Chapter 48: We Have to Search

"Where is Chen Dabao?"
"Where is my wife?"
Liu Fugui was extremely shocked. Liu Qiang hurriedly pushed his way through the crowd, while the young men of the Liu clan brandished weapons and tools, only to find their target had vanished.
There was only one door to the room, and the window outside had a security grille. In the span of just a moment, how could Chen Dabao possibly have escaped?
Liu Fugui held up his phone, recording nothing but thin air.
"Search, hurry up and search!"
"Under the bed, inside the wardrobe, check every single nook and cranny!"
"I refuse to believe this brat can fly!"
In a fit of rage, Liu Fugui hurriedly ordered several Liu clan youths to turn the place upside down.
Yet there was nothing under the bed, nothing in the wardrobe, and not a trace anywhere. The group of people looked at each other in dismay, despite having seen Chen Dabao enter with their own eyes.
Late at night like this, had they run into a ghost?
Even if Chen Dabao were a ghost, Xia Xiaoxue certainly wasn't.
Why had Xia Xiaoxue disappeared as well?
"Damn it, he ran away!"
Liu Xiaowu abruptly pulled back the curtain and stared in shock. The security grille behind the window had actually been torn wide open by brute force, the stainless steel bars nearly snapped in half.
With the curtains drawn earlier, no one had noticed the security grille had been mangled like this.
"Bastard, Chen Dabao must have kidnapped my wife!"
Liu Qiang's face turned green with fury. A prank was one thing, but to actually take his wife away was going entirely too far!
"Let's go, to Chen Dabao's house!"
"Chen Dabao attempted rape and even abducted Xiaoxue; this is a felony!"
"Xiaoxue must have been dragged back to Chen Dabao's house!"
Making a swift and decisive judgment, Liu Fugui immediately led a large, imposing crowd toward Chen Dabao's home. The moment they stepped outside, he exchanged a meaningful glance with Liu Dafu. Understanding immediately, Liu Dafu began to roar at the top of his lungs.
"Chen Dabao raped my daughter-in-law and kidnapped her too! Everyone, come out and seek justice for me! My poor daughter-in-law has been violated by Chen Dabao!"

As Liu Dafu walked, he beat his chest and wailed loudly.
Liu Qiang wore a grim expression. With such a scene being made, wouldn't he become the laughingstock of the entire village?
Yet at this moment, his objections were useless. He could only keep his head down and follow the crowd in sullen silence. As long as he got those twenty thousand yuan, he would have money to gamble again.
"Dear, what's all that shouting outside?"
"Sounds like someone is saying Chen Dabao took a young bride!"
"Go, go, go, let's go take a look!"
Before long, more than half the village was roused. Many villagers came out with flashlights to watch the commotion, trailing closely behind Liu Fugui and his group.
Liu Fugui sneered inwardly, feeling quite pleased with himself. With so many villagers acting as witnesses today, he wanted to see how Chen Dabao could possibly escape disaster.
"Hongyan, what's that commotion outside?"
Inside Li Youcai's house, the village head's wife, Deng Hongyan, was holding a bowl and feeding chicken soup to Li Youcai, while Li Youcai's own wife, Ma Jinlian, was nowhere to be seen.
Li Youcai had a broken leg, and his complexion was much worse than it had been a couple of days ago.
"What else could it be? Liu Fugui took people to catch an adulterer in the act. He's going to throw that brat Chen Dabao in prison!" Deng Hongyan said happily.
Had Liu Fugui not been busy with important business today, she wouldn't have found the opportunity to bring chicken soup to Li Youcai.
"姜还是老的辣—ginger is spicier the older it gets—Chen Dabao is no match for Liu Fugui!" Li Youcai's expression turned ugly. Once Chen Dabao was dealt with and Liu Fugui solidified his position, his own days as the village accountant would likely be numbered.
Liu Fugui certainly wouldn't let him keep the position of village accountant. He needed to figure out a way to take down Liu Fugui sooner rather than later, reclaim his own son, and fly off with Deng Hongyan to live in bliss.
As for Ma Jinlian, let that worn-out shoe drop dead for all he cared.
"Chen Dabao, get your ass out here!"
Meanwhile, Liu Fugui and the massive crowd of villagers had arrived outside Chen Dabao's house. Liu Dafu lunged forward and bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Snap!"
The lights in the small Western-style building suddenly flickered on, and Chen Dabao walked out lazily with a toothbrush in his mouth.
"Yo, quite lively, so many people came!" Chen Dabao swept his gaze over the crowd and asked lazily, "Liu Fugui, what do you want?"
"Chen Dabao, you're at death's door, and you still dare to put on an act?" Liu Fugui sneered triumphantly. "You attempted to rape Liu Qiang's wife, Xia Xiaoxue. We caught you in the act, and you fled while dragging Xia Xiaoxue along with you. Today, in broad daylight and in front of everyone, you can't deny it!"
"Chen Dabao, hand over my wife right now!"

Liu Qiang glared and shouted excitedly.
"Could Dabao really have a thing with Xia Xiaoxue?"
"Hard to say. Young brides like romance, and Chen Dabao is much better-looking than that crooked melon Liu Qiang. Back when Chen Dabao was an idiot for a year, it was Xia Xiaoxue who took care of him. Maybe she's had a thing with him for ages!"
"True. A lone man and a woman shut in the same room, could Xia Xiaoxue resist?"
"But now that they've been caught in the act, if Xia Xiaoxue is afraid of losing face and claims Chen Dabao raped her, Chen Dabao is definitely going away for a long time!"
The villagers watching the commotion gossiped amongst themselves, all feeling that Chen Dabao was in deep trouble this time.
If he was caught red-handed, Xia Xiaoxue, mindful of her reputation and terrified of facing people in the future, would likely accuse Chen Dabao of rape even if she had gone to him willingly.
"Liu Fugui, you say it is so just because you claim it? Who do you think you are? Just because you're the village head of Taohua Village, do you think whatever you say goes?" Chen Dabao showed not a hint of panic, asking with utter disdain.
"Chen Dabao, cut the crap. We'll know who's right and who's wrong once we go inside and search!" Liu Fugui said aggressively, holding up his phone. He was certain that Xia Xiaoxue was inside Chen Dabao's house.
Besides, Xia Xiaoxue had been given a drug; once they found her, it would be catching the culprit and the victim together.
"You want to search my, Chen Dabao's, house?" Chen Dabao asked calmly.
"That's right! If you don't let us search, I'll call the police right now and have them search!" Liu Fugui raised his voice, shouting loudly, "Everyone be a witness! Surround Chen Dabao's house in a moment, don't let anyone escape, and we'll wait until the police arrive!"
A stir rippled through the villagers. They had all come to watch the show, and without a resolution today, no one would disperse. With so many people here, if anyone wanted to sneak away quietly, it probably wouldn't be so easy.
"No need to go to all that trouble. You don't want to sleep, but everyone else does. By the time the police arrive, the opportunity will have long passed!" Chen Dabao sneered with absolute contempt. "You want to search? Fine. If you find someone, I'll let you dispose of me however you please. But what if you don't find anyone?"
"How could you not find anyone? My wife was abducted by you!" Liu Qiang shouted with a glare.
"Hmph, if we don't find anyone, Liu Qiang and I will kneel and apologize to you!" Liu Fugui sneered, waving his hand to stop Liu Qiang from speaking, and stated bluntly.
"Good, Village Head is a straightforward man. It's a deal then. If you don't find anyone and refuse to apologize, don't blame me for being unpolite!" Chen Dabao shot Liu Fugui a deep look and swung the front door wide open.
"Search!"
Filled with absolute confidence, Liu Fugui gave the order and led his people storming directly into the small Western-style building.