Chapter 170: The Power of a Single Shout
Zhang Si had been gambling outside and owed money to someone. He urgently needed cash to pay off his debt.
Today, he came to their Daliu Team hoping to borrow money from Zhang Xiaohua. But along the way, he saw a house crushed by snow and also witnessed the plan to extort money from Chen Yechu.
Hearing that Chen Yechu had money and even a bicycle, and seeing his cousin and cousin’s husband causing a scene upfront, all eyes were drawn there. His mind started racing, and a crooked thought took over — he ran to the back to steal a bicycle.
After opening the door, he noticed all the nice things in the kitchen. Greed overtook him — he gathered everything quickly, stuffing it onto the bicycle, planning to take it to the mountain behind and move it later at night. The route was all carefully planned.
But fate had other ideas. Ning Xiyue’s sudden shout of “Catch the thief!” startled Zhang Si, who was just about to push the bike and escape. He thought he had been discovered.
It was his first time stealing; he was both guilty and terrified. Ning Xiyue’s one yell left him completely flustered. Startled, he didn’t dare touch the items he had gathered. He hastily wiped some footprints and bolted toward the mountain, fearing that any delay would get him caught.
He knew there were so many people outside; if caught, he wouldn’t just be beaten — he might pay dearly with his skin.
But he hadn’t anticipated the unexpected developments in the kitchen.
The result: he didn’t clean his footprints properly, dropped something he had worn since childhood, and in his panic ran so fast that he tumbled down the mountain, hitting his head and passing out. He was then picked up by Daliu Team members and brought back.
After going in such a big circle, he still hadn’t escaped.
Now, he was not only caught but covered in injuries. When he tried to stand, his head spun and he felt nauseated.
Ning Xiyue couldn’t help but laugh. Zhang Si was cursed!
She never imagined that her single shout would have such miraculous effect. Absolutely perfect.
“Haha, Zhang Si really is unlucky — he still didn’t escape.”
“Exactly, even the heavens can’t tolerate him.”
“Being a thief, he deserves this.”
The crowd watching laughed and mocked him.
Zhang Si’s face turned red as a monkey’s backside. Sniffling and wiping his tears, he looked carefully at the two public security officers and said cautiously:
“Comrades, this is really my first time stealing. I didn’t get the goods, and I ended up injuring myself. I haven’t caused much harm… so I don’t have to go to labor reform, right?”
Chen Yechu scoffed, pointing at the bicycle still there, the items hanging on it, the footprints, and all the other evidence:
“What are you thinking? You turned my kitchen into a mess and still wanted to escape. Theft is theft — these are all your evidence. Attempted burglary is also a crime. Labor reform is unavoidable, right, Comrades of Public Security?”
Fortunately, he wouldn’t be locked up for long.
But Chen Yechu would rather call it an attempted theft than risk the newly acquired bicycle being ruined.
Zhang Si froze, lying on the ground, eyes still glimmering with hope as he looked at the officers.
“Mm,” Officer Sun nodded, and with another officer on each side, they helped Zhang Si to his feet.
At that moment, the faint light of hope in Zhang Si’s eyes extinguished. His head throbbed, limbs weak, and thoughts of labor reform filled him with terror.
Regret surged, and he couldn’t stop crying.
As he was being taken away, he saw Zhang Xiaohua crouched to the side. She reacted, struggling and shouting hoarsely:
“Sister Xiaohua, save me! Sister Xiaohua! Brother Qiang, save me…”
Zhang Xiaohua turned her back and hid behind Li Qiang, not daring to respond.
Li Qiang, for a brief moment, was moved. Fear still gripped him — it could have been him. Looking at Zhang Si, he comforted him:
“Zhang Si, don’t be afraid. Go inside and reform yourself properly, and try to return soon.”
“Don’t be afraid?” Ning Xiyue thought, watching Li Qiang, whose legs were shaking, try to calmly reassure someone already in the officers’ custody, pleading for help.
It was ridiculous.
With Zhang Si taken away, the incident came to a close.
The team leader watched the officers leave, then turned to the murmuring crowd with a serious expression, especially glaring at Li Qiang and Zhang Xiaohua:
“I don’t want incidents like this in our team. Today, Li Qiang and Zhang Xiaohua, I don’t want this to happen a second time. If it does, I won’t call the public security officers — I’ll send you directly myself. Understood?”
“Understood, Team Leader. We absolutely won’t do it again,” they shouted eagerly.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Li Qiang and Zhang Xiaohua shouted their commitment even louder.
The team leader then comforted today’s biggest victim, Chen Yechu, and the second most frightened, Ning Xiyue, updating Ning Xiyue about the status of the team’s piglets and sow before finally leaving to check on the pigs himself.
In his heart, taking care of piglets was more enjoyable than handling today’s troubles.
Thanks to past incidents and today’s drama, the youth center had established a reputation among the villagers as not to be trifled with.
Especially those who had a low opinion of the youth center before — they were now cautious and dared not provoke anyone there.
Everyone had seen the youths’ capabilities — without saying a word, they had summoned the officers and team leader. Every time, they had justified claims, leaving no fault to pick, but others always ended up losing out.
In Daliu Team, no one dared bully the youths anymore.
The crowd dispersed, murmuring about today’s events, each thinking their own thoughts, and returned to their homes.
Once the people left, the youth center returned to its usual calm. Some busied themselves with their tasks; others chatted.
Chen Yechu tidied the items hanging on the bicycle, restored it, and organized the kitchen — no help needed.
Ning Xiyue, seeing this, returned to the kitchen herself, took out a steamer basket, set up a charcoal fire, and began weaving the scarf she had set aside.
Just as she was finishing, Ning Qingyuan came rushing from the Dahua Team, calling her from outside.
Seeing Ning Xiyue step out with a smile, he quickly walked over, grabbed her arm, and spun her around to check on her.
Worried, he asked:
“Sis, are you okay? I heard someone came to cause trouble at the youth center, and that someone from our team tried to steal there. I was so scared when I heard!”
He hadn’t expected even her usually non-gossipy older brother to have heard about it.
Ning Xiyue laughed and asked:
“Was the news really that fast? In just a short while, the neighboring team already knew?”
