Lin Qiang wiped the sweat off his face irritably, "Lin Yu! You just think about eating, how much are these things worth? Watch them closely!"
Even if he found a few scarves, and each sold for three yuan, that wasn't a small amount of money.
What couldn't he buy then?
Seeing Lin Qiang so agitated, Lin Yu got angry too, "Lin Qiang! Who the hell are you swearing at, we…"
She hadn't finished her sentence when Lin Qiang saw Lin Qiu entering through the main gate from the window, "Quickly stall her!"
"Ah!" Panic-stricken, Lin Yu dashed outside the house.
Lin Qiang fumbled in a frantic attempt to restore the pile of quilts to how it was, but the more he hurried, the worse it got.
As Lin Qiu walked into the center of the courtyard, she saw Lin Yu hurriedly running out from the house, her face full of panic.
Lin Qiu felt certain something had happened!
She was helping to stuff cotton pants on Aunt Jin's kang, and after only working for a little while, it suddenly occurred to her that the sugar cubes and other items her elder sister had brought back were all stored in the mahogany box, and those two from the Eastern House hadn't left. Could they have sneaked in to search?
She hadn't thought about this before because there was nothing worth searching for in their Western House!
But now things were different! What about the money-making ideas her sister mentioned, could they involve selling something? Could it all be hidden somewhere in the house?
That's why she had rushed back home.
Now, seeing Lin Yu like this, Lin Qiu's heart started pounding, where was Lin Qiang? Had they found something?
Lin Qiu's expression changed, and she stepped past Lin Yu, planning to enter the house, but Lin Yu forcefully grabbed Lin Qiu's arm with an unnatural smile, "Lin Qiu! Let's have a word!"
"I have nothing to say to you!" Lin Qiu strove to shake off Lin Yu.
"Why not!" Lin Yu didn't know what Lin Qiang had done inside the house, but she could only try her best to delay Lin Qiu.
Impatient, Lin Qiu suddenly noticed Lin Yu's two pockets were bulging.
She glared and asked, "What's in your pockets?"
"Nothing!" Lin Yu still had some sense of shame at this point. If Lin Qiu hadn't caught her red-handed, she wouldn't have thought much about it. They were sure even if later they found out something was missing, they wouldn't dare to make a fuss.
But being directly confronted by Lin Qiu, Lin Yu couldn't help but dodge her gaze and her face turned red with guilt.
Lin Qiu wanted to search her pockets, but Lin Yu held out her hands to stop her from doing so.
The two struggled briefly, and Lin Yu, who usually did not do much physical work, was no match for the strong Lin Qiu. In no time, Lin Qiu turned out the sugar cubes and crispy twists from Lin Yu's pockets.
"You're stealing!" Lin Qiu dashed towards the house, and Lin Yu didn't even have a chance to stop her.
Overwhelmed with panic, Lin Yu only managed to shout a warning, "Lin Qiu is going into the house!"
As soon as Lin Qiu entered the house, she caught Lin Qiang red-handed rushing out from the Western House!
Lin Qiu clenched her fists, her voice quivering with anger as she confronted him, "Lin Qiang! What were you doing in our house? Did you steal something?"
Her sisters weren't home, and she had failed to guard the house.
If Lin Qiang had found and stolen something, how could she explain it to her sister?
At first, Lin Qiang felt a bit guilty, but realizing he hadn't found anything, he roughly shoved Lin Qiu aside as she tried to block him, "What stuff? What valuable things do you have that are worth stealing? I just went to have a look in your house!"
Lin Yu also entered from outside at this moment, helping Lin Qiang to hold back Lin Qiu, "Lin Qiu! What are you doing! How can you wrongly accuse someone like that!"
"Who is falsely accusing someone? The sugar cubes and whatever else in your pocket were stolen from our house! Hand them over immediately! What else have you taken!" Lin Qiu rarely showed such courage, all she had in her mind was to not let Lin Qiang get away, fearing he would refuse to acknowledge it if indeed something was lost.
But how could she alone be a match for the physically strong Lin Qiang, and on top of that, there was Lin Yu constantly pulling at her.
Amidst the scuffle, Lin Qiu felt her arm being particularly pained from Lin Qiang's strong grip before she was suddenly toppled to the ground, not knowing whether it was Lin Qiang or Lin Yu who pushed her.
Lin Qiang didn't even go back to the Eastern House, but slipped away directly.
Lin Yu looked at Lin Qiu lying on the ground and made a pretense of helping her up, which the red-eyed Lin Qiu pushed away, "There's no need for your false kindness! Thief!"
Lin Qiu felt her right arm in particular pain. She propped herself up with her less painful arm, grimacing with the effort, intending to go back inside the Western House to see how everything had been turned upside down,
Seeing Lin Qiang leave, Lin Yu gained confidence, "Lin Qiu! Who are you calling a thief? You're the thieves! Sneaking around, hiding food, harboring ill intentions!"
Hearing Lin Yu try to turn the tables, Lin Qiu was infuriated, "Lin Yu! You dare say you haven't hidden anything? Who among us went to your house to steal?"
She never had a good impression of Lin Yu and the others, and now she felt even more that they had ulterior motives.
"I'm not going to argue with you! We didn't steal anyway," Lin Yu said defensively before heading back to the Eastern House.
When Lin Qiu saw the Western House's piled-up mess and the mahogany box turned upside down, and big shoe prints on the bedstead, the tears she had been holding back finally started to flow.
She thought to herself, her sister must definitely keep the valuable things with her, otherwise if Lin Qiang and the others really stole them, she would die of guilt!
Why did she foolishly agree to help at Aunt Jin's today?
If she hadn't gone, would this situation have been avoided?
She cried while slowly picking things up, enduring the pain in her arm…
Lin Qiang left the house without filching anything valuable, terribly sullen.
Wandering aimlessly on the road, he just so happened to bump into two buddies he hung out with, Mangzi and Dahai.
The three unemployed men went to the riverside and sat by the big green stone, shooting the breeze, with Dahai noticing Lin Qiang's distraction and irritability.
He nudged Lin Qiang's shoulder and asked, "Qiangzi! What's up with you?"
Lin Qiang waved it off, "Ah! It's nothing!"
Dahai tilted his head, looking at him and thumped his chest, "If there's anything, just spit it out, we're brothers, after all!"
"Exactly!" Mangzi chimed in on the side, showing a sense of loyalty.
Lin Qiang was somewhat tempted, thinking that Lin Xia kept everything either at work or home. Since it wasn't at home, and definitely not at work, she must carry those things on her. So, if he had these two pals pretend to rob her, what could she, a woman, do? Then the money and scarf would be theirs, wouldn't they?
But still, he needed to think this through...
Lin Xia was just off work and hadn't reached home when she encountered Lin Qiu and Lin Chun walking side by side on the main street near their home.
Approaching them, she saw Lin Qiu's face streaked with tears, her large almond-shaped eyes swollen from crying, while Lin Chun also looked very upset.
Feeling a lurch in her heart, Lin Xia hurriedly got off her bike and asked anxiously, "Xiaoqiu! Big brother! What happened?"
What could have happened in just this morning's time?
Seeing Lin Xia seemed to bring the grievance in Lin Qiu's heart to the surface again. She had already cried once when her big brother came home, and now, sobbing, she said, "Sister! Lin Yu and Lin Qiang went into our house to steal things…"
Lin Xia immediately became livid, "Where are they now?"
Lin Chun frowned deeply, "When I arrived home, neither of them was there!"
He was really furious this time, and if either of them had been home, he would have had to have a serious talk with them.
How could they just waltz into someone's house and rummage through things, as if they had any right?