After a busy day, Liu Huan knew everyone was tired, so she told them to take a break. She also took the opportunity to catch up on her sleep, since she had been tossing and turning every two or three hours and couldn't get a good night's rest.

Ermo went to prepare food every day, and when he saw that there was beef for sale in the city, he bought a big chunk of beef. He met a few aunties who were enjoying the cool air at the entrance of the village.

The women greeted him warmly, "Ermo, you've gone grocery shopping again?"

"Wow, this is beef, right? It's really expensive."

Ermo smiled sheepishly: "I saw someone selling them, so I bought some to make for my sister."

"Then you should go back quickly."

As soon as the others left, the aunties started discussing, "The Liu family is really rich. They buy different vegetables every day, and they never run out of meat at home."

“This is nothing. They bought several chickens from my house, and the price was even higher than in the county.”

The aunt was very envious: "It's all because we didn't feed them anything this year, otherwise we could have gotten a share too."

A young woman who had just given birth a few months ago said sourly, "Even if she has money, it's not her money. Who knows which mistress gave birth here? It's something that can't be seen in public or presented in a respectable manner."

The aunt who sold the chickens to the Liu family said, "Don't talk nonsense. Madam Su looks like she comes from a scholarly family and is very sensible."

"That's right, other people name their children Anzhi Anran, but look at the name you gave your child, Hehua (Lotus Flower). There are several Hehua in the village."

Seeing that everyone was siding with Liu Huan, the young woman stormed off and changed her daughter's name to Anxin, which the villagers laughed at for a long time.

Meanwhile, the aunties scoffed at the young woman's behavior, saying, "Birds of a feather flock together; every wife she marries is a troublemaker."

"She's just jealous. How could she, a woman herself, say such vicious things about someone else?"

"Exactly, her husband's death is already a huge tragedy, shouldn't she at least have some money?"

The group left after they had sat down for a while. Behind a large tree, a shifty-eyed man watched them leave, his eyes darting around, clearly plotting something wicked.

Sure enough, that night, the sound of catching a thief came from the Liu family's house.

The story begins when Liu Huan got up to nurse her child.

Qiuju originally suggested hiring a wet nurse, but Liu Huan felt uncomfortable having her child raised on someone else's milk, since she already had her own. So she got up once or twice every night.

She would get up at night to breastfeed the baby, with Qiu Rong assisting her. She and Qiu Ju would each take turns breastfeeding the baby for a day.

Just as they finished feeding the baby and were getting ready for bed, they heard rustling sounds outside the yard. The two exchanged a glance, and Qiu Rong quickly opened the back door to wake Er Mo up.

Ermo, having fought on the battlefield before, quickly caught the three men who were about to steal from the house in the courtyard.

Then Qiu Rong was asked to call the village chief. Upon hearing that there were thieves, the village chief immediately summoned several men and women from his clan to come to the Liu family.

Some came with hoes, some with knives, and they stormed over, nearly driving me crazy.

"You little rascal, what are you doing here?"

Gouwazi was a notorious good-for-nothing in the village, known for his laziness, idleness, and petty theft.

"Uncle, we're just passing by."

The village chief was furious. "You're passing by in the middle of the night with two people? And you even walked into someone's yard? You've completely disgraced Heshui Village."

"Ermo, tell me how to solve this."

Ermo said as Liu Huan had instructed, "Uncle, I don't care whether they are from the village or not, I will definitely send them to see the officials tomorrow."

"Ermo..." the village chief tried to plead.

Ermo said with a straight face, "If I hadn't spent a few years in the military, my family might have been completely looted. And the safety of my two nephews and nieces, and three female relatives... it's really terrifying to think about."

The village chief's face darkened upon hearing this. He stepped forward and kicked Gouwazi, saying, "You good-for-nothing! You're idle all day long, and now you're even bringing people to rob the village. How can you face your parents?"

Gouwazi and the village chief are from the same clan. Gouwazi's parents are old, and his wife couldn't stand it and ran away, leaving behind one or two children who are as thin as monkeys and no one cares for them. In the past, as long as he didn't go too far, the villagers would only say a few words because of his parents.

Now they're going too far, even bringing thugs from the county to cause trouble in the village, and they're even coming to the Liu family's house. Even if the village chief wanted to protect them, he couldn't say anything.

Gouwazi cried with tears and snot streaming down his face. "Uncle, please forgive me this time. I really know I was wrong. What will happen to my two children if I go to jail? And my parents will definitely not be able to bear it."

The village chief kicked him a few more times, yelling, "I'll beat you to death, you bastard! You might as well just die!"

After finishing the beating, he looked at Ermo and said, "Ermo, do you think you can make him pay some money? This... this matter is just to give your uncle face. If he does anything stupid again in the future, don't worry, I'll be the first to tie him up and take him to the yamen without you even having to tell me."

Seeing this, Ermo said earnestly, "Uncle, let me tell you the truth. When I was in the army, I had dozens of lives on my hands. I was a centurion personally appointed by the emperor."

“Even if they come at me dozens of times, I can make sure they don’t come back. I’m just worried that if he dares to bring outsiders to my house today, he might dare to bring people to other people’s houses next time. Then other people’s houses probably won’t be so lucky.”

The person who was about to plead for leniency suddenly realized, "Yeah, even a cornered dog will jump over a wall, let alone a thug like this."

Gouwazi quickly said, "No, I won't do it again. If I do it again, may my whole family die."

The village chief grabbed a stick from the side and started hitting him: "If anyone's going to die, it'll be you. Don't take your parents and children with you."

After beating Gouwazi until he screamed in pain, Ermo said, "I'll spare him this time for the sake of Uncle Village Chief. I hope he can repent and start anew. But I will definitely report the other two to the authorities."

The village chief said gratefully, "Yes, yes, I will personally report this to the authorities tomorrow in my capacity as village chief. Thank you very much, my dear nephew."

The village chief took the man away, and Liu Huan came out from inside. Qiu Rong said angrily, "Master, why didn't you send that man to the authorities? Judging from his appearance, he's a dog that can't change its nature."

Liu Huan explained, "Judging from the attitude of the village chief and the villagers, they are clearly protecting us. We haven't been here long, so it's not worth making enemies of the villagers. Since they are willing to protect us, let's see how they deal with the bigger trouble they cause in the future."

In addition, since the child is going to stay here long-term, he/she will have to live with the village. If the villagers take advantage of the child because of this, it will be impossible to prevent.

Who knew that their words would come true, and that this trouble was still related to them, but that's another story.

At this moment, the group suddenly realized, "Our master is so thoughtful!"

The next day at daybreak, they took the men to the yamen to report the crime. Everyone in the village knew about it, and those who had been itching to cause trouble calmed down.

People who always spoke ill of Liu Huan no longer dared to speak out. This is another point that Liu Huan didn't mention: it intimidated others.

A few people can deliver meat to the yamen without going through the village chief. Many people are envious of the Liu family's ability to eat meat every meal. If it's not him today, it will be someone else in the future.

It would be better to make a big scene and let people know Ermo's skills. Those who want to cause trouble will naturally have to consider whether they are qualified.