After a moment of silence, the mysterious man nodded.
Now that we've decided to tell the truth, there's no point in hiding anything anymore.
He told Cheng Qingyan, "The first time was before it was fully light when I saw him going in and out of Meng Xinyi's house."
"After that, I saw him appear at the fishpond and chicken coop more than once, and I kept an eye on him for a while."
“We also have rice to harvest at home now, so I can’t keep an eye on it anymore. I wanted to let you know.”
"If you trust me, then keep a close eye on the fishpond. If you don't trust me, then just pretend I was never here today."
After speaking, he hesitated for a moment before deciding to tell Cheng Qingyan and the others that Cheng Shaowen had also appeared near the fishpond and had even been in contact with Chen Yanping.
Ye Lingyu stood up and handed Cheng Qingyan a string of copper coins. Cheng Qingyan understood and, after taking the money, stuffed it into the mysterious man's hand.
After the kind-hearted person who wished to remain anonymous left, Cheng Qingyan and Ye Lingyu discussed how to apprehend the person with malicious intent.
A few days ago, Meng An came by and mentioned that there were always people and dogs lurking around the fishpond.
Cheng Qingyan was initially worried that Cheng Yuanji and Cheng Yuanfu would cause trouble because he hadn't given them any benefits.
In retrospect, they were quite honest.
But this dishonest person actually hid in the village.
She felt that she didn't have much of a grudge against Meng Xinyi. What she didn't know was that in this remote village, Meng Xinyi always considered himself a scholar. Unexpectedly, Cheng Qingyan, who had traveled back in time, not only embarrassed him in public but also made him lose money.
He lost face and money, and for a long time he couldn't hold his head up in the village.
This incident, coupled with what happened at the village meeting last time, made him resent Cheng Qingyan even more.
Unexpectedly, he got involved in Chen Yanping's affairs again. He really is everywhere!
It's understandable that he interfered and wanted to create obstacles for Cheng Qingyan.
However, Cheng Qingyan was very puzzled as to why Cheng Shaowen would appear by the pond and have contact with Chen Yanping.
I met Cheng Shaowen once before, and that kid doesn't seem like a scheming person.
Could it be that he hid it too well, and I didn't notice?
"My wife, do you think Cheng Shaowen was also involved?"
Ye Lingyu was also surprised, as Cheng Yuanji and Cheng Yuanfu had not shown up for a long time since they failed to gain any advantage here last time.
Cheng Shaowen's sudden appearance this time did not involve him making any unreasonable demands. He was just wandering around the fishpond.
“Ayan, regardless of whether Cheng Shaowen was involved or not, he may not be able to escape responsibility for this matter.”
"As for Chen Yanping, that kind of despicable person, letting him leave the village last time was considered giving him a way out. We have done what we should do."
"If he's going to court disaster again and do something unnecessary, then don't blame us for being ruthless."
It's really tough. All she wants is to farm, raise fish, and get rich. Why is it so difficult?
"It's hard to guard against a hidden arrow, my wife. I need to go and discuss this matter with Meng An and Meng Dazhuang as soon as possible."
"We need to go to the village chief and ask him why Chen Yanping is back again!"
Ye Lingyu called out to the person who was about to leave: "Ayan, don't rush."
"We now know that someone is trying to target fishponds and other such places, so it's essential to be vigilant."
"But don't go to the village chief yet."
"Think about it, Chen Yanping was able to come back once, and he might come back again. Do you think you can catch him every time?"
“Now that he has made an enemy of us, it’s not something that can be resolved by going to the village chief again.”
That makes sense. If the village chief could really solve the problem, he wouldn't have had to come back after being driven out of the village.
"Then, my wife, what do you suggest we do?"
Ye Lingyu walked over and tapped her on the head: "Why have you become so stupid?"
"It would have been fine if we hadn't known, but now that we do, we'll naturally be more vigilant and make sure he doesn't return alive!"
That's true. Now that we know someone is targeting these places, we can't blame them for setting traps and hurting people.
If you don't have malicious intentions, you won't fall into the trap.
The best solution is to address the root cause of the problem.
Catching a thief also means recovering the stolen goods.
Cheng Qingyan ran all the way to the patrol team and told them about it.
She paid the patrol team more than usual, so it was common for them to get minor injuries when animals accidentally wandered down the mountain.
This time, she simply added some mental work to the patrol team's original job requirements.
Of course, Cheng Shaowen was not informed in advance about setting the trap just because he was a member of the Cheng family.
Anyone unfamiliar with the newly installed traps in the fishpond could fall into them.
Of course, unless one has ulterior motives, who would want to break in from the outside when a fence has already been set up?
Meng Jia, Meng An, and Meng Dazhuang are all skilled hunters who can go into the mountains.
Setting up small traps to catch small animals is a piece of cake.
The destructive power will naturally not be the same as that of traps for large wild animals, because Cheng Qingyan specifically instructed that no one should be killed.
But if it's damaged, that's fine.
Cheng Qingyan didn't need to keep an eye on things like this all the time. The busy farming season had begun, and she had a lot of things to do.
I'm also worried about Ruan Banxia. Who knows if she's really recovered or not?
She does seem to be in much better shape.
For the next two days, the traps in the fishpond and chicken coop remained inactive.
Even when Meng An wasn't on duty, he, Meng Jia, Meng Dazhuang, and a few others would take turns hiding near the fishpond.
This job significantly improved the living standards of both their families.
The wages Cheng Qingyan paid were more than what he would have earned working as a farmhand in town.
It's fair to say that nobody here wants to lose their job.
If Chen Yanping succeeds, how can they face remaining in the patrol team?
How will the villagers and those who trust Cheng Qingyan view them?
The entire patrol team was giving it their all in this operation to catch the vandals. They were determined to keep their jobs safe; anyone who tried to take them away would be dealt with with their lives!
These past few days, Cheng Qingyan has been taking Ruan Banxia to the fields to harvest watermelons because he's worried that she might overthink things if she stays idle at home all the time.
As a truly caring friend, of course I'd always be thinking of you!
In ancient times, without much industrialization, the temperature was naturally not as high as it is in modern times.
But after being exposed to the scorching sun for the past few days, Ruan Banxia had long wanted to curse Cheng Qingyan out.
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