When these words were spoken, many people gasped.
You know, although Boss Zhao is not young and is only a scholar, he is still taking the exam. If it weren't for the sudden famine, he might have gone to the provincial capital to take the exam again this year.
With Boss Zhao's oath, most people in the village believed it. Everyone was afraid that the oath would come true, so no one would easily swear on such a thing.
The village chief nodded and said, "Okay, I'll remember that."
Chen Lin's face turned ugly instantly. She had already been resentful of the village chief, and now seeing that he was biased towards the other two branches of the Zhao family, she felt hatred in her heart.
Little did they know that in this era people value fame and oaths. If Boss Zhao really hadn't done it, he wouldn't dare to say this, so everyone would naturally believe it.
Chen Lin didn't care about the reason. She knew it clearly, but as long as the village chief didn't stand on her side without thinking, she would hold a grudge against him, and would also hold a grudge against most people in the village.
After the village chief counted the food, he came to a shocking conclusion: "Over 200 kilograms of food have been lost..."
The villagers haven't reacted yet.
Zhou Jiaojiao finally spoke up and said, "That's not right. It's just like the last time half of my family's food was stolen. It was also two or three hundred kilograms. But it's impossible for one person to take away such a heavy amount of food so easily."
"Yeah, it's two or three hundred pounds, the weight of a big fat pig. Who can move it all at once?"
"What if he didn't move away alone?"
"But we're all here."
"Did anyone who was on guard last night notice anything wrong?" asked the village chief.
Only two or three night watchmen were left. They were all confused and shook their heads: "I didn't hear anything, except someone getting up at night."
"Who's up at night?" The village chief said in a serious tone and looked unhappy. The night watchman also realized that something was wrong and hurriedly said the names he remembered.
There were several men inside, but most of them stayed here and did not leave.
"Village chief, this is a misunderstanding. I didn't steal anything." Wang Laosan saw everyone looking at him and quickly raised his hand: "With my small body, I got up at night and went out. How could I move so much food without making any noise?"
"That's right, Village Chief. My family also lost a lot." The eldest grandson of the Zhou family also said.
Zhou Mianmian, on the other hand, looked as if she wanted to say something but hesitated. However, after being glanced at by Zhou Jiaojiao, she didn't say anything, but subconsciously moved a little further away from Chen Lin.
After questioning and examining several men who had gotten up at night, the village chief found that there was indeed no evidence to prove that they had stolen the items.
"Let's wait for big brother and the others to catch the human trafficker first." Zhou Jiaojiao spoke at the right time.
Aunt Huang, perhaps because so much food had been lost, hated Zhou Jiaojiao. Upon hearing this, she said sarcastically, "Why don't you all suspect the Chu family? It's always their family whose food is stolen. Maybe they did it on purpose."
Zhou Jiaojiao was so angry that she laughed, "Auntie Huang, are you saying that I teamed up with that human trafficker to steal everyone's food?"
"Then I'm curious, how much food did my family get back from wherever along the way?"
Aunt Huang choked and said in a rather unreasonable tone, "Who knows?"
"Maybe you hid yourself, just like the Zhao family did, and we didn't find you."
"You have no evidence at all and are just making wild guesses. Even if you hid it as you said, we have hundreds of kilograms of extra grain at home. It can't be hidden." Zhou Jiaojiao softened her voice after rebutting, "Auntie Huang, I know you're worried because your family lost their grain, but we can't really let the culprit go. If we all unite, we can find the thief. Only when we find the real thief can we get the grain back, and then your children will have a better life, right?"
Aunt Huang was not comforted by her at all, especially when she thought of her child crying with hunger, cold and hungry. She usually couldn't even bear to eat more than naan, she was so hungry.
In fact, she had long been jealous of the Chu family's abundance of food.
A lot of food was indeed supplied to Xi County at the time, but the Huang family had few adult males, and their women and children were weak. In addition, they had no carts, so even if the food was given to them, they could not take it away.
As a result, after a long time, food shortage began to occur.
In addition, with the Chu family living a relatively good life nearby as a comparison, after a while, he began to feel jealous.
"Don't talk so nicely. I don't care anyway. This matter is caused by your family. If my family's grain cannot be recovered, your Chu family must compensate. My family is starving to death anyway. If you don't pay, then I will kowtow to you with my descendants."
This is a bit unreasonable.
Huang Shuangming's wife wanted to stand up and say something, but was glared back by Aunt Huang.
"Mrs. Huang, stop being so unreasonable. When you took the grain from Xi County, why didn't you tell them to return it to the Chu family?"
"That was the food I got with my own ability. Why should I give it back to her?" Aunt Huang said with confidence.
The village chief was speechless. "If Chu San wasn't there, would the officials be willing to share it with us? With your Huang family's abilities, you wouldn't be able to steal so much."
Aunt Huang became even angrier. "Village Chief, could you please stop emphasizing the Chu family's presence in Xi County? It was she who took the initiative to give it to them. Don't we usually help collect firewood and exchange for medicinal herbs? Do you expect us to repay that kindness with our lives?"
"At that time, we didn't share the grain, and the Chu family couldn't take it away. How could it be considered kind? They might have planned to wait until they had eaten all their own grain and then come to ask us for it." Aunt Huang assumed the worst of others and felt justified.
Zhou Jiaojiao was so angry that she laughed.
She didn't say anything. She wanted to see how many ungrateful people like her there were in the village. When the time came, she would have to stay away from them.
Mother Chu was furious at her words. "I think you're really heartless. My Chu family has more food than yours. After you finish eating, we still have some left! Who told us to be diligent and know to store more food? If it weren't for my Chu family, you would have starved to death long ago. How can you say such a stinky thing now?"
Chu's mother pointed at her nose and cursed back.
"You...you..." Aunt Huang was unwilling to be suppressed and made an excuse: "My family has many children and the food is consumed quickly, but other people in the village also have plenty of food. Who knows if you are plotting against us."
"I've really learned a lot. You're talking so confidently about something that hasn't even happened yet. Well, when you run out of food in the future, you're going to come and scam the whole village and force us, who still have surplus food, to lend you food. If we don't, you're going to kowtow to us and kill yourself with your whole family. You're too shameless!" Mother Chu cursed back in the same way the other party did.
Aunt Huang said angrily, "You're talking nonsense." She looked at the villagers around her with a guilty conscience. It was obvious that she had really thought about this.
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