In the dead of night, Captain Gao was sound asleep when he was suddenly awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.
"What happened?"
He quickly got dressed and went out.
As soon as I opened the door, I saw Xing Zhaozhao standing outside, all alone.
Captain Gao frowned and asked, "What brings Mingcheng's wife here in the middle of the night?"
“A thief just broke into my house. I caught him and brought him over to you, Captain,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
Captain Gao's wife, Aunt Gao, had just come out after putting on her coat. She was shocked when she heard this and said, "What? A thief? He even went there? Where? Let me see."
After saying that, Aunt Gao peeked outside, but apart from Xing Zhaozhao, she didn't see anyone else.
"Where's the thief? Didn't they say they caught him?" She looked at Xing Zhaozhao, her face blank, and asked.
Xing Zhaozhao pulled hard on the rope in her hand.
With a hiss, a string of people appeared in front of Captain Gao and Aunt Gao.
Captain Gao and Aunt Gao stared wide-eyed, completely dumbfounded.
"This, this, this... how come there are so many people?" Aunt Gao pointed at the string of people with trembling fingers, so shocked that she could hardly speak.
What surprised her even more was Xing Zhaozhao; she managed to catch so many people and string them together...
Aunt Gao looked at Xing Zhaozhao with disbelief on her face.
She knew that Mingcheng's wife was formidable after seeing Xing Zhaozhao sever ties with the Gao family. Appearances can be deceiving, but she never expected her to be this capable.
It's all a bit... scary.
Aunt Gao's gaze towards Xing Zhaozhao unconsciously carried a hint of fear and distance.
Xing Zhaozhao noticed it, but didn't pay much attention to it.
That's exactly the effect she wanted.
Don't mess with her, or you'll face the consequences.
Captain Gao's expression turned rather unpleasant.
He counted nine people in total, and recognized three familiar faces among them. Two of them were from his own village. It was clear that these people had planned this all along, specifically targeting the orphan and widow. It was only because Mingcheng's wife was strong and not to be trifled with that they ran into a brick wall. If it had been anyone else...
Captain Gao was almost afraid to imagine the consequences.
He looked at Xing Zhaozhao seriously and said, "Don't worry, Mingcheng's wife, I will definitely give you an explanation for this matter."
Xing Zhaozhao nodded: "Thank you for your trouble, Captain."
“However, it’s already past midnight, so it’s not easy to deal with this now. I’ll take him to the brigade headquarters first, and then deal with him when it’s light tomorrow. What do you think?” Captain Gao asked.
"Now that it's been handed over to you, Captain, you can decide everything," Xing Zhaozhao said.
“However, I have to go into the mountains early tomorrow, so I probably won’t be able to come then. You can decide what to do with the people, but there’s something I need to clarify first. I just asked them, and they said that Liu Gouzi saw me picking wild berries in the mountains and suspected that I had ginseng, so he came to my house to steal it. But I really only picked wild berries, not ginseng. I hope no one will spread rumors and cause unnecessary misunderstandings,” Xing Zhaozhao continued.
Captain Gao was unaware of this matter and nodded, saying, "I understand. If anyone spreads rumors, I will clarify things with them."
"Then I'll head back now. The children are waiting for me at home," Xing Zhaozhao said, turning to leave.
Captain Gao frowned with difficulty as he looked at the string of people lying on the ground. He then looked at Xing Zhaozhao and quickly called her back: "Wait a moment, Mingcheng's wife."
Xing Zhaozhao turned to look at Captain Gao: "Captain, there are still people around."
Captain Gao pointed to the group of people on the ground: "Could you help me drag these people to the brigade headquarters?"
He couldn't drag them away by himself, and he also wanted to teach these people a lesson, so he didn't want to let them go so quickly.
Xing Zhaozhao thought it was something serious, and immediately nodded: "Okay."
After helping Captain Gao drag that group of people to the brigade headquarters and lock them up, Xing Zhaozhao went home and quickly went to sleep, as she had to get up early the next day.
The next morning, after getting up and having breakfast, Xing Zhaozhao packed her things and prepared to leave for the door. Before leaving, she specifically instructed the two little ones: "If anyone knocks on the door, tell them that Mommy is not home and don't open it for anyone."
Hongyu thought for a moment and asked, "Even if Granny Hao comes, won't you open it?"
Xing Zhaozhao: "..."
“Grandma Hao can open it when she comes,” Xing Zhaozhao said, then paused and added, “But keep an eye on the time. I reckon Mom will be back around noon. Go to the cellar and remind her so she doesn’t give herself away.”
"Okay," the two children nodded in unison.
Xing Zhaozhao carried a basket on her shoulder, which contained two cloth bags. One bag contained chestnuts, and the other contained hawthorns. The basket, which was almost half her height, was weighed down firmly. She also had a basket slung over one arm, which contained wild wild strawberries. On the other arm, she had two heavy cloth bags, which contained dried mushrooms and dried wild vegetables. A pheasant and two wild rabbits, still alive, were tied by their legs and tied to a rope, hanging on her shoulder. She was fully loaded with all these things.
When she reappeared on the street where she had met the old man before, and saw what seemed to be the lively scene at Xiuning's house, the elderly people playing chess, cards, and exercising all turned around and looked at her with shocked eyes.
I've never seen anyone have so many things hanging on their body.
Xing Zhaozhao quickly looked around.
The old lady resembling Xiuning was not seen at the place where the commotion had occurred earlier.
That's true, that kind of liveliness can't happen every day.
However, she still felt a little regretful. She wanted to find Xiuning as soon as possible and ask her about her three children.
She spotted the old man she had met before immediately; he was in the same spot, playing cards with several other old men.
As if she had seen a relative, Xing Zhaozhao immediately ran over and said, "Grandpa."
The old man was startled when he saw her: "You're here again? Why did you bring so much stuff this time? You're really good at pretending."
“Didn’t you say before that wild produce sells well here? So I brought everything I had at home that I could.” Xing Zhaozhao said, introducing the items one by one, “In my basket I have freshly picked wild chestnuts and wild hawthorns, and in this basket are wild wild strawberries…”
"There are still wild strawberries this season, who are you trying to fool?" an old man said, not believing him.
“Really, I found a hot spring in the mountains, and there were hot springs all around. I even picked a wild beehive. I have too much stuff to bring this time,” Xing Zhaozhao said.
“Wild bee nests are a good thing. Bring them for me next time, I want them,” another old man said.
"Okay." Xing Zhaozhao replied, and then introduced to them, "Also, this bag contains dried mushrooms, and this bag contains dried wild vegetables, which we dried ourselves. They are very delicious. Would you like some?"
"Oh, and also, one wild pheasant and two wild rabbits, all alive and super fresh, do you want some?" Xing Zhaozhao said, looking at the old men with great interest.
Suddenly, she noticed that the old men who had been looking at her things with great interest were now giving her strange looks.
Xing Zhaozhao asked, confused, "What's wrong?"
"You really know how to torture people," the old man said.
Xing Zhaozhao: "??"
"I...I'm actually alright...I guess?" Xing Zhaozhao stammered, looking at the old men with some confusion.
"Do you know that wild pheasants are now a Class II protected animal in China?" the old man asked, pointing to the wild pheasant hanging on her shoulder.
Xing Zhaozhao looked completely bewildered: "What do you mean?"
"It means that wild pheasants cannot be hunted; if you catch one, you'll go to jail," the old man said.
Xing Zhaozhao was immediately struck dumb: "What?"
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