My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 428 Catching the Thief
When they woke up in the morning, since the dogs hadn't reacted much and had been quiet all night, Chen Ling and his wife didn't think much of it.

Wild animals in the mountains come out to hunt at night, and conflicts are inevitable when they encounter each other. Are we not allowed to let them make a sound?

People often exchange insults when they fight.

But after breakfast, around seven o'clock, Wang Cunye rushed over in a hurry.

"Lingzi, hurry up and go to the village, something's happened again."

"Oh, right, Susu, where is our family's wound medicine? If we need it later, have Lingzi get it from the village."

"What's wrong, Dad? Whose family is in trouble?"

"It wasn't any particular family. Those people who went into the mountains were unlucky again. First, they were badly injured by the earth dragon, and then they were chased by the jackal for half the night. They almost died in the mountains... Let's go quickly. Lai Shun and the others asked me to call Lingzi."

Although Chen Ling is lazy and doesn't like to meddle in other people's business, many people in the village now regard him as their backbone.

He also owns a tractor and has acquaintances in the county and city. If someone is seriously injured and needs to be taken to the hospital, they will definitely need to ask him for help.

They'd have to call Chen Ling sooner or later, especially since there were two or three people here who were on good terms with him.

Chen Ling didn't hesitate at all. He pushed out his motorcycle, put his father-in-law on it, and headed straight for Er Mao Lu's house.

We arrived at Er Mao Lu's house in the southwest corner of the village.

The first thing you see when you enter is a dead monkey.

It was hanging casually on the cart, its head drooping limply, which startled the father-in-law and son-in-law.

"Fugui, you've finally arrived! Come in and sit down, come in and sit down."

A large crowd had gathered in Er Mao Lu's courtyard. When they saw the two of them enter, they quickly came up to greet them: "Brother Cunye, come, sit here."

"I'm not going inside, Brother Donkey. How's Xiao Chao?"

"Xiao Chao is fine. He's all thanks to your reminder. He brought all the necessary self-defense items, so he's alright..."

Er Maolu waved his hand chuckled and whispered to Chen Ling, "Now everyone's rushing to my house after hearing the news, but actually nothing's happened to my family. The ones who's in trouble are Chun Yuan's family across the street, and those thieves. That guy's done it twice now, and they're the ones who got hurt the most. They must have done something really bad to deserve this retribution."

"But I see that monkey by the door..."

"Oh, I haven't had a chance to tell you yet, but this monkey has been a great help... Hey, Xiao Chao is out. Let him talk to you. I only heard him say a few words in a garbled way."

Ermaolv pointed behind him, and Wang Wenchao appeared to have changed into a cleaner set of clothes, though his hair was still dirty.

Upon seeing Chen Ling and his son-in-law there, their eyes lit up, and they hurried over.

"Uncle Fugui, come in quickly, come in and talk."

"Oh dear, this time, I'm so grateful you reminded me early. If you hadn't mentioned the jackal incident and kept me on my guard, I would have been in real trouble..."

What Wang Wenchao meant was different from what his father, Er Maolu, meant.

Because of the jackal incident, Chen Ling not only told him but also notified Wang Laishun and announced it over the brigade loudspeaker.

Everyone in the village knew, and even Li Hongqi and his gang of thieves knew.

Even knowing there are ferocious wild animals in the mountains, they still go into the mountains.

Besides the fact that there are treasures in the mountains that attract them.

They must have something to rely on, something that makes them unafraid of those wild beasts.

When Wang Wenchao gets into trouble, he's pretty quick-witted.

After all, there's nothing else to do as a guide.

They don't need to do hard labor, and they have plenty of free time.

While others were laughing and joking, he was pondering this matter.

At the same time, they secretly kept an eye on Li Hongqi and the others' various actions.

In the end, he actually discovered something unexpected.

"Uncle Fugui, you don't know, they brought explosives, not the homemade ones we have here, it's that kind, that kind... anyway, it's pretty high-tech, I can't really explain it, the bags were mostly full of them..."

Wang Wenchao gestured for a while, scratched his head, and sighed: "But these explosives were never used. They were injured by the earth dragon first, and then the smell of blood wafted out at night, and the jackals spotted them... The unlucky ones were really like they had angered the Earth God. If they hadn't brought guns and explosives, they really wouldn't have been able to get out."

There's a saying among the locals.

If the local earth god gets angry, he will hide the prey and medicinal herbs, leaving those who enter the mountains empty-handed.

Even worse, some might get lost in the mountains, die of thirst or hunger, be repeatedly driven away by wild animals, or encounter all sorts of strange and bizarre things.

The consequences were very serious.

When Chen Ling was young, he believed these stories wholeheartedly.

I didn't dare look into the mountains at night.

After listening to Wang Wenchao's account, he frowned slightly: "They brought explosives; it seems they really are going to rob a tomb."

Each time they provoke wild animals in the mountains, it sounds like they're poaching.

But if they brought explosives, they were probably high-end and powerful, so they were most likely there to raid tombs.

"Yes, I think so too."

"Wait, you just said they were also injured by the earth dragons. Are those the two earth dragons from our reservoir?"

"Yes, it's the earth dragon we caught outside the village. Didn't we put it in the lake in Wild Man Gully before? Who knew they didn't stay there obediently and ran away a long time ago."

"...So they ran to a big puddle not far from the miasma valley, where we used to always pitch our tents. Chun Yuan and Li Hongqi's group had been in the mountains for a long time and got hungry. They wanted to eat something good, so they went to that big puddle to catch water birds. I don't know how they offended them, but they got bitten."

Chen Ling was stunned when he heard this. Good heavens, these two earth dragons ran along the mountain lake to the wetlands. They wandered so far away. No wonder I couldn't see them for so long.

He even went out of his way to find it.

But then I thought about it...

The Yangtze alligator, also known as the Chinese alligator, generally does not attack people unless provoked.

It might be the egg protection period.

Otherwise, given the environment of the mountain lake, they wouldn't have gone so far.

"And then, how did you guys escape? I heard from Brother Donkey that there was also something about the monkeys?"

Chen Ling suppressed his speculations about the earth dragon and asked again.

"Yes, I was quite scared after I found out they were carrying explosives. I wanted to find an excuse to come back, but they still let us take them around in the mountains."

It wasn't until Chun Yuan and the other man were injured by the earth dragon that I heard wild monkeys calling out frantically at night. I knew something was wrong; something must have followed the scent of blood. So I quickly got up and woke up the villagers to run with the wild monkeys...

In the past, when we went hunting, we were often followed and caused trouble by wild monkeys. These guys could see far from the trees and knew where the prey was. If we angered them, they would follow us and drive the prey away in advance.

Little did they know that this wild monkey would be a great help; a large pack of jackals sneaked over at night when the firewood was about to go out.

Wang Wenchao spoke with a look of relief.

He was not old, but he had been into the mountains quite a few times. Last winter, he even encountered a dangerous incident where a lynx killed a dog. He also learned a lot of skills from Liu Guangli and knew the temperament of wild animals.

For example, if there are people covering the rear, there won't be a strong urge to pursue.

They can escape with peace of mind.

This kid knew that at this critical juncture, he couldn't show any leniency towards these thieves who brought explosives into the mountains.

They gathered a few people and made a quick getaway.

However, Wang Chunyuan and Li Hongqi were very lucky to survive.

There were also a few smoke grenades in the explosives. Even though he was injured while being chased by jackals, he still managed to run out.

……

"Wow, that was really thrilling and exciting. Just based on your experience, it's quite legendary." Chen Ling sincerely praised.

This guy, a tomb raider who was also surrounded by jackals, managed to escape only because he was alert enough to notice something was wrong with the monkey troop and followed them out.

Isn't it just like telling stories under a big tree on summer nights when we were kids?

It's full of legendary stories.

"Hehe, Uncle Fugui, I also rescued an injured wild monkey. I was thinking of asking you to treat it, but it died before I got home."

The two were talking inside the house.

The courtyard suddenly became lively, and Wang Laishun's familiar shouts could be heard.

Upon closer listening, it became clear that they were looking for Chen Ling.

"Fugui, come quick, the police are here. Take Wenchao to the police station and explain what happened to them..."

"We can't explain this kind of thing clearly either, we still have to rely on you."

No wonder the villagers were unharmed, but the thieves were the ones who got hurt, yet they were still frantically calling for Chen Ling.

It turns out they even called the police.

That makes sense. With so much powerful explosives in the hands of a bunch of wicked tomb raiders, things could easily go wrong.

Who isn't afraid?
The villagers dared not hide it anymore; nothing was more important than their own lives.

The police acted swiftly, knowing that the group possessed explosives and weapons, and dispatched a considerable number of officers.

At this point, while they were getting their injuries treated at Chen Guoping's place, they had completely subdued the man.

Even Wang Chunyuan was handcuffed without any mercy.

When Chen Ling and Wang Wenchao arrived at the brigade, in front of the clinic, a group of people were lying down, some prone, some kneeling, all wearing handcuffs and bandages, looking dejected and miserable.

The police officers, accompanied by Wang Jusheng, conducted brief questioning and took notes.

"Hey, wealth and honor have arrived."

"So this is Comrade Fugui. Hello, hello. I've heard so much about you."

A middle-aged, bald, pale-faced man who looked like a leader came up and shook hands with him.

“An old classmate of mine keeps talking about you. He said his child was burned and was cured with your medicine.”

Chen Ling had only exchanged a few simple polite words.

Hearing this, I was taken aback. Wow, there's this connection too.

Right.

After all, it was introduced by an acquaintance named Zhong Xiaoyun... an acquaintance introduced her to an acquaintance, so she really knew acquaintances everywhere.

Chen Ling let go of his hand and asked with a smile, "Brother, you don't still know Liu Jiancheng, do you?"

"Yes, we know each other very well."

This time it was his turn to be taken aback. "Wow, brother, you've been hiding your true abilities! Is Director Liu also your friend? ...Alright, enough of that. Come with me to the county later, we'll have to have a drink together."

Wang Laishun quickly interjected, "There's no need to go to the county. Just drink at the brigade headquarters while you're busy. I'll go prepare the food right away, haha."

The leader's smile froze. He glanced at Wang Laishun, thinking to himself, "How did this village secretary of Chenwangzhuang become so incompetent?"

However, he didn't say anything else in front of Chen Ling.

Then they changed the subject and started talking about explosives.

They said that Li Hongqi and his group used mining explosives, which were powerful and quite dangerous.

Actually, explosives are quite common in their mountainous area.

Last year, Guang Pengfei's family had a falling out with Chen Ling, and in the end, they even made homemade explosives, but no one called the police.

It's not that I didn't expect it.

It's not that I'm afraid of calling the police.

Because it's a matter between villages.

That's not how things should be done in the village.

It's generally better to resolve conflicts in the village by following the village's unspoken rules.

That's how things are in many rural areas.

Calling the police isn't the best solution. Sometimes, even if the police arrest and sentence someone, it can't suppress some people's envy, jealousy, prejudice, hatred, and so on.

After catching Zhang San, there's Li Si next.

Even if Wang Jusheng, who works at the local police station, stood up, it wouldn't make a difference.

On the contrary, if you handle things yourself and resolve them neatly, you will not only win the trust of your fellow villagers, but also make some people with bad intentions wary and afraid to provoke you again.

Chen Ling led the police officers in a flurry of activity, taking a lot of statements, and the number of people gathering also increased.

Wang Laishun then took them to the brigade office to talk.

……

“Brother Fugui, look, here’s the thing: the explosives are one thing, and the tomb raiding is another. You’ve had your fellow villagers give a pretty complete account of what happened, and the cause and effect are clear, but we still don’t have any leads on the tomb raiding…”

"We'll have to interrogate them when we get back."

The middle-aged man, Li Weiguo, sat down with Chen Ling and his son Wang Laishun in the brigade's office and carefully explained, "So these days, don't let anyone go into the mountains recklessly. It's dangerous, not to mention we don't even know if there are any tombs involved. Don't let them cause trouble in the mountains... The Dragon Boat Festival is just around the corner, followed by temple fairs in various places, and then the wheat harvest. Things are piling up, and we can't handle everything here. Everything will wait until we finish the investigation..."

Secretary Wang, Brother Jusheng, you should also tell the villagers not to go into the mountains. If it really comes down to it, just say that anyone who goes into the mountains will be arrested and sent to jail in the county. Let's see if they dare to go again.

"Okay, okay, we'll definitely do what Captain Li instructed us to do."

Wang Laishun readily agreed.

Having served as the Party branch secretary for so many years, Li Weiguo's concern was perfectly clear to everyone.

Not to mention how curious people from other villages became after this news got out, the busybodies in the village alone were enough to keep them entertained for a while.

Many people insist on going even when they're told not to, and some even sneak off to go.

Chen Ling and the other two escorted him out.

Li Weiguo turned back and shook hands with Chen Ling: "Brother Fugui, it seems we won't be able to drink today. These thieves have definitely done more than once. This is no small matter. I reckon we'll have to report to our superiors and ask for instructions... Let's wait until after the Dragon Boat Festival. After the Dragon Boat Festival, I'll drive over and pick you up. We'll find a place to have a good drink."

"Haha, no problem, no problem, Captain Li, take care." Chen Ling nodded with a smile.

They then watched them leave, along with many villagers who had come to watch.

"Oh dear, they've really gotten into trouble. We didn't see Chun Yuan come out, and he was arrested along with her."

"Fugui, Wenchao, Yubin... tell me quickly, is there really some valuable treasure in our mountains?"

"Those police officers just now, were they from our county? Where are they keeping the people they arrested..."

The villagers, their faces full of gossip and excitement, gathered around and clamored for their questions.

Chen Ling was used to it. Besides, nothing new happened in the village all year round, so it was indeed exciting that the police came and arrested so many people all at once.

“I don’t know either. It was my fifth uncle who called the police. You can ask him.”

After saying that, Chen Ling squeezed out of the crowd and ran away.

If you don't ask the Party Secretary, but instead ask him, isn't that a joke?

Wang Laishun was left staring blankly at Chen Ling's retreating figure, stomping his feet in anger: "Damn it, that wicked brat..."

(End of this chapter)