C34

The next day.

Soong Xintong woke up to find that the yard was a mess. She realized that it had rained the night before. Luckily, the roof had been tidied up. Otherwise, the house would have leaked water.

Soong Xintong cleaned up the courtyard with a broom before going into the kitchen to make breakfast. She had eaten all the food last night, leaving only a little hot and fatty sausage soup. She kept the principle of not wasting anything.

Dabao was still sucking on the noodles when he asked Soong Xintong, "Sister, are you going to enter the mountain today?"

"I have to go." Soong Xintong took some from her bowl and gave it to Dabao and Xiaobao. "Is that enough?"

"Enough." Little Treasure said crisply.

"I also want to go with sister." Big Treasure looked at her eagerly.

"This won't do, you have to stay at home and watch over the house. What if our family has so much silver that a thief wants to take care of us?" There were around four to three taels of silver deposited in his home. However, the house was dilapidated and the walls were useless. If someone really set their eyes on it, it would be too easy to steal it.

Now he had to find a way to earn more money and rebuild his house to protect against thieves.

"Yes, I won't go then." Big Treasure was very interested in the Gu family. "Then Little Treasure and I will stay at home and look after the house."

Little Treasure nodded sensibly.

"Alright, when sister goes out later, you guys stay at home. Don't run around any longer. If there's anything else, just call out to Grandma Qiu and the others." Soong Xintong said.

"OK, I got it. Goudan will also be coming over later. I'll teach him how to read then." Big Treasure proudly raised his head and said.

"Alright." After breakfast, Soong Xintong carried her basket into the mountain. After the rain, there were many people entering the mountain who wanted to look for Mu Er or the mushrooms, but luckily, none of them wanted to take the detour around the village.

Soong Xintong carried her basket on her back as she walked into the mountains. Along the way, she picked up a lot of wood ears, mushrooms and some rare fir fungus from the small stream that had previously cut off her ears.

He carefully dug away one or two kilograms of fir fungus and then covered his face with the dirt so that he could come back to pick more. He then continued to walk deeper into the forest and picked up quite a few mushrooms and fir fungi along the way.

As they walked deeper into the woods, the intertwining green and green woods were filled with cool wind. Wild birds would occasionally squelch past, and the faint chirping of wild animals could be heard.

Soong Xintong felt a chill on her back, and she couldn't help but want to go back.

However, she still hadn't found a place with plenty of aquatic plants. If she couldn't find tomorrow's goods, then she wouldn't be able to supply them all. If she couldn't, then what silver was she going to earn? What new house is there to build?

After searching for another hour, he was still unable to find anything. There were only a few that could be used for digging. At most, they could only be used for about ten jin.

He searched along the forest for more than half a day. The basket was filled with mushrooms, but he still couldn't find a single piece of broken ear root.

Soong Xintong looked up at the sky in disappointment. It was almost noon, and it was getting late. They had to leave the mountain earlier. As soon as they reached the mountainside, they saw a person sneakily walking towards their thatched cottage.

Soong Xintong was shocked. The kids at home should be home, right?

Soong Xintong ran back to her house in a hurry.

Soong Xintong ran to the outside of the courtyard and discovered that the door was wide open. There was no sound coming from inside the house, only a green shadow moving about the room. Soong Xintong placed the basket on the side of the house, picked up the wooden stick, and headed inside.

As soon as he entered the room, he saw a person standing by the wardrobe with his back bent and his buttocks raised. He was using something to pry open the lock.

What was the point of this? Soong Xintong picked up the wooden stick and hit her with it. "I'll beat you to death! How dare you steal into my house! Today, I will make sure you will never return!"

"Why did you come back?" Zhang Cuihua turned her head and saw Soong Xintong. Her face changed drastically. Seeing the wooden stick hitting her again, she quickly dodged to the side. "Aiyo, aiyo! I killed him! I killed him!"

"You were the one who got beaten to death, how dare you steal it from me! "Humph!" Soong Xintong knew that Grandma Zhang and the others wouldn't let the matter rest. She didn't expect that she still wasn't able to guard against it. In her heart, she was so angry that she raised her stick and swung it at Zhang Cuihua's soft flesh.

Zhang Cuihua covered her butt and wailed loudly, "Oh wow, I beat your mother to death, I really beat you to death! You unfilial thing, be careful you might be struck by lightning!"

"Xintong, what happened at home?" Uncle Xie and Grandma Qiu, who went to the mountain to pick mushrooms with broken ears, came back just in time. When they heard the shouts in the yard, they quickly came in, along with a few villagers who followed them into the mountain.

"Grandma Qiu, you came at the right time. When I came back up the mountain, I found her sneakily standing outside my house. Not only did she pry open my house's door, she even pricked the lock on my cabinet." Soong Xintong pointed at the copper lock on the ground. "If I hadn't come back earlier, this shitty thatched cottage might not have belonged to us in the future."

"Who dares to look at your crappy house?" Zhang Cuihua glanced at the worn-out thatched cottage with disdain and spat. A moment ago, she was still a bit worried, but there were quite a few women among these people that she was good friends with. No matter what, they would still say a few words for her.

Soong Xintong asked casually, "Then what is it for?"

"Of course I'm looking for you …" Zhang Cuihua suddenly reacted after she said half of what she wanted to say. She hastily covered her mouth with her hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, all of you have heard that this aunt has personally admitted to prying open my house to find my things. Although I don't know what it is, her actions are already a crime of theft. I am going to capture her and have her be punished by the old master!" Soong Xintong didn't care whether Zhang Cuihua said it or not. She had caught him red-handed today and had to send him to the government to grind him a layer of skin.

"You have to chop off your hands for stealing!" Uncle Xie shouted.

"Grandma Qiu, can you help me tie her up?" Soong Xintong took out a hemp rope from somewhere and walked towards Zhang Cuihua.

Zhang Cuihua paled. "You can't do this, I'm your uncle's mother."

"Hehe, this aunt here, don't you dare try to get along with a relative. We're not married to each other." Soong Xintong sneered.

Grandma Qiu and the other two families had a deep grudge with Zhang Cuihua. They were happy to help tie her up, so they quickly tied her up.

"You dare!?" Big Red, save me! " Zhang Cuihua shouted at the other women.

The other women did not want to get involved, and some were happy to see her make a fool of herself.

Zhang Cuihua saw that they were unmoved and scolded loudly, "When my son becomes an Elementary Scholar, once he becomes an official in the future, I'll teach you a lesson!" You all will regret it in the future! "

The women's faces changed and they wanted to say something, but they were interrupted by Grandma Qiu, "scholar candidate hasn't even passed the exam, yet you want to be a high-ranking official? Maybe only scholar candidate will be able to take the exam! "

"You dare curse my son, I'll kill you, you damned woman!" Zhang Cuihua was so angry that her eyes turned red. Her son would definitely take the exam and become a high-ranking official.

"I'll have to trouble Grandma Qiu to drag this thief outside. I'll clean up the room before coming out." Soong Xintong said.

"Alright, alright."

"Xintong, we need to get the lock and things to open it. These are the evidence!" Xie Daniu had experience working outside all year round.

"I'm innocent. I just came in to take a look. I didn't steal anything." When Zhang Cuihua saw that she was really going to be sent away, she panicked and struggled desperately. "Let go of me, you can't wrongly accuse a good person."

Good people? Soong Xintong sniggered. "If there's anything wrong, just scream at the yamen!" "Uncle Xie, it's so noisy to cover her mouth!"