36 Money Moves People's Hearts

The neighbors who came were all armed with weapons. When they encountered a thief, they would not stay home and do nothing. This was because the next time they had a thief in their own house, no one would help them if they remained a bystander.

A brawny man with a stick in his hand slowly led everyone into the house.

Under the moonlight, they saw two masked men in black on the ground. Everyone quickly lit up the room with their lanterns. The burly man turned them over and checked their breathing.

"He's still alive. The few of you, hurry up and report to the mayor's house."

"Little lady, go find a rope."

The man might have encountered this before, so he calmly made arrangements. Two women accompanied Qiao Mai and found ropes in the warehouse.

Everyone tied up the two thieves. No one said a word. They waited for the mayor to come.

The mayor was old, and it took him some time to arrive.

Seeing the thieves on the ground, the mayor asked someone to bring them to the courtyard. After all, this was someone else's bedroom.

Under the bright lights, the mayor sat on a chair.

"Madam Qiao, tell me what happened first."

Qiao Mai wiped her tears, and her lips trembled.

"I was really not fated to die today. I drank too much water at night. When I woke up, I heard the door open. I was so scared that I quickly picked up the stick for self-defense. I hid behind the door. When they looked out, I used the moonlight to hit their heads. They fell. Then, I was so scared that I ran to the courtyard to shout for help. That's what happened. It was so scary!"

"Alright, don't cry. It's fine."

The mayor gestured at the guards he had brought. "Let's see who these two people are."

The guard bent down and pulled off the black cloth on their faces. "Mayor, I don't know these two people. They don't look like they're from our town."

"Rabbits don't eat the grass near their nests. They came to our town to steal. Search them."

The guards quickly found the drugs, dagger, and other tools.

There were witnesses and physical evidence. In front of so many people, the mayor wanted to interrogate them about their purpose for coming here.

"Madam Qiao, you sell ice. Do you have any melted ice water?"

"Yes, I'll go get it."

Qiao Mai went to the kitchen and brought a small basin of cold water. The guard took it and splashed it on the heads of the two thieves.

It was effective. They immediately woke up, but because of the blow to their heads, their sight became blurry.

It took them a long time to wake up. When they saw so many people, they knew they had been exposed.

The guard stepped forward and kicked them twice. "The mayor is here. You'd better tell the truth, or I might get physical."

The two men looked like habitual criminals and obediently confessed.

"Milord, we are from that town in the north. A while ago, we came to Tianshui Town for a stroll and saw that this little lady's business was booming, so we thought to steal."

"Have you been caught before?"

"Yes."

"Have you been sentenced?"

"Yes."

"Do you not know how to repent after being sentenced?"

"Sir, money is really tempting. There's no other way. Who asked this little lady's business to be so good? We made a mistake out of jealousy."

The mayor stood up. "Take these two back and send them to the county government tomorrow."

"Yes, Sir."

Qiao Mai opened her mouth but swallowed the words. She wanted to say they were instructed by someone, but the words were stuck in her throat.

The reason the thief gave was reasonable. If she said anything else, it would seem like she was deliberately putting a label on them.

She didn't want the mayor to be annoyed at her. It was good that he didn't get angry to be woken up at such an old age in the middle of the night.

She regretted not killing them. They had entered the house to steal and were caught in the middle of the night. The government could not say anything even if they died in her house. This was a law.

However, these two thieves definitely had families. If they were killed, there might be more trouble in the future.

The most direct method was to kill them and throw them at where no one was around to sweep away all traces. This was the best policy. There would be no next time.

However, this was not necessarily a bad thing. After the thieves were released from prison, they would look for the person who instigated them. It was hard to say if infighting would occur, but at the very least, they could make the person behind them bleed.

Qiao Mai encouraged herself. When everyone saw the matter was over, they brought their families home. Two women even comforted her kindly before leaving.

Qiao Mai closed the door, and the look in her eyes immediately turned from grievance to coldness.

She couldn't attract men's covetous eyes at all. At most, they would be attracted by money.

However, she had clearly heard the man wanting to ruin her innocence. There was definitely someone behind it.

She closed her eyes and thought about it. The Qiao family was impossible. They did not have the guts. Then, there was only the Tian family. No matter how vicious those two old fellows were, they did not know such gangsters. The most likely person was Tian Yaozu. He was studying in town and knew many people. That day, he was humiliated at the shop entrance. It was not impossible for him to find someone to teach her a lesson.

Qiao Mai took a deep breath. "Tian Yaozu, you'd better pray every day to protect your life. If you fall in my hands one day, I'll make you wish you were dead."

Damn it. If he had sent someone to kill her, she wouldn't have been so angry.

He had sent someone to humiliate her, so there was nothing else to say. This was a deadly feud that could not be resolved in a lifetime.

That night, she didn't go back to her room. Qiao Mai stayed in the bedroom until dawn.

After Shopkeeper Lu found out about this, she didn't even open her shop and rushed there.

Qiao Mai opened the courtyard door, and Lu Sanniang pulled her into her arms.

"Oh, my little darling, I was scared out of my wits when I heard about it. Nothing can happen to you. I'm relying on you for money!"

Qiao Mai was quite touched, but when she heard the last sentence, Qiao Mai glared at her a few times and pushed her away. The four girls behind her covered their mouths and laughed.

"Don't worry. They'll only rob me. I won't be humiliated."

"Why don't you move to my house?"

"No, there are many neighbors around me. It'll be okay. It's not convenient for me to mess around at your place."

Shopkeeper Lu held her hand and looked left and right. "Are you really fine?"

"It's fine. It's just a thief. Even wealthy families can't avoid it, let alone a single woman like me."

"Maybe you've been too eye-catching recently?"

"You should be the one who attracts people's envy. I'm your servant, so I should give you the money I earned from doing business."

Hearing this, Lu Sanniang's heart skipped a beat. She whispered.

"I think those two men might have been instructed by someone. Someone hired them to ruin your reputation deliberately?"

Qiao Mai didn't expect Lu Sanniang could guess the purpose of the thieves just because of one sentence.

"Unfortunately, there's no evidence. As soon as they entered, I knocked them unconscious. The mayor came and woke them up before confessing."

"Could the person behind them be the Tian family?"

Qiao Mai smiled, and her eyes flashed. "Let's not guess things without evidence."

"Why don't you let my girl come over to accompany you tonight?"

"No need. I'll raise two dogs soon. If there's any movement, they'll wake me up."

"You!"

"No one will dare to come for now. Don't worry."

"Are you still going to open your stall today?"

"Of course. The weather is clear now. We can't delay making money."

The five of them helped Qiao Mai carry the products onto the cart and pushed it to the front of the embroidery workshop.

Shopkeeper Lu went to open the shop door while the others helped her set up the awning and table. After everything was done, they returned to the shop at the back.

Qiao Mai stretched lazily and looked at the blue sky. It was really a happy day to earn money.

As soon as she sat down, the peddlers around her and the people who knew her all asked her with concern.

"Little lady, you were scared last night, right?"

"Fortunately, the thieves didn't even enter the house before I knocked them out."

"Since you earn so much, why don't you buy two girls to keep you company?"

"I gave all the money I earned to the shopkeeper. Even if I have money, it's my monthly salary. Those two thieves have found the wrong target."

"They didn't do anything to you, did they?"