When Bai's mother saw her daughter arrive, she reached out and took her little grandson, her face beaming with joy.

As soon as Bai Xiaoyue entered the house, she said, "Mom, Wen Tong said he wants to raise three hens."

Bai's mother nodded: "It's good that she raises three. She won't need to buy eggs. I'll go to your Aunt Yan's house and get her three."

"It just so happens that your Aunt Yan's hen has hatched more than a dozen chicks."

Bai Xiaoyue frowned when she saw that her mother had prepared sorghum rice again.

"Mom, don't just eat coarse grains all the time. You should eat a mix of coarse and refined grains."

"Okay, don't worry about it, just take good care of the child." Mother Bai said indifferently.

That evening, Bai Xiaoyue complained to Yan Ci:

"My parents also eat coarse grains every meal. Where is the nutrition in that?"

Yan Ci tapped his wife's forehead:

"Honey, Wen'an got married and built a house. Now there are two more people to feed. Your parents are being extra frugal because they think Wen'an has a heavy burden."

Elderly people, for the sake of their children, are always willing to endure hardship themselves.

Bai Xiaoyue slapped her forehead:

"Oh dear, I didn't notice. When the autumn harvest is distributed, my parents won't be willing to buy more grain. Let's buy more."

Then he said to Yan Ci:

"Go into the city and bring back the grain from Chang Le. While you're at it, see if you can get some rice from Ming Yue."

Xiaobai is now ready to start eating solid foods. Give him some egg yolk and some thin rice porridge.

Yan Ci nodded in agreement.

Wen Tong and her mother usually stay in the courtyard. If there is anything, Bai's mother will come to handle it, so there is no need for Bai Xiaoyue.

Neither the mother nor the daughter went to work during the autumn harvest. Bai's father didn't want to say anything, so Bai Xiaoyue went to her uncle and Ye Jianguo to explain the situation.

They said the Wen family mother and daughter couldn't do farm work, so they would give the team extra money.

The grain distribution begins after the autumn harvest.

Although only Yan Ci earned work points, the per capita grain amounted to over a thousand catties, including wheat, corn, millet, soybeans, and sweet potatoes.

There was more coarse grain than refined grain. After the grain was distributed, Bai Xiaoyue used thirty yuan to buy three hundred jin of wheat.

Everyone was talking about it, and they all looked at her with the eyes of someone looking at a spendthrift woman.

Bai Xiaoyue scratched her head awkwardly and said to Uncle Bai:

"Uncle, we have two children at home, is it alright for us to buy some food?"

Uncle Bai's stern gaze swept over everyone, and they immediately fell silent.

Before Yan Ci could finish moving the grain, the crowd started making a ruckus again.

Bai Xiaoyue glanced at them and saw that it was Wen Tong and her daughter who had come to buy grain.

Everyone in the production brigade was at the drying ground, and now the mother and daughter were famous; everyone knew that the Bai family had two beautiful women.

Bai Xiaoyue sighed and rubbed her forehead, thinking to herself, "Bai Wen'an, please come back soon!"

She accompanied the mother and daughter to buy food, and Bai's father and Yan Ci helped them carry it home, escorting them all the way to their doorstep.

Bai Xiaoyue cooked dinner as soon as she got home: simple millet porridge with steamed buns, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and shredded potatoes.

She placed a piece of food into Yan Ci's bowl with her chopsticks and said with concern, "A-Ci, eat quickly, you've worked hard today!"

Yan Ci also served her food:

"Wife, you eat too." He was very happy to hear his wife's concern.

Little Bai was babbling beside him, and Chang Le skillfully fed him some rice porridge with a spoon. Little Bai licked it and danced with joy.

The Yan family's house was filled with laughter and joy.

At night, after the couple finished exercising, Yan Ci gently massaged his wife's waist, and Bai Xiaoyue became drowsy.

Suddenly, Yan Ci released his wife and sat up, and Bai Xiaoyue looked up in surprise.

Yan Ci whispered in her ear:

"There's some noise outside, I'm going to go check it out."

Bai Xiaoyue was startled and asked nervously:

"Then be careful, is someone trying to steal the grain again?"

Yan Ci tiptoed into the courtyard and found nothing amiss. After standing there for a while, he heard a faint sound coming from the neighboring courtyard.

He turned and went back into the room. His wife was already dressed. He leaned close to her and whispered:

"It seems to be a sound coming from the next yard."

Bai Xiaoyue frowned: "Could it be that Wen Tong and her daughter went out during the day and were targeted by bad guys?"

Yan Ci frowned as well: "Possibly."

"Then we can't make a big fuss, otherwise, all the gossip from the aunts and uncles will drown Wen Tong," Bai Xiaoyue said with distress.

"I'll go take a look first." Yan Ci lifted his foot to leave.

Bai Xiaoyue quickly grabbed him:

"You're all alone and vulnerable. You should bring your parents along for safety."

Then, Yan Ci quietly went to wake the old couple up.

When the elderly couple arrived, Bai Xiaoyue said:

“My mother and I went to the door and called for Wen Tong to open it. The thief would definitely not dare to escape through the front door.”

One side of the courtyard is right next to our courtyard wall, so thieves wouldn't escape through this side.

Only the right and the back remained. The back wall was quite far away, so he was most likely to escape through the right wall.

"Father went to the back, and Yan Ci went to the right to guard."

Bai Xiaoyue, still feeling uneasy, added:

"If you're alone, you can handle it; if there are many people, you can let them go. Don't get hurt."

Yan Ci nodded. After Bai's father and Yan Ci walked over, Bai Xiaoyue and her mother began knocking on the door. She shouted loudly:

"Wen Tong, open the door. Yan Ci and I need to talk to you."

Startled by the noise, the thief fled in panic, just as Bai Xiaoyue had predicted, by climbing over the right-hand courtyard wall.

Just as the thief jumped off the courtyard wall, Yan Ci, who was lying in wait, knocked him unconscious with a single blow.

After waiting a while and seeing that no one came out, Yan Ci dragged the thief to the front gate, where Bai's father also returned.

Mr. Bai stepped forward and examined the man closely with his flashlight. It turned out to be Bai Wengui, a notorious leper in the village and a member of a collateral branch of the Bai family.

This person usually steals chickens and dogs, and when he does work, he only works sporadically.

Uncle Bai often reprimanded him, and he usually didn't dare to do anything serious. I never expected him to do something like this today.

Perhaps hearing Bai Xiaoyue's voice, Wen Tong and her daughter also opened the door and came out.

Wen Tong was surprised to see the four people:

"Father, Mother, Sister, Brother-in-law, is something wrong so late?"

Bai Xiaoyue shone her flashlight on the person lying on the ground, and Wen Tong was shocked:

"Who goes there, lying in front of my house?"

After Bai Xiaoyue finished explaining the situation, Wen Xiya was already pale with fright and her soul seemed to leave her body.

Enraged, Wen Tong stomped on the thief with all his might. A cracking sound was heard, and the thief woke up screaming in pain, "Ah..."

Yan Ci quickly dislocated his jaw, and Wen Tong, still not satisfied, broke one of the thief's hands as well.

Bai Xiaoyue was shocked. Wen Tong looked gentle and kind, but she didn't expect him to have such a bad temper. It seemed that he also had some martial arts skills.

Yan Ci waited until Wen Tong had finished beating him before asking, "What are we going to do now?"

Wen Tong said, "Kill it and throw it away."

Wen's mother was so frightened that she quickly hugged her daughter, fearing that she might actually kill someone and break the law.

After hesitating for a while, Mr. Bai said, "Why don't we ask your eldest uncle? After all, he's a member of the Bai family. Let him make a decision."

Bai Xiaoyue nodded in agreement, thinking it would be good to let her uncle handle it.

Seeing that no one objected, Bai's father went to call Bai's uncle, and Bai Wenli, who was the squad leader, also came along.

Uncle Bai frowned upon seeing Bai Wengui's miserable state, staring at him for a long while before saying:

“Take him to Xiaoyue’s courtyard and bring out a bag of grain.”

"Tell me, Bai Wengui saw you bought a lot of grain today, so he went to your door to steal it. Now he's been caught red-handed."

Bai Xiaoyue thought this was a good idea, as it wouldn't affect Wen Tong and her daughter. She didn't care, since it wasn't the first time thieves had come to their door.

She tugged at Yan Ci's hand, and Yan Ci nodded: "Okay."