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 ho will know. That little widow is so fierce, she’ll never let 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 sothing 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 ca back just now, I saw you all stuffing clothes under your own."
While explaining the situation to the surprised custors, Little Xue and Little i hurried over with a garnt 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 custors in the store, "This isn’t the first ti these people have stolen clothes from our shop!"
Liu Jinbao shrieked, "Oww! He’s killing ...!"
Jiang Xiu started screaming too. "Help! Murder! Soone’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 rcy. "Sir, please, this is my first ti! I’m begging you, let go! If my family finds out, they’ll beat 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 ti! We’ll never do it again, we swear! Please, let us go..."
Several custors 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 i spat in their direction. "Shaless! Perfectly healthy, yet you choose to be thieves. Last ti you ca, 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 , 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 co to my house, how would I have ever t you?"
Zhang Yazhen stamred, "I was talking about Liu San..."
Little i 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 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 Yongi stepped forward and pulled the garnt 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 Yongi 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 Yongi. "Mom, go sit over there."
Li Xiangyang cupped his hands in a fist-and-palm salute to the custors. "I’m sorry to have alard everyone. Please, I ask you all to be witnesses that they pulled these clothes from under their own garnts."
A regular custor 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 custor 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 departnt store to buy that watch I was looking at the other day. A 12% discount will save more than twenty yuan!"
At that mont, 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 won do the stealing, and the two n 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 custors 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 soone from your store to co with us to the station and give a statent."
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 co along and give a statent as well."
"Okay!" Zhou Xiaohong and Li Xiangyang left together with the officers.
Little Xue and Little i helped the remaining custors bag their purchases and refunded the discount difference to two shoppers who had already paid.
Old Li said to the custors, "Let take you to our other two stores." He thought for a mont, 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 custor 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 at 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 ca to a sudden understanding. "Oh, so that’s how it is!"
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