Chapter 62: Stealing Strawberries

"Dabao, how can you help me solve this? They would definitely rather have me sleep with Liu Xiaowu than with you!"

Xiaolian gave a bitter smile, her face filled with sorrow.

If she were to sleep with Liu Xiaowu, the child she bore would still belong to the Liu family lineage. Liu Fugui and Deng Hongyan could accept that.

However, if she were to sleep with Chen Dabao, the child she bore would carry Chen Dabao's bloodline. How could Liu Fugui and Deng Hongyan ever accept that?

"That's not necessarily true!" Chen Dabao said, dropping a bombshell. "Liu Xiaowu isn't actually Liu Fugui's flesh and blood; he was born from Deng Hongyan having an affair behind his back!"

Liu Fugui's wife, Deng Hongyan, had something going on with Li Youscai, and Liu Xiaowu looked just like Li Youscai. Chen Dabao was eighty percent sure that Liu Xiaowu was Li Youscai's biological son.

No wonder Li Youscai didn't care about Ma Jinlian running around messing with other men. With someone else helping him raise a son while he slept with another man's wife, of course he didn't care about Ma Jinlian. They were just playing their own games.

"Dabao, is what you're saying true?"

Xiaolian's beautiful eyes widened as she looked at Chen Dabao in utter disbelief.

Liu Fugui doted on his youngest son, Liu Xiaowu, more than anyone else, always favoring the youngest in the family. Never did she expect that Liu Xiaowu wasn't even Liu Fugui's biological son.

"It's true. Liu Xiaowu is Li Youscai's son. Li Youscai has a thing with your mother-in-law, Deng Hongyan—no, to be precise, he probably has a lot of things going on with her!"

Chen Dabao guessed that Li Youscai and Deng Hongyan had hooked up a long time ago. Perhaps it started after Deng Hongyan married Liu Fugui, or maybe even before they tied the knot.

"How could this happen?"

Xiaolian's mind was in utter turmoil; she never expected such a result.

"Xiaolian, if Liu Fugui finds out the truth, he will never let Deng Hongyan and Liu Xiaowu off the hook. By then, no one will be pressuring you anymore. You can go back with a peace of mind!" Chen Dabao said.

"Mm, Dabao, thank you!"

Xiaolian nodded, thanking Chen Dabao with a face full of gratitude. If Chen Dabao hadn't saved her tonight, she probably would have sunk to the bottom of the lake by now.

"Just a small matter, don't take it to heart. Xiaolian, don't be so impulsive next time!" Chen Dabao waved his hand.

"Mm—ouch!"

Xiaolian acknowledged him and tried to stand up, but the moment she rose, a sudden numbness shot up her leg, causing her to instinctively fall forward into Chen Dabao. Chen Dabao immediately felt a heavy, soft pressure press against his face.

He hurriedly steadied Xiaolian, whose pretty face flushed slightly as she quickly propped herself up.

"Xiaolian, what's wrong?" Chen Dabao asked with concern.

"I—my leg is having a cramp!"

Xiaolian held her leg, a look of pain on her delicate face. She must have gotten a cramp when the cold lake water hit her earlier.

"Let me take a look!"

Chen Dabao helped Xiaolian massage her leg and ultimately had no choice but to carry her on his back as they walked toward the village.

Xiaolian rested on Chen Dabao's back, gently pressing her pretty face against his body, a look of complete bliss washing over her. How wonderful it would have been if she had married Chen Dabao in the first place.

Although Liu Tianjie was good to her, Liu Tianjie couldn't have children; otherwise, she wouldn't be suffering like this now.

"Xiaolian, you should go on in!"

Carrying Xiaolian all the way, Chen Dabao dropped her off right at her doorstep.

"Dabao, thank you!"

Xiaolian suddenly hugged Chen Dabao, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the cheek before hurriedly turning around and rushing inside. Once back in her room, she double-bolted the door and lay on her bed, her mind racing with a thousand thoughts. She couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

"Goodness, it's really not safe outside at night!"

Chen Dabao touched his cheek and sneaked back home, only to find that Xia Xiaoxue had fallen fast asleep in his bed. He had to find another room in the house, lock the door, and finally go to sleep.

Early the next morning, before dawn had even broken, a ringing telephone woke him up.

Having tossed and turned until the middle of the night, he hadn't even woken up for his morning cultivation session.

"Auntie, what's wrong?"

Dabao answered the phone in a daze. The call was from Auntie Liu, who helped him pick strawberries.

"Dabao, come quick and take a look at the strawberry patch! It looks like someone stole from it!"

Auntie Liu's panicked voice immediately rang out through the phone.

"Strawberries were stolen? I'll be right there!"

Chen Dabao's expression changed slightly. He hung up the phone, got out of bed, simply washed up, and hurried outside.

"Dabao, where are you going so early in the morning?"

Before he could even step out the door, Xia Xiaoxue's alluring voice drifted from behind him.

When Chen Dabao turned his head, he saw Xia Xiaoxue leaning against the doorframe wearing a very short nightgown. The sleepwear barely covered her plump buttocks, and her pair of slender legs were dazzlingly white, making them particularly eye-catching.

Chen Dabao glanced at her once and immediately looked away, not daring to gaze any longer.

"It looks like someone stole some strawberries. I'm going to check it out. Um, Sister Xiaoxue, you go back to sleep!" After saying that, Chen Dabao didn't dare to linger and hurriedly left.

"This fool!"

Seeing his nervous demeanor, Xia Xiaoxue burst into a laugh as radiant as blooming flowers.

Chen Dabao hurried over to the back of the village. The sky was just beginning to brighten, and there were barely a few people in the fields yet. Auntie Liu and Zhang Aihua were standing at the edge of the patch, waiting anxiously for Chen Dabao.

"Auntie, what on earth happened?" Chen Dabao hurried over and asked.

"Dabao, look, whoever stole the strawberries even pulled up some of the plants!" Auntie Liu said with a heart full of anguish.

Chen Dabao went over to take a look and discovered that a section of the field had not only been trampled, damaging some strawberry plants, but a few plants had also been pulled up entirely by the roots. Some unripe strawberries had been carelessly tossed aside.

Without even needing to guess, it was obvious that someone had come to steal strawberries.

"Dabao, we are extremely careful every time we pick the strawberries. If they aren't red enough, we leave them to keep growing, and we certainly wouldn't pull up the plants. Someone definitely came here and raided the place!" Auntie Liu explained.

"Exactly, whoever stole these took quite a lot, and they were so vicious they even destroyed the plants!" Zhang Aihua said indignantly.

Since they were all fellow villagers, borrowing a few vegetables from someone else's field in the village was no big deal, and people wouldn't usually say anything. It was even normal for people passing by to eat a few strawberries growing out in the open.

But this strawberry thief was utterly hateful—destroying the plants as well. It was simply devoid of basic decency.

"Dabao, what should we do?"

Both Auntie Liu and Zhang Aihua looked at Chen Dabao. Even with these two acres of strawberries, they wouldn't last if people kept harboring malicious intentions.

"It's fine, Auntie Liu. You go ahead and start picking; don't let it delay the sales for Xianxian Fruits." Chen Dabao frowned and carefully examined the footprints in the dirt, but he couldn't make out anything useful from them.

With over a thousand people in Peach Blossom Village, figuring out who stole the strawberries was no easy task.

"Well, we certainly can't let the sales get delayed. Dabao, why don't you call the police and have the station take a look?" Auntie Liu suggested.

"Calling the police is useless; the police station won't take it seriously." Chen Dabao knew the usual attitude of the folks at the township police station. Previously, when Mi Nuo and the others were shot at, the station had simply treated it as an accident, always trying to turn major issues into minor ones and minor issues into nothing at all.

Expecting a group of good-for-nothings to help find who stole a few strawberries was wishful thinking.

"Alright then, we'll listen to you!"