Hearing so many children chattering away, Li Dazhuang went straight to Liu Wang's side and began to ask him questions.
"Did you steal it? When did you steal it?"
When the captain asked him a question, Liu Wang became frightened and started shaking his head again.
"I didn't steal it, I didn't steal it."
Wei Mo kicked him hard and pointed at Liu Wang, who was lying on the ground.
"Didn't you just admit it? What's the use of denying it now?"
Li Dazhuang didn't stop him. It was just children playing around, and even if he didn't admit it now, it wouldn't matter. So many children could testify; he couldn't escape.
Now that he has already admitted it, there's no point in trying to deny it anymore.
Having been kicked, Liu Wang could only speak haltingly.
“I didn’t steal it, I caught it myself. I saw the chicks in the village and then caught them. I didn’t steal them.”
Hearing his excuse, Li Dazhuang asked again,
"When did you catch them? How many did you catch on each day?"
Liu Wang spoke haltingly, saying that he had caught a total of four chickens and the specific times, which basically matched those in the village, so there must be other problems with the others.
However, having already caught one of the culprits, Li Dazhuang picked Liu Wang up and made him follow behind him, along with a group of children.
The group headed towards Liu Ping's house, wanting to confront him directly.
There's no way to deny this, and Wei Mo certainly wouldn't miss out on such a spectacle.
However, he still offered a word of advice.
"Captain, Captain, Uncle Dazhuang, gather everyone together, so he won't try to deny it later."
The brigade leader thought about it and agreed, so he simply sent his son home to get the gong. Li Fu ran home, picked up the gong, and started banging it.
Villagers who heard the gong came to check. Li Fu had wanted to strike the gong for a long time but never had the chance. Now that he had finally got the chance, he kept striking it.
Only when he saw his father did he stop holding the gong. More and more people gathered in the village, and Liu Ping also rushed over.
When Liu Ping saw the brigade leader with his son, his heart skipped a beat. As more and more people gathered, the brigade leader slowly spoke.
"As you all know, there have been chicken thefts in the village these past few days. Four of them were caught by Liu Wang. Tell me when your chickens went missing. If the times match, then you can ask him for compensation."
Upon hearing this, the villagers all spoke up.
"Captain, my house was robbed three days ago."
“Captain, my house was completely destroyed in just half a month.”
Several farmers who had lost their chickens spoke up. The team leader and Liu Wang compared the time it took to catch the chickens and ultimately identified four people responsible.
A woman stepped forward and scratched at Liu Ping's face.
"Damn it, I told you it was your Liu Wang, and you still won't admit it? Humph, you're no better than me. The brigade leader held a meeting to criticize Liu Ping and his son Liu Wang. They went too far."
“We villagers rely on the few eggs under the chickens’ rear ends all year round, and he’s actually stealing and eating all our chickens. Isn’t he a menace? Our village can’t have such a menace.”
"That's right, that's right. It's not good for the brigade leader to hold a general meeting. He should just kick the whole family out."
Liu Wang was terrified, and now he and his son have incurred the wrath of the public.
For a moment, Liu Wang stood there stunned, and Liu Ping quickly addressed everyone, especially the captain.
"Captain, Liu Wang only stole four chickens. We're willing to pay for it, we're willing to pay for it. Don't hold a meeting, don't kick us out."
You know, life in the village is much better than before. There's no need to go hungry anymore. What if they were driven out and had to go back to their old life, or even worse?
Upon hearing this, the captain frowned, while Wei Mo wondered to himself, if Liu Wang only stole four chickens, who would compensate for the rest?
Wei Mo tugged at the captain's trouser leg. The captain slowly squatted down and said to him,
"What's wrong, Xiao Weimo?"
Wei Mo whispered in the captain's ear.
“Uncle Dazhuang, seven or eight chickens have gone missing from the village. Although they are a nuisance, the interests of the villagers have been harmed. What do you think of this approach?”
"First, make them compensate all the families who lost their chickens, regardless of whose chickens they were. At least that will compensate the others."
Upon hearing this, Li Dazhuang nodded, then asked in a low voice,
"Wei Mo, what do we do after that?"
Wei Mo thought for a moment, then continued speaking to Li Dazhuang.
"We definitely need to hold a big meeting, but let's recover the losses first."
“Uncle Dazhuang, let’s do this for now. Make him compensate for all the chickens first. Otherwise, tell Liu Ping and make his son squat in the fence.”
“If he doesn’t agree to compensation, we’ll call the police directly. If he does agree, we’ll hold a meeting and let him choose for himself.”
"If he refuses to pay any compensation, then just arrest his whole family, since they ate everything."
After Wei Mo finished speaking, the brigade leader's eyes lit up. Yes, the most important thing is to recover the losses of the villagers.
As for whether or not Liu Wang should be sent to the barracks, he is still young. Sending him there at such a young age would be tantamount to sending him to his death.
The captain, not wanting to make a fatal enemy, nodded and spoke to Liu Wang.
"I don't care how many chickens you stole, you're just saying there were four chickens? Who would believe that?"
"Here's the deal: you choose. Either you pay with eight chickens, or your son can go stand in the fence!"
“Eight chickens have gone missing from our village recently. I don’t care about the previous ones, but these were all reported to me.”
“If you don’t pay, then your whole family will be locked up in jail. After all, you ate it too, and you’re also protecting criminals and enjoying the stolen goods.”
Upon hearing this, Liu Wang panicked. These were eight chickens! He had lost double the amount. He blamed himself for being greedy, but he couldn't just let his whole family be thrown into jail.
Liu Wang quickly said to the captain.
"I'll pay, I'll pay, I'll pay, okay? Just don't make my son go to jail! That would ruin him, and our whole family would be finished too."
Then the villagers nearby said angrily,
"Captain, I don't want the chickens anymore. I want them to stay in Paris. Keeping these scourges around will cause problems sooner or later."
Liu Ping panicked and quickly apologized to the other party.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault. Don't worry, I promise I'll change."
The villager ignored Liu Ping and said to him.
"A leopard can't change its spots, huh, you..."
Wei Mo saw that villager Liu Ping had clearly aroused public anger, so he tugged at the team leader's leg and whispered to him.
"Uncle Dazhuang, let him pay compensation first, and then we'll hold a meeting to deal with it."
Upon hearing Wei Mo's words, Li Dazhuang shouted to the villagers.
"Quiet down, everyone. First, let them pay for the eight chickens in the village. If that's not enough, they can pay with grain. If that's still not enough, they won't pay with grain. I'll deduct their work points next year to compensate everyone for their losses."
"What do you think? This way we can recover everyone's losses. We'll talk about the rest later."
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