Chapter 148: Catching the Thief and Seizing the Stolen Goods
When the old couple from the Lu family arrived near the Chen family, Old Man Chen and Old Lady Chen were already waiting for them outside their cave.
Mrs. Lu was still laughing: "Why did you suddenly think of making fermented beans? Have you soaked the beans?"
Mrs. Chen sighed inwardly and first sent her granddaughter to go to Xu's house to play with Chen An and Chen Ning's group of children. Then she invited the old couple from the Lu family into the cave to talk.
There was no one in the Chen family cave at this moment. Qin Fangniang, Chen Youtian and Chen Dashan had already left.
Because there was a carpenter like Chen Youtian in the family, and they had stayed in the valley all this time, the Chen family already had a table and chairs, so old man Chen invited the old couple from the Lu family to sit down.
At this point, the old couple of the Lu family felt that something was wrong.
How can I sit on it when I'm making fermented beans?
Old Man Chen and Mrs. Chen looked at each other, and Mrs. Chen spoke first.
"I called you all here not to make soybean paste or to discuss farm matters, but because I have something else to discuss."
"It's actually very difficult to talk about this. To be honest, just by calling you here and asking this question, our Chen family has offended you today."
"But our two families have been friends for so many years, and considering our current situation, I think it's better to let you know in order to avoid any trouble in the future. If we are really wrong, I will apologize to you first, and I hope you won't take it personally and ruin the relationship between our two families."
Such an opening confused the old couple of the Lu family. Mrs. Lu was very nervous: "You made me feel very nervous. What's the matter? How can you offend us just by opening your mouth?"
Are you already quickly thinking about what wrong your family members have done recently?
Old Man Lu also frowned and looked at the old couple from the Chen family: "It's not a small matter that should be explained even if it embarrasses you so much. Our two families have been neighbors for so many years, we shouldn't offend each other with just a few words. Just tell us what it is. Is there anyone in my family who did something wrong?"
Mrs. Chen sighed in her heart for the old couple of the Lu family. She turned around, took out two folded empty grain bags from the shelf at the back, put them on the table and pushed them over.
"A few days ago, there was an infestation of rats in the big cave, and many of the grain bags were bitten open. Take a look at these two bags first."
Hearing that it was related to food, the faces of the old couple of the Lu family changed, and the bad premonition in their hearts became stronger. They each picked up one and unfolded it.
The crack can be seen as long as it is opened. With the previous words, the old couple can see the problem at a glance.
A man-made breach.
Old man Lu's hand holding the grain bag trembled, and his old face felt burning with pain.
"Whose are these two bags?"
"A-Luo's, the Xu family still has three, but I don't know if Mrs. Xu noticed the tear. A-Luo found it when she was helping to mend it, and she didn't say anything, so there's nothing to say about it."
Mrs. Lu covered her heart with one hand.
She finally understood why Mrs. Chen said that just inviting them here would be considered an offense to their family.
Because when they called her over, they actually thought that the thief was probably from their Lu family.
But she couldn't blame Old Man Chen and Mrs. Chen, because when she heard that the bags in question belonged to Sang Luo and the Xu family, even she herself couldn't think of anyone else.
But because of this, my face really hurts.
Mrs. Lu tightly grasped the grain bag and was about to stand up: "I will go back and ask."
Mrs. Chen held her down and pulled her to sit down. Old Man Chen also held down Old Man Lu, who stood up with a dark face and shaking hands. Mrs. Chen advised, "Don't be impulsive. To be honest, no one saw who really did it. What if we wrongly accuse someone? The grain lost by each family is not that much. If it were in the past, when we were still in Shili Village, we could only admit it vaguely. In the future, each family just needs to take good care of the grain. At most, you can't be angry and stand outside the door to curse without naming anyone. Whoever has a guilty conscience will bear it. To be honest, inviting you here directly like we did today is just causing trouble for you and making things uncomfortable for us."
This made Mrs. Lu blush. "You don't have to say that. You also said that was in Shili Village before. What is the situation now? You and Brother Chen are willing to tell us the truth. I thank you in my heart."
It is really embarrassing, but it is not really the fault of Old Man Chen and Mrs. Chen.
Mrs. Chen patted her hands and said, "I dared to take on this task because I know what kind of personality you have. Of course, telling you this does not mean that I can predict who did it or what will happen next. It's just that in this world, our families have such a great fate to be together for refuge. The more chaotic it is outside, the more we must pull together as a rope. If this rope rots and breaks from the inside, it will not be a matter for just one family. If one thing goes wrong, everyone will be involved. That's why I can't hide this from you."
"If it's a misunderstanding on our part, that would be great. If it's not a misunderstanding, to be honest, the amount of food lost is not much, and no one will pursue it. For the sake of Shuanzhu, Tiezhu, and Huzi, we don't want to make it public, so we called you here in private. You just need to be more careful with yourselves in the future."
If you don't want to offend anyone, the best way is to disclose the matter in front of the six families living in the valley, rather than just finding the old couple from the Lu family to talk about it in private.
The old couple of the Lu family nodded. Old Man Lu was so angry that his eyes went dark. He grabbed Old Man Chen's hand and kept saying, "You mean well and are thinking about our old face and the faces of our children. We all know that we will go home first and give you an explanation no matter what."
Old Man Chen looked at Old Man Lu's trembling hands, feeling worried for him. He held them down and said, "Sit for a while and calm down before you go. Don't go back and shout about fighting. It won't solve the problem. Send the children away and sort things out behind closed doors. It's better not to let the children hear these things."
Otherwise, even if they didn't look at the five children in the Lu family's eldest house with strange expressions, those children would probably find it difficult to raise their heads again.
Hearing this, Mrs. Lu, who was already old, had red eyes. She had been a strong old lady all her life, and because of her daughter-in-law, the reputation of her family had been ruined again and again. Now, in front of Old Man Chen and Mrs. Chen, she could no longer pretend to be strong. She put one hand on the table, buried her red eyes in her palm and rubbed it several times, wiping away the tears that had just overflowed. Then she put her hand down and complained to Mrs. Chen.
"Shuanzhu and the others will make their mother a burden to death in this life."
After saying this, she felt a little better. She looked at her old man and knew that it would be difficult for him to recover for a while, so she simply said, "Okay, we are feeling better now, let's go back now."
Mrs. Lu also picked up the two bags on the table: "I'll take this first and return it later."
The old couple from the Lu family were very happy when they came, but seemed to have lost most of their energy when they left. However, they had to pass by the Zhou and Shi families on the way back to the Lu family from the Chen family, so they could only force themselves to stay alert so as not to let others notice anything unusual.
…
For Old Man Lu and Mrs. Lu, the trip to Chen's house was like going through a calamity. For the other members of the Lu family, they had just arrived home not long ago and had just started to find their own work when they saw the two elders coming back.
Feng Liuniang went over with a smile and said, "Mom, Aunt Chen is making fermented soybeans. Can we make a jar of them too?"
But Mrs. Lu couldn't laugh at all. She looked past Feng Liuniang and straight at Wang Chunniang.
Wang Chunniang was doing nothing else at the moment. She was taking out some grain from the grain bag and instructing her daughter Da Niu to pound the rice using a wooden mortar that she had just made a few days ago.
When Old Man Lu saw the grain, his hands began to tremble uncontrollably again, and his anger rose to his forehead. Mrs. Lu was not much better either. Fortunately, they both remembered what Old Man Chen and Mrs. Chen said, and suppressed the urge to grab Wang Chunniang and slap her a few times. They said to Feng Liuniang and the three brothers of the Lu family who were preparing to do carpentry work at the entrance of the cave, "Come into the cave. I have something to say to your father."
Shuanzhu and his brothers were originally helping their father. When they heard this, they turned to look at their grandparents. Mrs. Lu looked at her grandchildren and said, "Tiezhu, take your brothers to play under the tree by the waterfall. Shuanzhu and Da Niu will stay behind."
The eldest grandson is fifteen years old, and there are some things he should know, and the granddaughter, who usually has little sense of presence, also has something to ask.
Feng Liuniang and the others sensed something was wrong.
The expressions of my parents seem not right, and they have sent all the children away. What are they trying to say?
…
In the cave, the old couple sat on the edge of their bed, while their son, daughter-in-law and the two children from the eldest house stood below them.
"You all know about the rats that were making trouble in the big cave where grain was stored a few days ago, right?"
Lu Sanlang was told to guard the cave entrance, so now he could only stretch his neck to look inside and listen with his ears perked up.
Mrs. Lu handed the two bags in her hand forward and said, "Da Lang and Er Lang, take one each and pass them around."
When Wang Chunniang heard the key words like "grain" and "mountain rats", her heart skipped a beat. When she saw the old lady taking back a bag of grain for no reason, she felt a little nervous for no reason. She was afraid of being exposed, so she lowered her head.
Old Man Lu and Mrs. Lu had been staring at her since she came back, and her guilty reaction confirmed their suspicions.
The two grain bags were passed around in the Lu family's hands, and even Lu Sanlang, who was guarding the door, came in to take a look.
Lu Dalang was a little confused and didn't quite understand what his parents meant.
Wang Chunniang didn't understand at first, but after looking at it for a while, she realized something and her face turned pale.
Lu Erlang and Feng Liuniang reacted quickly and looked at the two elders of the Lu family in surprise.
Lu Erlang couldn't believe it and asked, "Mom, what's going on?"
"That's what you think."
Lu Dalang was still puzzled and asked Lu Erlang: "What do you mean? What's wrong with this bag?"
Lu Sanlang, who had just come over to take a look, had a strange look on his face: "Someone stole the food?"
He subconsciously glanced at his sister-in-law. Although he was usually a carefree person, he didn't dare to say anything at this moment. He quietly retreated to the cave entrance and paid attention to the situation outside, as well as the expressions of his parents and sister-in-law Wang Chunniang.
He retreated to the entrance of the cave, but the news that someone stole the food hit everyone in the Lu family hard.
The two children raised their heads in disbelief. Lu Danniu looked at her uncle, then at her mother. Realizing something, she suddenly lowered her head. Her teeth trembled slightly, making a clacking sound that only she could hear.
Lu Erlang and Feng looked at each other, then turned their eyes towards Wang Chunniang, then forced them back, but their eyes could not hide their surprise.
Lu Dalang was stunned for a moment and asked, "Is this the Chen family's grain bag? Then didn't they call you over just now to make fermented beans? Does this mean that they are suspicious of our family or something else?"
Old Man Lu didn't look at him, still staring at Wang Chunniang, and said, "Don't worry about whose family it is. There are more than one family whose food is missing. We won't make it public now. We can just quietly ask in our own home, who has moved the food of other families? Come out and admit it yourself, don't wait for me to find out."
Wang Chunniang was so nervous that her heart almost stopped beating. She wanted to swallow her saliva, but was afraid that it would show her nervousness and guilt, so she didn't dare to do it.
Several eyes were cast on her head and body. She calmed down and tried not to show any fear. She looked up at her parents-in-law and said, "Wasn't it stolen by mountain rats? How can you put the blame on people? Everyone has food. Why would you take food from others?"
Mrs. Lu stared at her. Her anger had accumulated to a certain extent. She no longer wanted to pounce on her and tear her apart like she did at the beginning. Seeing that Wang Chunniang dared to raise her head and argue, her eyes became cold and she asked back, "Yes, we have food at home. What are you going to do with other people's food? I also want to know what you think."
When these words came out, the reactions of the Lu family were different. Wang Chunniang's face changed and she started to cry out: "Mother, how can you put the blame of being a thief on your daughter-in-law?"
Lu Dalang was also stunned. He turned around to look at Wang Chunniang, then at his biological mother: "What's going on? Why did it involve Chunniang?"
Mrs. Lu did not respond, but just looked at Wang Chunniang and said, "I will ask you one last time, do you admit it yourself?"
How could Wang Chunniang admit it? She breathed heavily, feeling quite aggrieved: "Mother, as the old saying goes, if you catch a thief, you catch the stolen goods; if you catch an adulterer, you catch both of them. You can't smear my innocence like this without any evidence. Then your daughter-in-law will have no chance to survive."
Mrs. Lu laughed angrily: "From what you said, you still have some shame?"
"How did your eldest family enter this valley? How long has it been? Have you forgotten?"
"It was Chen Lie and Da Shan who brought you in for Er Lang's sake, it was A Luo who brought you in for our family and Liu Niang's sake, it was everyone who brought you in for the sake of the children. Have you forgotten?"
"How dare you do such a shameless thing? What? Are you greedy for seeing the mice stealing some food? Do you want to dig out some food from the hole bitten by the mice to fill your mouth? If you don't dig, it will be useless, right? Even so, you still tell me you have shame?"
Wang Chunniang knelt down with a thud: "Mother, where is the evidence? I cannot accept your statement without any basis."
Mrs. Lu nodded and smiled, her eyes somewhat numb: "Yes, you just think that no one saw it, and there is no evidence, and no one can prove it, so you dare to do it, right?"
She looked at her eldest son, then at her grandchildren.
At this moment, Lu Dalang looked like he was struck by lightning. He was dazed and his face was pale.
Wang had a criminal record, and they had been married for so many years. Just as Mrs. Lu knew her daughter-in-law, Lu Dalang also knew his wife. Wang loved to take advantage of small things, adding one more mouthful of rice, grabbing one more piece of meat, and getting one more egg with chopsticks. There were many such things, but these things seemed to him to be minor problems in the past. His sister-in-law was more gentle, while his wife was more powerful. Should he also tell about what happened at the dinner table?
So he never interfered, but he knew that Wang loved to take advantage of small things, especially small advantages that caught her eye, and she would feel uncomfortable if she didn't take them.
And what Lu Dalang knew was actually known to all the Lu family members, such as Shuanzhu, Da Niu, and Lu Erlang, Lu Sanlang and Feng Liuniang who were watching silently at the moment.
Shuanzhu's face turned red all the way down to his neck, while Da Niu buried her head tightly, and if there was a crack in the ground she would have wanted to crawl into it.
Mrs. Lu did not let it go and asked, "What do you think, Dalang? Do you think the same as your wife?"
Lu Dalang shook his head like a rattle, breathing rapidly and heavily, and after a while he managed to squeeze out two words with difficulty: "No."
"No."
His throat rolled, and he could not accept this reality at all. He mechanically said "no" twice, then half-knelt down and asked Wang Chunniang with difficulty: "You really touched other people's food, didn't you?"
Wang Chunniang naturally refused to admit it.
Lu Dalang was about to collapse, his lips and hands were shaking, and his whole body seemed to be shaking: "This is the second time. Last time you leaked the grain hoarding. It's only been a short time, and you're stealing grain again?"
"Why did you steal the grain? Huh? Did you have less food and drink at home? When my parents divided the family property, they distributed grain according to the number of people. Did you have less food and drink? Huh? Why did you steal the grain?"
Wang Chunniang was frightened by his behavior and denied it repeatedly: "No, I really didn't steal the grain."
"Who would believe it?"
Who believes it?
Lu Dalang had no idea how his family would get along in this valley in the future. He knelt dejectedly beside Wang Chunniang, and apart from the words "Who would believe it?", he didn't have the heart to say anything else.
Mrs. Lu watched coldly, then shifted her gaze to Shuanzhu, remembering that he was still transporting grain outside the mountain at the time, so she ignored him and looked at her granddaughter who had not dared to raise her head since she heard that the grain was lost.
"Big girl, your mother wants evidence. You are the one who does all the cooking and laundry in your family. Tell your grandparents if your mother has behaved strangely in the past few days."
Lu Danniu had kept her head down for a long time. When she was asked this question, her tears fell to the ground and she didn't dare to look up.
Mrs. Lu looked at the wet mud at her granddaughter's feet, her eyes moved, and she said, "You have been working behind your mother since you were a child. You are introverted and don't say much, but I have taught you a lot about being a human being. You were raised the same way as your brothers. Our family was able to escape here and live here because of the care of the Chen and Shen families, especially your family. You know what happened before you came here. They were willing to take you with them because you five brothers and sisters were young, and they were afraid that you would not survive if you were left outside. I won't preach today. Think carefully about how to answer me. I only have two requirements for you, honesty and knowing right from wrong."
This calm sentence without any emotion made Lu Danniu cry even harder, and she wiped her tears and sobbed.
Wang Chunniang was so angry: "I didn't do anything, why are you crying?"
He glared at Lu Danniu again.
Mrs. Lu sneered and didn't urge her, just waited.
Lu Danniu cried for a few times, wiped her tears, and then looked up at her grandparents. The two hands in front of her were clenched together. She clenched her left hand with her right hand until her knuckles turned white, and she couldn't open her mouth.
Old Man Lu was already holding back his anger, and now he shouted coldly, "Your grandma asked you to answer, tell the truth!"
The tears that Lu Danniu had just stopped rolling down again out of fright. She looked at her mother, then at her distraught father, and finally at her eldest brother, second uncle, and second aunt.
She didn't dare to look at her uncle at the cave entrance. She closed her eyes and opened them again before she said, "Mom would bring food home for every meal. It wasn't much each time, and it was all for the family to eat that day. Originally, the family's food was kept in the big cave, and I didn't think it was wrong."
Mrs. Lu raised her eyes: "And then?"
Lu Danniu wanted to say more, but her mother grabbed her and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? Everyone's food is stored in the big cave. Everyone wants to take food here, but your second aunt didn't take any? Are you trying to kill me?"
Seeing his good sister-in-law trying to get close to his wife, Lu Erlang laughed in anger, took his niece out of her hands, and said sarcastically, "Yes, who doesn't come here to get food? What did the big girl say? Why did the sister-in-law interrupt in a hurry? Don't teach our Lu family's children the habits of your Wang family."
This one sentence made Lu Danniu's face turn red.
Feng Liuniang frowned and glared at Lu Erlang: "Just talk about the matter, why are you talking about irrelevant things?"
He pulled Lu Danniang, who was almost knocked to the ground by Wang Chunniang, aside and said, "Your second uncle didn't say that to you."
She and Wang Chunniang did not get along well, but there was nothing to say about the big girl. Although she was timid and introverted, she was not at all similar to the Wang family. Sometimes she even felt sorry for her because Wang treated her daughter and son in completely different ways.
Mrs. Lu also glared at the second son, then looked at her granddaughter and said, "Don't listen to your second uncle's nonsense, continue."
Lu Danniu looked at her mother and met her mother's almost cannibalistic gaze. She turned her face away as if burned, hesitated for a few breaths, and thought of what her grandmother had just said, then continued: "We usually eat bean rice at home, and millet is not used much, but the millet brought back in those few days was quite a lot, and in a few days, two buckets were full. Beans, which are used in large quantities, were not stored here, and they had to be brought over for every meal. I thought it was strange at the time, and asked why they didn't bring more beans back if they used so much beans, and what were they going to do with all the millet in the first place."
After asking, her mother just scolded her and told her to just focus on cooking.
She didn't dare ask any more questions.
But she didn't say that again.
Of course, there was no chance to say anything, because Wang Chunniang had already pounced on Lu Danniu and was about to slap her, but was quickly stopped by Lu Erlang and Lu Shuanzhu.
But that’s enough for now. Lu Sanlang had already skillfully reached the other side of the house where the big man lived, found two newly-carved wooden barrels, opened the lids, and found that they were indeed two full barrels of rice.
Wang Chunniang's legs went weak, but she still argued: "This was given to us when the family was divided."
Old Man Lu looked at her and said, "Are you still kidding me? We all live in the same cave. How much food was allocated to you? How much food did your family eat every day? Especially since you mostly eat beans, it's easy to calculate. Do you really think you can get away with it?"
The whole family was silent.
Wang Chunniang was speechless, Lu Dalang didn't know how to deal with himself in the future, and Shuanzhu and Da Niu, brother and sister, were in tears.
Lu Erlang, Lu Sanlang and Feng Liuniang were left speechless.
I didn't know what to say at all. Such a ridiculous thing happened to their family, but because it was Wang Chunniang, it didn't seem strange at all.
They couldn't even imagine what kind of bad things she would do in the future.
There are two problems standing in front of the family: how to deal with this matter later and how they will face the other families in the future.
Did they kill him? A human life is not like killing a chicken or a duck. You can kill it at will.
But it would be really annoying to let her continue to wander around.
Lu Dalang seemed to have finally come to his senses. He got up from the ground, turned around, took out a hemp rope and a piece of cloth from somewhere, and started to tie up Wang Chunniang.
Wang Chunniang struggled and screamed. Lu Dalang said, "If you are not afraid of losing face, then scream."
Wang Chunniang didn't know what would happen to her, so she didn't care about the embarrassment and shouted: "Lu Da, what do you want to do? You want to kill..."
A piece of cloth was stuffed into her mouth, and her hands were quickly handcuffed behind her back and tied up in a few seconds, followed by her feet.
Lu Dalang burst into tears: "Dad, Mom, if someone's grain is lost, I will go to apologize and send back double the grain. Chunniang will not leave the cave anymore. I will dig a small cave next to it, and she will live in the cave from now on. Is that okay?"
Lu Shuanzhu's pupils shrank and Lu Danniu's lips trembled. The brother and sister realized that if this was true, they would have to live in this valley for a few years and their mother would have to be locked up for a few years.
This was different from the last time when they closed their doors for a few days near the end of the year, and it was obviously beyond the brother and sister's understanding.
Wang Chunniang struggled frantically and kept looking at her two children.
Lu Shuanzhu's legs went limp and he knelt down: "Grandpa, grandma, my mother was wrong, I'm going to apologize, you can punish her for a period of time, one month or two months, just make her realize her mistakes, don't lock her up forever, from now on Tiezhu and I will follow her everywhere, and we won't let her go anywhere except our own cave and fields, and we will never let her do anything bad again, okay?"
If you keep it locked up all the time, you might go crazy.
Lu Danniu also knelt down, begging with her eyes: "Grandma, Grandma."
He could not utter a word to beg for mercy, he just kowtowed. After kowtowed to Old Man Lu and Mrs. Lu, he kowtowed to Lu Er, Feng Liuniang and Lu San.
The old couple of the Lu family and the second and third wives: "..."
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