Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Questioning Xiaoyu, Investigating the Thieves’ Lair

Ling Chengyan didn’t insist. She picked up the thermos and filled it with water. The old woman pulled some broken pancakes and dry cornbread from the basket, broke them into pieces, put them in a bowl, soaked them in soup, and seriously finished a bowl of food with a bite of dry food and a sip of soup.

Ling Chengyan poured half a bowl of hot water for her again, saying, “Let the child drink some too.”

The child had eaten dry food just now, but hadn’t drunk much water. Leaving here, the grandmother and grandchild would probably only have river or pond water to drink, and having a sip of hot water wouldn’t be easy.

“Thank you so much, really met a kind-hearted person,” the old woman muttered, calling the child over to drink some water.

The child, naturally playful, was squatting by the side poking at an ant nest under the tree now that he had eaten his fill.

The water was hot and needed to cool before drinking, so Ling Chengyan took the opportunity to ask the old woman where she was from, what the situation was at home, and who else was traveling with her, and so on.

The old woman answered one by one. Their home wasn’t far from Xiaoyu’s, but they belonged to two different counties. Moreover, the grandmother was old, and the grandchild was young, so the villagers didn’t want to take them with their group, and they walked here slowly by themselves.

“I heard it’s raining back home. We’ll be going back in a few days. If we don’t, we’ll miss the autumn crops,” the old woman said very earnestly. Because of the drought, they had no grain and had to come out to beg for food to survive. Once the situation at home improved, they would go back to their hometown.

Ling Chengyan gave them another pancake before sending the grandmother and grandson on their way.

Upon returning, Ling Chengyan explained the situation to Xiaoyu.

“I haven’t seen this granny and child before, but I know their place is less than twenty li from my village,” Xiaoyu said.

Ling Chengyan looked at her and asked, “I just heard that granny say it’s rained where you’re from, and they’re all eager to get back to plant the autumn grain… Xiaoyu, what are you planning? Do you want me to buy you a bus ticket to go back?”

Xiaoyu had her head down at first. Hearing these words, she suddenly looked up at Ling Chengyan but then lowered her head despondently again. As her head went down, tears began to fall drop by drop.

Ling Chengyan didn’t persuade or urge her, quietly waiting for her to make her own choice.

Just then, little Shi Tou, who wasn’t sleeping well, made a few humming sounds. Ling Chengyan went over to check on him, tidying up the swaddle he had kicked off. As she did, she began planning in her mind; since she had bought coarse cloth, she should make some pants that he could wear lying down.

In a few days, as the weather warmed, the little one would be five, six months old. The aunts and cousins said that a child should be able to sit up by six months according to the ’three rolls, six sits, eight crawls’ saying. Keeping him swaddled would obviously not work by then.

While she was tidying Shi Tou, Xiaoyu came over quietly and whispered, “There’s no one left at my house… If sister can let me stay, I won’t go back, I can do any work, and I’m not picky about food—two bowls of porridge a day is enough…”

Ling Chengyan sighed softly and took her to the outer room, pulling two small benches to sit facing each other.

“I was asking if you’re going back, not to drive you away but just to see how you feel. If there are family members back home, I’d buy a ticket for you to go back,” Ling Chengyan said.

Saying this, Ling Chengyan paused, looking at Xiaoyu, who had her head down.

Xiaoyu hurriedly looked up and said, “Sister, please let me stay, I can do any work…”

Ling Chengyan placed her hand on Xiaoyu’s and smiled slightly, “If you don’t want to go back, just stay peacefully. Our home doesn’t lack for one more mouth to feed.”

“Sister, are you saying, that I can stay?” Xiaoyu asked somewhat incredulously, looking at Ling Chengyan, forgetting her shyness and timidity.

Ling Chengyan nodded with a smile, patting her, “I asked someone to buy fabric this morning, thinking of making you a new set of clothes. Since you’ve decided to stay, live with peace of mind, and don’t overthink it.”

She could see that Xiaoyu had been feeling uneasy staying here, taking on all the chores and not daring to eat her fill.

It’s not about being hungry for many days, even an ordinary girl in her teens needs a lot to eat, as that’s when they’re still growing. A pancake and a bowl of porridge might not be enough. But Xiaoyu only had half a bowl of porridge and half a pancake, claiming she was full and wouldn’t eat more.

Since she intended to let her stay, Ling Chengyan made things clear, allowing her to stay with peace of mind so everyone could feel at ease.

After addressing this issue, Ling Chengyan went to prepare the beef, planning to chop it into stuffing for dumplings in the evening to treat herself.

Sharpening the knife, preparing the cutting board, and letting the cleaned beef drain…

As she was busy, two or three more villagers came to buy beef, all smiling at the scene she arranged. With a family of many, eating braised meat, each person would only get a small piece. So after buying beef, they would usually grind it up to make dumplings or buns. One jin of beef mixed with several big radishes could make two large pots of buns, enough for a family to have a hearty meal.

Ling Chengyan cut the meat for each person and sent them on their way, ready to start chopping the stuffing when Wang Lianqi arrived after his meeting.

Wang Lianqi came to inform Ling Chengyan: After discussions at the commune meeting and gaining county approval, each team’s security director and militia captain were asked to gather intelligence. A unified action would take place at night.

The task for each team’s militia was to make sure to get a clear picture of the situation with the groups of migrants gathering outside the village so that the commune could take targeted action that evening.

After passing on the notification, Wang Lianqi continued to inform other militias. Fearing leakage, this time, the notification couldn’t be shouted through loudspeakers but had to be delivered household by household.

Ling Chengyan handed the meat to Xiaoyu to chop slowly. After tidying up a bit, she went to the team headquarters to gather.

Nanli Team had more than thirty militiamen. After a brief discussion upon gathering, they quickly decided to spread out, imitating activities like working in the fields, gathering firewood, and fishing, to investigate the areas around the village in the woods and underbrush.

Ling Chengyan took a fishing net, accompanied by Zhang Wanxiang and Wu Qingyun, followed by their family dog, Da Huang, walking along the water channel toward the north village canal.

The water in the ditch was newly released for spring, with clear quality and transparent enough to see groups of small fish fry swimming. However, there were no big fish, not even larger crucian carps.

“Sister Yan, the newly released water in the canal might not have many fish,” Zhang Wanxiang observed.

Ling Chengyan replied, “Whether there are fish or not, we’ll find out by casting a net.”

With that, she jiggled the rope loop in her hand, “And if there aren’t any fish, we can lay some traps. Maybe we’ll catch a few rabbits tomorrow.”

Without stopping, they walked straight to the canal, soon reaching the edge of the underbrush and bushes.

Ling Chengyan handed the net to Zhang Wanxiang, took a rope loop for herself, and entered the woods, followed closely by Wu Qingyun carrying a fishing spear.

The trees had just started to bud, and plenty of wild vegetables were sprouting beneath the trees.

As she walked in, she observed her surroundings. It wasn’t very noticeable from the outside, but upon entering the woods, it was clear that the leaves had been plucked, and most of the wild vegetables on the ground had been dug up too…

Pretending to set rabbit snare traps, she followed the signs deeper, spotting a large pile of chicken feathers mixed with organs under a clump of purple-leaved locusts. They were shallowly buried, half-covered, half-exposed, attracting many flies, and giving off a nauseating stench.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep