On the way to the hospital, Third Uncle was speechless upon hearing that Jiang Si had sent a telegram with only two words.
"Really just two words?"
"Mm." Jiang Si nodded.
The words 【Get Married】 were concise and to the point.
"You, ah, you..."
Third Uncle opened his mouth, about to say something, when Uncle Zhong chimed in with a teasing remark, "Comrade Huo knows Miss Si's temperament better than anyone. I doubt he’d mind such things."
Third Uncle thought to himself, of course that lad from the Huo Family wouldn’t mind.
Knowing him, the fool was probably overjoyed after receiving the telegram!
Then again, Jiang Si’s temperament was partly a result of their doting, and partly because that Huo boy had indulged her.
As the saying goes, it takes two to tango.
With that realization, Third Uncle let it go.
......
Meanwhile, after a day and night of investigation, the police finally had a breakthrough in the case.
According to a waiter at a state-run restaurant near the Jiang Family, in the two days leading up to the incident, a group of men had come for lunch and dinner every day.
Unlike other customers, these men wore sanitary masks when entering and leaving.
They were also big spenders, ordering four or five meat dishes each time, leaving a strong impression on the waiter.
"Based on current intel, there are five suspects, all aged between 20 and 30."
"Suspect No. 1 is around 180 cm tall, lean, with a local accent. He carried a tool bag, suspected to contain professional lock-picking tools."
"Suspect No. 2, the so-called 'One-Ear,' is about 175 cm tall, also with a local accent."
"Suspect No. 3 is under 160 cm, with a Jiangsu accent."
"Suspect No. 4 is roughly 170 cm tall, with a prominent scar running from his right temple to his jaw—likely a knife wound."
"Suspect No. 5 is also around 170 cm, fair-skinned, with a local accent."
"The waiter noted that unlike the others, he wore a dark gray work uniform under his jacket."
"After checking, we found only the municipal machinery factory and the steel plant in Hu City use uniforms of that color."
"Wang Ming and his team went to investigate this morning. We should have results soon."
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
Wang Ming strode in, excitement written all over his face. "Boss, we’ve got him! He’s from the steel plant!"
Coincidentally, though the two factories employed tens of thousands, only three workers had taken two or more consecutive days off recently.
The first was a man in his sixties—age didn’t match. The second was a pregnant woman—also ruled out.
That left just one.
"His name is Lin Baozhu. His aunt, Lin Yueru, married Jiang’s father nine years ago, so he knows the Jiang Family inside out."
"On top of that, he’s known for splurging. According to coworkers, he was recently cornered at the factory by debt collectors."
Lin Baozhu had both motive and opportunity.
Now, it was just a matter of procedure.
Half an hour later, the police arrived at Lin Baozhu’s residential compound.
As they were about to head upstairs, an eagle-eyed officer spotted the scar-faced man and One-Ear loitering nearby!
These weren’t just suspects—they were walking merit badges!
Talk about a stroke of luck.
Before Deputy Director Li could even give the order, seven or eight officers swarmed them.
The two barely had time to react before they were pinned to the ground.
"Don’t move! Stay down!"
Handcuffs were slapped on, and they were hauled into the police van.
The commotion drew neighbors peeking through their doors. The sight of so many uniformed officers sent a chill down their spines.
"What’s going on? Why so many cops?"
"No idea, but they’re heading to the Lin residence."
As whispers spread, Lin Baozhu—bruised and battered—was escorted to the police car in cuffs.
The entire compound erupted.
Dinner preparations forgotten, everyone flocked to Building No. 3 where the Lin Family lived.
"Goodness, what did he do to get arrested?"
"Who knows? Maybe something serious, like murder or arson."
"Lin Baozhu? That spineless fool?"
"Hard to say. Petty crimes wouldn’t warrant this many cops!"
"And those injuries on his face—clearly from a beating. But his mother insisted he fell off his bike."
"I’ve said it before: spoiling a child is killing them. But the Lin Family never listened. Now look—they’ve raised a lawless brat."
As they were talking, Old Madam Lin and Mother of Baozhu returned from grocery shopping. Seeing a crowd gathered at the entrance of their building’s stairway, they grew curious.
“What’s going on?” Mother of Baozhu asked, looking eager for some drama.
Since they all lived in the same residential compound, the onlookers quickly set aside their amusement and urged, “Mother of Baozhu, your Baozhu has been handcuffed and taken away by the police! You’d better go see what’s happening.”
“What?” Old Madam Lin shrieked, flinging her arms wide as she dashed outside.
Mother of Baozhu panicked too, sobbing as she hurried after her.
Despite their haste, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law arrived too late—Lin Baozhu had already been taken into the interrogation room.
On the way back, Scarface and One-Ear, hoping to redeem themselves, didn’t wait for the police to question them before voluntarily revealing the hideout of Skinny Monkey and Tall Guy.
By that same morning, all five had been arrested!
The interrogations were conducted separately.
Whether they had coordinated their stories was unclear, but their statements were eerily consistent.
According to Scarface, they had met Lin Baozhu during a card game.
Three days earlier, Lin Baozhu had approached them, promising each a hundred yuan to help retrieve an item.
A hundred yuan was equivalent to three months’ wages for an average worker, and since they were strapped for cash, they agreed.
Afterward, they staked out near the Jiang Family’s home for two days.
But for some reason, when they broke in that night, they discovered someone had already beaten them to it.
Lin Baozhu then tried to back out of paying, which angered them so much they gave him a beating.
To make up for their losses, they packed up whatever was left in the house.
What they hadn’t expected was for the incident to blow up so badly—it even made the newspapers!
Scarface and One-Ear sensed trouble and decided to extort some money from Lin Baozhu before fleeing to another city.
Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on their side—they were caught just as they arrived at the residential compound, before they could even step inside.
As for what exactly had been stolen from the Jiang Family and who had taken it, they genuinely had no idea.
Lin Baozhu’s statement matched theirs, but when questioned about what he was looking for, he hesitated briefly.
Right now, they had only taken some old clothes and shoes, which weren’t worth much. But if he admitted they were after ten thousand yuan, the charges would be far more severe.
So he avoided mentioning the money entirely, claiming instead that he was short on cash and knew the Jiang Family was well-off, so he thought he’d try his luck.
The police weren’t fools.
Why strike now, of all times—just when the adults of the household were away and the victim had recently withdrawn money?
The coincidence was too glaring!
Moreover, the Jiang and Lin families lived over ten miles apart. How did Lin Baozhu know the victim had withdrawn money that very day?
And how did he know the cash was stored in a kraft paper bag?
If anyone claimed there hadn’t been a tip-off, they’d be lying to ghosts!
With suspicions now pointing in a clear direction, the police dropped the formalities.
This was an era without rules against rough treatment of suspects.
If one beating didn’t work, they’d try a second!
Lin Baozhu couldn’t hold out. The moment he heard that failure to confess truthfully might cost him his life, he caved.
Meanwhile, Lin Yueru, who had just returned from northern Jiangsu, had no idea—
Her dear nephew had already sold her out completely!
