Chapter 392: Chapter 390: Caught Red-Handed

Zhang Yazhen was scared out of her wits, so panicked that tears were about to stream down her face. Her mind raced. ’It’s over, it’s over. Now everyone back home will know. That little widow is so fierce, she’ll never let me go...’

Huihui’s face turned pale with fear. She pressed the items hidden under her clothes tightly to her body and looked at Liu Jinbao in a panic, whispering, "Liu San, what do we do now?"

Liu Jinbao shot them a dirty look, then pointed at Old Li and glared. "You old bastard, what crap are you spewing? I’ll leave when I damn well please."

"What are you talking about? We don’t have anything," Jiang Xiu blustered at Old Li, putting on a brave face. "Do we have to buy something just because we entered the store? We’re not allowed to leave if we don’t? Where’s the sense in that?"

Old Li said grimly, "It’s no use acting tough. When I came back just now, I saw you all stuffing clothes under your own."

While explaining the situation to the surprised customers, Little Xue and Little Mei hurried over with a garment pole to block their path.

"Get lost, you damn old man! I think you’re tired of living." Liu Jinbao cursed as he threw a punch at Old Li.

Old Li shot out a hand, grabbed his wrist, and forced it back. He followed with a kick to Liu Jinbao’s knee, knocking him to the ground. He then announced loudly to the customers in the store, "This isn’t the first time these people have stolen clothes from our shop!"

Liu Jinbao shrieked, "Oww! He’s killing me...!"

Jiang Xiu started screaming too. "Help! Murder! Someone’s being murdered at Lanyang Clothing!"

Little Xue pointed at the group and shouted, "They haven’t just stolen from our store! They hit Little Hong Clothing across the street a few days ago, and we lost a couple of expensive items ourselves not long ago."

Just then, Li Xiangyang rushed to the entrance. He grabbed the long hook used for the roll-down shutter from the corner and pulled the gate halfway down.

He strode over to Old Li’s side and stared coldly at Liu Jinbao, who was playing dead on the floor. "Liu Jinbao. Zhang Yazhen. You can run, but you can’t hide. The police will be here any minute."

Liu Jinbao turned his head to glance at Li Xiangyang.

Seeing this, Zhang Yazhen quickly pulled the clothes out and hung them on a rack. She started bowing to Old Li, begging for mercy. "Sir, please, this is my first time! I’m begging you, let me go! If my family finds out, they’ll beat me to death! Sob... sob..."

Huihui and Jiang Xiu also pulled out the clothes they had hidden and started pleading. "Sir, this is really our first time! We’ll never do it again, we swear! Please, let us go..."

Several customers looked on with disdain. "If you can’t afford nice clothes, just wear cheaper ones. Why resort to stealing?"

"I doubt they were stealing them to wear. A single item from Lanyang Clothing costs a few dozen yuan!"

"Exactly! They stole six items. I tried on that dress—it costs over a hundred yuan..."

Little Xue pointed to a silk blouse. "This is a new arrival, an embroidered blouse made of genuine silk. This piece alone is over ninety yuan! You’re all perfectly able-bodied. Why do you have to steal from other people?"

"Pah!" Little Mei spat in their direction. "Shameless! Perfectly healthy, yet you choose to be thieves. Last time you came, you stole a trench coat and a wool suit, and we were the ones who had to pay for it..."

Zhang Yazhen and Huihui quickly tried to absolve themselves. "It wasn’t me, they did it! We were tricked into coming here by them..."

"Pah!" Jiang Xiu spat back at them. "You country bumpkins! I live in the city. If you hadn’t come to my house, how would I have ever met you?"

Zhang Yazhen stammered, "I was talking about Liu San..."

Little Mei said with disdain, "A pack of dogs fighting over a bone."

Zhang Hua and Jiang Xiu exchanged a panicked glance, clutching their child as they tried to slip away.

Yang Zhigang stepped forward to block them. He pointed at Jiang Xiu and said, "You too, ma’am, the one holding the child. Do me a favor and take out that wool cardigan."

Zhang Hua’s expression soured. He retorted, "You’re talking nonsense. We bought this at another clothing store."

Zhou Yongmei stepped forward and pulled the garment from where it was hidden between Jiang Xiu and her child. She pointed to the price tag, which was still attached with a safety pin. "Everyone, take a look! It still has the Lanyang Clothing tag on it, and they’re still trying to deny it."

"You—!" Jiang Xiu reached out to shove Zhou Yongmei but was blocked by Yang Zhigang. "Her health isn’t good. If you knock her over, you won’t be able to bear the consequences."

Little Xue rushed forward to support Zhou Yongmei. "Mom, go sit over there."

Li Xiangyang cupped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute to the customers. "I’m sorry to have alarmed everyone. Please, I ask you all to be witnesses that they pulled these clothes from under their own garments."

A regular customer nodded. "Don’t worry, Boss Li. We’ll be your witnesses."

Li Xiangyang said gratefully, "Thank you, thank you so much! As a token of my appreciation, anything you buy from any of my family’s stores today will be 12% off!"

The regular customer said happily, "Really? I had my eye on a pair of leather shoes. I’ll go buy them in a bit, and I’ll get a pair for my wife while I’m at it."

Li Xiangyang smiled. "I’m a man of my word."

Another person said excitedly, "I’m going to your department store to buy that watch I was looking at the other day. A 12% discount will save me more than twenty yuan!"

At that moment, the roll-down gate was pushed up by Zhou Xiaohong and several police officers. "Xiangyang, where are the thieves?"

Li Xiangyang pointed at Liu Jinbao, Zhang Yazhen, and the others, and said to the police, "It’s them. They’re a gang. The four women do the stealing, and the two men block the sales staff’s line of sight. They stole..."

Zhou Xiaohong looked at Zhang Yazhen in disgust. "This woman is bad news. Back when we were running a small business, she’s the one who reported us to the local patrol team, and she also..."

One of the police officers questioned Li Xiangyang and his staff, then interviewed several customers about what had happened. Finally, he bagged the clothes the thieves had pulled out.

The other two officers took Liu Jinbao and his crew into custody and led them to the police car waiting outside.

The officer holding the bag of clothes said to Li Xiangyang, "We need someone from your store to come with us to the station and give a statement."

Li Xiangyang nodded. "Alright. And Little Hong Clothing across the street—they had four items stolen by this group a few days ago, too."

"This lady already reported that to us," the officer said, looking at Zhou Xiaohong. "You should come along and give a statement as well."

"Okay!" Zhou Xiaohong and Li Xiangyang left together with the officers.

Little Xue and Little Mei helped the remaining customers bag their purchases and refunded the discount difference to two shoppers who had already paid.

Old Li said to the customers, "Let me take you to our other two stores." He thought for a moment, then added, "We also have a pastry shop. I’ll talk to my daughter-in-law tonight, so if you go there tomorrow, you’ll also get 12% off."

"Wow, you have so many stores," the regular customer said, looking at Old Li with envy. "Sir, your son and daughter-in-law are incredibly capable!"

A middle-aged woman smiled. "Sir, your family’s business has been around for ages! We often buy meat from your son’s butcher stall!"

Old Li said humbly, "The butcher stall is the old family business. These other shops were opened by my son and a few of his friends as a partnership. My son and daughter-in-law didn’t have other jobs, so they just help manage the stores."

Everyone came to a sudden understanding. "Oh, so that’s how it is!"