Taozi and the others had already heard the news, and all the friends ran off to see what was going on, leaving him alone to wait for Xichun to return.

"Sister Xichun, you're back. I heard Chen Lizhong was arrested. I wanted to go see what was going on, but you weren't back yet, so I didn't dare leave." Taozi explained when he saw Xichun coming over.

"Well done, I knew I hadn't misjudged you. We need to be careful that no one comes to steal things. Wait a minute, I'll close all the doors before we go over." Xichun praised him, then closed all the doors and had Taozi lock them as well. Only then did the two of them go over to watch the excitement.

When the two walked over, all they saw was Chen Lizhong kneeling in the middle, and Old Mrs. Chen and Mrs. Du protecting their child on the side.

“We saw him steal with our own eyes! You still want to deny it? He just admitted that he stole our things. You should pay us back!” The families whose property was stolen from took the lead, pointing at Chen Lizhong on the ground and cursing him.

“My Lizhong is still a child! How can you scold him like that? He only confessed because you beat him. Which eye of yours saw him stealing that day? Get out of the way!” Old Mrs. Chen looked like she was going to dominate the village. With her thin figure, she made the men in the village tremble with fear.

"Hmph, he just admitted it himself. What are you old hags yelling about? I think it's all your fault for spoiling him. Hurry up and pay up, or I'll ask the village chief to punish him according to village rules and beat him to death!"

"Exactly! He'd target any house that wasn't home, like he was going to steal money. If I hadn't gone to the fields and seen him climb over the Ma family's wall with my own eyes, I still wouldn't know what happened. You all saw it; he was carrying big bags and small packages on his back when he left. Did he look like it was his first time stealing? He's clearly made a habit of stealing!"

"Hurry up! He stole all the money my family worked so hard for throughout the year! If you don't give it back right now, I'm going to rob your house!"

The crowd was agitated, and even the village chief could barely out-argue them. Once everyone had calmed down a bit, the village chief began to explain his approach.

"Chen Lizhong has just confessed to stealing, and this is not unfounded. I only learned about it after visiting the town. He suddenly had money yesterday and went to a pawnshop to pawn a lot of things. There are witnesses and physical evidence, so you should stop making up lies."

Now there are two points that I have discussed with the elders of the village, and you should all listen to them: First, I have recorded how much Chen Lizhong stole, and your family needs to return the full amount he stole. Don't say you don't have the money; everyone knows that your family still owns land.

Secondly, our village can no longer tolerate someone like you who steals from your neighbors. Return the money and leave immediately. You are not allowed to stay in the village any longer, and you are not allowed to cause trouble in the village again. Otherwise, you will deserve to be beaten to death.

I don't want to go to court about this. We've all lived in the same village for so many years, you can handle it yourselves."

"Village chief, if we kick Lizhong out, where will he go in the future? Please forgive him for the sake of the fact that he grew up in the village and is still young." Upon hearing this, Du Shi dared not continue to argue and could only beg the village chief to forgive her son's behavior.

“If he’s kicked out now, he probably won’t survive. Village chief, please forgive him since this is his first offense.” Old Chen knew the consequences of being kicked out, so he quickly pleaded for him.

"Hmph, now you're scared? What did I say before? Gamblers only stop when they ruin an entire family. Now it's not just your family that's been harmed, our whole village is suffering too. Tell me, who would dare to live next to your family?" The village chief sneered as he looked at them.

"Village chief, we were wrong, Lizhong, apologize to the villagers right now, or you'll be kicked out." Old Chen grabbed Chen Lizhong, now showing fear.

"Village chief, I was wrong. I will never do it again. I will not steal or gamble. Please, please let me go." Chen Lizhong kept kowtowing to everyone.

“If you don’t want to be kicked out, that’s fine too, but you have to pay back the money to the villagers first, turn over a new leaf, stop stealing and gambling, and start anew. Then the villagers might let you off this time because you’re all from the same village.”

“Yes, if you don’t want to pay compensation, then I’ll agree with what the village chief said and kick your whole family out, instead of just kicking out Chen Lizhong.”

"That's right, that's right, hurry up and pay up!"

"Alright, alright, whatever the shortfall, we'll pay it." Boss Chen didn't dare to refuse anymore, lest they all be kicked out later.

In the end, at the request of her son and grandson, Old Mrs. Chen took out the money to make up for the loss. Mrs. Ma was very dissatisfied and immediately started to demand a division of the family property. Now that Old Mrs. Chen's family was in the wrong, they had no choice but to agree to the division of the family property.

After watching the spectacle, Xichun couldn't help but sigh as she spoke with Aunt Zhang. The Chen family's walls were truly made of mud; they would collapse at the slightest push. Old Mrs. Chen hadn't received any forgiveness from her youngest son and had no choice but to live with her eldest son's family.

Seeing that the crisis was over, the villagers finally regained the festive atmosphere of the New Year. It wasn't until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year that Xichun and the others returned to the county town.

The spring chill was biting, and everyone wrapped themselves tightly in their cotton-padded coats. This sudden cold snap was comparable to the coldest days of spring, and even a big guy like Taozi couldn't stand it.

When the business reopened, customers who hadn't had this taste in a long time came to have a meal after hearing that the stall was open.

"I heard this year's lantern festival is quite lively. All the gentry in the city have contributed money to make it more festive. There will probably be many people coming out to enjoy it that night." Xi Chun overheard the diners' discussion, his ears absorbing the information.

"Yes, I heard that too. On that day, you must take your whole family out for a trip. I heard there will be riddles to solve, and if you win, you can get a lantern."

"Brother Fu, which beauty are you planning to invite to join you for the Lantern Festival?" Fu Changfeng also brought his classmates from the academy over for dinner, and upon hearing this, everyone started teasing each other.

"What beautiful woman could I possibly have? I'm just here to keep you company and guess a few more riddles," Fu Changfeng said with a smile, though his eyes kept glancing intentionally or unintentionally in Xichun's direction.

At this moment, Xichun was focused on frying things. There were quite a few customers today, and she had just rested for a while before getting busy again.

"I think some people have long had ulterior motives, hahaha." Zhao Yuping looked in his direction and said this meaningful remark.

"Oh, Brother Zhao, what do you mean by that?" The others joined in the commotion.

"Go away, go away! You call yourselves scholars? Don't you know the saying 'do not look at what is improper'? Even such delicious food can't shut you up." Fu Changfeng snapped out of his daze and told them to continue eating.