Chapter 176 "The Thief's First Trial"

Liu Zhiye stopped Yi Zhonghai's impulse and began to investigate the scene carefully.

A crowd of people in the compound curiously watched a rare on-site police investigation. They watched intently, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

After walking around for a while, Liu Zhiye checked the broken window, then went into the house and found the tools used in the crime - two broken heads.

This was a common piece of broken bricks found in some corners of the yard. He guessed that this was a case of malicious revenge, but the perpetrator should be someone in the yard.

So he suggested to Yi Zhonghai and the auntie: "Please check the house carefully to see if there is anything lost."

When Yi Zhonghai and the aunt heard this, they immediately went back outside and checked carefully. Finally, the aunt exclaimed: "Oh no! The salted fish we hung outside are gone!"

"What, the salted fish was also stolen?" Yi Zhonghai said angrily.

After a while, Yi Zhonghai and his wife came out of the house together.

"Director Liu, we checked carefully. In addition to the two broken windows, several salted fish were also stolen."

Liu Zhiye frowned when he heard this: "What kind of fish is the salted fish made of? How much is it exactly?"

The woman replied distressedly, "They are Spanish mackerels. There are six of them, weighing four or five kilograms. I bought them with great difficulty to improve my life in the future."

She was really careless, because nothing had ever been lost in this yard, and everyone was used to not even locking the door, let alone hanging salted fish out to dry.

When the crowd around heard this, there was an instant commotion. They talked a lot and expressed various opinions.

"Wow! Who is this person? He is so unkind. Not only did he break someone's glass, he also stole their fish."

"That's right. Our hospital has never had any thefts before. No one has ever stolen even a needle. Could it be someone from outside?"

"Nonsense! If it was a thief from outside, he would just steal a few fish. Why would he break someone's glass at the end?"

"Let me tell you, maybe the Yi family has offended someone..."

"Hey, then tell me, who did Master Yi offend?"

"I, that's what I said. Don't ask me. I don't know either."

"Tsk! You are just talking nonsense!"

"Oh my! Auntie must be so upset, this is four or five kilograms of salted fish, enough for her family to eat for several meals!"

"That's right! We haven't eaten fish for a long time. I miss the smell of fish even in my dreams."

The people of Beijing love to eat fish. As the saying goes, "No fish, no feast."

This is especially true for the old Beijingers. So what is a banquet? It means that the whole table of dishes should be well matched with hot and cold dishes, meat and vegetables, and the taste of various varieties should complement each other.

There are many rules for the order in which dishes are served at a banquet. According to the rules of people in Beijing, it is usually from cold dishes and cold meats to hot dishes and main dishes (usually served in large bowls). When the fish is served, there is basically only the soup left.

It can be seen that fish occupies a place at the table.

It's no wonder. After all, the capital is not a land of fish and rice. In those days, fish was not something that ordinary people could eat on a daily basis, so eating fish naturally became a more formal thing.

Old Beijingers have another habit: they want the fish on the table to be whole, not only to be pleasing to the eye, but also to have a complete beginning and an end. So, even if grilled hairtail slices are not allowed on the table, let alone salted fish.

Of course, during the three difficult years, there was no such thing as a strict diet. With rice almost out of stock, Bengti ate fresh fish. As a result, salted fish became part of the Beijing people’s diet.

Therefore, it was very rare for these old Beijingers to be able to eat fish during this period.

Let’s get back to the topic.

Liu Zhiye also asked everyone present whether they had heard anything unusual before and whether there were any losses in their homes.

Everyone said they had not seen anything unusual and shook their heads to indicate there was no loss.

Therefore, Liu Zhiye made a preliminary analysis that the Yi family had offended someone and that person was taking malicious revenge on them.

"Uncle Yi, Aunt Yi, please think carefully. Have you had any conflicts with anyone in the compound recently, or have you offended anyone?"

Yi Zhonghai frowned and said, "Director Liu, you mean..."

Liu Zhiye responded seriously: "Your guess is right, in my opinion, this was not done by outsiders.

You see, the broken pieces of glass were found in the corner over there. It was so dark, how could an outsider find such a hidden place?

Another possibility is that this person only smashed the glass in your house but did not enter the house to steal. He just took the dried salted fish outside the house.

This is obviously a spur-of-the-moment revenge action. Judging from these details, it should be done by someone inside our compound." Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai frowned even more and said in confusion: "This shouldn't be the case! Our family of three has never had any conflict with anyone in the compound. If you don't believe me, you can ask them."

Liu Zhiye observed that Yi Zhonghai's expression was sincere and he didn't seem to be lying. He was a little confused. Could it be that someone was sabotaging it intentionally? Was it a random incident? This was unbelievable.

He glanced at everyone sternly and said in a clear tone: "It is obvious that this is a conflict within our compound, and the conflict has escalated into a malicious act of revenge.

If any of you has done this, I hope he will take the initiative to stand up and admit his mistake, and we can resolve the matter within the hospital.

Otherwise, I will follow the law and find out the real culprit. Don't blame me for being ruthless when the time comes."

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard this, and they all wanted to see who it was, hoping that he would take the initiative to step forward.

Xu Damao said sarcastically, "It must have been Shazhu who did it. He has a criminal record. He broke our windows several times when he was a child."

When Sha Zhu heard this, he angrily retorted: "Xu Damao, how could you see that I was the one who broke the glass?"

Xu Damao replied: "Who else could it be if not you?"

Sha Zhu immediately threatened: "Believe it or not, I will beat you up if you dare to wrongly accuse me again..." As he said that, he was about to grab Xu Damao.

Xu Fugui shouted at Sha Zhu and asked, "Zhu Zi, what do you want to do? You dare to hit Damao in front of us. Have you been bullying him before?"

"I bullied him? If he hadn't deliberately provoked me, I wouldn't bother with him. If Xu Damao hadn't wronged me, would I have hit him?" Sha Zhu retorted with his neck stiff.

"This...anyway, you are not allowed to hit him!" Xu Fugui was speechless and made some unreasonable arguments.

Yan Bugui shouted, "Stop arguing and listen to what Director Liu has to say!"

Liu Zhiye also had a headache. What kind of thing was this? He was a big director, but he had to deal with such trivial matters for them.

Liu Zhiye asked again: "Does anyone have any ideas or can provide clues?" His tone was a little irritated, and he added: "Did you see anyone coming out around 10 o'clock?" Still no one responded to him.

"Then we have no choice but to check door to door..." Seeing that no one provided information, he had to turn to checking house by house, hoping to find clues as soon as possible.

Qin Huairu and Jia Dongxu suddenly remembered something and looked at each other with disbelief in their eyes.

"No way! Banggeng is so young and so well-behaved. This is impossible. I must be imagining things..."

But whatever you fear, will come to you.

Yan Jie Di suddenly asked, "Brother Liu, does a fight between two children count?"

Liu Zhiye responded with a smile: "I guess so." However, he didn't care about it in his heart.

The adults also laughed. How could a fight between children affect the conflict between adults? Such things should be ignored with a smile.

After being encouraged, Yan Jie Di immediately said, "Tonight, you gave a few candies to me and Yi Yuanchao, and only gave one to Banggeng. He thought it was too little, so he came to grab mine. Yi Yuanchao helped me get it back, and beat Banggeng up. I know it! It must be Banggeng who broke the glass in Grandpa Yi's house."

As soon as Yan Jiedi said this, the scene fell into silence.

It is said that children's words are innocent, but it also depends on the time. Everyone knows that Banggeng came back crying tonight, but no one paid attention to it at that time.

Now that everyone thinks about it, hey! It's really possible that this little bastard did it.

Qin Huairu defended herself anxiously, "How could our Banggeng do such a thing? Don't talk nonsense, little girl. He is too young to have the courage..."

Liu Zhiye frowned and said in a deep voice, "If it's him, call him out and ask him. Zhuzi, go call Banggeng out."

Sha Zhu nodded: "Okay!" and turned around to go to Jia's house.

Jia Dongxu said anxiously: "My family has gone to bed, shall we ask tomorrow?"

Sha Zhu said in embarrassment: "Brother Liu, what about this?"

Liu Zhiye frowned and ordered coldly: "Go!"

In return, Jia Dongxu looked even more resentful.

After a while, Shazhu came out holding a stick. The boy was obviously scared and didn't dare to come out.

"Shazhu, put me down quickly, wuwu..." Banggeng cried.

"Mom, please save me... I'm scared... wuwuwu..." He asked Qin Huairu for help again.

Qin Huairu felt distressed when she saw this, and hurriedly said, "Shazhu, put the stick down quickly."

(End of this chapter)