80s Transmigration: The Young Widow's Hustle to Riches-Chapter 113 - 110: We All Know the Thief

The old lady said anxiously, "Go and see, quick! I heard someone say something’s wrong at Lin Lan’s house?"

"You stay here and watch Dandan." Yang Dingbang rushed out, opened the back door, and said to Zhang Rongqing, who was standing outside, "Brother Zhang, let’s go." With that, he took off like a shot.

"Lin Lan came out through the back door!" Zhang Rongqing yelled after him, seeing how fast he was running.

Yang Dingbang ran to the bamboo grove and saw that the wicker gate and the back gate were both open. He went straight into Lin Lan’s house, and the moment Little Douzi saw him, he burst into a wail.

"Uncle, there was a bad guy!"

Yang Dingbang ruffled his fluffy hair. "Big boys don’t cry!" he said, then walked over to Lin Lan. "Sister-in-law, where’s the thief?"

Lin Lan pointed at the hand pinned to the kitchen door. "The bastard is still outside."

Yang Dingbang saw the bloody hand pinned to the door and was utterly shocked. He glanced at Lin Lan, then turned, went out the back door, and headed toward the front yard.

Lin Lan said to Li Guizhi, "Sister Li, could you please take Little Douzi to your place? He needs to sleep."

Li Guizhi nodded. "Okay!"

Lin Lan gave Little Douzi a kiss. "Be a good boy, sweetie. Go with Auntie Li. Mommy will come pick you up in a little while."

Little Douzi nodded wearily. "Hurry back, Mommy."

"I will." Lin Lan stroked his small face, then hurried toward the front yard.

Zhang Rongqing ran, panting, to the back gate. Seeing Li Guizhi come out, he asked anxiously, "Where’s the thief?"

Li Guizhi pointed toward the kitchen. "Outside the kitchen door. Little Lin asked me to take Little Douzi home."

"You head back, then. I’m going to take a look." Zhang Rongqing also headed for the front yard.

When Yang Dingbang got to the front yard, he shone his flashlight in front of the kitchen and saw a man curled up on the ground. When the man saw him approaching, he quickly ducked his head between his knees.

He recognized the man and barked in a low voice, "Ye San! It’s you!"

Ye San looked up, his face a mask of misery. "Captain Yang, I was wrong! Please, let me go. Just help me get this knife out of my hand."

"You had the guts to break in and assault someone, but you don’t have the guts to face the consequences?"

Yang Dingbang stared at him coldly. He saw a foot-long dagger tucked into the back of Ye San’s waistband and thought of the atrocities home invaders inflicted on their victims. He was incredibly relieved that Lin Lan had been so brave.

Ye San looked at him pitifully. "Captain Yang, we’re in the same squad. Please... I just wanted to get some cash. I wasn’t thinking of anything else..."

"You animal!" Yang Dingbang was so furious he kicked him.

THUD! Ye San slammed against the door, jarring the hand pinned to it. A wave of excruciating pain shot through him, and he fainted.

Lin Lan ran into the front yard, scanning the area with her flashlight. In a corner by the eastern wall, she saw Dahuang lying completely still. "Dahuang... Dahuang..."

Calling his name softly, Lin Lan crouched down. Only then did she see he’d been struck on the head with a club. His scalp was split open, and blood trickled from the corners of his mouth and eyes. Her hands trembling, she put her fingers by his nose. Her heart sank. She gathered Dahuang into her arms and began to sob.

Hearing her sobs, Yang Dingbang saw Lin Lan cradling the dog and crying her heart out. He tried to comfort her, "Sister-in-law, please don’t be so sad. In a few days, I’ll help you find a new dog. For now, I’m going to the police to file a report. You wait at home for us to get here."

Lin Lan nodded, still holding Dahuang, and walked toward the covered walkway of the west wing.

Yang Dingbang said to the arriving Zhang Rongqing, "Brother Zhang, could you do me a favor and watch things here? I’m going to the bureau to file a report."

Zhang Rongqing nodded. "Sure, you go on. I’m going to see just what kind of heartless bastard this is."

"It’s someone we know," Yang Dingbang said as he opened the courtyard gate and left.

’Someone we know? Could it be Liu San?’ Zhang Rongqing walked over for a look and saw the thief was Ye San. He was so furious he spat in his direction. "So it was you, you dog! Even a rabbit doesn’t foul its own nest! We’re in the same squad, living right next to each other, and you do something this despicable!"

He turned and saw Lin Lan approaching Ye San, holding half a brick. He watched as she raised the brick and, without a moment’s hesitation, smashed it down on the man’s other hand. Zhang Rongqing’s eyes widened in shock, his jaw dropping.

"AHHH!" The pain jolted Ye San awake. He saw Lin Lan staring at him, her eyes bloodshot, and promptly passed out again.

"You animal. You’re worse than a dog."

Lin Lan thought about how, from now on, her dog would no longer be there to dart around her feet when she came home. She thought of how distraught Little Douzi would be when he found out. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she gently placed Dahuang in his doghouse. She would wait until after the police had come before taking him to the bamboo grove for burial.

Snapping out of his shock, Zhang Rongqing thought about it and felt a surge of pity for her. ’She’s so young, with no man to protect her household. If she isn’t fierce, more people will definitely try to take advantage of her in the future.’

A little over half an hour later, Yang Dingbang returned with police officers.

The moment the motorcycle and sidecar came to a stop, Zhang Rongqing quickly pulled Yang Dingbang aside to tell him about Lin Lan smashing the brick on Ye San’s hand.

He added, "She only hit him because she saw that her dog had been killed. She was just so heartbroken."

Yang Dingbang listened and nodded. "I know. I’ll take care of it."

When Ye San saw the police, he pleaded with them to remove the knife from his hand. Then he started complaining, accusing Yang Dingbang of kicking him and Lin Lan of smashing his hand with a brick.

A detective followed Yang Dingbang to the kitchen. After seeing Ye San’s hand, he turned to look at Yang Dingbang. "Captain Yang, has your sister-in-law had some kind of training?"

"No," Yang Dingbang sighed. "She’s a woman all alone with a young child. For her to find the courage to fight back when an intruder with a knife breaks in is already remarkable."

"Otherwise... you saw the size of that knife. If he’d managed to force his way inside, and knowing what a fierce woman my sister-in-law is... I can’t even imagine what would have happened."

The two detectives nodded in agreement. After taking photographs, they pulled the long knife from Ye San’s palm and placed it in an evidence bag. They examined the door latch, which had been dislodged by the knife, then went to inspect the base of the courtyard wall. There, they found a piece of meat and a wooden club, the latter stained with Dahuang’s blood and fur.

The detectives looked at Dahuang in the doghouse. Lin Lan recounted the night’s events for them. They wrote it all down, had her sign the statement and add her thumbprint, then questioned Zhang Rongqing. Finally, they left, taking the incessantly trembling Ye San with them.

Yang Dingbang gratefully walked Zhang Rongqing home. After exchanging a few words, he returned and handed the sleeping Little Douzi to Lin Lan.

When Lin Lan came out after putting Little Douzi to bed, Yang Dingbang said, "Sister-in-law, I’m going to get my grandma. She can stay with you."

Lin Lan shook her head. "That’s not necessary. Just go back and tell your grandma I’m all right. But Dahuang... he’s gone."

Yang Dingbang glanced at Dahuang in the doghouse. "Let me bury him for you."

"I can do it myself. You should go back. Your grandma will be worried." 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Alright." Worried about the old lady, Yang Dingbang strode away.

Lin Lan shut the courtyard gate. She went back, picked up the dog’s kennel and a hoe, and went to the backyard. She found a spot, dug a deep hole, and placed Dahuang inside. She filled it with earth and packed the soil down firmly with the hoe, then returned to the house with her flashlight and the tool.

She washed her hands and sat in a daze for a while. When she heard a rooster crow, she glanced at her watch—it was already five o’clock. She went into the bedroom to check on Little Douzi, who was sleeping soundly, then steeled herself and began making pastries for the morning market.