Seeing her husband unable to lift his head after being scolded by Li Kaishan, Chen Damei rolled her eyes and tried to argue, "Uncle Village Chief, you shouldn't listen to Wang Dong's nonsense. These chickens and ducks belong to our family."
I just brought it back from my parents' house the day before yesterday.
Yan Qingqing sneered and said, "Your family name probably isn't Li, right? Look closely, these chickens and ducks are wearing anklets."
Yan Qingqing put a lot of effort into building the brand. For example, when the chickens and ducks were first introduced into the ecological orchard, Yan Qingqing had Wei Laosan put special leg bands on them.
Each anklet is engraved with the character "Li," which is easily missed if you don't look closely.
Chen Damei cursed Yan Qingqing in her heart, thinking she was indeed a troublesome bitch. She kept chickens and ducks and even made them wear leg rings. She had so many tricks up her sleeve. It was clear that she used a lot of methods to seduce men. Otherwise, why would her man act like he had lost his mind as soon as he saw Yan Qingqing?
However, Chen Damei dared not say this openly, as she had heard that Yan Qingqing was capable of taking down four or five men.
Yan Qingqing had no idea what Chen Damei was cursing her in her heart. She thought she was at a loss for words, but Chen Damei's mind worked quickly and she said, "Then we must have seen wrong. These are not our chickens and ducks."
Maybe Wang Dong stole it from your house.
Yes, definitely. He stole from your house, and when we found out, he hid it in the cellar.
Yan Qingqing scoffed and said, "Then I should thank you for finding the chicken thief for my family."
Chen Damei said proudly, "No need for that, my Erdan has always been a kind-hearted person."
Wang Dong, standing to the side, tugged at Yan Qingqing's sleeve, looking aggrieved. Yan Qingqing gave him a reassuring look and then said, "You beat Wang Dong half to death over someone else's chicken and duck. I wonder what the magistrate will say if this is reported to the authorities."
He'll definitely get at least a few dozen lashes; it might not be just a few days in jail this time, it could be years.
Chen Damei was genuinely frightened upon hearing this, as she had been flogged by the county magistrate and imprisoned for several days.
Even now, Chen Damei's buttocks still ache when she thinks about it, and the prison was truly not a place for a human being.
Chen Damei said with a pale face, "We're only trying to help your family, you can't repay kindness with enmity."
Seeing that Chen Damei was still being stubborn, Yan Qingqing said to Wang Dong, "Go ahead and report it to the authorities. I'll stand up for you. I'll just say that the chickens and ducks were a gift from me."
Wang Dong nodded and replied, "Okay, I'll listen to my aunt."
Upon hearing this, Li Kaishan knew that Yan Qingqing intended to punish the couple, and said, "Alright, since they don't admit it, then let's report it to the authorities. I'll send someone to the county government right away."
Not only Chen Damei, but even Li Erdan panicked. He looked up and slapped Chen Damei, cursing, "You stinking woman, this is all your doing! You encouraged your two sons to steal chickens and dogs, and now look what happened! You've completely disgraced me!"
If you don't want to go to jail, you'd better go and admit your mistake.
Chen Damei was stunned by Li Erdan's beating; who was she doing all this for?
When Li Erdan saw Chen Damei staring at him with her neck stiff and her eyes red, he knew he couldn't count on this woman.
So he turned to Yan Qingqing and Li Kaishan and said, "Oh dear, this is all because of that woman Chen Damei's greed. She's always nagging about wanting to eat meat at home."
Her two sons couldn't stand her rambling and did something wrong. By the time I found out, they had already eaten a chicken and a duck.
My original intention was to give the rest to Qing... to send back to my sister-in-law, but who knew that Wang Dong would steal it.
I didn't see it clearly at the time; I thought they were stealing my chickens.
"Look, this is all a misunderstanding! How much were these chickens and ducks? We'll pay for them!"
Li Kaishan said, "Is it enough to just compensate them for the chickens and ducks? Look at the state you've left Wang Dong in!"
Li Kaishan didn't really want to send Li Erdan and his wife to jail. Firstly, out of consideration for their shared clan and surname, and secondly, the constant petty theft and fights in the village were having a bad influence.
Li Erdan instantly understood Li Kaishan's words and quickly said, "How about I pay his medical expenses and give him twenty copper coins?"
Yan Qingqing scoffed and said, "Uncle Village Chief, I think you shouldn't defend him anymore. You should just report it to the authorities. Not only will you wrong someone, but you'll also beat them half to death. Are you trying to get rid of a beggar with twenty coins?"
Aunt Wang chimed in, "I remember last time Zhao's family came to cause trouble and injured San Niu, how much did they pay in compensation? Was it five taels or ten taels?"
Yan Qingqing replied, "Not counting the five taels of silver we owed the old man, we still owe ten taels."
Li Kaishan glared at Li Erdan and said, "If you really don't want to pay compensation, then go to jail!"
From Li Erdan's perspective, he felt that giving Wang Dong twenty coins was already quite generous, considering he was born to a father but raised without one.
So Li Erdan said incredulously, "This little injury isn't worth ten taels of silver. Even if you sold the kid, he wouldn't be worth that much money."
Yan Qingqing knew that this situation was different from the Zhao family causing trouble at their door. Moreover, even if this kind of petty theft were taken to the county government, it would only result in a few mild reprimands and would not cause any real harm to Li Erdan and his wife.
Yan Qingqing said, "You pay Wang Dong two taels of silver, and I won't pursue the matter of your son stealing my chickens and ducks."
Upon hearing that it was two taels of silver, Chen Damei immediately cried out, saying that her family's annual income might not even be that much.
But before she could even refute him, Yan Qingqing said, "If all else fails, we can go to the yamen. After all, I've met the county magistrate once. I think he can give me some face."
Everyone in the village knew that Yan Qingqing's braised offal was a favorite of the county magistrate, so it didn't matter that Yan Qingqing had some connection with the magistrate.
Yan Qingqing really did get away with it this time, and no one will know anyway.
Li Erdan gritted his teeth and said, "You keep your word. I'll pay for his medicine, and we can let bygones be bygones about the theft of your chickens and ducks."
Yan Qingqing nodded and said, "Don't worry! I, Yan Qingqing, always keep my word."
That was settled. Li Kaishan would personally go to Li Erdan's house to collect the silver.
Seeing that the matter was resolved, Yan Qingqing stopped joining in the fun and went home.
When Yan Qingqing got home, she saw that Li Xiangjian had returned, so she said to him, "Go to the back mountain again and tell Wei Laosan to check the surrounding fences carefully. If there is any man-made damage, repair it as soon as possible."
Yan Qingqing didn't blame Wei Laosan for this; after all, there's no such thing as someone who's a thief for a thousand days but can't guard against thieves for a thousand days.
Although Li Xiangjian didn't know what had happened, he saw that Yan Qingqing's expression was quite serious, so he didn't dare to delay and quickly went to the back mountain.
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