Early the next morning, Zhang Cheng put on his cotton-padded clothes.

I cooked porridge for Shi Yangyang.

He looked out of the store, and the open door made his heart sink.

He walked out quickly.

The store was a mess, with goods scattered all over the floor. It had been robbed.

Hearing the noise, Shi Yangyang ran out.

When she saw the scattered rice and noodles, she covered her mouth, and her eyes instantly welled up with tears.

"How could this happen!" Her voice was choked with sobs, and her big eyes were filled with tears.

Zhang Cheng raised his hand and rubbed her head.

"Honey, let's get ready first." He grinned.

He lit the kerosene lamp. He picked up the broom and dustpan and began to sweep.

Shi Yangyang didn't expect him to have such a good attitude. She bit her lip and squatted down to pick up the white rice on the ground.

It took more than half an hour to barely get it all sorted out.

Zhang Cheng told Shi Yangyang to go to the bedroom to rest, while he went to the kitchen to boil water.

After washing up, he crawled into bed.

Shi Yangyang turned her head and saw that he couldn't detect any anger on his face.

"Aren't you angry?"

Why are you angry?

Zhang Cheng smiled, leaned closer, and kissed her lips. "I'll ask around tomorrow, then we'll know who stole it, right?"

"Time for bed!" Zhang Cheng chuckled and hugged Shi Yangyang tightly.

The night was deep. Inside the mud house behind the old house.

Zhang An, wearing a cotton-padded coat and carrying a kerosene lamp, looked at the room full of white rice and flour. He felt both excited and worried.

Li Dali said that it was dark under the lamp here, and Zhang Ergouzi would never have imagined that something would be hidden here.

Zhang An clenched his fist.

"Er Gouzi, you cursed my son to death, so it's not too much for me to take this little bit of your stuff, is it?"

"From now on, we're even!"

Early the next morning, Zhang Cheng headed towards the ancestral hall.

Along the way, uncles, aunts and uncles greeted us warmly.

"Er Gouzi is really something, he even smokes cigarettes with cigarette holders now."

"I've seen this cigarette at the supply and marketing cooperative; it costs more than six yuan a pack."

The older women were in an uproar.

"What the heck? More than six yuan a pack? This one costs more than three mao? That's equivalent to a pound of white rice?"

"Is he smoking or drawing money?"

"You women don't know anything. Who is Er Gouzi? He's a sworn brother of the police station chief. It's no surprise that he smokes cigarettes that cost six yuan a pack, or even ten yuan a pack."

"As expected of a 30-cent cigarette, it's both strong and pure."

The group entered the ancestral hall amidst laughter and chatter.

The older generation, including Li Xingshan, are already in the ancestral hall. They are old and sleep lightly.

Zhang Cheng smiled and stepped forward, then opened another pack of cigarettes and handed it over.

"Ergouzi, you've made something of yourself now, but don't forget your fellow villagers," Li Xingshan said with emotion.

"Grandpa, don't worry," Zhang Cheng replied with a smile.

The old village chief handed over a piece of red paper.

"Once everyone's here, I'll give you a separate page for the family tree. This is the text written by Old Gengtou; take a look and see if there are any problems."

The family genealogy is very simple, only containing names and birth dates. It says that for the sake of the village, they were willing to risk their lives to go to Wang Village to seek justice for their fellow villagers.

“Uncle, there’s something else I want to ask the villagers,” Zhang Cheng said.

"What's the matter?" the old village chief asked curiously.

"Nothing much, it's just that the store was robbed last night."

"What the heck?"

The old village chief's expression changed drastically, and the smiles of Li Xingshan and the others froze.

With all that commotion in the village last night, someone actually took the opportunity to steal things? This is a slap in the face to all the villagers.

The old village chief's face turned cold as he surveyed the villagers laughing and joking in the ancestral hall.

"Folks, please be quiet." He coughed and said loudly.

"Village chief, has the memorial service started? We'll head out now!" Aunt Hua said with a smile.

Women are not allowed to stay in the ancestral hall when there is an important event.

"Fellow villagers, the store was robbed last night!" the old village chief said in a deep voice.

"How is that possible?"

"Which beast did this? We were all fighting for our lives last night, and that beast took the opportunity to steal things?"

"Damn it, who stole it? Step forward now, or I'll kill you if I find out!"

Li Xiaodai rolled up his sleeves and started cursing.

The ancestral hall was extremely noisy, with everyone cursing the thief.

Zhang Zoushan and Li Dali exchanged a glance and then joined in the cursing.

More and more villagers rushed to the ancestral hall. When they heard that the store had been robbed, they stomped their feet and cursed, saying the most nasty things imaginable.

Li Xingshan, leaning on his cane, his face ashen, said in a cold voice:

“No outsiders have come to our village recently. The one who stole from the store must be a villager. Who stole it? Step forward now. Since this is your first offense, I'll give you ten lashes as punishment. But if you don't admit it, once it's found out, I'll expel you from the family tree and drive you out of the village.”

Zhang Cheng quietly surveyed his fellow villagers.

Old Zhang and Zhang An entered the ancestral hall. Upon hearing that the store had been robbed, Old Zhang's expression changed slightly. He had sensed something was wrong when Zhang An, Li Dali, and Zhang Zoushan secretly left the previous night.

Old Zhang glanced at Zhang An beside him without making a sound, and seeing that he was keeping his head down and not saying a word, he knew that something was wrong.

Zhang Cheng squinted, staring at Zhang An.

Given Zhang An's temperament, he would have applauded upon hearing that the store had been robbed, but his silence was rather odd.

"Anzi!"

Old Zhang gritted his teeth, nudged Zhang An with his shoulder, and said anxiously in a low voice, "Don't just stand there."

Zhang An finally realized what was happening, looked up, tried to remain calm, and started cursing, "Which ancestral grave is emitting black smoke...?"

Old Zhang's mouth twitched.

After all that fuss, no one admitted it. The old village chief was so angry he was cursing.

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