Catch the thief
After lunch, Yang Xiu went to inspect the vegetable fields.
Qin Yu called her mother and said, "Mom, I want to go too. I know what I'm missing..."
The old lady also said happily: "Yes, take Yuyu with you. She loves to run in the fields all day long. She knows everything that is lost in the fields..."
Qin Yu was indeed familiar with every flower and fruit in the field. The mother and daughter went around the vegetable garden, orchard, and corn field and found that several things had indeed been stolen.
First, the pumpkin vine that climbed out of the ridge of the ground lost the largest pumpkin on the vine.
Then there were the few peppers on the inside that had been plucked out and were drooping miserably.
The corn cobs at the edge of the field were broken down into bare stalks, which were disheveled in the wind.
The peach tree was even worse off. One of its branches was broken off and it was trembling in fear.
Hu Yufeng was so angry that she laughed.
She adjusted her hair and smiled in a particularly creepy way. Yang Xiu silently lit a candle for the thief in his heart.
*
Catching a thief depends on chance, but Xizi's return home is a foregone conclusion.
Yang Xiu filled a cloth bag with mooncakes and twisted dough sticks for her, and picked a bag of fruits for the two children. Only then did he reluctantly pull Xizi aside and said, "Xizi, the cloth bag contains some food from home, and the plastic bag contains fruits for the two children. Don't be disgusted. Be well when you go back. When you come back, tell Yuyu's dad to pick you up..."
In fact, she wanted to serve Xizi some chili oil that she made herself, but she was afraid that her mother-in-law and aunt would be suspicious.
Xizi held a bag in each hand and said with a smile: "Look at what you said, sister-in-law, what are you complaining about? We don't even have what we want to eat. Sister-in-law, wait for me, I'll go back and harvest the corn and come back."
Hu Yufeng: ...
Hu Yufeng stuffed 20 yuan into Xizi's hand and said, "Pack it up. Go back and clear your mind. Don't be fooled by others..."
"Aunt, why did you give me 10 yuan more?" Xizi finally gave the wages of Old Liu's family to Hu Yufeng for safekeeping. How come there was more money?
"Just think of it as your own money. Just take it. There's no man at home. Go back and live a good life with your mother..."
"Aunt, you are so funny. How can money make money?" Xizi's focus is entirely on this.
Hu Yufeng: It’s unnecessary to joke about it.
"Okay, let's go back..." Hu Yufeng patted Xizi's shoulder.
Qin Shu and Qin Yu stood on both sides of Yang Xiu and waved to Xizi: "Auntie, I will miss you. Goodbye..."
Xizi smiled heartlessly and said, "Goodbye Yuyu, goodbye Xiaoshu... Grandma, aunt, sister-in-law, you are doing well at home..."
The old lady wiped her tears: "Ah..."
The car carrying Xizi drove away, and the family turned around and walked back, feeling a little depressed.
"I don't know what happened to Erbao. I think Xizi seemed to have forgotten that there was a man..." Yang Xiu suddenly thought of the missing Erbao.
"That's right. There has been no news for half a year..." Hu Yufeng was worried. After all, he was her nephew, so she was still a little worried.
The two homes were not too far away, and Qin Wenli returned in less than two hours.
"Have you seen your aunt? How is she?" Hu Yufeng was very concerned about her big-hearted sister's recent situation.
"I didn't see them. There were just two children playing at the door. They said that their aunt went to herd sheep." Qin Wenli shook his head.
"Where is your uncle?" Hu Yufeng didn't hold out much hope.
Qin Wenli hesitated to speak, finding it difficult to start.
Hu Yufeng felt uneasy when she saw his expression: "What's wrong? What is he doing?"
Qin Wenli spoke with difficulty: "I ran into him when I was walking back. He was arguing with a woman. I guess he didn't see me, so I didn't have the courage to ask..."
After saying this, Qin Wenli fled back to the house.
Hu Yufeng's face turned dark: What a bad behavior, still the same bad behavior! ! !
*
The next day, Qin Shengtian pulled the cart and Hu Yufeng followed behind.
Lao Qin's family grows grass specifically for fodder for livestock, and the grass that was stolen yesterday was from this field.
One side of the land faces the main road of the village. The two parked the car on the side of the road. Qin Shengtian went into the field and bent down to start mowing, while Hu Yufeng went into the adjacent cornfield to weed.
It was still very humid at the moment, and the hems of both men's trousers were wet with dew and stuck to their legs. But no one spoke, there was only the sound of harvesting.
The sun gradually rose from behind the two of them, and its golden light sprinkled on the green grass leaves, so gorgeous that it was impossible to take your eyes off it. But neither of them paid the slightest attention to the grass that was shining with golden light.
Hu Yufeng hid in the cornfield and watched the occasional passers-by.
Qin Shengtian waved his sickle and tirelessly harvested clusters of green.
Soon, a thin old woman approached from afar.
Hu Yufeng stood quietly, watching the man who was walking along the road just fine, and suddenly ran into the field and picked up a bundle of hay.
Hu Yufeng narrowed her eyes. It was indeed you, Ge Yuqin, whom she would recognize even if she turned into ashes! ! !
Seeing that Qin Shengtian, who was cutting grass, knew nothing about it, the old woman took a few steps forward and picked up another bundle, then she sneaked towards the main road.
Seeing that she was about to step onto the road, Hu Yufeng rushed out of the cornfield and shouted, "Catch the thief, catch the thief, there is a thief stealing things..."
Qin Shengtian threw down his sickle and stood up. He caught up with Ge Yuqin in a few steps and shouted, "Stop, old thief. You stole my grass yesterday, and you dare to come here again today..."
Ge Yuqin had already frozen when Hu Yufeng shouted. Now being scolded by Qin Shengtian, she turned around trembling and stammered:
"Uncle, I didn't steal it. I just saw your grass lying on the side of the road, so I helped you carry it forward. This will save you trouble when you go home. Why did you misunderstand me?"
Hu Yufeng would not listen to her nonsense. This woman was notoriously unreasonable. Seeing Qin Shengtian stopping Ge Yuqin, she took a few steps forward and shouted in the direction of Ge Yuqin's house:
"Wang Baolin, is Wang Baolin here? Did you know that your wife stole things? If you don't give me an explanation today, I will report it to the commune..."
A few breaths later, a young man came out of the Wang family's yard and said, "Auntie, don't talk nonsense. Everyone in the village knows that my mother is honest. Do you have any evidence that my mother stole things from your house?"
"Wang Baolin, are you a coward, or did you instigate your wife to steal? If you don't explain yourself today, this matter will never end. You don't want to come out, right? Wenli, Wenli, go find Secretary Gou and tell him that our family has caught a thief for the brigade..."
Hu Yufeng ignored the young man, and after scolding Wang Baolin, she called Qin Wenli.
At this moment, the people in the fields were also attracted by this farce. Seeing Ge Yuqin rolling around with her legs apart, Qin Shengtian bent over angrily and grabbed Ge Yuqin's collar, and couldn't help asking, "What's going on?"
Qin Shengtian said angrily: "Did we get robbed? I spent the whole morning mowing grass yesterday, but someone stole everything. They came to steal again this morning. If Wenli's mother hadn't seen us in the cornfield, she would have stolen everything again..."
"Are you crazy because of poverty or because you are too lazy? Have you never seen grass? Why are you stealing? You are betraying your ancestors by stealing bundles of grass..."
The visitor was also speechless, because Ge Yuqin was a notorious thief in the team. She doesn't steal expensive things. She would just take a melon from one house and a few vegetables from another, which disgusts the neighbors...but this is the first time she has stolen grass. It's really eye-opening.
The man pointed at Ge Yuqin and said, "Are you sick? There is grass everywhere. If you work harder, you won't be able to cut enough grass to fill a bundle. Do you really need to steal from others?"
Ge Yuqin was still aggrieved: "I didn't steal, I just helped to move forward. How can this be considered stealing? I am so wronged, I won't live anymore..."
The visitor said impatiently: "You are kidding me, we are from the same village and we don't know each other, move forward, I think you are going to move forward back to your home!"
"Of course you are sick. I think you are suffering from the disease of stealing. If you don't steal for a day, you will feel itchy. You almost stole all the walnuts from my tree. Anyone with a discerning eye can see it, and you are still talking nonsense." Hu Yufeng walked in front, followed by Wang Baolin with a gloomy old face and the unwilling thief.
Hu Yufeng looked at Ge Yuqin who was throwing a tantrum and said, "To tell you the truth, I came here specifically to catch you in the field today. Don't say that it's useless. Your family members are all here, so let's see how you can compensate my family for the losses."
As she spoke, she pulled out a piece of paper from her trouser pocket: "I have recorded everything. There are only 38 walnuts left from the tree, I will charge you 100, one pumpkin, six peppers, and three bundles of grass from yesterday...Wang Baolin, just tell me whether you want compensation or money?"
She was afraid that she would miss something today, so she asked Qin Wenli to write a list for her. Now it’s coming in handy! ! !
Ge Yuqin glanced at Wang Baolin's dark face and quickly lowered her head: "I didn't steal it, don't blame me. You are so poor that you want to blame me for the food you ate."
The thief also shouted: "Is there any law left? Let my mother go first. My mother never went to your house at all. Don't think you can blame her for anything..."
Hu Yufeng ignored the two of them and just looked at Wang Baolin and said, "I haven't even taken into account the fact that she broke my peach tree. You can either prosecute her or pay me compensation. You can choose one."
When Wang Baolin heard her mention the peach tree, he suddenly remembered the peaches that appeared on his table two days ago.
He knew his wife had this problem and specifically asked her where it came from. My wife and son both said that it was given by a neighbor. But it was not a gift at all, it was clearly stolen. My wife can understand it, but my son...
Thinking of this, the three parts of anger he had when he came here turned into eight parts of burning rage.
He glared at his son, then turned to Hu Yufeng and said, "How about 10 yuan?"
Hu Yufeng raised her eyebrows. So straightforward? "For your sake, alright... but you have to keep her under control from now on. If she does it again, it won't be just 10 bucks!"
The thief was dissatisfied and shouted: "Dad, you are crazy, she clearly wronged my mom, she should pay our family..."
Wang Baolin ignored his shouting son, took out ten yuan from his jacket pocket and gave it to Hu Yufeng, then turned and left.
Ge Yuqin quickly got up and followed. The thief wanted to yell but when he saw that his parents had left, he had to follow in dejected manner.
Old Liu, who was watching the whole scene, frowned: "What's wrong with this kid from the Baolin family? He doesn't learn good things but learns bad things. He looks just like his mother."
"A dragon gives birth to a dragon, a phoenix gives birth to a phoenix, and a mouse gives birth to a son who can dig holes, isn't that the same character..." Qin Shengtian seemed to have been enlightened by anger today, and every word he said made sense.
"A few days ago, his mother asked me to introduce my niece to his son. Fortunately, you guys made a fuss today. Otherwise, I would still be confused and it would have been a sin..." Old Liu was scared.
"Thank you for today, Lao Liu. Please come to my house for dinner some other day." Hu Yufeng thanked him warmly.
Old Liu waved his hand and walked towards the field. He had to go home and talk to his children to stop interacting with this kid.
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