My Mother-in-Law is Reborn [Seventies]-Chapter 215

The children were all standing on the rooftop, hands on their hips, laughing and mocking those below.

This infuriated Old Cai—when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

He shouted angrily, "I won't let you off easy!"

Yuanyuan stuck out her tongue, "Nyah nyah~"

She shook her leg and said, "You bad people came to steal, but now you'll see how tough we kids can be! Don't think we're easy to mess with!"

Old Cai trembled with rage, "Son, go beat them up, beat them to death!"

What kind of code name was he even calling now?

To hell with it!

He had completely lost his composure. At that moment, Li Zhenzhen suddenly pointed at Jiang Baohong and exclaimed, "Ahhh! I know who she is! It's Jiang Baohong, that Jiang Baohong!"

Jiang Baohong was startled. She hadn't expected to be recognized, especially since they were all covering their faces. Frantically, she reached up to check if her disguise was still intact. Yes, it was still there—it hadn't fallen off.

How had that brat recognized her?

Yes, how had she recognized her? She shouldn't know who I am!

Before Jiang Baohong could react further, Li Zhenzhen shouted even louder, "Look at her face! That underwear she's wearing was stolen from my brother!"

Li Zhenzhen remembered it clearly. Even now, her brother would curse this woman for being shameless. That's why the little girl remembered Jiang Baohong, the toilet bandit and underwear thief, so vividly.

She didn't know what Jiang Baohong looked like, but she remembered the underwear and the name.

"Ah, it's her?"

"It's her, it's her, it's her!"

Jiang Baohong protested, "It's not me, it's not me!"

"It is you, it is you!"

At this point, not even a three-year-old would be fooled.

Old Cai was seething. Despite seeing stars from his fall, he turned around and slapped Jiang Baohong, "You useless woman! I told you to find a scarf, but you insisted on using underwear. Now you've been recognized, haven't you? You're nothing but trouble. How did I end up with a wife like you? You're good for nothing except causing me problems!"

Jiang Baohong was also upset. How could she have imagined that these people would recognize her just by her underwear? And how did they even know she had barged into the men's restroom? Jiang Baohong covered her face and whimpered.

If she were a young wife, her tears might have been pitiable, but at her age, it only disgusted everyone present.

Little Cai said, "Mom, that's enough."

"Exactly!"

While they were bickering, the children quickly prepared snowballs. They huddled around Qijin and whispered a few words into his ear. Qijin silently stepped back, then crouched and moved carefully along the edge of the roof, holding onto the tiles for support. He moved very cautiously.

Although their courtyard houses were mostly tiled, some connecting sections weren't. For example, Lan Sihai's house was in the middle of a connecting section, which was a small flat-roofed area. There was also a small side room in the Zhuang family's house that didn't have tiles, as they used it to dry salted fish.

The main houses were all tiled, but the connecting sections weren't—this was a common feature of old-style courtyards, designed to make repairs easier.

Tuan Tuan had run to the Lan family earlier, not just because they had tools that could help, but also because he had calculated that the flat roof would be a good place to stand. Don't underestimate the kids—they were clever. Standing on the roof, they shouted at the people below, "Old turtle, you're so rotten you're smoking! Can't get up here, can you? Serves you right! Ha, you can't hit us! We're driving you crazy!"

While the kids were taunting them, they also threw snowballs. The snowballs didn't hurt much, but they were incredibly insulting.

The Cai family of three was furious, "You little brats! When we catch you, we'll chop you up! You little devils!"

"You're the thieving old devils! You think we're scared of you? Come up here if you dare! Nyah nyah, you can't!"

"You!"

"What about me? You look like you're cursed with bad luck—nothing good will come to you!"

The children chattered away, each word more infuriating than the last.

Jiang Baohong screamed, "I'll kill you! I swear I'll kill you all and empty your house! I... damn it! Ah!"

Just as Jiang Baohong was shouting at the kids, an icicle from the edge of the roof broke off and crashed onto her face. She let out a bloodcurdling scream, her face now smeared with blood.

"Damn it!"

"Don't stand under the roof edge!"

"Right, get out of the way!"

They scrambled to move. Out of the corner of their eyes, Tuan Tuan and the others noticed that Qijin had already made it past his house and was now near the Bai family. He moved slowly and carefully, as the tiles were slippery and hard to grip. If it weren't for the small rake he was holding, which he used to steady himself, he wouldn't have dared to move at all.

Tuan Tuan quickly looked away and continued to distract the adults. Yuanyuan and the other girls' faces were flushed from the cold, but they kept throwing snowballs, hitting the bad guys and making them even angrier.

Yuanyuan shouted loudly, "The kids' counterattack has begun! Your doom is near, bad guys!"

Her shouting made the "Cai Fan" gang even more furious. Where did this arrogant little brat come from?

While Yuanyuan drew their attention, Tuan Tuan glanced over again and felt relieved. Qijin had reached the edge and slid down!

He shouted even louder, "You can't get up here! Ha, it's driving you crazy!"

Meanwhile, Qijin tied a rope to the side, tugged on it to make sure it was secure, and then slowly slid down the wall. Luckily, the kids were used to climbing trees and playing in rivers, so this wasn't too difficult for him.

Once he landed safely, he quickly found a stick and tiptoed to the gate. The gate was closed, and the lock had been smashed. Following Tuan Tuan's instructions, he wedged the thick stick between the two copper handles.

This made it much harder to open the gate from the inside.

After securing the gate, he took off running.

He had a big mission: not only to lock the gate and trap the people inside, but also to call the police. He wasn't worried about anyone removing the stick—any sane person would realize something was wrong with the gate.

He ran as fast as he could. He had to bring the police back to save everyone!

As he ran off, Fan Debiao suddenly noticed something was wrong. He had been too focused on his own pain, but now he realized that one of the kids was missing. They had been making noise for so long, but there was one less boy.

His face changed, and he shouted, "Oh no!"

"What?"

Fan Debiao, forgetting about their internal conflicts, yelled, "One of the kids is missing! Did he go to call for help?"

"Ah!"

Of the four, only Little Cai was still in decent shape. He rushed to the gate and pulled on it, but his face immediately turned pale.

The gate wouldn't open!

Little Cai turned back, trembling, and said, "It's over. It won't open!"

His face was as white as a sheet.

They had always heard that stealing and robbing were supposed to be easy. Why were they having such a hard time?

He felt like all the strength had been drained from his body, and he collapsed to the ground, wailing, "Why is my life so miserable?"

"Why are you crying? Hurry up and pull the gate open! We need to get out of here, or we'll be trapped like turtles in a jar!"

They had thought they were the ones trapping the kids, but now it seemed the tables had turned. The little brats were much cleverer than they had expected. Fan Debiao shouted, "Come help me get this mousetrap off! If I can't run, none of you will get away either!"

"You! You dare betray us?" Old Cai, seeing that Fan Debiao was now a toothless tiger, slapped him hard, "Who do you think you're threatening? Do you think I'm still easy to push around? When I was deputy director, you were still a poor nobody. How dare you compare yourself to me?"

He slapped him again with the back of his hand, instantly feeling a surge of relief.

He said angrily, "You better behave, or else we won't care about you!"

Fan Debiao never expected that, having fallen from grace, he would be bullied by a dog and even get slapped by this old geezer. He clenched the knife in his arms, wishing he could just stab him right then and there. But... he took a deep breath and held back.

If he didn’t rely on the Cai family, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

He had to endure the humiliation!

In order to escape, he forced a smile and said, "Uncle, I was wrong. Please help me. With one more person, I can be of use to you. The more people we have, the stronger we’ll be. What else can we do? If we get caught, none of us will come out of this unscathed, right?"

Old Cai looked at him arrogantly and snorted.

Fan Debiao: "I was wrong, I really was. Please forgive me. I’ll serve you like a slave!"

Old Cai was still trying to assert his authority, but Little Cai realized that Fan Debiao was right. Having one more person would indeed increase their strength, and they couldn’t afford to waste any more time. He said, "I’ll help you!"

He continued, "Dad, don’t delay. Hurry up, we need to find a way to leave quickly. At this moment, we need to stick together! We must unite!"

Li Zhenzhen: "You bad guys won’t get away. The police will catch you and make you pay for your crimes."

"Shut up!"

Old Cai roared, "You little brat, don’t let me catch you, or I’ll sell you to some remote mountain village, you... Achoo!"

It seemed to be getting even colder. He slipped several times, and his cotton-padded jacket had small holes burned into it from the sparks of firecrackers. He wasn’t as badly off as Fan Debiao, who had been hit directly, but he wasn’t doing great either.

He tightened his clothes and immediately thought of going inside to find more clothing.

It was too cold to bear, and the smoke in the room had started to clear. He glanced around and, seeing no mousetraps, strode inside. Just as he entered—whoosh! His foot slipped, and with a loud thud, he fell hard, his head hitting the door. With another thud, he... passed out!

"Dad!!!"

Little Cai screamed. Trembling, he approached and couldn’t help but reach out to check if the old man was still breathing. He was.

This was expected. After all, not everyone was as unlucky as Zheng Yufeng, who had died instantly after falling down the stairs.

Back in the day, Bai Fendou had gone through countless injuries and was still alive and kicking.

These things really depended on luck. Generally speaking, it wasn’t likely to be this unlucky.

He breathed a sigh of relief. As long as his father wasn’t dead, it was fine.

Since his father was okay, he didn’t bother with him anymore and went to help remove the mousetrap. He was his father’s filial son, after all.

Not only was Jiang Baohong confused, but even the kids standing on the roof were baffled. This guy didn’t care about his own father?

Little Cai didn’t care what others thought. He knew they were in a critical situation. If they didn’t rescue Fan Debiao, it would be impossible for just him and his mother to escape. It was too difficult.

Little Cai was on the verge of tears, feeling utterly helpless. Why were they so unlucky? He couldn’t understand how things had gone so wrong. They had been busy all morning and hadn’t even found fifty dollars, and now they were trapped here.

What should they do? What could they do?

Fan Debiao: "What’s going on with this mousetrap? Why can’t we get it open?"

No matter what he tried, it didn’t work. As time dragged on, Fan Debiao began to feel that things were going south. They were trapped here, and the missing kid had clearly gone to call for help. They were doomed.

If they didn’t escape soon, they would be in big trouble. It wasn’t about finding money anymore—they might get caught. Everyone was getting nervous. Fan Debiao and Little Cai exchanged glances, and Little Cai whispered, "What should we do?"

Fan Debiao was also at a loss, but he was in a worse position than Little Cai. He had to think of something.

His eyes darted around, and he whispered, "Go up and grab those kids. If we have hostages, the people in this compound won’t dare to act rashly. We can figure out the rest later. If we’re caught, it’ll be bad. This compound has too many connections with the police station and the neighborhood committee. If we’re handed over directly, we’re finished."

"You’re right," Little Cai said, standing up immediately. But after a second, he turned back, worried, and whispered, "I can’t get up there."

Without a ladder, how could he climb?

Fan Debiao widened his eyes. "They can get up there, but you can’t?"

He couldn’t believe it. If it were him, he could definitely climb up. What was so hard about it? Surely he wasn’t worse than a bunch of ten-year-olds? That didn’t make sense. He looked at Little Cai and once again felt that teaming up with them had been a mistake.

Even though he had been to prison, he had started from nothing back in the day. What was he lacking now? He could start over if he had to. Even Zheng Huimin had sold her house. Didn’t he, a grown man, have the guts to do the same? But now, teaming up with Little Cai, he had gained nothing and suffered plenty.

He regretted it, deeply regretted it.

But now that they were in this deep, having boarded this pirate ship, he couldn’t just abandon them.

He took a deep breath and said, "Look for a ladder. If there isn’t one, try to trick them down. They’re just kids. How hard can it be to fool them?"

Little Cai glanced at Fan Debiao and said, "Alright."

He immediately whispered to his mother to look for a ladder, while he went under the eaves to coax the kids. "Kids, the snow is getting heavier. Why don’t you come down? If you catch a cold, we won’t be able to afford the medical bills. We’re here to steal, but we’re only after money. We don’t mean you any harm."

He put on a wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing expression. "I’m actually a good person."

Yuanyuan: "You look like a bad guy. My great-grandfather said that people with narrow foreheads, thin lips, squinty eyes, hooked noses, and sharp faces are untrustworthy and mean."

Little Cai: "!!!"

Fan Debiao nodded. Hmm, there was some truth to that.

Yuanyuan added, "Don’t think you can trick us into coming down. We’re young, but we’re not stupid."

Li Zhenzhen: "Yeah, who do you think you’re fooling? You just want to take us hostage."

Bai Qingqing: "You’re already in this mess, and you can’t escape. You might do something desperate, so we’re not coming down."

Tuantuan nodded. "Everyone’s right."

Did they think these kids were clueless?

They had seen the world.

Little Cai forced a smile and said, "You’ve misunderstood me. I’m not that kind of person. If I were, I would’ve done something to you as soon as you came in. Think about it—didn’t I just say I’d tie you up?"

He realized these kids weren’t easy to fool, so he kept playing the nice guy.

"We’re really only after money. You’re overthinking it."

"Nah, only a fool would believe you!"

"Exactly, only a fool would believe you!"

A snowball flew out and hit Little Cai right in the mouth as he was about to speak. Little Cai: "Damn it!"

He finally lost his patience and said, "You little brats, don’t let me catch you. If I do, I’ll make you regret it, you damn kids!"

He shouted, "Mom, did you find the ladder?"

Jiang Baohong was holding her waist, walking slowly. She had thrown out her back.

She said, "I’m still looking. There isn’t one! Who knows where people in this compound keep their stuff?"

She was used to living in apartments.

"Check the cellar. I remember that in these compounds, cellars are used for storage."

Jiang Baohong finally found the cellar and said, "The cellar’s here. I’ll go down and take a look."

She descended the steep steps and reached the bottom. Uh... she was stunned. This wasn’t the kind of cellar she had imagined. The cellar had small rooms, and they were all locked!

Jiang Baohong felt a moment of confusion, but soon, she was overwhelmed with joy. She suddenly realized why they hadn’t found any money after searching several houses in the compound. Their money must have been hidden away.

But where could it be hidden?

Naturally, it had to be here!

Otherwise, why would a mere cellar be locked?

She felt she had grasped the truth of the matter!

Excitedly, she called out, “Son, I’ve found where they’ve hidden the money!”

Little Cai’s eyes lit up instantly. Though they looked disheveled now, their goal was the money. He had already made up his mind—if things went south, he would climb over the wall and run alone. After all, he wasn’t badly injured.

As for whether he’d be pursued later, he’d worry about that after escaping.

Now, hearing about the money, he was even more excited. With money, he could run even farther.

He rushed over, “Where is it?”

Fan Debiao exclaimed, “Oh no!”

This old guy was planning to ditch him and take the money for himself!

At this moment, Fan Debiao summoned all his strength and, despite the pain from the mousetrap on his foot, stood up and said, “I’m coming too!”

His foot was killing him, but for the sake of money, he could endure it!

Little Cai was faster and went down first. Fan Debiao leapt after him, but he hadn’t expected there to be steps. Clatter, clatter—thud!

He fell headfirst, hitting his head and bleeding profusely. But… there was a silver lining. The mousetrap on his foot, which had been impossible to remove, finally snapped off.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Meanwhile, Jiang Baohong was ecstatic. She said, “Look, who would lock their cellar like this, section by section? This is clearly suspicious. They must have hidden the money here.”

“You’re right,” Little Cai agreed with his mother, and even Fan Debiao, despite his bleeding head, thought the same.

But they had no idea that the locks were there because, years ago, the Su brothers, who were notorious for stealing, lived here.

Of course, they had since reformed, but the partitions had been there for over a decade, and tearing them down would be a waste. So, they were overthinking it!

Their eyes gleamed as they said, “Let’s smash it!”

“Agreed!”

They started banging away in the cellar, making such a racket that the children on the roof were utterly bewildered.

Once again, they were baffled.

Why did these people think there was anything good in the cellar? All that was there were cabbages and radishes.

Who doesn’t store vegetables for the winter?

Tuantuan, ever cautious, said, “This might be a trap to lure us down. Let’s not go.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Yuanyuan moved closer to her brother and said, “It’s a bit cold.”

Tuantuan rubbed his sister’s face and said, “Go over there, near the tiled house. It’ll block the wind.”

He added, “All of you, go over there.”

They crouched by the wall, and Tuantuan peered down. Just then, Old Cai groggily woke up. He rubbed his head, trying to stand, but slipped on oil and fell again.

“Damn it, damn it, you little brats!”

He cursed, wanting to vent his anger, but a cold breeze swept past, sending a shiver down his spine. He looked around and realized there was no one else. Panic set in—had the others abandoned him and run off?

Those heartless scoundrels!

He cursed, “Those damn brats, abandoning their own father, utterly shameless, they…”

His curses were endless.

Before he could finish, he heard the sound of something being smashed below. Struggling to his feet, he staggered over and shouted, “What are you doing?”

“Old Cai, come quick! They’ve hidden the money down here!”

Old Cai rushed over without hesitation.

Rolling, rolling, he tumbled down.

Tuantuan: “…”

Men die for wealth, birds die for food!

He had truly witnessed it.

But he didn’t trust these people one bit. His mother had always said that his safety was the most important thing.

All four of them had scrambled into the cellar, and the sound of clattering echoed from below. Yuanyuan peeked over and asked, “Brother, should we go down?”

Tuantuan: “No, it’s not safe. Let’s stay here. What if it’s a trap? We need to be cautious.”

He took a deep breath and said, “Mom and Dad said that if we ever encounter bad people, we need to stay calm. We can’t take risks unless we’re absolutely sure it’s safe. Kids aren’t as strong as adults, and even if we’ve practiced martial arts, we shouldn’t get cocky and think we’re invincible.”

At this moment, he fully embraced his role as the big brother, handling things methodically.

He glanced up at the sky. The snow hadn’t stopped all day.

He said, “Qijin should be back soon.”

He was right. At that moment, Qijin was leading several police officers back to the scene. Hearing that something had happened, the officers had immediately dispatched a dozen men. They didn’t think the kids were making things up.

Qijin was already a ten-year-old, after all.

They raced through the alley and saw Ming Mei riding her bike back. Qijin called out, “Auntie! We’ve run into some bad guys!”

Ming Mei’s face turned pale. “What!”

Without asking any questions, she sped back home.

The others followed closely behind, equally anxious. They were all worried about the children. Who could have imagined that on their way home from school, the kids would encounter such ruthless criminals?

Meanwhile, the criminals had managed to break into a storage room, only to find it filled to the brim with cabbages and radishes—no money in sight.

Little Cai looked around and insisted, “They must have hidden it. These vegetables are just a decoy. Think about it—the people here are well-off. Why would they lock up cabbages and radishes?”

“You’re right. Let’s keep looking.”

“The walls are built up. Knock on them and see if there’s anything hidden in the cracks. I bet there’s something.” Fan Debiao, drawing from his own experience of hiding money, offered his advice. At this point, there was no time for secrets.

If they didn’t find the money soon, they’d leave empty-handed.

“Come on, let’s go!”

“Hurry!”

They worked frantically. Little Cai said, “Split up and search!”

Jiang Baohong said, “I’ll stay with you.”

The cellar was dim and gloomy. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, they couldn’t help but feel a bit scared.

“Fine.”

Though they were all in rough shape, they felt that success was within reach. They’d grab the money, take the kids hostage, and then… heh heh heh.

Their plan sounded great, but in reality, things were far from certain.

They had no idea that the police and Ming Mei had already reached the alley. Still excitedly searching for money, they kept knocking away. Suddenly, Fan Debiao felt something give way. He exclaimed, “I think I’ve found something!”

Everyone rushed over. Jiang Baohong was thrilled. “I knew it!”

She felt like a hero and jumped up in excitement. “When we split the money, I should get… Ahhh!!!”

In her elation, she didn’t notice the ground shaking slightly. Before she knew it, she was falling. In a panic, she grabbed Fan Debiao, who yelled, “Oh my god!”

Not one to sacrifice himself for others, he reached out and grabbed Little Cai.

Little Cai, in turn, grabbed Old Cai. It was like a set of nesting dolls.

The nesting doll group tumbled down…

Ming Mei had already opened the gate. As soon as she stepped inside, her heart sank at the sight of the chaotic yard.

She called out urgently, “Tuantuan! Yuanyuan!”

Tuantuan peeked out and immediately cried out, “Mom’s back!”

The three little girls also stood up excitedly. “Mom!”

“Auntie!”

Yuanyuan was so excited she was about to jump down, but Ming Mei quickly stopped her. “Be careful! Come down one at a time! Where’s the ladder? The ladder!”

Tuantuan said, “Mom, it’s under the snow pile. Dad swept the snow there this morning.”

Ming Mei quickly found the ladder. It was just bad luck for the "Meal Team" quartet that they hadn’t noticed it earlier. Ming Mei set up the ladder, and the children climbed down one by one. Yuanyuan threw herself into her mother’s arms, her eyes wide and unafraid, grinning proudly as she exclaimed, "Mommy, the bad guys didn’t catch us!"

At that moment, the police officers arrived, having chased after Ming Mei but failing to catch up.

Qijin rushed over, stammering, "I-I-I brought help!"

The children immediately huddled together, hugging and cheering, "We’re saved!"

"But where are they?"

"The cellar, they went into the cellar…" Before Tuan Tuan could finish, the ground of the courtyard suddenly shook.

Ming Mei shouted, "Be careful!"

She immediately shielded the children. The police officers, unsure of what was happening, panicked briefly before rushing outside to the street. The shaking stopped quickly, leaving everyone shaken and exchanging nervous glances.

"Was that an earthquake?"

"Probably."

"Everyone, stay outside and don’t move around."

Though no one was sure what had happened, it seemed like an earthquake. The children gathered around Ming Mei, trusting her more than anyone else. She patted their heads and reassured them, "Don’t be scared. I’m here."

The children nodded, and Tuan Tuan said, "Mommy, we’re not scared."

With their mother there, they felt completely safe.

Because of the earthquake, no one rushed back inside to catch the intruders. Instead, they waited a few more minutes. The shaking had been brief, and soon everything was calm again, making it unclear whether it had actually been an earthquake.

"What should we do?"

"Let’s go check."

Ming Mei was uneasy and said, "What if there’s another earthquake while you’re inside?"

She suggested, "Maybe we should wait a bit longer."

The lead officer shook his head. "It’s fine. We need to go in, arrest them before they use the chaos to escape, and handle any issues as soon as possible."

Ming Mei didn’t fully agree but didn’t object, knowing it wasn’t her place to argue. She simply said, "Be careful."

Ten officers went to the cellar, leaving four behind. Ming Mei and the others watched anxiously, but strangely, there were no further tremors, making it seem like the earlier shaking had been an illusion.

The police officers reached the cellar entrance and called out, "Is anyone there?"

No response.

"Is anyone inside? Are you hurt?"

Still no answer.

The officers exchanged glances and descended into the cellar. They found the locks broken and one door wide open. Peering inside, one of them exclaimed, "Holy cow!"

Even with their experience, they were shocked by what they saw.

"Check if they’re hiding in other cellars. If not, they might have fallen in."

After a quick search, they confirmed, "They’re not here!"

"What’s this hole?"

"It looks like a collapse. Maybe it wasn’t an earthquake but this cave-in causing the shaking."

"Not sure. Let’s report it."

"Is anyone down there? Hello?"

Still no response.

Ming Mei and the others soon saw the officers return. They explained the situation, and Ming Mei was speechless.

The children’s eyes widened in shock. "They fell into a hole? There’s a hole in our cellar?"

"Wow, that’s so dangerous!"

Ming Mei sighed in relief. "Thank goodness they fell in. Imagine if one of us had fallen in someday. What bad luck that would’ve been. Thank goodness."

The officers exchanged awkward glances. She wasn’t wrong, but she didn’t have to say it so bluntly.

"Daughter-in-law! What’s going on?"

The morning’s chaos had even disrupted the mechanical factory’s performance. Zhao Guihua and her group had left early to avoid the crowd, but when they returned and saw the police, they grew tense.

"What happened?"

"What’s going on?"

Before Ming Mei could explain, the children rushed over, chattering excitedly.

Zhao Guihua’s heart raced as she listened, breaking into a cold sweat. She hugged the children tightly. "You little rascals scared me to death! Let me check you. Are you hurt?"

She examined them thoroughly, but the kids were unfazed. "We’re fine! We stuck together and weren’t scared of the bad guys. They’re the ones who got hurt!"

"Yeah, they’re the ones who got hurt! I set up two mousetraps, and they got caught. Hehe!" Bai Qingqing boasted, while He Lan hugged her daughter and cried. "You little thing, you’re going to give me a heart attack!"

Meanwhile, Aunt Zhou and Jiang Lu hugged Qijin, and Li Fang tightly held her daughter’s hand.

Everyone was shaken. Though they always cared deeply for their children, no one could have anticipated a home invasion. The entire courtyard was terrified, but their fear quickly turned to anger.

Zhao Guihua was furious. "Those scoundrels! They’ve got a death wish, daring to rob our home! Do they think we’re pushovers? I’ll beat them to death!"

She stormed inside, still shaken despite the children being safe.

The others felt the same. The elderly women were livid, and the men were equally enraged. They clamored to catch the intruders. Zhao Guihua declared, "If I don’t beat them to death today, I’m a coward!"

"Damn it! I’ll find them…"

Bai Fendou rolled up his sleeves. "They’ve messed with the wrong person! Wife, take care of our daughter. I’m going to fight them to the death!"

"Me too!"

Even Zhou Qun, usually mild-mannered, was fired up. With only one child per family, they couldn’t afford to take risks. He grabbed a shovel, and the crowd grew more heated.

"Uh… revenge might be a bit tricky right now," Ming Mei finally interjected.

Everyone turned to her.

Ming Mei explained, "They fell into a hole."

"What?"

"They somehow made a hole in the cellar and fell in."

She added, "It’s not 100% confirmed, but that’s the most likely scenario. The kids saw them go into the cellar, and they never came out. There’s just a big hole down there."

Aunt Zhou was furious. "They even dug a tunnel? How long have they been planning this?"

The officer clarified, "Uh, no. They didn’t dig the hole."

He quickly added, "Take care of the kids and check your homes for any losses—money or items. We’ve already arranged for someone to go down and investigate."

"Uncle, we’re fine!"

"Yeah, we’re tough!"

"They’re the ones who got hurt!"

The children were surprisingly brave, showing no signs of fear after the encounter.

The parents fetched thick clothes for the kids, and Zhao Guihua remembered the ginger tea she had prepared. "I’ll get you some tea to warm up."

The children had been on the roof for a while, and she didn’t want them catching a cold.

The scene was chaotic. Zhuang Zhixi returned late, and by the time he arrived, the area was already cordoned off. The police had sent in reinforcements, and his face turned pale as he rushed forward, asking, "What happened?"

Fortunately, it was Director Wang who arrived. He was now the bureau chief and had come personally after being informed about the situation. Seeing Zhuang Zhixi, he said, "Come in."

While onlookers were barred from entering, Zhuang Zhixi, as someone involved, was allowed in. After a brief explanation from Director Wang, Zhuang Zhixi hurried into the courtyard and immediately hugged his children, who were still sitting on small stools, chattering away.

Yuanyuan asked, "Dad, what are you doing?"

Zhuang Zhixi replied, "You scared me to death."

He had been delayed because he was responsible for the aftermath as part of the preparation team. He hadn’t expected such a major incident to happen at home. He held onto the children tightly, and the police officer conducting the interview didn’t rush him. Once Zhuang Zhixi had calmed down a bit, the officer said, "Kids, shall we continue?"

Tuantuan, acting like a little adult, patted his father and said, "Dad, we’re fine."

The officer asked, "Kids, we noticed bloodstains near the Lan family’s door. Do you know what happened?" They already knew that none of the children were injured, so the blood must have come from an injured intruder.

Tuantuan explained, "I know. I spilled oil on the ground, and that uncle slipped. He crashed into the doorframe with a loud thud. He almost died, and his son didn’t even care about him."

"His son? Are you sure?"

Tuantuan nodded, pursing his lips. "There were four bad guys in total. They were all masked, but one of them was Jiang Baohong. She once barged into the men’s bathroom here before. She’s a bathroom maniac and even stole Li Weiwei’s underwear. Li Zhenzhen recognized her."

Li Zhenzhen quickly added, "Yes, yes, I recognized her."

The officer asked, "Jiang Baohong, and who else?"

Tuantuan continued, "There were two other criminals: Jiang Baohong’s husband and her son. The three of them are a family. Besides them, there was another man, about 1.7 meters tall. He didn’t show his face or say his name, but he should be easy to find because both his feet were caught in large rat traps. He was injured and could barely walk. But he was so desperate for money that he thought there was cash in the cellar. Even with his injuries, he rushed down, stumbling and crawling."

"So, out of the four intruders, two were injured?"

Tuantuan shook his head. "No, three. Jiang Baohong slipped and hurt her back, and then an icicle fell from the roof and hit her head. There was a lot of blood."

The officer was speechless. No wonder there were bloodstains under the eaves. He couldn’t help but think that with such bad luck, they should’ve just stayed home instead of causing trouble.

"Do you know anything else?"

"Yes."

"The son might have been slightly injured too. When we were escaping, we kicked him in the groin. He recovered a bit, but he still walks like a duck, all wobbly."

The officer was again at a loss for words.

Zhuang Zhixi sneered, "They deserve to be crippled."

Ming Mei nodded in agreement. "They’re utterly despicable. They don’t deserve to live."

The children from various families were gathered together, and the adults had also congregated in the area.

"Have you tallied up the financial losses?"

"We didn’t lose much cash, but look at the mess they made..."

The officer assured them, "We’ll calculate the damages based on the actual value."

Director Wang, formerly Officer Wang, stood to the side, observing the children. He couldn’t help but admire them, thinking they were truly remarkable. Although the kids had taken some risks, they had shown both courage and intelligence.

"Director Wang, we’re almost ready here. We can proceed."

Director Wang said, "I’ll go take a look."

The scene had already been thoroughly investigated.

Although the intruders were injured, no one felt sorry for them. Instead, everyone was worried about the children. If the kids had been caught, the consequences would have been unthinkable. Fortunately, the children had escaped, and no one dared to imagine what might have happened otherwise.

Despite the cold weather, no one was afraid. Everyone stood up, eager to see what was going on.

In truth… if those four scoundrels were rescued, they were ready to give them a beating they’d never forget.

"You don’t all need to come. We can’t assess the situation yet. If too many people gather, it could cause another collapse, and someone might get hurt. Please stay back. We’ll handle this."

The crowd pursed their lips, thinking to themselves that they were worried the police would stop them from beating those scoundrels.

But it was Zhao Guihua who spoke up, saying, "Alright, then be careful when you go down."

Having lived here for so long in her past life, she had no idea their courtyard had such a situation. It was completely unexpected.

Yuanyuan asked, "Was that an earthquake just now?"

"No, it was just a small tremor caused by the collapse."

The children patted their chests, feeling relieved.

But then they realized how terrifying it was that the ground had just collapsed like that.

The kids started chattering again, while Ming Mei sat quietly. Besides feeling fear and anger, she was also shocked. This time, she hadn’t had any premonitory dreams. Usually, she would dream about things before they happened.

Tuantuan and Yuanyuan were her children; she should have dreamed about this. But she hadn’t.

She remembered when Yuanyuan was in second grade and broke her leg during a sports day. Ming Mei had dreamed about it beforehand and taken precautions, so her daughter was unharmed.

Another time, she dreamed that the children had gone ice-skating with their grandfather and fell into the lake. She had stopped them from going, and sure enough, the ice had cracked. Thankfully, no one fell in.

She had dreamed about all these things, but this time, there was nothing.

Although her premonitory dreams had become less frequent over the years, it was still strange that she hadn’t dreamed about this at all.

"Grandma, let me tell you, we were so brave and clever. We didn’t even need to discuss anything; we just knew what to do. Those idiots didn’t even realize we had climbed onto the roof."

"That son tried to trick us into coming down, treating us like little fools. But we’re not stupid."

"He probably wanted to take us hostage, but we weren’t falling for it. They were all injured and looked so pathetic, haha."

The children continued to chatter excitedly, seemingly unfazed by the scare. Ming Mei watched them and suddenly realized why she hadn’t dreamed about this. Even without her intervention, the children wouldn’t have been harmed.

Was that why she hadn’t dreamed about it?

Ming Mei finally felt a bit more at ease. Although she knew relying solely on premonitory dreams wasn’t good, it was still an extra layer of reassurance. She pursed her lips.

Zhuang Zhixi, noticing how quiet she was today, held her hand and said, "It’s alright."

Ming Mei nodded. "I know."

While they were still shaken but relieved, several police officers, equipped with ropes, headlamps, and flashlights, descended into the hole—or rather, the pit.

Only one person could go down at a time. The first officer to descend surveyed the area. The ground was covered in a thick layer of soil, likely from the collapse, but there was no sign of the intruders. However, there were traces of a fall, bloodstains, and footprints, indicating that the intruders had fled through the tunnel.

After landing, the officer followed the tunnel, turning a corner and walking for about ten minutes until he reached a hole roughly the size of a person. Crawling through, he found that it connected to the city’s sewer system.

Bloodstains were still visible on the ground, showing that the intruder had escaped through here after falling.

The next officer followed, and after inspecting the area, two continued forward while two went back. Once they climbed back up, they reported their findings.

"This is an underground tunnel, likely dug a long time ago. Judging from the scene, it might have been decades ago. No one could hide in there. If you follow it, it leads directly to the sewer. The cellar was in normal use before, and no one ever fell into it, so they probably didn’t even know it existed. Today, those guys were jumping around and tapping everywhere, and with the tunnel being old and poorly maintained, they fell through. As for who dug this tunnel and why, that’s something we’ll have to investigate. But one thing’s for sure—they’ve escaped."

"Damn it, those bastards got lucky," Zhuang Zhixi, who had been eavesdropping, suddenly chimed in. Seeing Officer Wang turn around, he continued confidently, "Do you think they knew about this tunnel beforehand and planned to escape through it? A few months ago, we had that sewer troublemaker incident. Could it be them?"

Officer Wang nodded, "I’ve heard about that. What you’re saying makes sense."

The others also thought it was a strong possibility. Could it be that these people had planned this all along, scouting the area in advance? Otherwise, how could they dare pull off such a "big job"? And why were they still looking for money even after being trapped? It didn’t add up.

Everyone agreed it was unreasonable and concluded that they must have known about the tunnel beforehand.

The police immediately began investigating whether anyone knew about the tunnel. Aunt Zhou said, "I’ve never heard of it. I’ve lived in this courtyard for a long time, and I’ve never heard anything about it. I think it must have been dug before Liberation. Most of us in this courtyard were assigned here by the neighborhood committee and the machinery factory after Liberation."

The older residents of the courtyard, like Aunt Zhou, Aunt Wang, and Zhao Guihua, had been there the longest. Families like the Suis moved in later, and some even more recent.

Aunt Zhou added, "But if you think about it, having a tunnel leading out isn’t that strange."

Zhao Guihua nodded in agreement, "That’s true. I’ve heard that before Liberation, some families dug secret rooms to hide from bad people. This courtyard used to house minor officials back in the day, so it’s possible they dug a tunnel for self-defense. If something happened, they could escape through it. But how Jiang Baohong and the others knew about it is anyone’s guess."

Now, no one believed their escape was accidental. They were convinced that the group had known about the tunnel and had been scouting the sewers for this very purpose.

Sewers…

Zhao Guihua suddenly had a thought, "There were four of them. Could the fourth one be Fan Debiao?"

She continued, "A while back, when I was collecting rent, I ran into a thief who was also using the sewers. The woman who helped me catch him said the thief was looking for Fan Debiao."

The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. "You know, it really could be him. Fan Debiao is about 1.7 meters tall, and from the description, the build matches. Also, he’s had a feud with Zheng Huimin from our courtyard. He once accidentally killed Zheng Huimin’s father and went to prison for it. If he’s holding a grudge and came back to cause trouble, it’s not impossible. And he doesn’t get along with me either."

"Could be."

"Yeah, that’s possible."

Officer Wang ordered, "Get on it right away. Investigate Fan Debiao and see if he’s connected to this. Also, what’s the update on Jiang Baohong’s family?"

The investigation team had already been sent to Jiang Baohong’s house when the child first mentioned her name.

Just then, the investigators returned, out of breath, "We’ve looked into it. Jiang Baohong’s family has been crawling through the sewers multiple times. The stench from the sewers caused a lot of complaints from their neighbors. When we went there today, the neighbors gave us plenty of leads. They’re major suspects."

They must have been scouting the place!

They knew the sewers led to the courtyard all along!

How sneaky and despicable!

Even though this incident didn’t result in major losses or casualties, it was still a serious crime. On a peaceful holiday like New Year’s Day, they barged in, ransacked the place, and even tried to control the children. The case was extremely malicious.

This year, the authorities have been cracking down hard on crime, and they’ll face severe punishment for this.

The police quickly finished their on-site investigation and brought in two experts to confirm that the tunnel was at least forty years old, dating it back to pre-Liberation times. The tunnel was sealed off—not just patched up but filled with soil so they couldn’t come back the same way. Even if they tried, they’d be trapped.

Once everything was handled and documented, it was discovered that only Wang Xiangxiu’s room had been robbed of thirty-nine yuan.

The other losses weren’t monetary but involved property damage, with Lan Sihai’s house being the most affected. Of course, the culprits would have to compensate for the damages. Don’t think the amount is small—once they’re caught, the charges will be serious.

They were attempting a full-scale "raid," which is different from ordinary theft or robbery.

If the children hadn’t delayed them, every household could have suffered significant losses. Even the children were nearly taken hostage. The whole courtyard was furious, and the news spread quickly. Not just their courtyard—who wouldn’t be angry?

No one can guarantee their home is always occupied. Breaking in like that is utterly brazen.

And they ran into the kids. Thankfully, the kids were resourceful, or things could have gone very wrong.

Who wouldn’t be scared?

Not only were the police on the move, but the neighbors also started keeping an eye on the manhole covers. You think you can escape through the sewers? Well, stay down there then. Word spread fast, and soon, other areas joined in.

They’re just ordinary people with families and children. Who wouldn’t fear something like this?

These criminals must be stopped!

The whole community was mobilized, leaving no room for escape.

The "Meal Gang" of four had no chance of getting away now.