She quickly sat up, just as Zhao Shi'an walked in.
What's going on outside?
"Our cow was stolen."
Zhao Shi'an came over and handed her her clothes.
"Has the thief been caught?"
"No, Uncle Da Niu and Grandpa San Hua are calling people to look for it along the footprints."
Fang Qing quickly got dressed and went to the backyard, where she saw Zhao Shi talking to several aunts and older women with red eyes.
The wooden gate to the backyard had been pried open, and the gate to the cowshed was wide open, leaving the place empty.
Fang Qing quickly called out Xiao Dou's name.
"Can you find out who did it?"
Wait, let me check.
The investigation on Xiaodou's side took a long time, so Fang Qing went over to comfort Zhao Shi.
"Mom, don't worry, our Dahuang is very intelligent, we'll definitely find him."
Dahuang is their family's big yellow ox.
“Your house is so remote, yet it still got robbed. You must know our village very well. Maybe it was someone from our village,” said Fang Sanhua’s wife.
"Two years ago, Fang Shiliu from our village loved to steal. After he was caught, his hands were broken, and no one in our village dared to steal anymore."
"That's right. Didn't the clan chief and village chief say that anyone who dares to steal from the villagers will be expelled from our village?"
"I think they must be from another village. Don't people from Zhangjia Village pass through here on their way to the county town? A few days ago, people from Zhangjia Village helped Douya's family dig a well. Could they be from Zhangjia Village?"
"Don't speak ill of Brother Zhang, he's a good person."
People were talking about it, some genuinely offering advice to the Zhao family, while others were just there to laugh at them.
Before long, Fang Daniu and Fang Sanhua returned with several men, none of whom looked too happy.
We couldn't find it. The cow hoof prints disappeared at the village entrance. We don't know if they were covered up or if they never left the village.
Upon hearing this, everyone knew that the chances of finding the cow were slim.
Fang Daniu refused to give up.
A cow is worth half a house, and he bought it with the money he would have spent on bean sprouts. How could he let the cow just disappear like that?
"I'll go out of the village and look for it."
He walked away with his head down, and Fang Sanhua quickly followed.
The news that Fang Qing's family had lost a cow spread throughout the entire village in no time.
The village chief came to see for himself, but could only offer words of comfort.
For reasons unknown, Zhang also came over and squeezed into the crowd. Fang Qing looked up and met her somewhat gloating gaze.
Fang Qing was too lazy to pay attention to her, but suddenly remembered that Zhang had been to their cowshed when they slaughtered the pig a couple of days ago, and that she seemed to be hanging around their house every day for the past two days.
Fang Qing couldn't help but overthink it.
She opened the system and asked Xiaodou again.
[It wasn't her, it was a man. It was too dark for me to see clearly, and the system lost track of him once he left your property.]
"Can you find out where Dahuang is now?"
No, it's a cow, not some important figure in this world. If it's out of your sight, I can't find it.
Fang Qing's expression also turned serious.
Many people came to the house, and it didn't quiet down until noon.
Even though Zhao was heartbroken, she still had to cook, and Fang Qing stayed by her side.
"We've only been having a few good days, and now..."
"Mom, don't be sad. The cow will be found. Even if it isn't, we can just buy another one."
“It’s not that easy. You still owe the whole village money for the more than 100 acres of land you rented. We don’t even know if there will be a harvest. Now that the cattle are lost, what will our family do if we don’t have money to pay the villagers?”
Fang Qing opened her mouth, wanting to say a few more words of comfort, when Zhao Shi'an appeared at the kitchen door.
"Bean Sprout, come here."
Fang Qing followed Zhao Shi'an to the backyard.
"Brother? What's wrong?"
Zhao Shi'an led Fang Qing into the cowshed, lit the candle on the wall, and took it down.
"Come and take a look."
Fang Qing followed Zhao Shi'an and squatted down in front of the cattle trough. A few melon seeds had fallen into the layer of dry grass.
Um?
"This is?"
"We don't grow sunflower seeds at home."
Normally, Zhao would fry some peanuts and beans as snacks, and never bought melon seeds.
"This was left behind by the cattle thief!"
Perhaps the cattle thief had been carrying this in his pocket, and it fell out when he bent down to untie the rope while stealing the cattle.
It was a man, and he always carried sunflower seeds in his pocket...
Fang Qing suddenly thought of someone.
Fang Sanduo from their village has an acre of land planted with sunflowers. He is also skilled at roasting sunflower seeds, so his family never lacks sunflower seeds all year round.
Fang Sanduo's son was none other than the idle and lazy Fang Guangzong.
Fang Qing and Zhao Shi'an looked at each other, and Zhao Shi'an's eyes clearly showed that he was thinking the same thing as her.
"What do you plan to do?" Zhao Shi'an asked.
Go find him!
As she spoke, Fang Qing stood up and walked out, with Zhao Shi'an following behind.
"Why don't we wait until Uncle Niu comes back before going to see him?"
They were still just children, and they might not be able to handle Fang Guangzong and his two scoundrels if they got into a fight.
Zhao Shi'an was not afraid of this kind of thing in the past.
But ever since the incident with the wild boar on the mountain, he has become more cautious.
He didn't want any risks to happen to Douya.
“I don’t know when my dad will be back. Let’s go check on him first. Don’t worry, I won’t do anything.”
Zhao Shi'an had no choice but to leave the house with him.
The gate to Fang Guangzong's house was locked. Fang Qing glanced at the low courtyard wall and waved to Zhao Shi'an.
Zhao Shi'an understood what she meant, and went over to squat down next to her.
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