Chapter 183: Chapter 183 Don’t Move

Lu Xiaoting nodded, lowering his voice, “Alright, aunties, I’ve got it all. Keep an eye on the kids during this special period. Try to stay at home and keep the doors locked.”

Many families in the neighborhood knew Lu Xiaoting and his wife Susu, not because they were particularly high-profile, but rather due to their triplets.

As soon as the triplets were mentioned, gradually everyone got to know the couple and learned that the father of the triplets was a police officer at the local police station.

The reason it took a whopping ten minutes to get from the usual couple-of-minutes walk from the alley entrance to their home today was that they ran into old men and women along the way, who stopped to chat for a good while.

Without exception, they all told Lu Xiaoting that they had seen a lot of unfamiliar faces today.

For the old folks who had lived in this area for decades, it wasn’t just about which family everyone knew well and what they could talk about.

At the very least, when they met, they could exchange simple pleasantries like “Have you eaten?” or “Are you heading out?”

If there were unfamiliar faces in the alley, they could usually figure out whose aunt or uncle they were.

Not to mention, with the crime surge recently, several families had been robbed and some people even ended up in the hospital, making everyone on edge.

When they kept seeing unfamiliar faces every day, they couldn’t help but speculate, and all couldn’t wait to tell Lu Xiaoting what they had noticed.

Susu, pretending to be injured, was utterly impressed by the old men and women who were like an intelligence network.

Lu Xiaoting’s face turned cold, his sharp gaze sweeping around, determined to catch those pests who were causing trouble and endangering the public.

Susu silently reached out and tightly gripped the man’s large hand, lending him strength.

“I believe you’ll be able to bring those bad guys to justice according to law, but you promised me, you must be careful.”

“Don’t worry, wife.”

Lu Xiaoting clasped his wife’s delicate and soft hand in return.

“Lu Xiaoting!”

Susu leaned on the man and called out in a low voice.

Lu Xiaoting’s gaze met with a man lurking not far from their front door, and the next instant, he averted his eyes, carefully helping his wife out of the car and into the house.

“Sigh~”

The sleazy man heaved a huge sigh of relief. For some reason, just that one look, the look from the man just now was terrifying.

“Slap, slap, slap—”

The man fiercely slapped his own black face three times, squinting his eyes with a malevolent look.

“It must be because I didn’t sleep well. That’s just an ordinary worker, probably just glanced over inadvertently. It couldn’t possibly be a gaze that intimidating.”

Susu and Lu Xiaoting were unaware of the man’s situation.

“This morning, when Tianyu and I came back, it was that man standing at our doorstep, even asking me if I was ‘from the Zhao Family,’ pretending to have gotten the place wrong.”

Lu Xiaoting checked the time on his wrist, “I’ve got it, wife. According to the plan, others have already blended in. You just make sure to lock up the doors and windows well at home, leave the rest to me.”

Susu nodded, her heart racing as she took Da Hei into the house.

“Woof, woof, woof.”

“Da Hei, we owe you for yesterday, you silly boy. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known if our house had been robbed,” Susu said, hugging Da Hei tightly after a moment of fright.

“Come here, Da Hei baby, I’m going to make something nice for you.”

Susu rummaged through boxes and drawers to find scraps of cloth, a needle, thread, and scissors, then sat cross-legged on the bed and busied herself.

“Come here, Da Hei.”

“Woof.”

After fiddling around for a bit, Susu smiled and patted Da Hei’s head, “Good boy, it fits just right. We’re counting on you tonight.”

Father Lu and Mrs. Lu, who were hiding at their nephew’s place with their grandsons and granddaughter, couldn’t help but worry, unsure how things were back home.

“Grandpa, Grandma, we want to go home to find Mommy.”

The triplets couldn’t sit still any longer and started fussing to go home.

“Be good, we’ll stay at your second uncle’s house today and play with your brothers. Mommy and Daddy are busy. Once they’re done, they’ll come to pick us up,” Tianyu coaxed his little brother and sister.

Lele frowned, “Big brother, what if Da Hei at home gets hungry?”

“He won’t, Grandma left some food for Da Hei.”

…

As dusk gradually fell and night embraced the land, a cold wind howled.

In the alley, five sneaky figures made their way to the Lu Family’s doorstep with twists and turns.

“Is this the place?”

“Yes, Brother Tian.”

The man called Brother Tian signaled with a wave of his hand, and the two men carrying items immediately stepped forward to set up the ladder.

At the same time, several other figures were hiding in the corners of the Lu Family’s house, and two men were concealed behind the neighboring house’s door, watching the Lu Family’s entrance intently.

“Woof, woof, woof.”

“Can’t you deal with this quickly?” Brother Tian whispered in a low voice.

A man emerged, still fiddling with something in his hands, “Don’t worry, Brother Tian. This bag of rat poison has been soaking for a day. It’ll kill the damn pup in minutes.”

With a “plop,” an indistinct object was thrown into the yard.

Da Hei darted toward it, grabbing and nosing the raw meat on the ground with its mouth.

“Woof, woof, woof.”

Muzzled with a homemade dog muzzle, Da Hei barked at the two men, looking anxious.

“Good boy.”

Susu hugged the frustrated Da Hei, who was unable to reach the meat, and quickly locked the house door. Just to be sure, the main room and the bedroom doors in the east wing were both locked.

Susu held Da Hei tight, pinching the dog’s muzzle and staring outside the window for any activity.

Lu Xiaoting took away the meat and then quickly hid out of sight.

“No more barking?”

The men hidden in the shadows by the wall pricked up their ears, but for a long while, heard no sound of barking.

“Brother Tian, the dog has stopped barking.”

“Heh heh heh, no matter how fierce, a pack of rat poison will shut it up,” the earlier man laughed smugly.

“Shut up!”

Brother Tian lashed out with a kick and coldly glared at the man, “Hurry up and climb over, what are you waiting for?”

“Alright, Brother Tian, right away, right away. Tonight we’ll definitely hit it big and make a fortune.”

In the pitch-dark night, a figure suddenly peered over the east side of the yard wall and gestured to those behind.

“Clear.”

“Thump—”

“Thump.”

…

With four “thump” sounds in succession, a man’s deep voice filled the yard.

The Police Station chief made a gesture, and immediately a signal was given.

Several beams of light suddenly illuminated the middle of the yard, revealing four men with nowhere to hide.

“Got them!”

“Damn, Brother Tian, we’ve been set up.”

The four men scrambled to climb the ladder and escape, but were kicked down by the police officers who rushed them, and were captured one after another.

The only one lucky enough to climb the ladder in an attempt to escape over the wall was also sent crashing down by Lu Xiao’s kick, tumbling heavily to the ground.

“Don’t move!”

“Don’t move!”

Simultaneously, the man left to keep watch at the entrance was overpowered and handcuffed by the plainclothes police waiting outside.

Having witnessed the whole event, Susu finally released Da Hei and removed the dog’s muzzle.

“Xiao Lu, in the middle of the night, you should stay at home with your wife. We’ll take this group back to the station and lock them up.”