My happy life in a courtyard house with triplets.

Chapter 317: Punishing Cui Dake

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Lei had already stayed at Ding Qiunan's parents' house for two days.

That evening, he quietly got up, dressed, and quickly left Ding Qiunan's parents' house. He took out his bicycle from his personal storage space and rode quickly towards Cui Dake's house. In the past two days, he had thoroughly researched Cui Dake's address and other details; Cui Dake always lived alone.

Zhang Lei used his senses to investigate and confirmed that Cui Dake was fast asleep. He then quietly took out a small dagger from his pocket and unlatched the door. He tiptoed to Cui Dake's bedside, took out a rope he had prepared beforehand, and tied Cui Dake up.

The noise of being tied up startled Cui Dake awake. He stared in terror at the figure in black, wearing a hood: "Who...who are you? What do you want?"

Seeing Cui Dake's panicked expression, Zhang Lei asked in a high-pitched voice, "You must be Cui Dake?"

Cui Dake nodded repeatedly: "Yes, that's me."

Zhang Lei gave a mocking sneer: "Cui Dake, hand over all your valuables."

When Cui Dawei encountered the robbers, he was so frightened that he cried out, "Good sir, please let me go! My family is dirt poor, we have nothing!"

Without a word, Zhang Lei kicked Cui Dake in the leg. Cui Dake was about to cry out in pain when Zhang Lei swiftly covered his mouth. Tears streamed down Cui Dake's face from the pain.

Zhang Lei threatened fiercely, "Cui Dake, tell the truth, or I'll take your life."

Cui Dake was terrified and begged for mercy, "Hero, spare my life! Spare my life! I'll tell you where the money is hidden right now!"

He shakily lifted the two bricks under the bed, and Zhang Lei looked at the money in the iron box, then quietly stuffed it all into his pocket.

Seeing Cui Dake's frightened yet feigned ignorance, Zhang Lei said nothing more, raised his hand and gently chopped Cui Dake on the back of the neck, and Cui Dake immediately fainted.

Afterwards, Zhang Lei collected all of Cui Dake's valuables and belongings into his personal space, leaving nothing behind, even Cui Dake's clothes. The entire house was almost emptied, appearing quite spacious.

He re-tied Cui Dake securely to the middle of the room with ropes, far from the door, ensuring that Cui couldn't break free and would only be discovered by shouting for help. If he did shout, the neighbors would come and see his disheveled state, enough to make him lose all face at the factory.

After making sure he had cleaned up all traces of himself, he left quietly, quickly riding his bicycle back to Ding Qiunan's parents' house without disturbing anyone.

The next day at noon, Ding's mother returned home with a basket in her arms. As soon as she put the basket down, she spoke to Ding's father.

Seeing that her expression was off, Mr. Ding quickly asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Mrs. Ding sighed, "Oh dear, someone at our machine repair shop had their house robbed. I heard they stole everything, and the rumors are really weird."

Hearing her mother's words, Ding Qiunan asked curiously, "Mom, what's going on?"

Ding's mother looked at her daughter and said, "I just went to buy groceries. I heard from the people at the machine repair shop that someone at their factory had their house robbed last night. They stole everything, tied the person up, and tortured them. They didn't even leave them with their clothes."

Ding Qiunan was startled: "What? How could there be such a person? Is that thief a pervert?"

Hearing this, Zhang Lei's forehead twitched. He thought to himself: You're the pervert. Your man just came up with this to get revenge for you.

Ding's mother chimed in, "Who knows? I heard that person was seen completely naked by everyone in the yard, and was tied up very tightly. In the end, they had to use a knife to cut him open."

She spoke while gesturing, as if she had seen it with her own eyes.

Mr. Ding scolded angrily, "Alright, enough of this in the middle of the day."

Ding's mother immediately shut up: "I won't say anymore, I'll go cook right now."

Ding Qiunan, who was standing nearby, became very curious and said to Zhang Lei, "Honey, you stay at home and I'll go and find out what's going on."

Zhang Lei feigned concern: "Let me go with you. It's not safe outside right now. I'll feel more at ease if I go with you, okay?"

Ding Qiunan nodded.

Soon the two arrived near the machine repair shop. Ding Qiunan asked some former colleagues for directions, and when she returned and saw Zhang Lei waiting at the factory gate, she quickly ran over.

"Honey, I've found out!"

Zhang Lei asked, "What have you found out?"

Ding Qiunan said with a serious expression, "You'll be shocked when I tell you who was robbed."

Zhang Lei feigned curiosity: "Who is it? Why are you being so mysterious?"

Ding Qiunan said happily, "It's Cui Dake! His house was robbed, and he was almost locked up as a pervert."

Zhang Lei feigned shock: "What? It's him?"

Ding Qiunan nodded repeatedly: "It's him! He was talking badly about us behind our backs before, and I was originally planning to find someone to teach him a lesson. Now that I've heard about his fate, I can't be happier."

After listening to Ding Qiunan's words, Zhang Lei gave her a serious look and thought to himself that his wife had learned a lot from him and was not someone to be trifled with.

Ding Qiunan felt a little embarrassed by his gaze: "Honey, why are you staring at me like that?"

Zhang Lei smiled and said, "Judging from the tone of your voice just now, you really do have the air of a female hero. You have character."

Ding Qiunan blushed: "Honey, stop teasing me, let's go home."

Zhang Lei nodded.

The two quickly returned home and told Mr. and Mrs. Ding what they had found out.

Mr. Ding said happily, "That's great! I knew that Cui was no good. Now it's no wonder our house was robbed. That thief did a great deed."

Ding's mother quickly whispered a reminder: "It's fine to talk about it at home, but don't go out and say it, or people will think you're in cahoots with the thieves."

Zhang Lei chuckled inwardly. Ding's mother had guessed correctly; they were indeed "in cahoots" with him.

On the other side, Cui Dake was still crying and recounting his ordeal to the police. His clothes were ill-fitting; it was only because bystanders couldn't bear to see him like that that they found him some old clothes to cover himself.

Looking at the pitiful Cui Dake, the policeman asked earnestly, "You really didn't see the thief's face clearly?"

Cui Dake shook his head: "I didn't see clearly. He was dressed in all black, even wearing gloves on his hands. Only his eyes were visible. I really couldn't see what he looked like."

The police officer then asked, "How tall is he exactly?"

Cui Dake shook his head again: "I don't know."

The police officer said helplessly, "You don't know this or that. Didn't you talk to the thief quite a bit? How come you don't know anything about it?"

Cui Dake trembled with fear: "Officer, I was really scared at the time. If I had said one wrong word, he would have killed me. That man was so ruthless. I don't even know how I passed out."

The police officer looked helplessly at his colleague and shook his head: "There's no way to investigate this. No one in the whole yard heard any noise. How could the thief have taken all that stuff without anyone noticing? And Cui Dake doesn't know anything about it either."

Another colleague could only say, "Let's report the situation to the director and see what he thinks."

The two policemen exchanged a helpless glance, then turned and left.

Cui Dake continued to plead pitifully, "Officer, is there any chance I can get my things back?"

He was met only with two cold stares.

Soon, Cui Dake became infamous in the machine repair shop and the surrounding area. His younger brother's appearance was also clearly seen by everyone, becoming a laughing stock. Even matchmakers would no longer easily come to his door to introduce him to potential partners.