Chapter 1776: Touring the Village

After the commotion in the middle of the night, everyone slept in this morning. Relatively speaking, though, they just shifted from their usual 6:00 AM wake-up time to 7:00 AM; they were all accustomed to being diligent.

The children were still lingering in their blankets, not yet up, but the adults had already risen upon hearing the stirrings at the front door.

"Oh my, we've overslept, it's already 7:00. You hurry to the Village Committee and see if those few thieves caught last night have been interrogated yet!" Ye Mu was flustered and anxious, feeling as if she had missed out on a fortune.

"It's not that fast. They won't have anyone there until 8:00 anyway."

"Today is different. It was agreed that the interrogation would be today; there must be people waiting there since early morning. Let's hurry over and listen."

"It's not like it's 7:00 yet, what's the rush? Who is so idle they don't sleep? We were tossing and turning until late last night; it'll still be in time if we go after breakfast. The big meetings in the past were always at 8:00, it's still early. Besides, just hearing the result is enough."

Ye Mu slapped him, "How can you be so unconcerned? Those people almost snuck into your son's house."

"The people are already caught, what's there to be anxious about? They can't run. Eat first."

Ye Mu glared at him, went to wash up, and then took the opportunity to chat with the neighbors at the door. Only after confirming there was no news yet did she sit down to eat breakfast with peace of mind.

The others who were supposed to come over also arrived one after another to eat.

She said to Lin Xiuqing, "Did Adong call back yesterday to say what time he'd be home today?"

"He said he'd come back after waking up. It'll probably be noon by the time he gets home."

"Those three people last night were probably targeting your house. They knew Adong wasn't home, so they thought they'd take the opportunity to strike and make a haul before the New Year."

Lin Xiuqing frowned, "I was thinking that since it's almost New Year and all the men in the village have returned, no one would dare to run wild in our village. I didn't expect them to be so bold as to come in the middle of the night."

"They might have just been released from prison a few days ago. They only knew your family had money, but didn't know those dogs were basically kept by the seaside. They thought they could handle it by bringing a few poisoned buns."

Ye Fu also analyzed, "They might have also thought that once the New Year is over, you'd be leaving, and you'd definitely take the money with you. By then, with no one at home, there wouldn't be anything to gain."

Ye Yaopeng echoed, "It's possible. So they took advantage of the fact that Adong wasn't home and only Aqing was there to strike quickly. Otherwise, it wouldn't be so easy to strike later when there are people at home."

Ye Dasao said hatefully, "Too arrogant. Everyone in the village has returned, and they still dared to commit a crime. They were counting on their relatives not daring to beat them to death directly."

Ye Ersao also looked disgusted, "Who would be relatives with such people? I feel ashamed just saying it. They shouldn't have been released; it would be better to keep them locked up until they die."

Ye Yaohua: "They were bitten by dogs last night and beaten severely by the villagers. Being locked up all night in the cold, they're probably half-dead already. If they have to tour the village for two more days, they'll probably lose their lives."

Ye Chenghai: "We have to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, show it to the other villages. Otherwise, since the strong labor force in the village is away all year round, it's easy for us to be bullied."

Chen Xiuni: "However, their family members should be coming over, right?"

Ye Chenghe snorted, "It's useless even if they come. Daring to come and be thieves and poison the dogs, it was already showing mercy not to beat them to death on the spot."

Ye Chenghai echoed, "Exactly. I don't even dare to waste food, yet they used buns to poison. What if some were missed and not swept clean, and a child picked one up to eat? What then?"

Chen Xiuni's face turned pale with fright, "That's too scary. Fortunately, it was the middle of the night. If they had come to poison during the day and a child, adult, or elderly person picked it up, that would be terrible. Who could watch food fall on the ground and not pick it up?"

Ye Chenghai: "If their family members come to our door, our village isn't one to be trifled with either."

Ye Fu said, "Eat quickly, and let's all go to the Village Committee to take a look after eating."

"Now you know to be anxious?" Ye Mu glared at Ye Fu and started eating quickly.

After the family finished eating, they headed toward the Village Committee. There were many people on the road heading in that direction as well. Everyone chatted as they walked, all cursing the three thieves from last night.

Everyone was afraid—what if their men weren't home?

The Village Committee was converted from the old production team's auditorium, so the venue was quite large. In the past, communal meals were eaten here, and later it became a storage area for production tools when making kelp.

When everyone arrived, it was already packed with people, noisy and chaotic.

Ye Mu asked a woman nearby, "What's the word? Is there a result?"

"They say they knew Adong wasn't home and specifically chose last night. Otherwise, they were afraid that with the New Year coming, there would be people at home, making it hard to strike. They were also worried that you would all leave after the New Year, so they chose last night on a whim."

"My goodness, it really was targeting my third son. Conscience-less, and they're relatives too." Ye Mu cursed, spitting everywhere.

Ye Fu asked, "Then what are they doing over there in the front?"

"Their family members have come over and are begging the Village Committee to show mercy. That old lady over there is preparing to kowtow."

"Show mercy my foot. What if last night's buns didn't poison the dogs but poisoned people? Could they afford to compensate? They must be made to tour the village."

Just as Ye Mu was cursing, the people in front were hoisting up the few men from the other village, especially the old lady who was wailing to the heavens. Her hands were held up, and since she couldn't lie on the ground to cry and shout, she could only wave them in mid-air.

"Your village relies on having money to bully people, may you die a horrible death... My poor grandson, beaten half to death, may your village die a horrible death..."

"It's your whole family that should die a horrible death, raising a piece of scum, bringing bad luck for three generations."

"Daring to bully your way to our door, don't talk about the three of them, none of you will be able to walk out of this village!"

"Exactly, if the tiger doesn't show its might, you think our village is a sick cat? Daring to bully your way here, none of you are going back today either!"

"On what grounds? On what grounds are you detaining people?"

The Village Chief shouted forcefully, "On what grounds? On the grounds that these three snuck into our village in the middle of the night. Being caught and beaten to death is what they deserve. Wherever we go, we are in the right! If you dare to bully your way here, we'll beat you all together! No one can say we aren't in the right!"

"We aren't taking their lives yet, just letting them tour the village. If you keep nagging, we'll beat them to death right now and drag them back to you."

"Drag them out to tour the village!"

The few people from the other village instantly didn't dare to let out a peep. When under someone else's roof, one has to bow their head, not to mention they were in the wrong.

Someone took a gong and drum and started beating them directly, "Touring the village, touring the village, three thieves are touring the village!"

"Parade them through all the nearby natural villages; we can't let them off easy. Everyone needs to see what these three thieves look like."

"Make way, make way! The thieves are being paraded through the village!"

The villagers spontaneously organized the parade.

Ye Mu stood on her tiptoes to look, then angrily pinched Ye Fu, "It's all your fault! I told you to come over earlier, but you dawdled and insisted on finishing that bowl of rice. Look now, we missed the beginning and only caught the second half."

Ye Fu was wearing thick clothes, so it didn't hurt at all, "Who knew they'd start so fast? There were still plenty of people on the road when we came over. It's not like we were the only ones who didn't hear the start. We arrived at 7:50, there should have been 10 minutes left. Who knew they'd start early?"

"This is a big deal; everyone must have come early to wait. Who's looking at the time? Once people arrived, they naturally dragged them out to get answers."

"Well, we'll find out once we ask anyway, we didn't miss much. Hurry up and catch up."

Ye Mu grabbed a woman nearby who had arrived early and asked for details, not letting a single one slip by. Once she understood, she was finally satisfied.

They were only about 10 minutes late, so they hadn't missed much—at most, the process of dragging the three of them out, and their families wailing and crying on the ground after their pleas for mercy failed.

The whole village followed behind as they walked out of the village committee building.

Someone was beating gongs and drums in the front to clear the way, while others nearby shouted out the names and crimes of the three.

The three were being carried and dragged along.

Behind the three, their families were crying and wailing.

But presumably out of shame, after leaving the village committee, they stopped following and crying right behind them, instead trailing at the very back of the procession.

Some people in the village had already started throwing rotten vegetable leaves, and the children began throwing pebbles.

"You can't all go watch the excitement; someone has to stay home to watch the house. Stop following and hurry home."

Ye Mu pointed at a few of the younger generation, telling them to go back first, but no one listened to her.

Lin Xiuqing didn't dare to keep following; she was the only one at home right now. Leaving for a little while was fine, but she couldn't be gone for too long.

She had no choice but to stop regretfully, watching the huge crowd move through the village.

The old people nearby shook their heads while saying they deserved it.

Ye Dasao kept her company and didn't follow either. Since none of the sons at home would listen and all wanted to go watch the fun, she had to be the one to stay behind and watch the house.

"After parading through the nearby villages, the reputation of these three will be completely ruined. Everyone will want to beat them up; their own village surely won't be able to tolerate them either."

"Whether they can survive is another question. Even if they were beaten to death, they'd deserve it; otherwise, who knows how much your family would have lost."

"There's nothing valuable at home now. In the past, money was kept at home, but now it's all deposited in the bank. There's nothing worth a thief's attention anymore."

"Others might not know, but in the surrounding ten miles, who doesn't know your family is wealthy? If a thief really gets any ideas, your place would be the first choice. Killing the chicken to scare the monkey today is just right, and parading them through the village serves as a warning to those good-for-nothings in other villages."

"Mm, we can be more at ease from now on. We're leaving after the New Year too."

Ye Dasao was instantly envious, "I'll follow after the New Year too. Anyway, Ahai is taking his wife and kids back to the provincial capital, and Chenghe is taking his wife and kids to Zhoushan. The girls at home are grown up and don't need looking after; they'll live with their parents, so I don't need to worry about them."

"I have to follow Xiuni up there to help her with the kids. The couple has no experience raising children, and one person can't handle it alone. I'll go up and give her a hand."

Lin Xiuqing walked home with her and said, "You have two sons. If you help one with the kids but not the other, won't there be complaints?"

"There's no helping that. Both palms and the back of the hand are flesh, but Ahai's wife's family is over there, and her mother will help. Chenghe's wife doesn't have her mother around, and I'm worried seeing the young couple, so naturally, I'll go help."

"That's how people start gossiping—helping one but not the other."

"Then I'll just give the eldest daughter-in-law some money for milk powder every month and give her a bit more of whatever we have at home."

"It's easy to have imbalances when you have many sons."

Lin Xiuqing thought about how her own two were still small and she didn't have the worry of imbalances for now, so she felt it was alright.

"What imbalance? The two brothers surely won't have any complaints. The only ones who would gossip would be their wives. I'll just put in the effort for one and provide money for the other, won't that work?"

"That's quite good."

"I'm going to the new house to see my two little grandsons. Are you going over there or to your own place?"

"I have to go back to my own place to keep watch. There's no one at home, not even the kids; I can't be at ease."

"Then I'll bring the kids over later. You help me watch one. This couple just threw the kids at home to go watch the excitement."

Ye Dasao grumbled, but her face was full of love. Thinking of her two grandsons, she couldn't help but beam.

Lin Xiuqing nodded and headed home first.

The noise from the village grew further and further away from her.

The courtyard gate was still locked, and the surroundings were uncharacteristically quiet. Except for a few dogs lying at the gate, everyone had gone to chase the procession to watch the fun, even the children.

As soon as the dogs at home saw someone, they immediately climbed up from the ground and trotted toward her, barking a few times.

She smiled, patted the dogs' heads, and opened the door to go in. The house was exactly as it had been when she left.

It wasn't appropriate to call Ye Yaodong early in the morning. She walked to the phone to ask what time he would be home, but when she picked it up, no one answered.

At this time, he had probably already set off, or perhaps he had called back and she hadn't heard it.

Ye Yaodong didn't arrive home until around lunchtime, with the tractor driving straight from the town to the gate.

As soon as he jumped off the vehicle, the three children happily called for their mother and started bouncing around her.

After paying the fare, Ye Yaodong asked, "Why didn't you answer when I called this morning? Did you go to Mom's early to help cook?"

He was still completely unaware of what had happened during the night.

"Something happened last night."

The smile on Lin Xiuqing's face faded, and she told him about what had happened the previous night.

The expression on Ye Yaodong's face grew more serious as he listened.

"Man proposes, God disposes. We were only gone for one night and they found a gap. It's fortunate they were caught. So what now? How's the parade going?"

"They haven't finished parading and come back yet. I don't know which village they're in. It's lunchtime now, so they should be bringing them back soon."

Ye Chenghu said indignantly, "If I'd known, I wouldn't have gone and would have stayed home. It was almost dangerous. Why didn't we beat them to death on the spot last night instead of sparing their dog lives?"

"Parading them through each village now is even more intimidating."

"Mom, next time I'll stay home to protect you."

Lin Xiuqing smiled, "It's fine, they've already been caught. With such a big fuss being made now, even if there are thieves nearby, they wouldn't dare come to our village."

"It's their good fortune that they weren't bitten to death."

"They were already half-dead this morning. We'll see when they get back later."