Upon hearing the magistrate's words, Zhao Heng felt uneasy. After stammering for a while, he finally said, "Father, you should go with Aunt to the fields to harvest wheat. I'll stay with Dashan. With Dashan there, I won't run into any trouble."
Liang Shuyan agreed, and then gave Dashan a few more instructions: "Dashan, be sure to go slowly, and make more trips with the two of you, so it's safer."
Jin Dashan was a steady man, and upon hearing this, he nodded vigorously: "I understand, Mother, I will take good care of Zhao Heng."
In the wheat field, Erniu was about to squat down for a smoke when he saw the magistrate. He hurriedly slapped his thigh and stood up, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency!"
People of all ages who were harvesting wheat in the field stood up and bowed to the county magistrate.
"Quickly, everyone, don't be shy. I originally came here today to deliver a message, but I didn't expect Zhao Heng to drag me here to harvest wheat with you!"
The news that a county magistrate had appeared in Liang Shuyan's wheat field, and that he was harvesting wheat alongside her, was explosive news, and it spread quickly.
Li Zheng and his family were harvesting wheat in the mountains across the village when they saw the magistrate's carriage from afar. Li Zheng waved his sickle and said, "The magistrate is here. You all continue harvesting. I'll go and greet him. After all, I am the village's magistrate."
Jiao looked up at the clouds in the sky and said somewhat reluctantly, "What time is it? Why are you still wandering around aimlessly? The magistrate is here and helping out at her aunt's house. What are you doing getting involved?"
Jinxia walked over with a sickle, smiling, and said, "Mother, please let my father go. He is the village head, so it's only right. We can manage the harvest with a few of us."
Jiao glanced at her daughter-in-law and her resentment vanished: "Jinxia, that's just how your father is. If the magistrate hadn't been here today, he would have found an excuse to go out. He's used to running around, and he feels uncomfortable if he doesn't run around for a while."
Since getting married, Jinxia has been very attentive to her mother, making Jiao very happy. She tells everyone that her family has found a good daughter-in-law, and even when harvesting wheat in the field, she happily runs ahead.
Qiu Dong wiped the sweat from his forehead and called out to Jin Xia, "Jin Xia, hurry up and come here. I'm cutting by myself, and it's so boring with no one to talk to."
Jiao said somewhat displeasedly, "You brat, you clearly want to talk to your wife, yet you say such things. Go, go, hurry up and chat with that brat. Tsk tsk, you really have forgotten your mother after marrying a wife!"
Jinxia's face flushed red, and she turned around, carrying her sickle, and walked towards Qiudong.
"You really are something! I was just saying a few words to Mother, and you started yelling. Look at what Mother said to you!"
"What are you afraid of? I'm just too lazy to move because I'm all alone and have no one to talk to. Besides, you're my wife. What's wrong with me asking you to keep me company and talk to me?"
Jin Xia squatted down, swinging her sickle as she said, "I'm not trying to criticize you, but look at you! There are still over ten acres of wheat left. At this rate, when will you ever finish harvesting?"
Autumn Winter lazily rubbed her lower back: "By the way, didn't you say that Sister Yinxia needed Spicy Wings' help?"
"We also have five acres at home. They'll only help us after they've finished harvesting. What are you thinking? Get to work!"
With a swishing sound, Jinxia wielded her sickle and quickly caught up with Qiudong. Qiudong was still trying to slack off, but Jinxia kept saying from behind, "Still slacking off? Hurry up!"
To Da Shan's surprise, he discovered that although they had brought back two cartloads of grain from the field, there was suddenly a lot missing. He squatted down and counted them carefully, and found that there were indeed more than a dozen bundles missing.
"Oh no! A thief!"
Zhao Heng had just driven his carriage to the drying ground when he heard Da Shan say this. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Why don't you go back and call your grandmother out first, and keep an eye on things here to see who is stealing grain?"
Da Shan raised an eyebrow: "I think we should invite Da Hei over; it'll be more effective than anything else!"
Zhao Heng immediately replied, "Great! Great, Big Black! Let's see which thief is so bold as to dare to steal from Big Black!"
Big Black, with its glossy black fur, squatted down beside the haystack. Da Shan gently patted Big Black's head: "Good boy, watch the wheat carefully, don't let the thieves steal it, or I'll give you some meat later!"
Zhao Heng scoffed dismissively: "Can't Dahei hear what you're babbling about? You seem to be getting more and more out of control, actually talking to a dog?"
Big Black stood up and barked twice at Zhao Heng. Zhao Heng was defeated: "Fine, you're so capable. You can understand me. I'm really afraid of you. If you're so capable, then grab the thief who stole the grain. What are you yelling at me for?"
Jin Dashan stopped the donkey cart and said, "Alright, didn't you say Dahei couldn't understand? Aren't you talking to Dahei?"
These two men weren't brothers, but they were closer than brothers. They glanced at each other, smiled, and then disappeared.
Half an hour later, Jin Dashan and Zhao Heng arrived at the drying ground at the same time and found a man lying there, with Dahei tightly tearing at the man's trouser leg.
Jin Dashan rushed over to find out who was stealing his family's grain.
"My second uncle?"
Zhao Heng was a little confused by Dahei. In less than half an hour, they had actually found the thief who stole the wheat and even grabbed his trouser leg.
"Oh dear, you call yourself my second uncle? Don't you have any food at home? Why would you steal my food?"
Jin Dashan didn't care about anything else. He dragged Jin Wang home, put him on the bed, and then called the doctor.
The doctor glanced at Jin Wang and learned that he had been frightened by Da Hei while stealing grain. He said angrily, "This kind of person should just be dead. Even rabbits don't eat the grass near their burrows. How could he steal your family's grain?"
Grandma Jin walked over, leaning on her cane. When she saw that Jin Wang had opened his eyes, she pointed at his forehead and started yelling, "How could you do such a thing? You actually stole your sister-in-law's grain! Don't you have any grain at home?"
Jinwang saw his mother, hesitated for a moment, and lowered his head very low: "Mother, our wheat field is all overgrown with weeds, there's no food left. This...this isn't our home, we have nothing to eat, so...so we thought..."
“Look at your sister-in-law, they have so much wheat, how come there are no weeds in the field? They are weeding in the field, what are you two doing at home? Now that you see that they have grain, you have no other choice but to steal it, is that it?”
"Mother, where are Dashan and Zhao Heng?"
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