PCJ – Chapter 362 Strong Denial

Leopard led Zhang Jiaohua straight into the village, and before long, they ended up at Zhang Enzhong’s house.

“Did the thief come to Zhang Enzhong’s house?” Zhang Jiaohua was surprised.

“Woof! Woof!” Leopard barked loudly toward Zhang Enzhong’s house.

Zhang Enzhong’s wife, Wang Fang, walked out of the house. “Jiaohua, are you here to buy tofu?”

“No. Last night, Grandpa Jiwang’s house was robbed. Leopard sniffed around their house and found out the thief also came to your place. Could you check if anything is missing?” Zhang Jiaohua said.

“Nothing’s missing. This morning everything was locked up tight. How could a thief have gotten in? Jiaohua, what are you suggesting? Are you accusing us of stealing from Uncle Jiwang?” Wang Fang, offended, noticed a suspicious look in Zhang Jiaohua’s eyes, as if he suspected her, and she immediately became furious.

Since Zhang Enzhong’s house wasn’t far from Zhang Jiwang’s, her outburst quickly attracted a crowd.

Zhang Enzhong rushed over. “What’s going on, wife?”

“Jiaohua’s chasing thieves right into our home!” Wang Fang fumed.

“Jiaohua, what’s the meaning of this? Just because I criticized you earlier, you think you can slander my family now?” Zhang Enzhong glared at him.

Zhang Qigao, also thinking it might be revenge, added, “Jiaohua, don’t mess around with this.”

“Uncle Qigao, I never said their family stole from Grandpa Jiwang. Leopard sniffed out the thief’s scent and found it here. I only asked if anything was missing. How was I supposed to know Auntie would think I was accusing them of stealing?” Jiaohua explained.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking!” Zhang Enzhong shot a sharp look at Jiaohua.

“Uncle Enzhong, like I said, Leopard brought me here. Plus, the thief’s scent is faint now. If they were still here, Leopard would’ve already found them,” Jiaohua defended.

“Enzhong, maybe you should go check inside and make sure nothing’s missing,” Zhang Qigao suggested, now doubtful.

“It’s impossible. I woke up to find the house locked tight this morning. If a thief had been in, I would know,” Zhang Enzhong insisted.

“Woof! Woof!” Leopard continued barking at the house.

“Why is Leopard still barking?” Zhang Jingbing asked.

“Maybe it found something in Uncle Enzhong’s house,” Jiaohua, being a child, spoke his mind.

“Fine! Jiaohua, since you claim there’s something in my house, go ahead and search. If you don’t find anything, everyone here can witness this—Jiaohua, spoiled by his family’s wealth, came to bully us. If you don’t find anything, you’ll kneel at my door and apologize!” Zhang Enzhong shouted.

“Brother Enzhong, don’t jump to conclusions. Jiaohua was clear that he didn’t accuse your family of stealing. He only said the thief might’ve come through your place. Who knows? The thief could’ve dropped something here while running away,” Zhang Jingbing interjected.

“Why would the thief go to Uncle Jiwang’s house and then come to mine? Why not someone else’s?” Zhang Enzhong asked.

Jingbing chuckled, “That’s easy. Uncle Jiwang’s house was targeted because Jiaohua mentioned they buried their money in a jar under the bed. As for your house, everyone knows you’ve been making good money from selling tofu all these years. Why would a thief skip your place? What puzzles me is how the thief knew so much about our village. Finding Uncle Jiwang’s house is one thing, but how’d they so easily find yours?”

“Are you suggesting someone from our village did it?” Zhang Enzhong demanded angrily.

“Brother Enzhong, don’t be mad. Jiaohua already said if it were someone from our village, Leopard would’ve caught them by now. The thief’s likely an outsider, but someone familiar with our village. Maybe they’re related to someone here. By the way, did any guests visit our village yesterday? Enzhong, you didn’t have any guests, right?” Jingbing asked.

“We didn’t have any guests!” Wang Fang quickly replied.

Zhang Enzhong hesitated and then added, “If we had guests, would I hide them?”

“Jiaohua, could Leopard have made a mistake?” Jingbing wondered.

“Impossible. You all know how sharp Leopard’s nose is. It wouldn’t even miss wild animals in the mountains, let alone a thief,” Jiaohua insisted.

At this point, Zhang Youping rode up on his bicycle with Zhang Jiwang.

“Jiaohua, have you caused trouble again?” Zhang Youping, seeing the crowd at Enzhong’s house, had a bad feeling.

“Youping, you’re just in time. Your son’s big stunt—he’s chasing thieves into my home,” Zhang Enzhong angrily confronted him.

Zhang Youping forced a smile, realizing he was too late. “What happened?”

“Jiaohua claims a thief came to my house. But last night, my doors were locked tight. How could a thief have gotten in? He insists the thief left something behind in my house. Isn’t that just calling me a thief who stole Uncle Jiwang’s money jar?” Zhang Enzhong fumed.

“Enzhong, calm down. I’ll deal with Jiaohua. But go check your house to make sure nothing’s missing. There’ve been more thieves lately. When we reported the theft just now, the police said they were all at Maotouqiao—someone stole several cows there. And now we’ve been hit. Better to be cautious. It’s safer to deposit savings at the bank,” Zhang Youping advised.

“Youping, you really need to discipline your son. If you keep letting him misbehave, he’ll be uncontrollable when he’s older,” Zhang Enzhong warned.

“Jiaohua, get home! Stop causing trouble!” Zhang Youping scolded, glaring at his son.

But Jiaohua wasn’t backing down. “Leopard wouldn’t make a mistake! There’s definitely something the thief left behind in their house. I’ll bet on it!”

“Alright, Youping, why don’t you let Jiaohua search my house and see what he finds?” Zhang Enzhong, still angry, insisted.

“Jiaohua!” Youping, furious, knew that if his son searched the house and found nothing, it would cause a lot of problems.

“Wait! Enzhong, didn’t a guest come to your house yesterday? Didn’t your brother-in-law visit? When your wife came to our place to buy meat, wasn’t he with her?” Lu Guifeng suddenly remembered something.

“You… you’re mistaken,” Zhang Enzhong stammered, suddenly flustered.

“No, I’m sure. I even asked your brother-in-law, Wang Shuigen, if he had found a wife yet. He joked he didn’t know where she was hiding,” Lu Guifeng recalled clearly.

“That’s right! When Wang Fang finished buying meat, that young man was the one carrying it,” Zhang Qigao also remembered.

“Brother Enzhong, why are you two hiding things from us? Where’s your brother-in-law?” Jingbing smirked.

“He…,” Enzhong faltered.

“Shuigen left early this morning,” Wang Fang quickly replied.

“Yes, Shuigen left right after lunch yesterday,” Enzhong added hurriedly. But it was obvious to everyone that they weren’t telling the truth.

“Woof! Woof!” Leopard barked madly at Enzhong’s house again.

“Enzhong, with things as they are, why not let us in and check? There’s obviously something in there that’s bothering Leopard,” Zhang Qigao, growing suspicious, suggested.

Panicked, Wang Fang blocked the door. “You have no right to search our home! Where’s your search warrant? Without one, you’re not setting foot inside!”

“You can’t just bully us! There’s nothing in our house!” Enzhong and his wife stood side by side, blocking the villagers’ way.

“That thief robbed last night. No one would’ve dared to travel through the mountains in the dark. The thief must have left this morning and should still be on the road!” Jiaohua exclaimed.

“Right, if we hurry, we might still catch them!” Zhang Qigao and others, now hopeful, showed eager expressions.

Jiaohua dashed off, with Leopard and a pack of mountain dogs leading the chase toward Maotouqiao, following the thief’s scent.

Zhang Enzhong and Wang Fang, watching the villagers head toward Maotouqiao, were beside themselves with worry. Enzhong quickly pulled Wang Fang into the house and slammed the door.

“You keep saying, do you think it was Shuigen who stole Uncle Jiwang’s money?” Enzhong asked in a low, urgent voice.

“How would I know? He left early this morning, and I thought something was off. But I don’t know if he took the money!” Wang Fang shook her head, but her unease was clear.

“Stop lying! If you didn’t think he stole it, why wouldn’t you let Jiaohua in?” Enzhong wasn’t stupid.

“Shuigen’s never been straight. His hands are sticky—you know that. But no matter what, we can’t expose him. He’s family!” Wang Fang said anxiously.

“What’s the use of family ties? If this blows up, you’ll have to protect him. But don’t drag me into it!” Enzhong whispered nervously.