Back home, Lin Wanqiu first made dinner for Nian'an—a bowl of egg noodles with some greens from her space and a couple of drops of sesame oil, filling the whole house with its aroma. Nian'an ate with relish, her little mouth stuffed full, and she even put a piece of greens on Lin Wanqiu's plate: "Mommy, you eat too."
Looking at her son's sensible expression, Lin Wanqiu felt a warmth in her heart, and all her fatigue and grievances vanished. After Nian'an finished eating, she coaxed her son to sleep before starting to tidy up the house, while mentally preparing for the possibility that Old Lady Shen and Zhang Lan might come to steal things that night.
She stored all the valuables in the space deep inside, leaving only a few old clothes in the wardrobe and a cloth bag filled with coarse grains on the table—she deliberately tied the bag loosely, and placed an empty ceramic jar next to it, as if it contained something. Then, she sprinkled some talcum powder by the door and windows—she had taken it from the space, so that anyone who came in would leave footprints.
After finishing all this, she sat under the oil lamp, pretending to sew clothes, but actually waiting for Old Mrs. Shen and Zhang Lan to take the bait. Sure enough, in the middle of the night, there was a light footstep outside, followed by the sound of the window being gently pushed open.
Lin Wanqiu held her breath, pretending to be fast asleep. A moment later, she saw two dark figures climb in through the window; it was Old Mrs. Shen and Zhang Lan. The two tiptoed to the wardrobe, opened it, and began rummaging through it. After searching for a while, they only found a few old clothes. Old Mrs. Shen angrily muttered, "That brat, where did she hide all that stuff?"
Zhang Lan pointed to the cloth bag on the table: "Mother, do you see if there's grain in that bag?"
Grandma Shen's eyes lit up, and she quickly went over, opened the cloth bag, and saw that it was full of coarse grains. She immediately frowned: "Why is it all coarse grains? Where are the white flour buns she usually eats?"
"Maybe it's hidden in the pottery jar!" Zhang Lan said, reaching for the jar. As soon as she picked it up, she heard a "crash" as the jar fell to the ground and shattered—it was empty inside.
"Who's there!" Lin Wanqiu suddenly sat up, lit the oil lamp, and pretended to have just been woken up. "Who are you? What are you doing in my room?"
Grandma Shen and Zhang Lan were startled and turned to climb out the window, but Lin Wanqiu stopped them: "Mother, sister-in-law, why did you come into my room in the middle of the night? And you even smashed my ceramic jar? Are you trying to steal something?"
Old Mrs. Shen's face turned pale and then red, but she tried to remain calm and said, "Who...who stole your things? Your sister-in-law and I heard some noise in your room and came to check on you, afraid that something had happened to you!"
"Oh? Is that so?" Lin Wanqiu sneered, pointing to the talcum powder on the ground. "Then tell me, how come you're still carrying dirt from outside when you climbed in through the window? And how did my earthenware pot suddenly break? Did it grow legs and jump down by itself?"
Zhang Lan was speechless when questioned, but Old Lady Shen still tried to argue: "I...we just came in to take a look and accidentally broke the pottery jar. We'll just buy you a new one!"
"Compensate? What will you use to compensate me?" Lin Wanqiu's eyes turned cold. "This pottery jar is a keepsake left to me by my mother. Although it's not worth much money, it has great significance to me! You broke into my house in the middle of the night and smashed my keepsake. If the captain finds out, I don't know what he will do!"
Mentioning the team leader, both Grandma Shen and Zhang Lan panicked—the team leader hated nothing more than petty theft. If he found out, not only would they be punished, but they would also have to make a public apology in front of the whole team, which would be incredibly embarrassing!
"Wanqiu, look at this... We're all family, there's no need to take it to the team leader, is there?" Old Mrs. Shen quickly softened her tone. "At worst, I'll apologize to you and buy you a new ceramic pot. Just don't tell anyone else, okay?"
"Apologize? Buy a pottery jar?" Lin Wanqiu raised an eyebrow. "Mother, this isn't something that can be resolved with an apology. You know perfectly well what you wanted by breaking into my room in the middle of the night. I think we should go talk to the team leader and let him judge the matter, so you won't think I'm easy to bully and keep coming to my room to steal things!"
As she spoke, she grabbed Old Mrs. Shen's arm and tried to lead her outside. Old Mrs. Shen was so frightened that she quickly broke free: "No, no, no! Wanqiu, I was wrong! I shouldn't have suspected you of hiding things, and I shouldn't have come to your room in the middle of the night! I'll apologize to you, I'll apologize to you, isn't that enough?" As she spoke, she bowed to Lin Wanqiu, looking extremely embarrassed.
Zhang Lan quickly followed up with an apology: "Wanqiu, I was wrong too. I shouldn't have listened to Mother and come to your room to cause trouble. Please forgive us this time. We'll never dare to do it again!"
Looking at their disheveled appearance, Lin Wanqiu sneered inwardly—if only they had known this would happen, why did they do it in the first place? However, she didn't want to make a big fuss, since they still had to live in the same brigade, and if it really got to the captain, it wouldn't do her any good.
“Okay, I can keep it from the captain.” Lin Wanqiu said calmly, “but you must agree to two conditions. First, you must never suspect me of hiding things again, nor are you allowed to break into my house; second, if you break my pottery jar, you must replace it with an exact replica and clean up the shards in my house.”
"We agree! We agree!" Grandma Shen and Zhang Lan nodded hurriedly, afraid that Lin Wanqiu would change her mind.
Lin Wanqiu stepped aside, watching them frantically climb out of the window and hear the sounds of them cleaning up the broken pieces outside. A cold smile curled at the corner of her lips—this was just a warning. If they dared to provoke her again, she wouldn't let them off so easily.
Once the noise outside subsided, Lin Wanqiu closed the window and went back to bed. Although she had tossed and turned for half the night, she felt a sense of relief—she had finally resolved these two troublesome matters, and could finally have a few days of peace and quiet. However, she also knew that Old Madam Shen and Zhang Lan would definitely not let the matter rest, and she would have to be extra careful in the future.
She touched the jade pendant at her waist, and with a thought, entered her spatial dimension. In the space, the vegetables she had planted had already sprouted, lush and green, a sight that lifted her spirits. She walked to the medical kit, checked the medicines inside, and replenished some hemostatic powder and anti-inflammatory drugs—she had used quite a bit today and needed to replenish them quickly, lest she be out of medicine in the next emergency.
After doing all that, she stayed in the space for a while longer before exiting and slowly falling asleep.
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