Shen Heng arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative with ten yuan in his pocket. The supply and marketing cooperative in their commune was not big, and it had a little bit of everything, but special supplies could only be obtained by chance.

How much does this radio cost?

Shen Heng saw a black radio on the counter and asked about its price.

The sales clerk knew Shen Heng, knew that he had money, and that he and his wife would come to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things every few days.

He then introduced it as "Ninety-five."

These kinds of appliances are precious nowadays, and they're incredibly expensive.

Shen Heng glanced at the sign; it was one he'd never heard of before.

He glanced at it briefly and then went to the non-staple food section.

After buying the groceries and returning home, Shen Heng parked his car. Bai Jiaojiao knew Shen Heng would be back early today, so she was already preparing dinner.

"Heng-ge, you're back. The brigade announced today that they'll be showing a movie on the stage tonight."

"Why show a movie in the dead of winter? It's freezing!"

Shen Heng doesn't like watching movies; it's too much of a waste of time.

Bai Jiaojiao said, "Let's play a Soviet movie."

"What?"

Shen Heng didn't understand; he wasn't very familiar with these things.

Bai Jiaojiao smiled without saying a word, and after finishing her meal, she went over with Shen Heng.

Halfway through the movie, the two main characters hugged each other, and Shen Heng realized why Bai Jiaojiao had emphasized where the movie was from.

Everyone's always watching war movies, how come they're starting to talk about romance?

The customs in Shili Village are still quite feudal. If you hug a child, some people will start covering the child's eyes. An old lady even said, "Tsk, how shameless."

Shen Heng curled his lip. "What's so shameless about this? If you cared about your reputation, you wouldn't have been able to have those sons."

Everyone's attention was on the movie; the north wind was chilly, but everyone was really engrossed in watching it.

Shen Heng secretly reached out and held Bai Jiaojiao's hand, thinking to himself: This movie actress isn't even as pretty as his little wife.

He's so lucky, hehe.

On the way back, Shen Heng carried two small stools and insisted on walking close to Bai Jiaojiao the whole way. If it weren't dark, Bai Jiaojiao would have liked to find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Afraid of being embarrassed, she carried a flashlight but didn't turn it on, and went home in the dark.

What are you doing?

The two entered the house, and Shen Heng immediately pinned Bai Jiaojiao against the wall, her hands tightly wrapped around her face. Bai Jiaojiao struggled a couple of times but couldn't break free: "My sister-in-law will be coming over in a bit."

"I didn't do anything," Shen Heng said, snuggling close to Bai Jiaojiao. "Is this how people hug in the movie?"

Shen Heng grabbed Bai Jiaojiao's waist, mimicking a pose from a movie, and Bai Jiaojiao felt something poking her lower abdomen.

"Heng-ge, let go!"

Bai Jiaojiao whispered, afraid that Deng Min might hear them from outside.

"Your sister-in-law hasn't arrived yet, right? Let's give her a kiss first."

Shen Heng couldn't wait any longer. He had wanted to hold Bai Jiaojiao while watching the movie, and he had been holding back until now.

He sighed inwardly; this was the trouble that came with his wife being so pleasing to him.

The next day, Bai Jiaojiao was still lazing in bed at home. Now that she was working as an instructor in the pigsty, she didn't have to go to work at the designated times and had gotten used to sleeping in.

These past two days, she's been getting up around 3 a.m. every day to prepare breakfast and lunch for Shen Heng, which are all hearty meals with plenty of grain and meat. Then she goes back to sleep, which means she gets up even later.

"Bang bang bang!"

The knocking on the door was very urgent, waking Bai Jiaojiao from her sleep.

She hurriedly dressed, tied her hair back, and went to open the door as she did so.

"Uncle Xu? What's wrong?"

As soon as Bai Jiaojiao saw Lao Xu, she knew it was about the pigsty.

Before Lao Xu could even speak, you could tell from his expression that the situation was very serious.

"Two piglets have gone missing from the pigpen, what should we do?!"

Old Xu can't bear this blame, and he's sweating profusely with anxiety.

Although he knew that Bai Jiaojiao only knew how to raise pigs and that she couldn't do anything about losing pigs, he was desperate and would try anything, and Old Xu didn't have many influential people in the village.

"When did it get lost? Don't worry, Uncle Xu, tell me slowly. Come on, let's go back to the pigsty first, and we can talk as we walk."

Bai Jiaojiao did not refuse, and immediately became serious.

Old Xu said, "The pigsty doors were all there when I closed them last night, but when I counted them this morning, two were missing. Yu Wenli and I searched the area around the pigsty, and Xiulian helped us search as well, but we still can't find them. I'm at my wit's end. I know you have a lot of ideas, so I came to you for help."

Only Old Xu has the key to the pigsty, and he sleeps there at night. If the pigs go missing and the thief can't be found, he'll be held responsible. If you say he failed to supervise properly, that's one thing, but if you accuse him of embezzlement, he might as well hang himself.

Old Xu's heart had been pounding all morning. Bai Jiaojiao knew he was anxious, so she rushed to the pigsty, running there and panting heavily.

Yu Wenli was cleaning the pigsty when he glanced at the two men with a gloating look.

Bai Jiaojiao was too lazy to pay attention to this person; their feud had been going on for a long time.

"It's from this pen. There were five at first, but now there are only three left. I crouched down and searched the pigpen, but there are no holes to escape through."

Old Xu looked at Bai Jiaojiao and tried his best to explain the situation to her.

"Uncle Xu, did you go to the movies yesterday?"

"I didn't go. I didn't want to see that stuff."

Old Xu is a loner; he doesn't like to join in on exciting events.

"Did you hear anything at home?"

"The movie was so loud last night, I couldn't hear anything!"

The pigsty wasn't far from the stage, so even though Old Xu was hiding at home, he could hear the sounds outside. Even if there were any strange noises last night, he would have assumed it was from a movie.

"Uncle Xu, come here."

Bai Jiaojiao pulled Lao Xu into the feed room and whispered, "Uncle Xu, even if the movie was very loud last night, the sound of the pig being taken away couldn't be drowned out. You must have heard it."

"You think I'm lying?"

“No, Uncle Xu, I believe you,” Bai Jiaojiao said, pressing down on the agitated Old Xu. “Don’t get agitated. This is what I think: the one who can keep the piglets quiet must be the one who holds the piglets every day. He knows how to soothe the piglets.”

"You mean Yu Wenli? What if it was a pig thief who came to the pigpen, knocked the piglets unconscious, and took them away?"

Old Xu had his own thoughts. Although he looked down on Yu Wenli because he was no good at his job, Yu Wenli had a certain arrogance about him. He wouldn't stoop to petty theft.

"That's possible, but if a stranger enters the pigpen, the big pigs will definitely squeal. Let's talk to the captain about this and ask him to check who didn't go to the movies yesterday. Maybe that will give us a clue?"

Although it couldn't be confirmed that the crime occurred while watching a movie, they had no choice but to try anything, so Lao Xu nodded.