Chapter 21: Bad Aunt
But as they were cutting the weeds, they suddenly heard their aunt-in-law, Ms. Lin, shouting from halfway up the mountain, "It's that damned brat who stole my corns!"
"Stop! Don't you dare run away!"
"You can't escape! My Erhu is at the foot of the mountain!"
Ms. Lin yelled as she hurried down from the mountainside.
While she had been busy tending to the crops in the field, she discovered that someone had tampered with the corns at her house.
Her anger surged within her—it must have been another family who had stolen her corns!
They had nearly emptied her home of all the corns!
How dare someone steal from her while she was working here! She was ready to teach the thief a lesson they wouldn't forget!
Upon hearing his mother's scream, Qian Erhu swiftly moved forward.
Ms. Lin and Qian Erhu confronted five or six children who were cutting pig grass, including Su Cheng and his sister.
"Tell me, who stole our corns?" Ms. Lin demanded.
All the children vigorously shook their heads. "No, I didn't take anything!"
Ms. Lin's fierceness did not faze Su Ning or Su Cheng, as they knew they were not responsible for the theft in the field.
However, they hadn't anticipated that it was Su Cheng's fault after all.
Ms. Lin and Qian Erhu proceeded to inspect each child's basket, meticulously searching for any trace of the stolen corns.
"Erhu, keep an eye on them. No one is allowed to leave. The thieves are among them! We must find them and punish them for their theft! Mom, go and assess how much has been stolen!"
Ms. Lin headed towards the farm to conduct her examination and discovered that five portions of corns were missing.
As she walked out, she cursed under her breath while scanning her surroundings.
The corns were not in their baskets, nor were they on the ground. They must have been hidden nearby, with the intention of taking them home when no one was around.
Before long, Ms. Lin discovered five corns concealed in the sweet potato field.
Coincidentally, the sweet potato field belonged to Su Ning's family, leading their aunt to firmly believe that it was Su Cheng who had stolen the corns.
Despite Su Cheng and his sister's attempts to deny the accusation, they couldn't find any witnesses to vouch for their innocence. Moreover, they were no match for Ms. Lin and Qian Erhu's authority.
In the end, they forced Su Cheng to remove his clothes, leaving him tied to a tree wearing only his underwear.
Disregarding Su Cheng's protests, Ms. Lin instructed Su Ning, "If you want to rescue your younger brother, go home and fetch one liang to secure his release!"
"If we don't receive payment, we'll strip him of his underpants and see how shameless he'll be in the future!"
Su Ning pleaded with tears streaming down her face. "Aunt, please believe us! We did not steal your corns!"
Ms. Lin sneered. "If you didn't steal them, why were they hidden in your sweet potato field?"
"There's no use defending yourselves. In fact, when I was in the mountains, I already knew that Su Cheng was the one who stole the corns. That's why I went straight to your sweet potato field to search for them!"
"I understand that your family is going through tough times, and you don't even have enough to eat. But everyone is facing hardships, and your uncle's family is also struggling!"
"Learning how to steal at such a young age is unacceptable. This time, you must face the consequences for your actions and learn from it!"
"Consider it a lesson in honor of your deceased parents!"
Su Ning couldn't hold back her tears. "We don't have one liang!"
Ms. Lin added, "Your Third Sister-in-law has it! She informed me that she possesses more than 10 liang in her dowries!"
"She is your guardian and responsible for your misconduct. She should pay the penalty!"
"If she refuses to pay on your behalf, then remove your underwear and bring the village chief here to administer the punishment according to the village rules!"
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