Zhang Da looked in the direction Granny He was pointing at Jiang Yuwei, his eyes immediately lighting up, and he grinned slyly:
"This woman looks pretty good, why don't I keep her as my wife?"
At this moment, Zhang Er, who was listening nearby, immediately became anxious.
"Brother, you already have a wife, why are you trying to steal mine? Keep this woman and let her be my wife!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Da became enraged and slapped Zhang Er on the head.
"Shut up! With me here, it's not your place to make decisions. If you don't want to stay here, get out. Haven't you noticed that the rich families in our village all have two wives? If I marry two wives to work for our family, we'll become rich in no time. Then, what won't you have?"
Zhang Er, feeling wronged, said:
"But, but I want a wife right now!"
Seeing that the mother and her two children seemed to be having an internal conflict and were discussing something, Jiang Yuwei quickly gestured for Ning Chunlin and the others to go inside first and bring Xu Qianqian out.
As soon as Ning Chunlin entered the room, he saw Xu Qianqian bound hand and foot and thrown onto the kang (a heated brick bed). Upon seeing Ning Chunlin, Xu Qianqian's eyes immediately reddened, and she said:
"Brother Chunlin, you've finally come to save me, sob sob..."
When Ning Chunlin saw Xu Qianqian crying, he rushed over to untie her and then helped her off the kang (a heated brick bed). Seeing that she had been tied up for too long and could no longer walk, he simply picked her up and carried her out the door.
Jiang Yuwei breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that the person had been rescued, and then shouted:
"Fellow villagers, how dare you eat the food of this family of thieves? The food you are eating right now was stolen by this old woman He. If you eat it, won't you become an accomplice just like her? Do you want to become thieves too?"
The villagers, who had been enjoying their meal, immediately put down their chopsticks upon hearing Jiang Yuwei's words. Everyone in Xiaogouzi Village knew what kind of people Granny He and her family were.
Everyone was already suspicious of where she got so much food, and now that the owner of the lost item had come looking for her, they naturally dared not eat anymore and hurriedly got up to distance themselves from Granny He.
"Oh dear, Granny He, you're really making this old woman's lifespan shorten! Tell me, what kind of things have you done?"
"Yeah, you still haven't given up your petty theft habit!"
"If you had told us earlier that you stole this food, we would never have been able to attend your son's wedding banquet."
When Granny He saw everyone talking about her, she became anxious and quickly waved her hand, saying:
"No, no, these things are all grown on our own land, you can eat them without worry!"
"Hmph, you still want to lie to us? Everyone in this village knows that your family hasn't farmed for years."
"That's right, that's right! Your two lazy sons would rather let the land lie fallow than farm it!"
Just then, Zhang Da noticed Xu Qianqian being held in Ning Chunlin's arms and excitedly exclaimed:
"You little rascal, why are you hugging my wife! Didn't you say you were going to marry me, my wife?!"
Upon hearing this, Ning Chunlin's arms, which were holding Xu Qianqian, froze. Xu Qianqian also felt Ning Chunlin's gaze, and hurriedly cried out:
"I was forced into this, sob sob, fellow villagers, please stand up for me, a weak woman! I was kidnapped by this family last night, and today they're in a hurry to marry their eldest son. That eldest son even said he'd wait until our wedding night to take me away..."
Upon hearing Xu Qianqian's words, Ning Chunlin's eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly:
"Qianqian, you, you mean he hasn't done anything to you yet, right?"
Xu Qianqian looked up at Ning Chunlin with red-rimmed eyes, shook her head slightly, and then sobbed:
“Brother Chunlin, if he really wants to do something to me, I will fight to the death. I can’t let you down. If I lose my virginity, I will never be able to face you again. You are the only man I’ve ever been with in this life.”
Hearing Xu Qianqian's words, Ning Chunlin felt extremely distressed. Thinking about his filthy thoughts yesterday, he realized he had truly let Qianqian down. He then hugged Xu Qianqian even tighter.
Xu Qianqian was very good at reading people's expressions. She cleared Ning Chunlin's suspicions with just a few words. Now, Xu Qianqian also felt the strength in Ning Chunlin's hand, so she lowered her head and smiled secretly.
Jiang Yuwei was most annoyed by Xu Qianqian's pretentious manner, but in order to win the villagers' favor, Jiang Yuwei had to admit that Xu Qianqian had been a great help.
So Jiang Yuwei spoke up:
"Everyone saw it, right? This isn't just petty theft. Do you still dare to be neighbors with that family? One day they'll steal a needle and thread, the next day a grain cake. Right now, I'm afraid even your wives won't be able to keep an eye on them, or their reputations will be tarnished by these two little beasts!"
Upon hearing this, the villagers became somewhat nervous. Several men, who had brought their wives to the wedding banquet, quickly pulled their wives behind them.
"Who can argue with that? It's a disgrace to live in the same village as someone like that!"
"Yes, they've come knocking on our door, and you can still lie without batting an eye!"
"That's right, there are witnesses and physical evidence. If this matter goes to the authorities, they could lose their heads!"
"Oh, is it that scary?"
Granny He also heard the villagers' discussion and immediately became nervous.
Jiang Yuwei looked at Granny He and said:
"Come on, you three, come with me to see the officials. Even Xiaogouzi Village wouldn't dare keep troublemakers like you any longer!"
Upon hearing this, the villagers all spoke up:
"Yes, take them to see the officials!"
"Arrest them!"
"Let's see if they dare to steal again!"
Seeing this, Zhang Da and Zhang Er quickly hid behind Granny He and said anxiously:
"Don't arrest me! Don't arrest me! If you're going to arrest someone, arrest my mother and behead her!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Er quickly echoed:
"Yes, it was this old hag who instigated us to steal things. No, we didn't steal anything; she stole everything by herself!"
Seeing that Granny He's two sons had been raised to be practically beasts by her, Jiang Yuwei felt this was her just desserts. Wanting to give them a good scare, Jiang Yuwei said:
"If we're going to go, we'll all go together. If we're going to chop off heads, all three of you will do it together. We saw it all last night. There were three of you stealing. Now you're not only stealing, but you're also abducting innocent women. Your crimes are definitely compounded. Enough talk, come with us now!"
Upon hearing this, the three men's legs went weak, and they knelt on the ground, repeatedly kowtowing to Jiang Yuwei and begging for mercy.
"We'll return everything to you, please don't arrest us, please let us go!"
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