Chapter 47: Thirty-six yuan and eighty-nine cents

Qin Hengzhi glanced at Lu Qiaoge imperceptibly, then said in a heavy voice, "Although the households whose chickens and ducks were stolen are somewhat scattered, look..."

Qin Hengzhi raised his hand, pointing one by one to the households they had just mentioned.

Then, he pointed to the small alley straight ahead: "Whether it's a single person or a group, as long as they run into this small alley, they basically lose their tracks."

Lu Qiaoge looked at Qin Hengzhi with some surprise.

Once inside this alley, passing through the house at the very end that had gates on both the north and south sides would lead to Chen Xiangqian's house, as Gray Pigeon had mentioned.

Qin Hengzhi was truly clever.

She had obtained the information from Gray Pigeon by taking a shortcut, but Qin Hengzhi had analyzed it himself.

Officer Li nodded and said, "That's exactly it. We just went to check; although the footprints are messy, once they run into the alley, no one can catch them."

That alley was full of twists and turns, looking quite confusing.

Qin Hengzhi added, "There must be a household in the alley with doors at both the front and back. That door should be on the other side. Exiting through the north gate likely leads to the area where the stolen goods are being stashed..."

Jiangcheng was a northern city. Originally, the area was sparsely populated, but after settlers arrived to reclaim the land over a hundred years ago, an irregular layout of streets and lanes gradually formed.

After the railway was built, the roads and buildings followed the tracks. From the air, it looked radial. Except for the standard south-facing layouts of the new dormitory buildings built after the founding of the country, the old houses faced all sorts of directions.

Qin Hengzhi was right. Exiting the north gate led to a road heading toward East Forty-One.

By this time, Qin Hengzhi had already gone to catch up with the team.

For some reason, Qin Hengzhi had an intuition that with Lu Qiaoge there, they would be able to find the stash accurately.

This chicken and duck theft case would be solved very smoothly!

And indeed, that was the case.

Lu Qiaoge stood by the wall, pointing at a chicken feather stuck to it: "Look here. The bag must not have been tied tightly, and the chickens ran out. However, after catching them back in the bag, the thieves didn't pay much attention to it. Last night's rainstorm was so heavy that both human footprints and chicken claw marks were washed clean, but that's not actually the case. For many things, once they are done, they will inevitably leave a trace."

Officer Li nodded in agreement, praising Lu Qiaoge: "Comrade Lu has keen observation skills. Very good."

He also wanted to say she was a great prospect for criminal investigation, but now...

It was useless to say it.

Soon, the group arrived at the area where Chen Xiangqian lived.

Although Lu Qiaoge didn't know which specific house was his, Gray Pigeon had just told her that Chen Xiangqian's house was at the northernmost end, against the perimeter wall, with a cherry tree in the courtyard.

This season was the season when cherries ripened in the north. Lu Qiaoge thought distractedly that she should take a stroll through Guzi Village.

She remembered that many households in Guzi Village had cherry trees.

The clues seemed to vanish here.

The terrain in this area was relatively high, so even if there were any traces, they had been washed away by the rain.

However, Lu Qiaoge pointed at the Chen family's courtyard: "Look at that cherry tree. Isn't there a patch of chicken feathers on it?"

Officer Li squinted. From such a distance, how could Comrade Lu see that?

Her eyesight was simply too good.

Shao Le took a few steps forward and said boldly, "Whether there are or not, there's no problem with knocking on the door to find out, right?"

There certainly wouldn't be a problem; they had already asked several households along the way.

Everyone said they hadn't heard anything strange last night.

And they hadn't seen any strange people this morning.

Thus, the group headed toward Chen Xiangqian's house.

Just then, the Chen family door pushed open, and two young men walked out with their arms around each other's shoulders.

They showed no reaction to seeing Clerk Liu and Shao Le, but upon seeing Officer Li, they let out a cry of alarm. In a panic, one ran into the courtyard while the other ran toward the east side of the road.

There was no need to ask; anyone who turned and ran upon seeing the police was definitely guilty.

Clerk Liu was a veteran; to work at the security station, he must have good combat skills. He lunged forward in one stride and grabbed the young man running east, while Officer Li kicked the courtyard gate shut again. He said to Lu Qiaoge, "Go call Officer Zhu and the others."

Lu Qiaoge didn't show off her strength; she just took a glance and felt relieved.

Since there were no desperate criminals, Officer Li and the others wouldn't be in danger. Moreover, Officer Li had a gun; once the dark weapon was drawn, a dozen thugs crouched down in panic, clutching their heads.

Shao Le's face flushed with excitement. Standing beside Clerk Liu, he shouted with borrowed authority, "Nobody move!"

In the shortest amount of time, Lu Qiaoge called the other two officers who were still investigating the scene.

Then, over a hundred chickens and ducks were searched out from the Chen family's cellar.

These people were even more cowardly than Lu Qiaoge had imagined; they hadn't dared to eat a single bite.

Lu Qiaoge analyzed that since they didn't dare to eat them, they must have intended to sell them on the black market.

She should find an opportunity to check out the legendary black markets of this era.

After all, that also fell within her responsibilities.

With the matter here resolved, Clerk Liu had to go to the police station, so she and Shao Le naturally returned to their unit.

They also took the opportunity to notify the residents that they could now go to the police station to claim their lost chickens and ducks.

The residents were happy, but some were cursing. This area of single-story houses was quite large, and one could raise three or five chickens or ducks to improve their livelihood.

An elderly person whose family kept a breeding hen said that after such a scare, the hen might not even lay eggs anymore.

These bastards should just go back to the countryside to farm and stop causing trouble in the city.

That wasn't an invalid point.

But currently, the number of registered unemployed youths exceeded one thousand. Even in this era, the employment situation was very severe.

Regarding this problem, unless employment opportunities were expanded, there was basically no solution.

The morning's work was considered a success, but after Lu Qiaoge and Shao Le arrived at the unit, they were unable to report their work.

It was almost time to get off work. The street cadres who had gone out for investigations had returned, and several neighborhood committee members had also come to report to the director.

There were even more people than usual.

But at this moment, no one was in the office; instead, everyone was gathered in the courtyard.

A woman in her thirties, her face covered in tears, was standing before a man of similar age with a grim expression, screaming hysterically.

"Thirty-six yuan and eighty-nine cents, eighteen jin of grain coupons, and one jin of meat coupons! Ding Zichuan, you not only hit me but also cursed at me for a month! I swear to God, I never saw that salary. You didn't hand it to me at all, and you didn't give my mother a single cent! On the contrary, when my mother knew the salary for that month was lost, she even gave me ten yuan. But you, instead, went to my house and made a huge scene, claiming my mother spent your salary, and even said 'the wool comes from the sheep'—that my mother's illness was caused by guilt and a guilty conscience... My mother's health was already poor, and she was driven to bed by your anger, yet you, Ding Zichuan, told people that my mother fell ill because she felt guilty and ashamed toward you..."

Lu Qiaoge understood instantly. The owner of the lost money and grain coupons from the book *How Steel Was Tempered* had come looking for them.

Logically speaking, finding lost items should be a happy occasion.

But what was this situation?

(End of Chapter)