Chapter 18: Public Condemnation

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Public Condemnation

"These people are in their fifties, what crime did she commit? Is she going to be thrown in jail?"

"What did she do? Wasn’t she looking after someone’s kid? Did something happen to the child? We’ve always said she was never good at babysitting. She couldn’t even manage her own kids, let alone someone else’s."

"Could it be that she was caught stealing? Don’t just say it, there’s a real possibility."

"..."

Liu Hongjun hadn’t spoken yet, and the nosy neighbors started speculating wildly.

Fu Xiaoxiao’s lips curled into a cold smile; it seemed Aunt Li wasn’t very popular in the village. Everyone gathered around to watch her downfall.

"Let’s go in and take a look!" Fu Xiaoxiao didn’t say much. Finding the evidence was much more convincing than words.

Fu Xiaoxiao led Lu Lin and Lu Chen into Aunt Li’s house. Once inside, she quietly instructed them, "Carefully look around later. Take out the things stolen from our house and place them outside in the yard, so those nosy dames can see."

"Alright." Lu Lin and Lu Chen nodded heavily and then followed the soldiers to search.

"Damn it, you’re not allowed to rummage through my stuff! I’ll sue you! I’ll fight you all!" Aunt Li struggled free once more, screaming. "Old Li, come out! Your wife is being bullied, come save me!"

"Li Guihua, stop shouting. Your man ran off just after seeing you brought back by the soldiers!" A villager who knew Aunt Li’s husband’s whereabouts laughed.

Her husband had seen her being caught by the soldiers and immediately turned and ran outside the village, fearing he would get caught if he was too slow.

"Must have done a lot of shady deeds, huh! Nobody even asked what she’d done, and she bolted out of guilt."

"Exactly, hahahaha..."

The nosy neighbors peeking over the wall couldn’t help but laugh, seeing Aunt Li embarrassed made them extraordinarily happy.

"Get out, all of you!" Aunt Li roared, but no one was intimidated by her.

"Hahahaha... She’s panicking, she’s panicked."

Looking at these nosy dames, Fu Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but see the joy they took in gossiping. Their backs didn’t hurt, and they had the strength to peek over the wall.

"Found it!" Lu Chen’s excited voice came from one of the rooms. Fu Xiaoxiao turned to see Lu Chen carrying out two hot water bottles.

"Dad bought these for my brother and me the day we got home..." Lu Chen said excitedly.

"You brat, stop spewing nonsense. I bought these myself for my son’s wedding!" Aunt Li pointed at Lu Chen angrily.

"Hmph, I’m not afraid of you. Dad specifically had our names engraved on them! Look, here it is!" Lu Chen stuck his tongue out at Aunt Li, flipping the bottles over to reveal the engraving.

Fu Xiaoxiao stepped forward to see the names Xiao Lin and Xiao Chen indeed carved on the bottom of the bottles.

"These were stolen from our house too!" Lu Lin emerged from the room with a crate of eggs, filled with various kinds.

"My brother found these; they’re wild chicken eggs, duck eggs, bird eggs..." Lu Chen immediately recognized them as the eggs he and his brother had saved, taken by Aunt Li.

The soldiers also brought out some items that did not belong in the house.

For example, brand-new industrial soap and even some enamel mugs and cups decorated with military logos...

"These are Liberation shoes, they must belong to Camp Commander Lu!" The soldier brought out two pairs of new shoes issued by their troop, two pairs every year.

"Good heavens! Got robbed at home!" Liu Hongjun said with a laugh, seeing military-branded items, Aunt Li had no room to argue.

"Wow, she really is a thief!" The villagers watching the scene glanced at the miscellaneous found items, all military-grade.

"There are many items without military logos, but they certainly came from Camp Commander Lu’s house," the soldier reported to Liu Hongjun.

Stuff like cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea leaves were all household items, difficult to specify.

Liu Hongjun had initially chosen Aunt Li because her family was the poorest in the village. He kindly offered her a part-time job helping with childcare, as long as things didn’t get out of hand, it was overlooked.

Little did he know, he’d found a thief for Lu Feng!

His face felt slapped as the items were laid out one by one!

"You still have the nerve to take Lu Feng’s money?" Fu Xiaoxiao looked at Aunt Li, speechless. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Aunt Li regretted deeply; she shouldn’t have been greedy for a bit of money and stirred trouble on the base. Now she’s lost everything.

The village chief arrived upon the villagers’ call, and upon entering, he saw a heap of military-exclusive items. His heart sank.

"Mr. Fu, how should we handle this?" Liu Hongjun looked at Fu Xiaoxiao, his eyes shifting to the village chief.

"Report her to the police." Fu Xiaoxiao replied without hesitation.

"Hiss..." The villagers gasped; once she’s in police custody, there’s no coming back, right?

The thought of Aunt Li going to jail filled them with a peculiar excitement.

"This... She did wrong, but isn’t calling the police a bit too much?" The village chief spoke reluctantly; even he didn’t favor the Li Family.

People in rural areas feared the police most of all, and if word got out, how would their village hold its head high?

"She stole so many things, shouldn’t she be held accountable? According to the village chief, if crimes were committed, could we just let it go by saying a few words? No need for responsibility? Should everyone be free to steal, as long as afterward, they just make two small apologies?" Fu Xiaoxiao’s face darkened upon hearing the chief’s words.

She despised this type of behavior, expecting victims to forgive without consequence; just letting it slide?

If there’s no cost to crime, then everyone would do it unhesitantly, knowing there wouldn’t be any consequences, and that merely being scolded wouldn’t hurt.

"No, certainly not; she must be severely punished! Report her to the police! She must be reported!" The villagers, keen on the spectacle, refused to let this go.

If the village were to be like Aunt Li’s family, lazy and thieving, how could they live in peace?

Should they keep staring at someone else’s money all day? If they lack money, should they steal it? Rob it?

"Exactly, village chief, Aunt Li, such a menace, must be punished severely; she should be jailed!"

"That’s right, stealing eggs today, hot water bottles tomorrow, oil the next day, she’s been at this for a while! We can’t indulge her any longer..."