"Second Aunt, you've finally opened the door! I thought you weren't home." Zhao Xiaocao took a long breath and was panting heavily.
"What's wrong?" He Tiantian was completely confused.
Zhao Xiaocao took a couple of breaths before continuing, "Second Aunt, you should go to the rice paddies quickly and check. The fish in the paddies... seem to have been stolen."
He Tiantian panicked; what was all this about?
Someone actually stole the fish raised in the paddy field! This child is outrageous!
"Let's go take a look!"
Zhao Xiaocao also felt that the matter was quite serious, and angrily led the way, then recounted what she had seen that day.
"I saw this when I went to pick wild vegetables this morning. Second Aunt, all the rice in your paddy field has been trampled and broken."
He Tiantian was furious. Who was the blind and immoral bastard who stole it?
The two walked a short distance forward and happened to see Zhao Tingzhang walking towards them.
Seeing that He Tiantian's expression was not good, Zhao Tingzhang asked, "What's wrong? Where are you going?"
Zhao Xiaocao recounted the general situation again, and Zhao Tingzhang slapped his thigh in anger.
"Oh my, I was just about to remind you about this yesterday. I reckon someone saw you fishing yesterday and got some bad intentions."
These days, being able to eat meat is such a rare treat; you never know when someone might have ulterior motives.
"Think carefully about who saw you catching fish yesterday."
After being reminded by Zhao Tingzhang, He Tiantian began to recall what happened yesterday.
She mentioned the names of several women, but then she realized that these women weren't usually the kind of people she was talking about.
However, whether they spread the news about the fish in their fields back to the village to other people is unknown.
He Tiantian had never expected this to happen, so she hadn't taken any precautions.
Now I'm starting to regret it. After all, the fields are quite a distance from the village, and I can't be there watching over them all the time.
The three of them quickly arrived at He Tiantian's rice paddy. He Tiantian took a closer look and felt extremely distressed.
Many of the rice plants that were originally growing well were trampled and broken, and some were even uprooted.
There were some muddy footprints on the ridge, but they disappeared after only a few messy steps.
After carefully examining the footprints on the ground, Zhao, the village head, concluded, "This was probably stolen by a man. Women don't have feet that big."
The three of them carefully examined the field but found no other valuable clues.
Zhao Xiaocao said with great heartache, "I wonder how many fish that thief stole. How can we guard against it in the future?"
It gets so dark at night, we can't patrol every day.
He Tiantian was also in a bad mood, but after thinking about it carefully, she couldn't think of anyone who would behave so badly.
Zhao, the village head, was so angry that his face turned red, and he cursed, "Disgraceful, truly disgraceful! If I find out who it is, I'll be the first to punish him!"
He Tiantian thought about it calmly for a moment and suddenly thought of the Cheng family.
After all, she couldn't think of anyone she had a grudge against.
So he casually asked Xiaocao, "Xiaocao, is your mother home?"
Xiao Cao immediately understood what He Tiantian meant, but according to her understanding, her mother wasn't without a motive for committing the crime.
However, her mother and father have been extremely busy these days, so it's unlikely.
"My older brother is getting married. Before dawn today, my father and mother went to Wanjiazhuang to propose marriage."
He Tiantian was somewhat surprised. It wasn't even dawn yet?
Zhao Xiaocao rubbed her nose, somewhat uncertainly saying, "It shouldn't be them, after all... they don't seem to have time to come down to the fields to catch fish anymore."
She didn't know exactly how many fish were lost, but it didn't matter. What really bothered He Tiantian was the rice.
I don't know if it will grow back, it's all food.
On the way back, Zhao Tingzhang confidently assured her, "Wanzi's mother, don't worry. I will definitely find out whoever is behind this dirty trick."
Who would dare steal under his nose? The last person who stole from him is still in jail.
The next few days were too busy for He Tiantian to think about anything else. She simply told her family about the theft in the paddy field.
He Chun and He Shitou were furious. These past two days, they couldn't contain their anger and would sneak out to the fields in the middle of the night to catch the thief.
However, as one might expect, all attempts were unsuccessful.
Hong Erniang has finally finished planting cotton in her field, watering and fertilizing it. Now she's just waiting for the crops to grow well.
He Tiantian went to check on the chicken farm. The chicks were being well cared for, and after a period of time, they had visibly grown bigger.
She also instructed Da Niu and Tie Zhu to sprinkle more wood ash in the chicken coop, as this would help to kill bacteria.
Zhao Daniu and Zhao Tiezhu naturally didn't understand anything about sterilization, but when they heard that sprinkling wood ash could prevent the chicks from getting sick and dying, they took it very seriously.
He nodded eagerly in agreement, wishing he could write down every single word He Tiantian said.
Of course, this is on the premise that they can write.
On the day she was leaving, He Tiantian got up very early.
After packing her own things, Hong Erniang was almost done as well. She only needed to bring some frequently changed clothes.
And some of them need to stay at home, because they will come back from time to time.
"Sister, we must open a teahouse in the city when we get back this time," Hong Erniang said confidently.
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