northernbook Chapter 386 - 384: It’s Her
Chapter 386 - 384: It’s Her
After finishing up, Zhou Xiaohong started organizing the clothes on the rack. When she got to the section where Zhang Yazhen and the others had been browsing, she noticed an empty spot on the hanger chain. Frowning, she asked Chen Dongming, "None of those people bought anything just now, so why is an item missing here?"
"I sold a Mao suit. The couple with the baby didn’t buy anything, and the group that came in after them just looked around and left without buying a thing."
Chen Dongming walked over as he spoke. "This is where the cream-colored wool sweater was hanging. We haven’t sold any wool sweaters today, have we? How could it be gone?"
Zhou Xiaohong carefully sifted through the clothes on the rack and realized it wasn’t just one item. A Dacron shirt, a cashmere cardigan, and a police-blue blazer were also missing.
"Four pieces of clothing are gone." Zhou Xiaohong was so angry she started cursing. "Son of a bitch! Fucking bastards! Those people were shoplifters! Goddamn them! Stealing my clothes, I hope they break out in boils all over their bodies..."
Chen Dongming was furious too. He walked to the doorway, looked around, then came back. "Little Hong, I think we should hire a salesclerk. We’ve lost several pieces of clothing since the New Year. The value is enough to cover a few months’ salary."
Zhou Xiaohong sat down, frowning. An image of a person flashed through her mind. She looked at Chen Dongming, her brow furrowed. "Old Chen, among that group who came in later, there was a woman I feel like I’ve seen somewhere before... Who was it? Why can’t I remember all of a sudden?"
Chen Dongming looked at her and said gently, "Don’t rush it, take your time to think. If you really can’t remember, then..."
Zhou Xiaohong raised a hand, cutting Chen Dongming off. She rubbed her temples for a moment, then clapped her hands in excitement. "I remember! That woman was the one who reported Little Lin to the civil defense team! Her name... I can’t recall her name, but she lives next door to the Lin family."
"Even if you remember, it’s no use. You have to catch a thief red-handed," Chen Dongming said with a shrug. "You have no evidence. If you go to her house, not only will she deny it, she’ll probably turn around and accuse you of something."
Zhou Xiaohong nodded and thought for a moment. "You watch the shop. I’m going next door to see if Lin Lan is around."
Chen Dongming urged, "Come back quickly. It’s been crowded these last few days, and I can’t watch the store by myself. I don’t want anything else to go missing."
"Stop nagging! I’m just going to ask a quick question and come right back." Zhou Xiaohong rushed next door to the department store like a whirlwind. Seeing both He Li and Old Li there, she asked, "Old Li, has Little Lin been by?"
Old Li smiled and nodded. "She has. She’s at the clothing store across the street."
Zhou Xiaohong turned to He Li. "Little Li, could you do me a favor and go call her for me? I have something to talk to her about." With that, she hurried back to her own shop.
A little while later, Lin Lan arrived at Zhou Xiaohong’s shop. "Sister Zhou, did you miss me?"
Zhou Xiaohong gave her a look of mock reproach. "If I don’t come looking for you, you never bother to come see me."
Lin Lan laughed. "I’ve passed by your shop a few times, but I always saw you had customers, so I just went to the one across the street instead."
Zhou Xiaohong pulled her down to sit, her expression miserable. "I’ve had the worst luck today. Four pieces of clothing were stolen..."
Lin Lan frowned. "You had things stolen too? We lost a trench coat worth over eighty yuan yesterday, and we don’t know if anything else is missing. Little Xue and her sister are planning to do an inventory check tonight."
"Little Lin," Zhou Xiaohong said, grabbing Lin Lan’s arm. "Among the people who stole my clothes, I’m pretty sure one of them was that woman who reported you to the civil defense team."
"You mean Zhang Yazhen!" Lin Lan said, looking at her in surprise.
"Yes, yes, that’s her! She came into my shop with a man and two other women. Dongming and I were both busy at the time and didn’t get a chance to help them. They just looked around for a bit and left."
As she spoke, Zhou Xiaohong tapped her head. "Oh, I remember now. The man had squinty eyes and a bit of an underbite."
"Squinty eyes and an underbite?" An image of Liu Jinbao surfaced in Lin Lan’s mind. "I know who that is. That son of a bitch is probably Liu San from our production team."
Zhou Xiaohong stared at her in shock. "What? They’re both from Lexing? What’s going on with Lexing? Has it become a den of thieves?"
"Of course not. They’re just a couple of dirty rats. That Liu San’s full name is Liu Jinbao. He and I have some bad blood..." Lin Lan then briefly explained her history with Liu Jinbao to Zhou Xiaohong.
"Ptooey!" Zhou Xiaohong spat. "The bastard. No wonder he’d pull something like this."
Lin Lan thought for a moment. "Sister Zhou, I bet we’re not the only ones they’ve ’patronized.’ Other shops have probably fallen victim to them too. They’re stealing clothes so often—can they even wear that many?"
’After they succeeded at my shop yesterday, they came to Sister Zhou’s shop today. They can’t possibly be stealing all these clothes for themselves. Someone must be fencing the goods for them.’
"Someone’s definitely fencing the goods!" Zhou Xiaohong said with certainty. "Can you find that Liu Jinbao? I want to go identify him and see if it’s really him. I think these people have gotten a taste for it and will 100% be back. We need to catch them, make them compensate us, and then turn them over to the police."
"Finding him is the easy part. I’ll come get you after we close up shop," Lin Lan said, frowning in thought. "Does he recognize you? If you go, will it tip him off?"
"He probably does." Zhou Xiaohong figured thieves tend to have sharp eyes.
Chen Dongming chimed in, "You could just hide somewhere and take a quick peek!"
Lin Lan remembered that Liu Jinbao was the warehouse keeper for their production team. The rapeseed harvest was starting tomorrow, so Liu Jinbao would probably be guarding the warehouse. She thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow afternoon, after it gets dark, let’s take a trip to Lexing. I’ll find someone to take you to the brigade’s warehouse so you can get a look."
Zhou Xiaohong nodded. "Okay."
The two then chatted a bit about business. Zhou Xiaohong told Lin Lan that Xu Mingxuan had remarried. He married the salesclerk from his own store, a woman nearly twenty-four years his junior.
Chen Dongming interjected with a laugh, "It doesn’t matter what era it is. As long as a man has money and power, he won’t have trouble finding a wife even at sixty. If this were before the Liberation, Mingxuan would probably have several concubines by now."
Zhou Xiaohong shot him a fierce glare. "We’ve got a little money now, so what about you? Are you thinking of finding someone younger?"
Chen Dongming quickly declared his loyalty, "Marrying you was the best thing that ever happened to me! I would never dream of it." With that, he scurried off to help a customer.
Zhou Xiaohong looked at Lin Lan with a grin. "Old Chen isn’t wrong, though. Xu Mingxuan might be a bit old, but he’s capable and a man of good character. That girl who married him won’t have to worry about a thing for the rest of her life."
Lin Lan smiled and nodded. "That’s right. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman; when you’re looking for a spouse, you have to look at their character first."
"You’re right. Some people are all show and no substance."
Just then, another customer came in, so Lin Lan took her leave. When she returned to her shop, Li Xiangyang was also back from the pig farm.
Lin Lan told him about the commune wanting to sell the Eucalyptus Forest. They discussed it for a bit, and then Li Xiangyang went to the commune to ask about buying the plot of land.
After Li Xiangyang left, Lin Lan told Little Xue and her sister about the clothes stolen from Zhou Xiaohong’s shop. She described Liu Jinbao and Zhang Yazhen to them, then went to the shoe store and the department store to warn Xiang Qun and He Li to be on the lookout for shoplifters.