Xia Xian saw that her parents lost their composure for a moment, but she was no longer a real child after all. She pressed her lips together, wiped away her tears, and had almost completely calmed down. She looked at her family with sincerity and made a promise.
She truly did not blame them; everyone had their own position to consider, and later on they had all supported her decision to get a divorce—especially her two sisters-in-law, who had urged her to bring Chu Nannan home to live with them.
It was because she refused to be a burden to her family and refused to resign herself to defeat that she had endured it all this way. Facts proved that the saying "when you reach a dead end in a poor alley, it is time to turn back" was entirely true.
Before, she hadn't understood this, and she had wasted a lifetime of bitter toil in vain, even losing her life in the process.
"Look at what you're saying—aren't you just blaming us?"
"Xiaoxian, Eldest Master Chu was your own choice. Dad knows you're having a hard time right now, but you really can't blame us for this."
"That's right. Your brother is married and has a child, and his work unit doesn't assign housing. A whole family crammed together is difficult for everyone. It's not that I didn't want to be a good sister-in-law, the problem is our family simply doesn't have the conditions. You have a job, and none of us ever asked you to hand your job over to us before you got married. I might not be the best sister-in-law, but I haven't been all that bad either, have I?"
Second Sister-in-law Xia finally spoke up, muttering endlessly, afraid that others might think she was bullying her sister-in-law.
"I know, I really didn't mean to blame you. In my heart, my first and second sisters-in-law are even better than my eldest and second brothers. We are all women; you understand me better than they do," Xia Xian emphasized sincerely.
"I will stay for a month at most. I have other plans—it's not because I'm afraid you'll chase me out."
On her way back, she had already thought things through. The family's place was small, and right now everyone was short on housing. Even if she were willing to spend money to rent a place, there was no guarantee she could find one, and if she did, the rent would certainly be very expensive. Besides, she had no desire to stay around here and listen to other people pointing fingers at her behind her back.
Taking everything into consideration, helping Quan Ruifeng was a good option; in exchange, she would have him help transfer her household registration away and secure a place for her to live. That was a very worthwhile deal.
She remembered that the case Quan Ruifeng had handled in their area back then was a success. Even if she had to walk into danger, she believed she could extract herself safely, and Quan Ruifeng wouldn't just stand by and watch something happen to her.
"Fine, fine, fine. Let's eat first, and we can talk about the details later. What's all this about one or two months? This is your home too; you can stay as long as you like without having to overthink it."
Lei Juan interrupted Xia Xian, wiped away her own tears, took down Xia Xian's bundle, and urged her to eat first.
She was also afraid that Xia Xian was making too absolute a promise; if some unexpected change happened and she couldn't move out within a month, someone in the family might start feeling resentful.
"Mm, okay."
Xia Xian smiled and didn't argue further, sitting down to eat a few bites with them.
The two nieces were still young and ignorant. Seeing their aunt return with a large bundle, they thought there must be something good to eat inside. Their eyes lit up, and they excitedly rushed forward to open it before the adults could stop them in time.
Seeing this, Xia Xian's gaze darkened. Fortunately, she had hidden the wooden box and the gold bars before coming back.
Money stirs the hearts of men. If her family knew she had so many gold bars, even her mother would probably demand that she hand some over to share with her eldest brother, second brother, and younger brother.
Human nature was the one thing that could not withstand being tested.
Xia Xian stayed at home for a night. Although Chu Sheng and his mother didn't know for certain, they had a premonition that she would leave. Therefore, as soon as they were released and allowed to leave in the morning, the mother and son rushed straight back home. Sure enough, Xia Xian was already gone, and she had left the house in this damn state!
"Damn it, that bitch! I will definitely find her, she needn't think she can run away!"
"If I don't have a good life, she won't either! I'll hound her for the rest of my life!"
Chu Sheng flew into a rage, cursing foully and no longer concealing his volatile and erratic personality.
"Could that little hussy have stolen everything in the house?!"
Seeing the state of the house, Mother Chu felt a dizzy spell wash over her, and she was almost so angered that she passed out cold. She quickly ran back to her bedroom in two steps, ransacking the wardrobe from top to bottom.
Those thirty-odd yuan were their very last savings! The family had virtually no surplus grain left either, as it had all been used to pay for the wedding banquet. If the money was gone, how were she and her son supposed to live?!
Although her eldest son's job could be taken over by her second son, he wouldn't be able to start working right away, and even when he did, his salary would start at temporary worker rates and wouldn't be paid out until next month.
Yet no matter how she searched through the wardrobe, she couldn't find a thing. Xia Xian hadn't even left a single ten-cent coin behind for her!
"Oh, my goodness! That Xia Xian is a thief! How can her heart be so pitch-black?!"
"She stole all my money! Report this! Son, go report it to the police right now and make her compensate us for the money! And we want compensation for all the damage to our house too, every last bit of it! Otherwise I won't live anymore! I'm going to go hang myself right at her family's doorstep!"
Mother Chu's legs turned to jelly as she sat on the floor, wailing and howling.
When Chu Sheng heard that the family's money was gone, panic and rage gripped him, but at the same time, a flash of inspiration hit him and an idea suddenly formed. A dark, gloomy smile spread across his face, and he stopped being angry.
"Mom, how much money did you lose?"
"Thirty-eight yuan and forty-two cents! And several ration coupons!"
Old Woman Chu remembered it with absolute clarity, not a single penny off.
"No, Mom, you're wrong. You lost two thousand, thirty-eight yuan and forty-two cents."
"Not only am I going to make Xia Xian pay us back for the money and compensate us for our family's losses, I'm going to make her hand herself over to us as compensation too! Hahahaha!"
Chu Sheng laughed heartily. Originally, he had been worried about how he was going to get Xia Xian back now that she had run off, but an exceptional excuse had just fallen right into his lap.
Xia Xian, oh Xia Xian, you bring your own ruin, don't you? This time, you won't escape the palm of my hand!
"Two thousand, thirty-eight yuan and forty-two cents?"
Old Woman Chu pondered this for a moment before she instantly caught on. She clapped her hands and laughed out loud, her mouth splitting back to her ears. Her face was a mass of wrinkles and dry, leathery skin, making her look like a malicious old witch from a fairy tale.
With a nimble whoosh, she scrambled up from the floor.
"Right, I lost over two thousand yuan! Son, we can't drag our feet. Let's go straight to the Public Security Bureau and report the crime right now! This is a huge sum of money!"
"Let's go!"
The mother and son hurried back to the Public Security Bureau without a moment's pause.
Quan Ruifeng was just preparing to step outside when he happened to run into the two of them returning.
He stood on the steps, his gaze cold as he looked down at them from above.
"What is it?"
His voice was equally cold, resembling ice frozen for ten thousand years.
Chu Sheng felt a bit intimidated by this young police officer, sensing he was even harder to deal with than old hands like Liu Jun.
After yesterday, he and his mother had deeply realized that making a big scene and causing a ruckus was useless against the police.
He sheepishly shrank his neck, nodding and bowing as he said:
"We're not back to cause trouble, we're here to report a crime."
"You locked me and my mother up last night, and Xia Xian took advantage of the opportunity to steal over two thousand yuan from the house. She even took her luggage and has probably gone back to her maiden family. We've come to report it—you're police officers, so you must help us get this money back. You can't show favoritism toward her this time!"
"This money is our family's entire savings! Even if she is our sister-in-law, stealing money is still wrong! As long as she's willing to return these two thousand-odd yuan to us, we won't pursue anything else. She can go back to her maiden family and marry whoever she wants!"