Bai Yao: I'm Here to Make Trouble

Li Dongxu listened to the neighbors talking around him, both furious and ashamed. How long had it been since he had suffered such humiliation, ever since he had shaken off the label of live-in son-in-law?

"Call the police! Hurry up and call the police!" Li Dongxu was so angry that his lips trembled.

As he spoke, Li Dongxu looked at Bai Yao. After all, he was used to ordering his human tool around, and it had never occurred to him that Bai Yao might refuse.

But would Bai Yao refuse?

Well, yes, he would.

Of course, he didn't refuse outright. Instead, he suddenly spun around, ran two steps, and fainted on the ground.

"Heavens, Xiao Yao fainted from hunger!" a neighbor auntie shouted.

Li Dongxu's face darkened. He was just about to speak when another auntie chimed in:

"That black-hearted Li Dongxu! His own family hasn't missed a single bite, but he made Bai Yao look after someone at the hospital without giving him anything to eat or drink. Now the poor boy's fainted from hunger."

"That's right. I heard this child's stomach growling the whole time just now. He was so hungry his face had gone pale, but he kept forcing himself to say he was fine."

The aunties chimed in one after another, and everyone began looking at Li Dongxu differently.

Li Dongxu forced down the anger threatening to erupt and said, "It was my oversight. Sorry to trouble you ladies, but could you lend me some food first? Everyone's seen what's happened to the house. I'll pay you back when I get some grain later."

With that, Li Dongxu went to call the police himself.

It was just as well to leave now. It beat being stared at with contempt by a whole crowd of people.

Meanwhile, Bai Yao, who was pretending to be unconscious on the ground, was about to burst into laughter.

That's right. The reason those aunties knew so much was that he had taken the opportunity to tell them just now.

Making trouble for Li Dongxu made him so happy.

As for the grain the aunties brought over, Bai Yao chose some from a feisty auntie.

Only that way could the grain be recovered. He couldn't let an innocent person suffer a loss.

It was just that food these days was all coarse grain; refined grain was still relatively precious.

So after every bite of the cornbread, he had to stretch his neck to swallow.

This cornbread was really dense. It was far too hard to swallow.

"Well? Is my cornbread tasty?"

Bai Yao struggled to swallow the cornbread in his mouth, then gave her a thumbs-up. "Auntie, your cornbread is delicious. You could eat one and not get hungry all day."

The auntie laughed heartily when she heard that and happily began telling Bai Yao how to make cornbread taste so good.

Bai Yao listened attentively, doing his part by providing emotional value.

But as they talked, Bai Yao soon discovered that the gathering around him had turned into a cooking contest among the aunties. Not one of them thought her cornbread was any worse than anyone else's.

Bai Yao simply said he was a listener, that he was terrible at making cornbread, and that everyone was right.

The aunties didn't stop until someone shouted that the police had arrived. Every one of them looked as if they hadn't had enough, as though it would have been better if the police had come a little later.

The next second, however, there was no one left around Bai Yao.

The aunties had all squeezed their way to the front to watch the show, leaving him suddenly pushed from the center of the crowd to the very edge.

Seeing this, Bai Yao wanted to squeeze in too, but no one would make way for him now. In the end, he, one of the people involved, could only listen helplessly from the outside.

"We've already heard the details from the person who reported the crime on the way here. Do any of you neighbors have any leads to offer?"

"The amount involved in this theft is substantial. If anyone has any leads, please provide them promptly. The neighborhood office will give out a reward afterward."

That was what they said, but who could give them a lead? After all, who could have guessed that Bai Yao had used the system's help to exploit a gap in time?

As for leads? What leads were there? Bai Yao had even cleared away his footprints when he left.

The neighbors looked at one another, but in the end, no one spoke up. The police officers who had come all frowned.

There wasn't a single lead, and the theft had happened in broad daylight. At this rate, it would probably become an unsolved case.

Just then, Li Bailian, who was still silently shedding tears, couldn't hold back any longer. She dropped to her knees with a thud.

"Neighbors, I'm begging you all. If you've noticed anything suspicious, please say so. So many things were stolen from my house in broad daylight. How could there not have been the slightest sound?"

Li Bailian sounded pitiful, but the faces of the people around her soured.

The way she put it made it sound as though they were deliberately withholding information. And in front of the police, no less—wasn't she just slinging mud at them?

The more even-tempered neighbors held their tongues for the time being, but some couldn't stand it.

"Mrs. Li, the way you say it makes it sound like we're deliberately keeping quiet about what we know. Like you said, moving so many things out of your house in broad daylight must have made some noise. One person saying they didn't see anything might be lying, but if all these people say nobody saw anything, surely you don't think we all ganged up to bully your family?"

"Exactly. We have our little disagreements from time to time, but when it comes to serious matters, which of us has said a word out of turn? If we didn't see anything, we didn't see anything. Instead of trying to force us to make up a lie for you, you'd be better off thinking about who your family has offended."

"Just look at your eldest son. Someone beat him until his arm was crippled and he couldn't be a man anymore."

"And your eldest daughter..."

At the edge of the crowd, Bai Yao listened to the accusations pouring in, the smile in his eyes brighter than ever.

It seemed Li Bailian was so anxious that her brain had stopped working. For her to say something like that wasn't at all in keeping with her white lotus ways.

Still, this was an unexpectedly happy development. Li Bailian was finally getting a taste of what it was like to have everyone pointing fingers and cursing at her.

Unfortunately, the police were there, and it all ended soon enough.

The outcome was just as Bai Yao had expected. The police shouted at the crowd, and only then did the chaotic accusations stop.

The officers then began questioning everyone one by one.

Since no one had come forward with information, they could only investigate themselves.

The neighbors cooperated, answering every question before leaving. As they went, they all expressed their dislike of Li Bailian through their actions, as if by unspoken agreement.

Soon, all the neighbors had left. Just as Bai Yao thought the matter had come to a temporary close, Li Dabao suddenly shouted, "Officer, you have to question Bai Yao too! He's a suspect as well."

Bai Yao immediately grew angry.

See? This little bastard was no good. He couldn't stand seeing anything go well for Bai Yao.

"I'm a suspect? I was at the hospital looking after your own big brother, without a bite to eat or a drop to drink all day. If I'm a suspect, then you and your own sister are suspects too," Bai Yao shot back angrily.

The officers exchanged glances, and just then, Li Dongxu spoke up. "Officers, you should question him. Xiao Yao, you cooperate too. If there's nothing to it, won't that prove your innocence?"

Bai Yao couldn't hold back anymore. He couldn't suppress the anger in his heart at all.

"In that case, shouldn't Li Meimei and Li Dabao be questioned too? They were the last ones to leave and lock the door, weren't they? You should know they have keys to the house, while I don't," Bai Yao retorted.

Li Meimei wanted to launch into a tirade when she heard that, but before she could speak, Li Dongxu spoke first.

"Question Meimei too. There's no need to question Dabao. He's still a child; he wouldn't do anything illegal."

At that, Bai Yao let out a scoff and addressed the officers directly:

"Li Meimei and Li Dabao were still at home when I left this morning. I spent the whole day at the hospital. The nurses, doctors, and the patients in the same ward and their families can all vouch for me. I left toward evening, and I even made a point of speaking to a nurse before I went. When I got back, I ran into this family."

With an answer like that and witnesses to back it up, no one would suspect him.

Under the officers' gazes, Li Dongxu felt somewhat annoyed—annoyed that Bai Yao had made him lose face, without giving a thought to the fact that he had started it.

"Meimei, it's your turn." Li Dongxu hurriedly shifted everyone's attention.

Li Meimei glared angrily at Bai Yao, then said, "I went to see my boyfriend. Dabao went with me."

The inexplicably proud tone made Bai Yao's eyes darken.

See? He had known that what he had done to Li Meimei before couldn't count as a first kill. She could still resurrect herself using her face and the tricks her mother had taught her.

So a first kill had to be thorough, just like with Li Qiang.