Chapter 177 - Chapter 177: Stealing Vegetables in the Middle of the Night

Chapter 177: Stealing Vegetables in the Middle of the Night

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

That night, Sun Dahai and Sun Dahe did not return home when they said they would. Worried, Old Man Sun set out with a kerosene lamp to look for them. He found them at the village entrance, bloodied and unconscious, lying exposed for all to see on the side of the road.

The din he raised alarmed the whole village.

The two brothers were carried home. Only after they arrived safely at the Sun family home did everyone see how the duo’s heads were swollen like pigs. Some amid the crowd could not help but laugh at their sorry sight.

The Sun family’s expressions were unsightly.

The Sun family had been down on their luck lately. It was rare for them to be at the short end of the stick. Fortunately, Sun Dahai and Sun Dahe went out together and were discovered at the same time. Otherwise, Old Man Sun might not be able to recognize them even if he went out to look for them come morning.

After waking the brothers up, everyone anxiously asked what had happened.

Why were they beaten up?

Who was bold enough to start trouble in Trinity Village?

The string of questions went right over their heads. Their bodies hurt, their faces hurt, everything hurt! The two brothers stared blankly at the eager crowd. Eventually, they said, “We don’t know who beat us up.” “You guys were beaten up so badly, yet you don’t know who did it?” Everyone was shocked and looked at the two as if they were fools.

“I heard something about Brother Shan stealing a chicken, but that’s it.” Sun Dahe’s situation was a little better. Having had time to organize his thoughts, he recalled snippets of what had happened.

The villagers feared that thieves had infiltrated the village, and soon, a search began, calling on all able-bodied men and women to scour their humble homes.

Su Wen was sleeping when the alarm was raised, waking her. With such a huge commotion, she had no choice but to join the search for these elusive thieves. Every household had to send someone to participate since it was for the collective good of the village.

Su Wen did not want to fuel the village gossip mill by not doing her part, even though it was within reason for her household to abstain since Zhou Hengyang was not around and they were all women. Su Wen knew she had to show her face, at the very least, since she was the head of her family.

Su Wen quickly changed out of her pajamas and went out. Su Qing and Su Xiu were also awoken by the commotion and wanted to follow their eldest sister, but Su Wen forbade them from following.

Su Wen was not helping because she wanted to; rather, it was to ensure no one got any funny ideas about their family. Besides, they would not need her if it was to catch a thief.

Once she was out of the house, Su Wen locked the door from the outside and went to look for Wang Chunyan.

Kerosene lamps, torches, and flashlights flickered in the dark, transforming the quiet village into a lively thoroughfare of activity. Su Wen was quite surprised. She remembered thieves often entered the village when she was young to steal things as the New Year approached. Some even got violent when things did not go their way.

Those thieves would pretend to hawk their goods, like tofu and noodles, during the day when, in fact, they were scouting the village for potential targets. They targeted households without men and would steal anything from chickens to ducks to pigs and even dogs. Nothing was safe from their sticky paws.

While everyone would do their best to look out for one another, it was not as organized as it was now in Trinity Village.

Almost the whole village was mobilized.

“What’s wrong, Aunty Chunyan? Whose house has been robbed?”

“It wasn’t a thief. I hear that someone beat up Sun Dahai and Sun Dahe, leaving them at the village entrance. We’re looking for the culprits.”

Su Wen was speechless.

It took her everything she had to hold her laughter in.

Despite their best efforts, the search turned up empty. Instead, an honest village woman, well-liked by the community, was caught red-handed, stealing vegetables from her neighbor’s plot of land in the dead of night.

It was the talk of the village.

The family who had their vegetables stolen also sent someone to catch the thief. Who knew that they would find one living next door? The woman was brutally slapped for her misdemeanor.

It was only after someone stopped the man that he released the woman. The honest-looking woman ran away like a fleeing rabbit and dropped the basket of vegetables she had picked. The woman did not look back.

In the end, Su Wen yawned and went home to sleep..