Scheme

Yang Yi told the old woman what had happened at home and begged, "Nanny, those lanterns can't be made before the Lantern Festival. I want to see Country Lord Ning and return the deposit to her."

The old woman looked at Yang Yi awkwardly. "Shopkeeper Yang, Madam went out to attend a banquet. Come back in two afternoons!"

Yang Yi could only walk back with the contract and deposit. Halfway there, two men darted out of the alley and knocked him to the ground. The man behind hurriedly helped Yang Yi up and patted the dirt on his body. He kept apologizing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Yang Yi waved his hand. "It's fine. You didn't do it on purpose."

The man cupped his hands at Yang Yi and walked away quickly.

When Yang Yi was about to reach home, he realized that the banknotes in his pocket were gone. He recalled the man who had knocked him down at the entrance of the alley and hurriedly turned around to look for them. There was no trace of the banknotes.