114 Thieves at Phoenix Village
Li Mei wore a hat and smiled happily at Li Yu. “Come and see your little cousin.”
Li Yu walked over and lay by the bed. She looked at the chubby baby in front of her. “So cute! He’s sleeping like a little pig.”
Li Mei gently stroked his little face. “Children are all like this. They sleep more and wake up less. When Mr. Zhou comes back, ask him to give me a name for my child.” Li Mei looked up at Li Yu. “I forgot to ask you how Mr. Zhou did. Is there any news?”
“The exam has just ended. The rankings will only be released on the fifth of September.” Li Yu took out the silver collar and bracelet she had bought in Tongzhou and handed them to Li Mei with a smile. “Aunt, this is for Little Cousin. Rest well. I’ll go see how the rice harvest is.”
Li Mei took the silver collar and bracelet and nodded with a smile. “Go! I heard from your uncle that the harvest is not bad. An acre of land yielded more grains than the ones of the village chief and the others. The village chief and the others all said that they will plant them according to your method next year. Also, your uncle said that the village is not very peaceful these days. People often lose things. Granny Chen even quarreled with Butcher He’s wife about this.”
“I understand. Rest well and I’ll go to the manor to take a look.” Li Mei nodded and watched Li Yu leave.
Li Yu walked along the road and realized that half of the rice had been harvested. The workers and servants were still busy in the fields.
When she went to the breeding field and saw that it had been harvested, Li Yu walked straight to the farmstead. In front of the farmstead, she saw two men coming from the hillside. The two of them were looking around along the way.
Li Yu snorted in her heart. They were here to check on her! It looked like they were about to attack!
Li Yu entered the manor and stood at the corner of the door. She saw that the two of them were as thin as quails and their eyes were as bright as radar as they scanned around.
Li Yu thought to herself, Looking at their behavior, they’re not ordinary thieves. Could they be targeting the cows in the cowshed?
Li Yu watched them walk away and turned around to push open the door to enter the manor. She saw seven or eight people drying grains in the drying field. Everyone bowed when they saw Li Yu.
When Ah Gou saw Li Yu, he shouted happily, “Sister Er Ya, Miss is back.”
Er Ya poured a basket of grains into the Wind Grain Machine and turned to run to Li Yu. She grinned. “Miss, you’re back!”
Li Yu looked at Er Ya’s flushed face and thought she seemed to have grown taller. She smiled and said, “Why have you grown taller again? If this continues, ordinary men won’t be able to catch up to you.”
Er Ya looked down at her tall and strong figure with a bitter expression. “I don’t want to grow up either. I want to look like you!”
Li Yu smiled and patted Erya. “Where’s Ruyi? Where are those seeds?”
Er Ya led Li Yu to the Wind Grain Machine and pointed at a large pile of grains in front of them. “Miss, these are all the grains harvested by us. The ones on the Wind Grain Machine are the same. The small pile at the side was collected by those wild rice.”
Li Yu grabbed a handful of grains and realized that they were golden and full. She turned to look at Er Ya. “You haven’t weighed them yet, right?”
“Brother Ruyi said that we should weigh it when it’s clean. However, when we took it back, we collected an extra basket of rice. Also, the dozen or so rice stalks have already been dried. Brother Ruyi put them all into a cloth bag.”
“I heard the village isn’t peaceful these days. What’s going on?”
Ah Gou threw down the broom and ran to Li Yu’s side. “Miss, I know about this. Grandma Chen’s chicken and a big goose are missing. Grandma Chen was so angry that she cursed. Butcher He’s aunt happened to pass by. I don’t know why, but the two of them quarreled.”
Li Yu looked at Ah Gou and smiled. “Sure! I didn’t expect Ah Gou to be so nosy!”
Holding a broom, Ah Lei walked over slowly and said, “Miss, Ah Gou is just an inquirer. He knows why everyone in the village is arguing.”
Li Yu looked at Ah Gou. “You have to remember to keep the gossip you heard in your stomach. You can’t talk too much and learn to spread gossip to others. Remember?”
Ah Gou looked at Li Yu and replied loudly, “I’ll remember. We can’t talk too much.”
Li Yu smiled and patted Ah Gou and Ah Lei’s heads. “You two are good children. Let Auntie Liu steam egg soup for you.”
“Thank you, Miss.” The two of them smiled at Li Yu.
Li Yu looked around the drying field. From time to time, workers would drive an ox cart back with rice. They said to Er Ya and the others, “I’ll go to the slope to look for Ruyi. You guys have to be careful not to fall off the Wind Grain Machine.” They agreed in unison and watched Li Yu walk out of the manor.
Li Yu had just left the manor when she saw Ruyi and Uncle Zhou coming over from the slope. When Uncle Zhou saw Li Yu, he bowed happily. “Miss, you’re back! How did Young Master do?”
“Zhou Jia said that he should be able to make it onto the rankings. I asked him to wait for the rankings to be released in Tongzhou before coming back. I came back to take a look first.”
Ruyi and Uncle Zhou laughed happily when they heard that. Uncle Zhou bowed to the sky and said, “Old Master, Madam, when Young Master is on the list, you will be at ease in heaven.”
Seeing Uncle Zhou’s agitated expression, Li Yu hurriedly helped him up. “Uncle Zhou, why are you going to the slope?”
Ruyi took a step forward. “Uncle Zhou heard that the village hasn’t been peaceful these past few days. People are either losing their chicken or their duck. He’s worried so he decided to come to the cowshed to take a look. These days, everyone has been busy harvesting rice during the day and sleeping through the night. They don’t even know that something has been lost. I waited until it was almost dark the day before yesterday before I realized that there were a few suspicious people. There were four tall men holding machetes and pretending to be coming back from hunting in the mountains. After they left, two thin outer village men were wandering on the slope.”
Li Yu saw that Ruyi’s eyes were bloodshot. Perhaps it was because he had been on guard for the past few days. “The pigs in the pigpen are still young. I think they are targetting the cows in the cowshed. Guard the village entrance tonight. If you find anyone coming, let them in. I’ll wait at the cowshed. Go back and sleep now to recuperate. Leave the drying field to Erya.”
Ruyi listened to Li Yu’s arrangements and felt relieved. He bowed and said, “Yes, Miss.” With that, he turned around and walked into the manor.
Li Yu and Uncle Zhou walked back together. They went home to wash up and rest.
Li Yu slept until midnight. She woke up and went to Zhou Jia’s place to eat before walking toward the slope. The six cowsheds were built on flat ground at the bottom of the slope. Two cows were tied to each cowshed. At this moment, the cowshed was still empty. Li Yu guessed that Uncle Zhao had yet to return.
Li Yu walked along the cowshed and checked her surroundings. She realized that there were a few footsteps behind the house where Uncle Zhao was guarding at night. The footprints did not seem to have been left behind by Uncle Zhao. It seemed that someone had already come to check the terrain.
Li Yu walked up the slope and saw Jin Jiu picking up eggs in front of the chicken coop with a bamboo basket. Uncle Zhao led a cow and followed a group of people towards the cowshed.
Li Yu went to the chicken shed. When Jin Jiu saw Li Yu, he bowed happily. “Miss, you’re back! How did Master do?”
“The rankings won’t be released until next month. We won’t know until then. Are there still many chickens laying eggs these days?” Li Yu smiled.
Jin Jiu kept nodding. “Many. They can pick up more than a hundred a day!”
‘You’ve checked the surrounding hedgerows. Have they been damaged anywhere?’
“No. Brother Ruyi came to check. The two of us looked along the chicken shed and saw that the hedges and walls were all intact. The roses planted in the four circles were all growing quite well. They blocked the holes left behind.”
When Li Yu heard this, she was even more certain that those thieves were here for the cows in the cowshed.
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