Chapter 65: Burgled

"That's right, that's how he came to me for medical treatment. Doesn't it sound a bit unbelievable? To be honest with you, I still find it hard to believe myself.

However, thinking about it, it's quite normal. At the time, Luo Yang probably just had the attitude of treating a dead horse like a live one, and happened to run into me as a doctor, so he just casually asked about it."

"This rascal, I don't know whether to say he's lucky or what."

The look of astonishment on the old lady's face had not yet faded. She raised a hand to pat her younger daughter's hand resting on her shoulder, murmuring to herself.

"Mom, don't think too much about it. We should head back now."

"All right, back—"

The old lady was just about to stand up with her hand supporting the table when she suddenly stopped and looked back at Li Yancheng.

"Doctor Li, you might as well treat my hypertension after all—with that acupuncture you mentioned."

"Mom..."

"Director Song..."

Before the old lady's voice had even died away, the middle-aged woman who had remained silent since entering, along with the young girl, cried out in surprise.

Hearing the old lady ask him to perform acupuncture, Li Yancheng frowned, feeling that trouble was coming his way. At that moment, he only wished the girl could persuade her mother to stop.

Although he was not clear about what Luo Yang's family did for a living, he could guess with his toes that the Luo family patriarch must have a profound background. Were these two elderly people anyone's to casually stick with needles and prescribe medicine to?

When he mentioned acupuncture just now, it was only because he hadn't recognized who they were. Now that he knew, how could he dare to act recklessly?

He didn't want to end up causing a fuss with a bunch of people coming over to investigate.

"Mom, you always act on sudden impulses. Doing this will only cause trouble for Doctor Li."

The young girl squeezed her mother's shoulder, signaled to the middle-aged woman, and the two of them together helped the old lady up from the bench.

The old lady still seemed somewhat reluctant, muttering continuously.

"Can't I even get medical treatment? I used to harvest wild herbs and take them myself. Whenever your father fell ill, I was the one who casually found some medicine for him. Why are you all sticking your noses into everything now?"

Seeing how sensible her daughter was, a gratified smile appeared at the corners of Li Yancheng's mouth, and he also stood up.

"Dacheng, Dacheng..."

At that moment, two shouts suddenly came from outside, followed immediately by the lifting of the door curtain.

Just as the door curtain was lifted, the middle-aged woman who had been supporting one of the old lady's arms with both hands loosened her right hand and half-turned her body to look outside.

When she saw that the person coming in was wearing a police uniform, her right hand quickly went back to supporting the old lady's arm.

Seeing the newcomer, Li Yancheng was slightly stunned, and when he saw the person taking deep, heavy breaths, he was even more surprised.

"Zhenghui? What brings you over to my place? What happened?"

Duan Zhenghui was the eldest son of Deputy Director Duan from the Meishan Street Office and worked in the security squad of the Meishan Police Station. Unlike Jin Zhihai, who had taken over his father's position and then gone to the Public Security Cadre School to become a cadre, he was employed as a worker acting as a cadre.

This was already very impressive; at the very least, he was on the official staffing roster, far superior to many temporary workers.

After panting his way inside, Duan Zhenghui froze when he saw there were other people in the room. Taking advantage of the moment to sweep his gaze over the three women and catch his breath, he said, "Dacheng, as soon as you finish your work, ask for a leave and hurry back with me. Your house has been burglarized."

"What?" Hearing that his home had been targeted by thieves, Li Yancheng was so shocked that his mouth nearly split open to his ears.

Hearing this, aside from the young girl who still maintained a cold expression, as if her face was incapable of showing any other emotion, the old lady and the middle-aged woman both looked somewhat startled.

The old lady, who had just been nagging them for meddling, stopped nagging. She looked at Li Yancheng and said, "Doctor Li, since you have matters to attend to, we'll be leaving first. I heard from Yangyang that his treatment isn't finished yet and you'll need to put in more effort going forward. Thank you."

"Uh... please don't be so polite. He's my patient, so it's only right. Take care on your way out, I won't see you off."

"No need, no need. Go ahead with your work."

The old lady waved her hand, pulled away from the two people supporting her arms, and walked out the door.

Seeing this, Duan Zhenghui, standing by the entrance, hurriedly stepped aside.

Before leaving, the young girl turned her head and said, "Thank you," leaving Li Yancheng somewhat baffled.

However, he was in no mood right then to ponder whether the girl was thanking him for her brother's sake or for some other reason. He merely nodded and turned his attention to Duan Zhenghui.

"Zhenghui, what was stolen from my house?"

Upon hearing that his home had been burglarized, the very first suspect that popped into his mind was the Qian family.

"I called you back so you could check and verify exactly what's missing. Your place has been tossed upside down and completely ransacked."

Hearing that his house had been tossed upside down, Li Yancheng grimaced with a wince of toothache. He was also somewhat puzzled: it was only eleven o'clock right now, so why would a thief break in broad daylight in the morning, not even afraid of being discovered?

And where had Jin Ning and Zhao Mingming from the front yard gone?

But by this point, he no longer had the luxury of asking these questions; he needed to get back first and sort things out.

"Wait a moment, I'll go ask our director for leave. That cup is completely clean, you can pour yourself some water."

"Alright, go ahead quickly."

Hearing Li Yancheng say his home had been burglarized and that a police officer from the station had come to fetch him to verify the situation, Director Sun granted the leave without a second thought. She even told him he wouldn't need to come in for the rest of the day and could call the duty room if anything came up.

...

"Zhenghui, how did you get here?" After securing his leave and returning to the clinic room, Li Yancheng asked as he put on his overcoat.

"I hitched a ride part of the way just now. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have made it to you by now."

Duan Zhenghui put down the cup in his hand and stood up.

"Then I'll ride my bicycle and give you a lift back."

"Uh... I'd better take the bus. If you pedal me back, it'll be even slower, and who knows what time we'll get there."

"That's fine too."

...

Anxious as he was, a ten-kilometer journey was still a ten-kilometer journey. Li Yancheng felt as though he had pedaled his bicycle until it was about to catch fire, and by the time he rushed back home, it was already close to twelve o'clock.

A large crowd had gathered around the entrance of their courtyard. It had been unknown how long it had been since a thief had struck this alleyway; those who weren't working and those on shift breaks had all rushed over to watch the excitement.

There were even people from other alleys present. Everyone was truly so idle that they might as well have brought out small stools and a handful of melon seeds.

Seeing the principal party return, the crowd voluntarily parted to make way. Those who knew him well couldn't resist teasing him, remarking that he had added a bit of excitement to their otherwise dull lives.

It was also from these people that Li Yancheng learned the thief had already been caught—not just one, but two.

And his suspicion was completely correct: the people who broke into his home to steal were indeed members of the Qian family.

As for why they were caught so quickly, there were all sorts of conflicting rumors outside, and no one could say for sure, but one thing was certain: someone had reported them.