograms of flour, no one can compete with me for it."

The people in the backyard naturally wouldn't compete with Aunt Chen.

Three people were quickly chosen: Cui Yuan in the front yard, Sha Zhu in the middle yard, and Aunt Chen in the back yard.

Jia Zhang retorted: "No, why should Sha Zhu go? I am worried about Sha Zhu, I want to go!"

Aunt Chen said, "Oh, Jia Zhang, you are feeling guilty, aren't you? Are you afraid that we will find out about you?"

Her words immediately attracted the attention of others, and everyone began to look at Jia Zhang with suspicion.

"Bah!" Jia Zhang retorted: "You are talking nonsense. Why would I steal your food?"

Aunt Chen: "If we didn't steal your food, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that we will steal your food?"

"Yes!" Jia Zhang agreed as a matter of course.

As soon as these words came out, the three uncles frowned, and Yan Bugui quickly retorted:
"Ms. Jia Zhang, what you said is really wrong. How could a teacher like me do such a stealing thing?"

The more they looked at Jia Zhang, the more suspicious they became, thinking it was very likely that she had done it.

Liu Haizhong nodded and said, "Since Jia Zhang is coming, let Jia Zhang come. We will search your food for the first time."

He directly blocked Yi Zhonghai's mouth when he was about to interrupt.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai could only shut up.

When Jia Zhang heard this, she immediately became anxious: "No, why should I be the first one to be examined?"

Aunt Chen retorted mercilessly: "Oh, why are you afraid? Looking at you like this, it must be you who stole our food, otherwise why are you afraid?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Jia Zhang's eyes flashed with panic, but she still said stubbornly, "I have nothing to be afraid of. I'll check it out."

Seeing this, Aunt Chen became more certain of her guess, "Okay, then I'll check yours first. Three uncles, let's hurry up."

Yi Zhonghai ordered: "Okay, let's check now, everyone wait for us outside."

Seven people entered the cellar, and the others lay at the entrance of the cellar and watched them.

Aunt Chen hurried to Jia Zhang's location and started searching.

Jia Zhang quickly stopped Aunt Chen and said, "Hey, why are you searching my house?"

Aunt Chen looked at Jia Zhang and said, "Oh, you dare to stop me. Weren't you not afraid just now? Now you are afraid. It must be you who stole my food."

Jia Zhang: "No, you're talking nonsense!" "I didn't steal!"

Aunt Chen: "If you didn't steal it, then what are you afraid of? I think it was you who stole it."

"Yes, Jia Zhang, if you have no head, what are you afraid of? If you dare to stop me again, I don't think there is any need to search, because it was you who stole it." Liu Haizhong said.

"Yes, the second uncle is right. You stopped Jia Zhang because you felt guilty. It was you who stole everyone's food." Someone echoed.

"I didn't, you're talking nonsense!" Jia Zhang was still being stubborn.

"No? If there is no answer, why are you trying to stop me? Aunt Chen, please continue searching." Liu Haizhong ordered, "Jia Zhang, if you dare to stop me again, you are the thief."

Hearing this, Jia Zhang could only watch Aunt Chen search her house for food.

Jia Zhang watched Aunt Chen carry the food over bit by bit. Beads of sweat began to appear on her forehead and her heart beat faster and faster.

"Found it!" Aunt Chen shouted excitedly and took out a familiar bag from a pile of food.

She widened her eyes, glared at Jia Zhang, and asked loudly: "You are so good, Jia Zhang, you stole my things, what else do you have to say?"

Jia Zhang's face turned pale and her lips trembled as she wanted to refute, but looking at the bag in Aunt Chen's hand, she knew she could no longer argue.

She gritted her teeth and denied it stubbornly: "I didn't steal it, don't spit on me!"

But under this iron-clad situation, Jia Zhang's explanation was so pale.

Aunt Chen did not give up, she continued to search.

After a while, more hidden flour and rice were found.

Aunt Chen pointed at Jia Zhang angrily and asked, "Jia Zhang, what else do you have to say? Everyone's food came from you, what else do you have to quibble about?"

"I, I." Jia Zhang was hesitant to speak and could only pass the blame on others.

She pointed at Qin Huairu and said loudly: "She made me do this. She wanted to eat fine food but didn't want to eat the food at home, so she made me steal from everyone. If you want to blame someone, blame her!"

"Me!" Qin Huairu was stunned. She had no idea what was going on.

Seeing this, everyone had no idea what was going on. Jia Zhang was trying to shirk responsibility and put the blame on Qin Huairu.

Aunt Chen was even more furious and rolled up her sleeves.

"Jia Zhang, stop trying to pass the buck here. It was obviously you who did it, and you let Qin Huairu take the blame."

"I'll beat you to death, you thief, you liar!"

"Pa!" A crisp slap was heard, and Aunt Chen slapped Jia Zhang hard.

Jia Zhang was hit so hard that she staggered and almost fell to the ground.

She covered her cheek and grimaced in pain.

Aunt Chen still felt unsatisfied, so she swung her hand and slapped him again, cursing, "You thief, liar!"

The people at the entrance of the cellar also echoed: "Aunt Chen, there is still my share, help me fight too!"

"Okay, today I will help Dahuo vent his anger and teach this uneducated guy a lesson!"

After saying that, Aunt Chen slapped him left and right without mercy.

After beating her for a while, Jia Zhang's face became red and swollen, and Yi Zhonghai could no longer bear it.

"Enough, enough!" Yi Zhonghai stepped forward to stop it.

Aunt Chen cried, "Uncle, you have to take care of us! If Jia Zhang dares to steal this little grain today, she will dare to take away all our grain tomorrow. This is our hard-earned money!"

"Yes, uncle, you have to make the decision for us!" The people at the cellar entrance quickly echoed.

Hearing this, Yi Zhonghai had nothing to say.

Someone suggested: "Master, I think we should just send Jia Zhang to prison and let her stay there for three to five months."

"That's good. Send Jia Zhang in and she'll behave herself."

"Yes, this way there won't be any thieves in our yard."

This proposal was quickly recognized by everyone and everyone spoke up in agreement.

"Hold it, oh my god!" Jia Zhang didn't care about the pain on her face, and hurriedly pulled Yi Zhonghai's trouser leg, begging.

He must have been reminded of the “good life” in prison.

Yi Zhonghai thought so too, but he knew that the proposal was somewhat unrealistic.

"Everyone be quiet and listen to me." Yi Zhonghai raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

"I know everyone is angry and hates Jia Zhang, but sending Jia Zhang to prison is not that easy."

"Why?"

"Yes, why? Jia Zhangshi is already in this state, why don't you send him to prison?"

Everyone spoke out in opposition, while Jia Zhang looked at Yi Zhonghai hopefully.

Yi Zhonghai explained loudly: "I will also send Jia Zhang to prison, but there must be a crime to send her to prison."

"It's impossible to send someone to jail whenever you want. The police need to see evidence before arresting someone."

"We have so much food here. If the police find us, they will probably trace our origin and whereabouts."

"By then, not only will we not be able to solve the problem, but we will cause even greater trouble. Besides, won't people outside know that we have food?"

Hearing this, everyone fell silent instantly.

Compared to having their food stolen, they don't want outsiders to know that they have food.

"Uncle, how do you think we should deal with this? We can't just let it go. If she dares to steal today, she will dare to rob tomorrow!"

"Yes, uncle, you have to make the decision for us. We can't just watch this go on like this."

Yi Zhonghai raised his hand again to signal: "Punishment will definitely be imposed, and we must give everyone an explanation no matter what."

Yi Zhonghai looked at Jia Zhang who was cowering on the side and said, "I think it's better to do this. According to the grain that everyone lost, the Jia family will not only compensate for the stolen grain, but also double the compensation!"

"This way, everyone can get their lost food back and also get some extra compensation."

"Everyone can get at least 4 kilograms of flour, and the Chen family can get at most 20 kilograms of flour. I think everyone can accept this."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately agreed. The food could be recovered and compensation could be given, so why not do it?

Aunt Chen was so excited that she couldn't believe her ears: "Uncle, is what you said true? Can our family really get 20 kilograms of flour?"

Yi Zhonghai nodded affirmatively: "Really, if the Jia family doesn't want to compensate for 20 kilograms of flour, then use other grains to compensate, after all, we can't let everyone suffer a loss!"

"Master, you are wise!"

"Long live the Great Master!"

Everyone cheered, but they were secretly regretting in their hearts, why didn’t they report more lost food just now?
Yi Zhonghai continued: "From now on, Jia Zhang is not allowed to enter the cellar. The Jia family needs someone else to be in charge of the cellar."

"The sanitation of our yard inside and outside will be entirely in the hands of Jia Zhang for the next three months. Everyone should supervise her together. If she fails to clean for one day, she will be punished to clean for two days."

Finally, he looked at everyone and asked, "What do you think of my handling of this matter?"

"Good, good, good!" Everyone agreed. What's wrong with that?

At this time, Jia Zhang was lying on the ground, looking extremely miserable. After her theft was exposed, everyone was filled with disgust and contempt for her.

Jia Zhang was beaten, and she should pay the compensation and be punished. There is nothing more to say.

Only Jia Dongxu and Qin Huairu were left with bitter faces. They were happy, but the Jia family was in trouble.

There are a total of 42 kilograms of grain, which doubled to 84 kilograms. They are all fine grains. How could the Jia family have so much in reserve?

Yi Zhonghai looked at the satisfied expressions on everyone's faces and knew that the matter had been properly handled. He waved his hand:

"Since everyone agrees with this solution, let's all go back and wait for the Jia family to come and compensate us!"

"Great!" Everyone cheered happily and then left the cellar.

"Oh, I'll take all my fine grains away first, so that they won't be stolen next time." Aunt Chen muttered softly, searching for all the fine grains in her house and taking them away.

Seeing this, everyone hurried down to take away the fine food.

Soon, the entire cellar was filled with only coarse grains and vegetables.

"You bastard, you thief!"

Looking at Jia Zhang lying on the ground, everyone looked at her with disgust. If this wasn't a cellar, everyone would have wanted to spit at her.

It is true that no matter how careful you are, you can never guard against a thief within your own home.

(End of this chapter)