The home of the clan chief of Zhoujia Village.
The clan chief was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly woken up by his grandson, who was sleeping with him.
"Grandpa, it sounds like my dad is calling you from outside the door," the grandson, Hu Tou, mumbled sleepily.
The old clan chief said "oh," then slowly sat up. After comforting his grandson to continue sleeping, he got up, put on his coat, got out of bed, put on his shoes, and went out into the yard.
Outside the door, his eldest son, Shi Fan, whispered, "Dad, my Uncle Sanli is here. He caught four people trying to break into the house tonight, tied them all up, and they're lying on the floor in the main room!"
Zhou Shifan was the clan chief's eldest son and lived closer to the gate. After Old Man Zhou called him a few times, Zhou Shifan got up.
Although he was about the same age as Old Man Zhou, he was of a lower generation and had to call him Third Uncle.
When he learned what had happened to his family, Zhou Shifan glanced speechlessly at the four people on the ground, wishing he could kick each of them hard too.
They were all villagers, and he naturally recognized who these four bastards were as soon as they met.
Given that several other families had been robbed a few days ago but no one had been caught, while this time Old Man Zhou's family had caught four people, Zhou Shifan dared not be careless. After bringing the people to the hall, he quickly went to the backyard to call his father.
When the clan leader came in, he saw that it was Zhou Chun, Zhou Ju, Zhou Erleng, and Zhou Yuan. He was so angry that he kicked each of them hard on the leg.
"You've grown some guts, haven't you? You've even started to hate your own people and steal from your own clan? What, wasn't what you stole a few days ago enough for you to divide among yourselves?" The clan chief pointed at them one by one and berated them.
Zhou Chun was startled and his eyes widened. "Uncle Clan Chief, you can't say such things. We didn't steal from anyone else. Tonight was the first time we went to Zhou Quan's house."
"You brat, still trying to argue? Do you think I'll believe you?" When the clan chief heard him still being stubborn, he went up and slapped him hard on the head.
Zhou Chun burst into tears, crying out, "Uncle, I'm telling the truth, tonight really is our first time."
"Still dare to talk back." The clan chief wanted to slap him again.
The three behind him turned pale with fright and quickly hid behind them.
"What are you three little brats hiding for!" When the clan chief saw the three of them hiding, he went up and slapped each of them on the head.
“You all don’t learn anything good, why are you following him? He has a wife and children, even if he gets beaten to death now, he’ll still have descendants.”
"And you, have you gotten married? Have you given your families any offspring? Have you done right by your parents raising you from infancy to adulthood? Have you repaid your parents for all the food they fed you? Have you taken care of them in their old age?"
After finishing his smoking and cursing, the clan chief snorted coldly, turned around and sat at the head of the table, gesturing for Old Man Zhou and Zhou Lin, who were standing to the side, to sit down.
"Uncle, we're still worried about things at home, so my dad and I went back first. You can decide what to do with them. Luckily, nothing was stolen from our house today. They got some incense from somewhere; it must be a sleeping potion. Fortunately, my sister-in-law found it."
After saying that, Zhou Lin took out the two incense sticks from his sleeve and handed them to the clan chief.
Both incense sticks were extinguished by stepping on them after burning a little.
Zhou Shifan took it from Zhou Lin, glanced at it, glared at the four of them again, and handed it to his father.
The clan chief saw this and glared at them fiercely again in anger.
"Alright, you can go back now. I'll teach them a lesson." The clan chief nodded in agreement.
After the father and son left, Zhou Chun and the other three looked at the clan chief with pleading eyes, hoping the clan chief would let them go.
However, the clan chief's family was also a capable force this time. Although no one has come to steal from their house yet, who knows if someone is eyeing it from behind? So, now that he has caught the four of them, he must teach them a lesson.
"Return the money you stole, or I'll send you to the town government office tomorrow for the town magistrate to sentence you. Choose one of these options," the clan chief slammed his hand on the table, glaring angrily at the group.
"Uncle, we really didn't steal from those houses. We can't give you any money!" Zhou Chun said, his neck stiff and his eyes brimming with tears.
“Uncle Clan Chief, what Brother Chun said is true. We really didn’t steal it. We drank a bit too much tonight. Brother Chun remembered that my sister-in-law was mistreated at Zhou Lin’s house a while ago, so he planned to scare them. Actually, this incense is just ordinary incense,” Zhou Ju quickly added.
"Bullshit, do you think I believe that? Why didn't you say anything when Zhou Lin and Zhou Sanli were here?" the clan chief rebuked them angrily. "Hurry up and choose."
Zhou Erleng quickly said, "Uncle Clan Chief, what Zhou Ju said is true. Brother Chun just wanted to scare them. We drank tonight, and the alcohol emboldened us. Really, we will never dare to do it again."
"Uncle, I know who stole the things from the previous houses. If we tell you who it was, will you let us off the hook? I'm afraid my parents will be furious if they find out. You don't want them to die, do you?" Zhou Yuan, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up, his eyes darting around.
"Who is it?" the clan chief asked.
“It’s Zhou Ermao and his group. I don’t know exactly who they are, but I know Zhou Ermao is definitely among them,” Zhou Yuan said.
The clan chief glanced at the four people, his eyes widening. "Fine, Shi Fan, call your second brother over. You two take these four to Zhou Ermao's house and bring them back. If this matter isn't resolved, no one will get away with it. We'll see you at the government office. We're all from the same clan. How dare you do this? If we don't punish you, you'll be in trouble again."
Shi Fan agreed and went to call Shi Zhou.
Zhou Chun and his three companions immediately deflated, thinking that they were doomed and that the whole village was about to find out about this.
...
When Li Mai heard that Old Man Zhou and Zhou Lin had returned, he went out to inquire about the situation. He learned that the clan chief had dealt with it, so he stopped worrying about it and told them to go back to sleep. He said that even if a hundred or so people came, they wouldn't be able to steal any money from the house.
Old Man Zhou and Zhou Lin responded and went back to rest.
Zhao asked Old Man Zhou a few questions in a low voice, then sighed and whispered, "I wonder how the clan leader will handle this matter."
Old Man Zhou said in a low voice, "Never mind, it's no longer our business to send them over. We'll just have to be more careful from now on." Zhao nodded. Luckily, she had Li Mai as her daughter-in-law, otherwise they might have been robbed too.
“We try not to mention to outsiders that Xiaomai knows kung fu. I think Xiaomai seemed to be pretending to be weak in front of outsiders tonight.” Zhao chuckled as she recalled how Limai had pretended to be scared while leaning on her shoulder.
Old Man Zhou agreed, "It's definitely better to keep it a secret. Wu Ping didn't tell anyone, so why should we tell outsiders? What if someone finds out that Xiaomai knows kung fu and it gets out, attracting kung fu masters to challenge her to a duel?"
"I've heard that those martial arts masters in the martial arts world are quite barbaric. They love to challenge others to duels and show off how much better they are than others," Old Man Zhou said in a serious tone.
Zhao nodded, "I understand. I'll remind Xiao Tao and Xiao Lei tomorrow as well."
After talking for a while, the couple went back to sleep.
Despite the commotion tonight, Zhuzhu, Zhou Tao, and Zhou Lei slept soundly without being woken up.
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