131. I Am No Gentleman — Part Two

Sister Yang grabbed my arm. “A-Feng, could you please not leave tonight? I’m scared!”

I could only pat her shoulder and comfort her. “Don’t be afraid, Sister Yang. Let’s go and see whether anything was stolen.”

She nodded. For safety’s sake, I went back to the place where I had once stayed in the villa and fetched an iron bar. In the past, I had worried that Bald Leopard and his men might come looking for trouble, so I had kept an iron bar beside my bed in case of emergencies. I had not lived there for some time, but nothing had been put away.

Sister Yang locked the villa’s main door and followed behind me with a kitchen knife. I carried the iron bar in one hand and a flashlight in the other as I accompanied her around the factory, checking the equipment and products.

Thieves generally targeted things that were valuable and easy to sell. After inspecting the factory with Sister Yang, we found nothing missing.

But when we passed the warehouse, we discovered that the padlock on the main door had been forced open. Looking inside, we saw that the aluminum ingots, which had originally been stacked in neat rows, were now scattered all over the floor.

Obviously, the thieves had broken the warehouse lock and intended to steal the aluminum ingots. That explained why they had driven a van over. Most likely, when Sister Yang and I had come outside talking, our voices had startled them, and they had fled in panic.

Sister Yang breathed a sigh of relief, silently congratulating herself that I happened to be there tonight. Otherwise, she would never have dared try to stop the thieves, and she herself might have been in danger. Of course, she could have called the police, but she was worried that if the thieves were not caught, they would simply return another night. She would never be able to guard against them.

I felt that the matter was not so simple. Ordinary thieves would not dare steal aluminum ingots. Aluminum was expensive and extremely heavy, and even selling it would not be easy. Anyone bold enough to steal ingots in this manner had to be a professional thief with a carefully planned way to dispose of the goods.

“Sister Yang, has anything like this ever happened at your factory before?”

She shook her head. “There have been minor thefts in the past, but nothing as brazen as someone stealing aluminum ingots.”

“Sister Yang, your factory has surveillance cameras, doesn’t it?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

Then she suddenly looked up in alarm. “Why aren’t the cameras showing any red indicator lights tonight? Could they be broken?”

“Where are the surveillance systems controlled?”

“There are two systems. The cameras around the factory are controlled from the guardhouse. The ones inside the workshops are controlled from my office.”

“Then let’s go to the guardhouse and check tonight’s footage.”

Sister Yang nodded and led me into the guardhouse.

After turning on the light, I saw that the surveillance computer screen was completely black.

“Was the surveillance system not turned on tonight?”

Sister Yang looked puzzled as well. “The old guard was taken home by his family for the New Year celebrations, and I forgot to ask about it. Let’s turn it on and have a look.”

“When was the old guard taken home for the New Year?”

“His daughter and son-in-law came home today, so he went back with them.”

As she spoke, Sister Yang turned on the computer, but the monitor still showed no surveillance footage.

“The cables connecting the cameras must have been cut,” I said.

Sister Yang looked frightened. “Who could have done this? They even cut the surveillance cables?”

I thought for a moment. “Sister Yang, perhaps the thief was someone from inside.”

She froze. “A-Feng, you mean someone familiar with the factory did it?”

“That’s only my guess. First of all, whoever did this must have known the locations of the cameras in order to cut the cables.”

Sister Yang nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Moreover, this person knew there were aluminum ingots in the warehouse, and that they were the most valuable and easiest goods in the factory to sell. More importantly, he knew the old guard would be away tonight. Otherwise, the noise of moving the ingots would certainly have woken him.”

“A-Feng, after hearing your analysis, I’m beginning to suspect it was someone familiar with the place too.”

I nodded. “Still, that person never expected you to bring me back tonight. He certainly didn’t expect me to leave without staying the night, so we happened to catch him by accident. You could call it a twist of fate.”

Sister Yang clutched my arm. “A-Feng, whatever happens, please don’t go back tonight. I’m truly frightened. I’m begging you.”

I thought about the situation. I really could not bring myself to leave her alone, so I nodded.

“Don’t be afraid, Sister Yang. I’ll stay here tonight. I want to see whether that thief dares come back.”

Sister Yang found another heavy lock and secured the warehouse doors again. Then we returned to the villa.

After opening the villa’s main door, Sister Yang first went to check on her daughter. Seeing that the girl was already fast asleep, she brought down a fresh quilt.

“A-Feng, you haven’t slept here for several months, so I replaced the old bedding. This quilt is the one I use…”

She suddenly noticed my strange expression. Her face flushed, and she hurriedly explained, “I only mean that I dried it in the sun earlier. It isn’t dirty at all.”

Curious, I asked, “Sister Yang, if you brought your own quilt down, what will you use?”

“A-Feng, after what happened tonight, I’m too afraid to sleep. You should go ahead and sleep while I sit beside you and keep watch. If I hear anything outside, I’ll wake you.”

“But if you aren’t in the bedroom, what about Xiaoya?”

“Xiaoya is old enough to sleep by herself now. I checked on her earlier, and she was already sound asleep. For safety, I’ve locked the bedroom door. Besides, we’re on the first floor. If an intruder really did get inside, we would wake up.”

Her reasoning sounded sensible. I had been drinking, and I was already feeling drowsy, so I said, “All right, Sister Yang. I’ll sleep, then. If you hear anything outside, wake me.”

“Go to sleep, A-Feng. I don’t dare sleep, so I’ll sit at the edge of your bed and play on my phone.”

I took off my outer clothes and slipped beneath the quilt. It was wonderfully warm, proving that she really had just dried it in the sun. There was also a faint, delicate fragrance lingering in the fabric—one that stirred the imagination.

I had only been asleep for a short while when Sister Yang said, “A-Feng, my feet are a little cold. Could you cover them for me?”

I laughed. “Just cover them yourself. Why ask me about such a small thing?”

After hearing that, Sister Yang removed her shoes and trousers, then slipped her feet beneath the quilt. She half reclined beside me, playing with her phone. I paid no attention to her, and before long I drifted into a hazy sleep, entering a dream.

In the dream, I seemed to have returned to my wedding night with Sister Li. I held her soft, warm body in my arms and began doing something shameful with her…

Suddenly, I woke with a start, because I felt that there really was something soft in my arms…

Chapter 131: I Am No Gentleman — Free Reading