Hu Wenning. We were neighbors when we were little. Even now, our relationship is still very good.
It took more than ten minutes of comforting before the emotions on the other end of the phone line slightly eased.
She said with a choked voice, "I... I... I told you before that I wanted to start a business, right? Then I leased over a thousand acres of land because I saw that our Zizhou is suitable for growing pumpkins, which can be profitable..."
"These days, the pumpkins have finally ripened, and I was in the process of contacting buyers..."
Upon hearing this, Qing Lan couldnāt help but speak up, very righteously saying, "Is it that you havenāt found a market? Donāt be too anxious about your startup; if it doesnāt work out, I can help you sell through my live broadcasts!"
She was now a live streamer of some renown herself, possessing a certain level of fame, so she could indeed help.
However, on the other end of the phone, Hu Wenning could only respond with a bitter laugh, "Sales are indeed a bit slow, but Iām still managing. The problem is... a few days ago, I suddenly discovered pumpkins were going missing from my field. Someoneās stealing my pumpkins..."
"Missing?"
Qing Lan furrowed her brows and quickly asked, "Did you report it to the police? If you set up a couple of surveillance cameras, it should be easy to catch the pumpkin thief, right?"
On the other side of the phone, Hu Wenning sighed, "I did report it. The police came several times, and the pumpkin thieves were caught, but..."
Immediately following, she recounted what happened next.
At first, when she realized someone was stealing the pumpkins, she had people watch over the field and also called the police. The police came and even caught the thieves red-handed. But... the group of pumpkin thieves were all seniors, over seventy years old! After the police caught them, they just gave the thieves a gentle warning, careful not to scold them too harshly and cause any issues. After the warning... all of them were let go.
Itās true that itās difficult to punish the elderly; stealing a couple of pumpkins isnāt a major offense,
Qing Lan considered. She then couldnāt help but say, "Legally, minors, seniors, and the mentally ill are all entitled to lenient treatment."
Having watched so many of Qin Muās videos, she was quite familiar with this knowledge. In the recent case of a young delinquent scratching cars, Qin Mu had explained in detail how these three categories of people are treated with leniency. Simply put, as long as it wasnāt some heinous crime, they bore little to no responsibility. If ordinary people stole a couple of pumpkins, and did so frequently, it might constitute theft. But these seniors wouldnāt be charged.
Over the phone, Hu Wenning continued, "I know theyāre old, and I didnāt make a big deal out of it. I even took the initiative to give them some pumpkins. But after a few days, they came again, and this time in groups."
"You donāt know, some were carrying sacks, some were pushing handcarts; they didnāt look at all like they were over seventy and could barely walk."
"After I discovered them, they didnāt even try to hide; they just stood there and calmly continued to pick my pumpkins..."
At this point, Hu Wenningās voice was full of pent-up frustration and indignation, and she started to choke up again.
"For this plot of pumpkins, I personally invested four hundred thousand yuan, and took out a loan for the remaining six hundred thousand."
"Now... now that the pumpkins have ripened, I was just about to sell them and recoup my investment. Iād only sold tens of thousands of yuanās worth, and theyāre being stolen like this!"
"They steal during the day, and they come to steal at night."
"They even come in groups to steal; there are over twenty seniors I caught on camera."
"Every day, Iām losing thousands of yuan..."
"I need to eat too; my money doesnāt grow on trees! Iām only growing some pumpkins, and before I can earn anything, Iām nearly bankrupt..."
"Going on like this, I wonāt even be able to pay back the bank loan, and Iāll end up a bad debtor..."
Even as she spoke to Qing Lan, she could no longer control her emotions and burst into tears.
These days, the pumpkins stolen by the elderly had already amounted to tens of thousands of yuan in losses. Yet they continued to escalate their actions. The police had talked to them several times already, to no avail. She was now completely out of options.
This group of old men was blatantly acting shamelessly, wanting to take advantage of her, knowing she couldnāt do anything to them. And in truth, she really couldnāt do anything to them. The law couldnāt restrain them.
Furthermore, all these seniors were over seventy years old, with the oldest appearing to be over eighty. She didnāt dare to stop them by other means.
Keeping dogs or installing electric fences, for example... If it caused any injuries or deaths, Iād probably be ruined by compensation,
she figured.
Because of this, she had even specifically sought legal advice, but the lawyer suggested she try to appeal to their emotions and reason with them to persuade the seniors. But... if these seniors were capable of listening to reason, they wouldnāt have kept stealing pumpkins.
And after Qing Lan had listened to her best friendās tearful complaints and watched the videos she sent, she felt equally indignant. The shameless behavior of these seniors truly disgusted her.
Abusing their old age to misbehave. And yet, there was no way to deal with them.
Normally speaking, once people are over seventy years old, they enjoy various forms of preferential treatment. In normal times, when lining up, buying tickets, and taking public transportation, preferences are usually given to the elderly first.
Respecting the elderly and caring for the young is a traditional virtue.
Normally, if she saw an older person on the bus, she would give up her seat.
After all, everyone grows old one day.
The seniors that Qin Mu looked after in the nursing home were of good temperament and deserving of respect.
But not all seniors are deserving of respect.
She couldnāt help but remark with emotion, "What they say online is right: itās not that the elderly become bad, itās that the bad grow old."
Thereās nothing wrong with being old. Growing old and frail, losing the ability to work, and walking slowly are all natural processes.