Zhao Tingzhang quickly told Zhao Dahai to pull Granny Yuan up from the ground. "Old sister-in-law, what's missing from your house? Tell me!"

Granny Yuan cried with tears streaming down her face and called her daughter-in-law, Tian, ​​out of the house.

"Have you found anything? What exactly is missing from the house?!"

Behind Tian was her son, named Shuanzi. Shuanzi was timid from a young age, and even at seven or eight years old, he had no boyish spirit whatsoever.

Shuanzi seemed frightened by the burglary and kept crying.

Tian frowned and stammered, "Mother, nothing is missing from the house. The grain is all fine, it's just... it's just that the water tank in the house is gone."

"What?" Granny Yuan stopped crying, as if she hadn't quite reacted yet.

She paused, then began to wail again, "Oh my god, water is more precious than food now! My water..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao, the village head, thought to himself, "This is bad! Everyone, hurry and check the well at the end of the village!"

Everyone suspected that it might be water thieves. Damn it, they actually had bad intentions towards their Changfeng Village!

The group quickly ran towards the end of the village. Because of the commotion, no one in the village could sleep, and everyone followed to see what was going on.

Under the bright moonlight, the two wells at the end of the village were quiet, but you could still vaguely see water spilled on the ground.

"Oh no, oh no, I'm pregnant..." Zhao Tingzhang hurriedly ran up, looked at the water on the ground, and then looked at the two wells.

There was still some water in the well, and half a bucket of water in the wooden bucket next to the well cover, which the water thief probably didn't have time to take away.

After all that commotion, everyone's sleepiness was gone.

"This must be outsiders stealing water. Our own villagers would never do something so despicable!" someone in the crowd said.

"What? What are we going to do then... If outsiders find out that our village has water, today it's stealing, then tomorrow they'll come and rob us."

"But our village is so remote, where did these people come from to steal water?"

In the crowd, everyone was speculating and gossiping. Only Zhao Guihua and Cheng Shi looked guilty and dared not join in.

The sky was gradually turning a pale white, and a sliver of the morning sun was about to rise.

It looks like today will be another extremely hot day.

Too many people in Changfeng Village hadn't slept all night, so Zhao Tingzhang quickly gathered everyone in the village under the old locust tree at the village entrance. He had something important to say.

Just as I reached the village entrance, I ran into He Tiantian coming out of her house.

The mother and her six daughters spent the night in fear and trembling. The children hadn't had a good rest and were now sleeping soundly in bed.

Seeing that Wujin and Coconut were sleeping peacefully by the door, He Tiantian knew that everything was probably alright.

Besides, it's already daytime, and no thief would dare to steal anything from the village in broad daylight.

The courtyard of He Tiantian's house was built much higher than that of ordinary people, and it was covered with barbs. It is estimated that the group of thieves thought that the courtyard wall was difficult to climb, so they just wanted to break in by smashing the door.

Unexpectedly, He Tiantian used a modern lock on the door, which can be said to be very secure.

He Tiantian took out her key and opened the courtyard gate from the inside. From the outside, the wooden door appeared to have been driven in quite deep, and it was also cracked.

Because of the impact, the entire wooden door was covered in scratches.

"Oh dear, did your house get burgled last night, Maruko's mother?" Upon seeing the battered and bruised gate, Zhao Tingzhang quickly came forward to inquire.

Last night was too chaotic, and he didn't even have time to count which houses had been broken into.

He Tiantian frowned and nodded, "But my door is sturdy, and those thieves couldn't open it."

"By the way, village chief, what exactly happened last night? Did some outsiders come to our village?"

Zhao, the village head, sighed heavily. "There have been water thieves, but they haven't stolen much yet. I was just about to say something about this. Our village doesn't have much water right now, and the rice in the fields will be ready for harvest in a few days. We can't be careless about this."

If they're stealing water today, what will they do in a few days? They'll be stealing grain!

Fortunately, he had the villagers patrolling the fields these past few days, otherwise the crops would probably have been stolen.

He Tiantian's heart sank. The beans she planted were almost ripe, and it would be best to bring them home as soon as possible. And the sweet potatoes in the field—in another two months, they would be almost ready to be harvested.

"Chief, I need to hire people to harvest my eight mu of beans. The pay is thirty coins a day. Could you see if you can help me find some people, preferably to finish the job in one day?" He Tiantian asked anxiously.

Zhao Tingzhang nodded, agreeing with what Wanzi's mother said.

“It would take about twenty people to harvest all eight acres of beans in one day. I see that your beans are being harvested later than your rice. Why don’t you wait until the rice is harvested and then harvest those as well?”

"That's what I meant too, so we can find people to do the work then."

By this time, almost everyone in the village had gathered at the village entrance, and they were all discussing the thief who had broken into the village the previous night.

Undoubtedly, everyone is cursing the group of water thieves.

"That damned bastard deserves to die a horrible death! If I find out who it is, I'll beat him to a pulp!"

"That's despicable! These people should be sent to jail!"

Zhao Guihua and Cheng Shi were also in the crowd. Both of them looked rather pale and were hesitant to talk to the villagers.

The Cheng family had just returned from the city a few days ago. Due to the drought, business at Wanchunlou was not good.

The manager gave the restaurant staff a month's leave, thinking he would wait until it rained and the water came out before reopening.

Standing on a large rock, Zhao, the pavilion chief, shouted in a strong voice, "Everyone, be quiet, quiet down."

The room immediately fell silent.

"Whose house was broken into last night? Did anything valuable get stolen?"

"Chief, my house has also been broken into. But the thief was a bit simple-minded, and I chased him away with a hoe."

"Chief, my family only lost water, nothing else."

Zhao Tingzhang had Zhao Yan tally it up; a total of four households in the village lost water last night. Fortunately, there was no direct confrontation, and everyone was safe.

“This incident in the village has served as a wake-up call for us. Therefore, I suggest that the village establish a water-finding patrol team, and at the same time, strengthen the manpower of the grain patrol team in the fields,” Zhao Tingzhang proclaimed.

"What? What are we going to do if there's no man in my family?" Tiezi's mother's mouth dropped open. She was a widow, her husband had died.

But her family also has land and needs water.

Zhao, the village head, glanced at Tiezi's mother and then said, "This is to protect the collective interests of everyone in our village. Whether it's water or food, these are the key areas that everyone needs to protect. If any member of the patrol team slacks off and causes any losses to the village, don't blame me for not warning you beforehand. That person will be expelled from our village and will not be worthy of being a member of Changfeng Village!"