pjbooks Chapter 82 Caught Red-Handed
Chapter 82 Caught Red-Handed
Dog Egg's shout was incredibly powerful.
Not only were dogs barking coming from the sheepfold in front, but dogs from many other houses nearby were also barking.
Even the sheep in the sheepfold in front of us started bleating.
The sun had only just set, and there weren't many people sleeping to begin with. When they heard "someone is stealing sheep," they all opened their doors to see what was happening.
After all, no one can guarantee that the sheep they're stealing isn't their own.
For herders, their cattle and sheep are their lifeblood.
The two sheep thieves in front of them never expected that they would be seen when they were about to succeed. They abandoned the sheep they had just caught and ran away as fast as they could.
Shan Yaowen and his group were about to give chase when, before they could even set off, villagers passing by on the other side pinned the two men to the ground.
"Chu Er?"
Upon closer inspection, Shan Yaowen immediately recognized one of the people—wasn't this the guy the three of them had been waiting for?
So he didn't go fishing at Sandao Lake, but instead went to the village to steal sheep?
At this moment, people from other families nearby also came out, and upon seeing who it was, they immediately started cursing:
"Damn you, Chu Er! Instead of doing your job, you're stealing sheep?"
"Tie him up, give him a beating first, then we'll talk."
"Whose sheep did he steal?"
"Third brother, third brother! Damn, are you sleeping like a log? You didn't even know a thief broke into the house."
Immediately, some people went to the family whose sheep had been stolen, cursing and swearing, but no one answered the door after knocking for a long time.
The person knocking on the door realized that the person was probably not home, otherwise they would have spoken up already.
"Does anyone know where the third son and his family went?"
"It seems he went to visit his wife at her parents' home."
"Hey, Second Brother, go find the real culprit. The rest of you, tie up that bastard Chu Er and take him to the Party Secretary so he can decide what to do."
So, the people around sprang into action, not to help tie people up, but mainly to beat them up. By the time Chu Er and the other man were tied up, they were already bruised and swollen.
Also, include the sheep that the two men stole as evidence.
In addition, Shan Yaowen and his two companions, who were the ones who discovered and alerted the group, also followed along.
"Uncle, who is this kid?"
While walking down the street, Shan Yaowen casually asked a kind neighbor for directions.
"I don't know, but he looks like he's related to Chu Er." The man sneered. "He doesn't look like he's from our village. How dare he come to our village to steal sheep? Hang him at the village entrance later, and have someone from his family come to pick him up tomorrow."
"What's the point of just hanging him up all night? Beat him up first, then hang him up again." Someone immediately chimed in.
Shan Yaowen clicked his tongue, thinking, "Everyone else is ruthless."
In this freezing winter weather, hanging there all night would kill a person.
They weren't hanged, they froze to death.
From the moment they were discovered until they were beaten and tied up, Chu Er and his companion remained silent. They knew they were in deep trouble this time, so they simply decided to endure it without saying a word.
Since it didn't work out, let's just wait until this gets over before trying again. We can't expect these people to kill us, can we?
But Chu Er remained silent, and the short young man beside him couldn't take it anymore.
"No, no, I won't do it again. Don't hang me, and don't send me to the Party Secretary. I'll accept whatever you decide to do with me..."
Seeing the man starting to beg for mercy, Shan Yaowen's heart stirred, and he asked another question: "What's your name? Which village are you from? Why did you come to our village to steal sheep?"
"My name is Zhang Qian..."
After hearing this, Shan Yaowen laughed. It really was the guy who reported his brother-in-law.
When he took Zhang Du back home earlier, he heard from his brother-in-law's family that his brother-in-law's incident was caused by someone reporting him.
Then the person who reported him went to their village to stay with a relative surnamed Chu.
At that moment, he thought of Chu Er, since he liked to report people and had a relative with the surname Chu. He immediately thought of Chu Er, a habitual offender.
A group of people dragged two sheep thieves along, beating them as they walked, making a ruckus as they arrived at the village secretary's house.
Li Baoguo was woken up by the knocking. He put on his clothes and came out to open the door while still tying his belt.
"What's wrong? It's freezing cold tonight."
Although the Party Secretary was asking questions, his gaze was immediately drawn to the two men in front of him who had been beaten beyond recognition.
Who are these two?
"That's right, Party Secretary, these two guys stole sheep late at night."
Without Shan Yaowen even having to say anything, the enthusiastic villagers had already told the Party Secretary the whole story.
After listening, Li Baoguo couldn't help but take a closer look. To be honest, he really didn't recognize that the person in front of him was Chu Er.
How badly was that?
As for the other one, we didn't know him to begin with, so who cares whose relative he is? He came to our village to steal sheep, as long as we didn't kill him, it's fine.
"Secretary, what do you think we should do?" After saying that, the villager couldn't help but ask.
In the past, they would have simply handed the thief over to the victim's family to deal with, regardless of whether they beat him up or not. But now, society is different, and the village has to discuss and handle the matter.
"What about the third brother? Did he suffer any other losses besides the sheep?" The Party Secretary didn't make a decision immediately, but instead asked about the situation first.
"I don't know, we saw this guy stealing sheep when we came out."
"The third brother went to his wife's parents' house with her, and I asked his second brother to go and call them."
"By the way, Wen, you guys were the ones who discovered it first, tell me about it."
"Yes, yes, yes, if Awen hadn't shouted it, we wouldn't have known."
In the end, the matter came full circle and ended up involving Shan Yaowen and his two companions.
Shan Yaowen didn't embellish the story; he simply stated the facts. Of course, they didn't mention that they went there to stop Chu Er from beating people; they just said they saw him on the way back.
"So what do you think we should do?" The Party Secretary looked at Shan Yaowen. "You're the special envoy, and you're the one who discovered it. Tell me your opinion."
"We'll have to see if the third brother's family has suffered any other losses," Shan Yaowen shook his head.
After finishing speaking, he paused and added, "Logically speaking, although this is petty theft and doesn't warrant criminal charges, it is still the herder's sheep that were stolen, not something else. I think it should be dealt with seriously, otherwise people will follow suit and our village will be in chaos."
Although he didn't add fuel to the fire by stating the facts, Shan Yaowen didn't intend to let him off so easily.
Hearing this, everyone around nodded. "Yes, and this guy from another village, daring to come to our village to steal sheep, he should just hang himself."
Li Baoguo couldn't help but glance at the villager who had spoken. That guy was ruthless.
"Okay, let's wait until the third brother comes back to see if there are any further losses. Then, the village committee will discuss it tomorrow and issue a notice to punish him. As for the people from other villages, beat them up and lock them up first. If there are any further losses, they should pay compensation. If not, their family members should come and pick them up."
"Hanging him up for one night is fine, but this weather is really deadly. Let him go hungry for one night."
Upon hearing the Party Secretary's words, some people looked at the two men being escorted with dissatisfaction.
"If a child steals a needle, he'll steal gold when he grows up. These two kids were clearly wicked as children; they've already started stealing sheep. To deal with people like this, just cut off one of their hands, and they'll know what's what."
"Exactly, just make sure they never dare to do it again."
Li Baoguo waved his hand, "We live in a democratic society now, and we can't do things like the old society anymore."
After the village secretary finished speaking, the villagers didn't say anything and immediately started beating the two men, pinning them down in the snow.
The Party Secretary didn't bother to stop him; if it weren't for his position as Party Secretary, he would have liked to kick him a couple of times.
You, Chu Er, with your hands and feet, do nothing but petty theft and reporting.
Pooh!
In other words, the new society saved you. If you had dared to steal a herdsman's sheep before, no one would have cared even if they slaughtered you.
After discussing the matter, the third brother returned.
Fortunately, his wife's family lives not far from here.
The third brother had originally planned to stay at his mother-in-law's house for one night, but when he heard about the accident at home, he didn't care about that and rushed back home in a hurry.
Upon seeing Chu Er, who was beaten and unable to move, he didn't say a word, but grabbed the carrying pole he had brought back and attacked him.
It happened so fast that no one had time to react.
It wasn't until Chu Er and the other man screamed in agony that people around them rushed to pull them away.
It wasn't that Chu Er was beaten, but rather that they were afraid that if the third brother was beaten to death, he would end up in jail.