"Shuanzi, are there any people you saw in here?" Sun Miao'er asked.

Shuanzi turned around and looked again, and after confirming several times, he shook his head, "No, it's not them."

Sun Miao'er tried to guide him, saying that with over a hundred households in Fushui Village, they couldn't possibly search each one individually. "Tell your sister what that person looks like, and how tall is he?"

“Hmm…” Shuanzi rolled his eyes upwards. “He was strong, in his early twenties, a head taller than my sister, with small eyes. Oh, and he had a scar on his wrist! When I met him, he was carrying a cloth and glared at me. It was terrifying! He threw the cloth down in front of the village chief’s house and ran away…”

A scar… Sun Miao’er’s mind raced through images of the young men she had met in the village. Where had she seen a scar on a wrist before? Suddenly, her mind went blank. She rewound to that night when she was squatting in the cornfield and saw Wu Dali and Xiao Zhangshi. She vaguely remembered that Wu Dali had a scar on his wrist. Why not just call Wu Dali over and let the boy see it…

Just as Sun Miao'er was about to speak, Li Xiuxiu couldn't stand it anymore, "Dad, I think I know what he meant by 'cloth,' it's..."

"Just say it if you know, it's not like it's anything shameful!" Village Chief Li stamped his foot, looking slightly anxious.

Li Xiuxiu stammered for a long time, her voice barely audible, "Inside our house..."

She didn't dare to look up at her father's expression, but she also felt that the truth would eventually come out. She knew her father's temper too well. Rather than waiting for him to find the cloth at home, she thought it was better to confess first, so that the house wouldn't be in such chaos.

Village Chief Li's pupils contracted sharply, and he turned to Little Zhang, saying, "It was Mother who brought it back."

"I knew you were up to no good!" Little Zhang's hair stood on end as if she'd been pricked by a needle. "Husband, I didn't know! I really didn't do it!"

Sun Miao'er stared intently at Xiao Zhangshi and pressed her for an answer, "Aunt Li, tell me the truth, did my aunt give you the cloth?"

"Sun Miao'er, when did you see me go out? I've been at home this morning. Don't try to pin this on me!" Jin shouted.

Village Chief Li's head was buzzing. He never expected that the stolen goods would end up in his own home. "Tell me, what exactly happened?" His voice was cold, and he was utterly disappointed in Xiao Zhang.

“It was before dawn when I got up to use the outhouse. I saw someone crawl from outside our house into the haystack next door. I went over and saw the cloth lying at our doorstep,” Xiao Zhang explained hastily, her eyes darting around.

Little Zhang secretly observed Old Man Li's expression. His face was long and ashen, extremely ugly, as if he was about to explode at any moment. "Husband, I swear, if I stole this cloth, may I be struck by lightning and die a horrible death, and may Kui'er lose her mother!"

"Pah! Fool, shut up!" Old Li forced himself to remain calm, tapped his cane on the ground as he faced the villagers, "Huai'an, Sun family girl, don't worry, since this happened in my family, I will definitely give you an explanation!"

Little Zhang was terrified of being implicated, and the more she thought about it, the more frightened she became. "Husband, it's true that I took the cloth, but I didn't mean to keep it for myself. Someone else left it outside our front door. Does picking it up count as stealing? Besides, I knew Xiuxiu was coming back today, so I gave the cloth to Xiuxiu!"

"Xiuxiu, is that true?" Village Chief Li turned his head, trying to get an answer from his daughter.

Li Xiuxiu had always been unable to handle Xiao Zhangshi when she was at home. Because she married into a neighboring village, she returned to her parents' home more often. However, Xiao Zhangshi, having given birth to a son for her father, no longer cared about the sisters. Today, when she returned, Xiao Zhangshi not only greeted her with a smile but also gave her a piece of fine fabric. At that moment, she thought to herself, "How come my stepmother has changed her ways today? She's been digging a pit for me."

But now she had no way to defend herself and could only grit her teeth and admit it. "My mother gave it to me. She said she picked up the cloth this morning, but she also said that the cloth's origin was unknown and told me to take it with me when I went back so that no one would find out."

“Xiuxiu, when did I say that the origin of this cloth was unknown? It’s perfectly reasonable for someone to leave it at my doorstep.” Xiao Zhang was stunned for a moment. “Your father is the village head. He works hard for the village every day. Some villagers are grateful and often send rice and flour over. Your father refuses to accept it, so he leaves it at our doorstep in the dark. This is not the first time. So I just assume that this cloth was given to our family by someone else.”

Village Chief Li became reserved after hearing this. Little Zhang was not lying. Villagers often wanted to ask him for favors, but they couldn't get him to do it openly. They would often secretly give him benefits, but these were usually just food and drink. They had never thrown away such expensive fabric before.

Over time, the Li family got used to picking up things at their doorstep.

"Go and get the cloth back and give it to them," Village Chief Li instructed.

Li Xiuxiu reluctantly turned and went into the inner room, where she stayed for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before slowly coming out carrying the cloth.

It was the very spot that Sun Miao'er had dyed.

Li Xiuxiu handed the cloth to Aunt Liang, who took it and held it in her hands.

Under the sun, the fabric's color and feel are top-notch; who wouldn't be envious? If such fabric were in a fabric shop, ladies and young women would fight tooth and nail to get a piece.

"Master, Shuanzi also said that he clearly saw a man. Who knows who saw this fine material, acted on impulse, and then felt guilty and left it at our doorstep." Little Zhang added fuel to the fire, afraid that Old Man Li would suspect her again.

When the truth came out, Old Man Li had already lost face. Now, Madam Zhang was giving him a way out. "What you said makes sense, Huai'an. I think since the cloth has been recovered and the person didn't succeed, why not just let it go? There are so many young men in our village, how can we possibly investigate them all? Besides, we're not government officials or constables, who would be willing to investigate for us? As long as the item wasn't lost, that's fine."

Upon hearing this, Liang Lao Er's wife wanted to pursue the matter further, but Sun Miao'er stopped her, saying, "Auntie, let it go."

Seeing this, the crowd, who had initially hoped to witness a thrilling tale of catching a thief, now realized the matter was over and there was no point in continuing to watch. So they dispersed. As the crowd left, Madam Jin cried out, "You're just going to let it go like this? What am I supposed to do? Don't you care about my innocence?"

Old Li clearly had no patience left to deal with Madam Jin, and casually said, "Huai'an, send a pound of pork to the Sun family tomorrow as an apology. Alright, everyone disperse, why make such a fuss over such a trivial matter!"

Old Li waved his hand, turned around, and led his wife and daughter into the house, closing the door behind them.