"What, what's going on?" Wang Daneng's father, his back hunched and his hair completely white, cried out, "Lu family's eldest daughter-in-law, how could you be so heartless..."
As expected, such a spendthrift was spoiled by his parents. It's the father's fault for not teaching his son properly! Originally, I didn't care about Qin Xiaozhou's affairs, but since she stole from my house, I can't blame her.
Qin Xiaozhou greeted the village chief with composure and recounted the day's events in detail, omitting the threatening remarks. She then picked up a dead duck and said, "I know the village chief manages the village very well, and it has been peaceful since I married into the village, so I let my guard down. I didn't expect to be attacked by thieves in broad daylight. I was so frightened that I kicked Brother Da Neng. Since my family consists of elderly, weak, and women, I scared them so much that they tied me up here. I'm just waiting for the village chief and the elders to explain things."
Wang Daneng screamed and yelled, "She's going to kill me! She wants to kill me..."
He wandered around the village every day and had noticed that Lu Yunfeng and Qin Xiaozhou hadn't been home for the past two days. He wasn't afraid of Lu's second son at all; he was a weakling. That's why he dared to steal the ducks. But today he was unlucky. Qin Xiaozhou, that shrew, was actually home, and he was caught red-handed.
Qin Xiaozhou sighed softly, "Wang brothers, what are you talking about? My Da Yun isn't home, and I suddenly encountered a thief who didn't recognize you, so I kicked you once. How did it come to the point of wanting to kill you?"
"You're lying. You're going to drag me into the Western Hills and let the wild beasts eat me..."
"Shut up," the village chief snapped. "Darling of Da Neng, are you still protecting your son to this day? Ever since I became the village chief, it's always been your son who gets involved in petty theft. Tell me, how are you going to deal with him?"
Wang Daneng's father, ashamed, mumbled, "He... he's still young. He said he'd change..."
"Pah! He's here to steal from our house. I'm fat and strong, I can beat him." Qin Xiaozhou didn't want this menace to continue. "But if he steals from a house with wives and daughters, the villagers will be frightened. What will happen to the reputations of those young women? Oh, I know. If he can't find a wife and the government doesn't have any girls to marry him off, will he find a girl from a good family and ruin her reputation? Then your family can get a wife for free. What a vicious heart!"
Qin Xiaozhou wanted to drag everyone into this. Only when their own interests were at stake would these people not be just watching the show! They'd only know the pain when the punishment was applied to them!
Perhaps Wang Daneng didn't have the guts or the inclination, but once he said that, the villagers followed suit and speculated. Every family has a wife or daughter, and who knows what such a rogue might do? If he really harms our daughter, she'll have no choice but to marry him off.
What a vicious heart!
The villagers urged the village chief to make a decision, saying that things couldn't continue like this.
The elders of Wangjia Village also had their own plans. The village chief gave the order, "Take him to the ancestral hall and lock him up."
Those people escorted Wang Daneng away. Since it concerned their own important affairs, Lu Yunxing went along. A large crowd had gathered around the Wang family ancestral hall. The Lu family, being an outsider, could not enter the Wang family ancestral hall and could only watch from the outside.
Qin Xiaozhou's words today were not unfounded. Over the past few years, Wang Daneng had been stealing chickens and dogs in the village. He would make a few words to flirt with any woman or daughter who was alone. A few days ago, he met a girl in Nanshan. Wang Daneng thought the girl was alone, so he made jokes and even tried to pull her away. The girl's brother and sister-in-law were not far away. When they heard the shouts, they ran over and beat Wang Daneng up.
Wang Daneng stayed at home for three months, but now that he can walk again, he's started stealing again.
The women who were harassed dared not publicize these things, for fear of being embarrassed and laughed at, which would damage their reputation and make them look down on by their husbands' families. Now that they saw Wang Daneng in trouble, they all wanted to come and see him.
The clan elders said that since they were from the Wang family village, they should be lenient. Those with wives and daughters were naturally unwilling to accept this. Every girl has her moments of being alone. Life is hard for everyone in the countryside. Chickens and melons are often stolen, which is a loss for everyone. Growing melons and vegetables these past two years has also been difficult. When it doesn't rain, they have to fetch water from the river to irrigate the plants, which is all hard work.
Most of the villagers demanded severe punishment, but the Wang family elders couldn't persuade them otherwise. They made Wang Daneng pay the Lu family ten coins for the ducks and then used family discipline to beat Wang Daneng five times.
Five solid blows with a stick can cause serious injury, so the villagers had no objections.
Lu Yunxing returned with ten coins. Qin Xiaozhou had already plucked the feathers from the duckling that had been crushed to death, washed it clean, chopped it up, and put it in the stove to make soup. They were waiting for the people who had gone to the shop to come back so they could eat together that evening. There wasn't much meat, just two or three pieces per person, but having some soup was still quite nice.
Having caused such a commotion, Wang Lan dared not delay in finding Wang Dahe to look after the chickens and ducks. She immediately took three large white steamed buns and headed to the edge of the village. The fields were full of people, and the cuckoo, unafraid of people, called out from the trees near the village. When Wang Lan arrived at Wang Dahe's house, it was also two thatched houses with vegetables growing in the yard and a makeshift kitchen with firewood lying around.
Wang Daneng's wife, Sun Sanniang, was tidying up the vegetable garden in a sickly manner. She was ill and could not do heavy work, so she could only take care of the vegetables. When it was time to go to the market, she would ask her mother-in-law to take them to sell. They wouldn't make much money, but they could exchange them for some coarse salt to eat.
She was ill and had no children. She didn't know whether to be glad that she hadn't brought a child into the world to suffer, or to be sad that her husband's family line would end. As she thought about it, she couldn't help but shed tears.
Seeing someone arrive, she quickly wiped away her tears, "Auntie, what brings you here? Come in quickly."
"Okay, good." Wang Lan entered the door but didn't see her sister-in-law or Wang Dahe. "Dahe's not home?"
It was the hottest time of day under the blazing sun, and Wang Lan was already sweating as she came from the end of the village. Wang Dahe's family had little land, so he went to work in the fields.
Sun San Niang said sadly, "I'm going to gather firewood. When spring comes and the weather gets hot, firewood won't sell well, but it's still a source of income."
It was already mid-March. People in the county town rarely used firewood except for cooking, and firewood was very cheap. A load of firewood cost only five or six coins. It was not easy to carry firewood from the village to the town. Charcoal was a little more expensive, but it couldn't be sold at this time of year, and a load of firewood wouldn't produce much charcoal.
Wang Lan placed the basket of steamed buns on the chipped table. "Niece-in-law, I've come today to ask Dahe for help. The village was quite lively just now, you must have heard some things. My ducks were stolen, so we were thinking of asking Dahe to come and help us herd the chickens and ducks."
Although Sun San Niang did not go out, she did hear some noise. She didn't know what exactly happened, but after hearing this, she understood. The villagers said that the Lu family raised a lot of chickens and ducks. Sometimes she would stand outside the door and look to the west, and occasionally she could see chickens running around in the Lu family's orchard, but she didn't know how many they raised.
I never imagined we'd need to hire someone to herd chickens and ducks; that must be a lot!
Sun San Niang clutched the hem of her clothes, wondering how the Lu family would help. She didn't want to ask, and was even more worried that Wang Dahe wouldn't do a good job. "This, this needs to be asked of Dahe, lest your aunt laughs at you."
She dared not make the decision on her own.
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