A thief entering the village was no small matter!
If a thief targeted the Gu family today, there was no telling if tomorrow it would be their own homes.
At once, everyone present felt uneasy and anxious.
“We must find the village head and ask him to help come up with a plan. It would be best if we could report this to the county office and have the thief caught.”
“Yes, let the village head report it to the authorities.”
At that moment, a half-grown boy standing at the doorway, unable to squeeze inside, heard that they needed to find the village head. He immediately volunteered and shouted, “I’ll go!”
With that, he ran off toward the village head’s house.
While everyone was still anxious about the theft, Cui Shi suddenly seemed to remember something important.
Her crying abruptly stopped. Then, without hesitation, she stood up, pushed through the crowd, and rushed straight into Gu Shiyi’s room.
The condition of Gu Shiyi’s room was much the same as hers—wardrobes were gone, and the bedding and bed curtains on the bed had also disappeared.
Cui Shi ran wildly through every room in the house like a madwoman.
She dashed around the house, her screams and cries echoing throughout Dahe Village.
She could not accept what she was seeing, running from room to room while crying uncontrollably.
Looking at the state of the house,
Cui Shi’s mind completely collapsed, and she fainted in the kitchen.
Those who followed behind her were shocked every time they entered a room, their mouths hanging open at the sight. What they saw was simply too astonishing.
This was not just a simple theft!
It was as if a group of bandits had passed through!
The storeroom was completely empty, not a single grain of food remained.
In the kitchen, only a lonely stove was left. Pots, bowls, ladles… everything else had vanished without a trace.
Everything was gone!
Village head Gu Chang’an hurried over. Seeing the scene at the Gu household, he fell silent.
This was definitely not the work of an ordinary petty thief—it had to be handled with caution.
After receiving the news, the village doctor rushed over as well.
He gave Cui Shi an injection, and after some time, she slowly regained consciousness.
Seeing that Cui Shi was not in serious condition, Gu Chang’an asked his wife and several other women to stay and watch over her.
He gathered the villagers at the threshing ground, informed them of what had happened, and reminded everyone to stay vigilant and not give thieves any opportunity.
After instructing the villagers, Gu Chang’an took his eldest son and hurried to the county to report the crime, hoping the authorities could solve the case quickly and recover the stolen property.
Two constables sent by the yamen followed Gu Chang’an to the village.
They first inspected the house, then walked around the backyard. Aside from shock, they found nothing—no useful clues at all.
The two constables thought to themselves that this was extremely strange.
Ordinarily, thieves steal money and grain at most. But this person had even taken cabinets, chairs, and tables, and even the stone mill from the backyard.
Even more outrageous was that the vegetable garden in the backyard had been completely uprooted.
Could it be that the Gu family had offended someone?
The constables couldn’t help but suspect this, so they questioned Cui Shi.
But Cui Shi kept shaking her head, insisting she had never offended anyone.
Seeing that they could not get anything useful from her, the constables asked why she had not been home the previous night.
After a moment of hesitation, Cui Shi explained that she had stayed at her natal family’s home for the night and only returned that morning.
With nothing further to extract from her, the constables stopped questioning her.
They then questioned Gu Chang’an and the other villagers.
Gu Chang’an and the villagers spoke all at once, describing everything that had happened to the Gu family recently.
As the constables listened, their expressions gradually became serious.
Within less than two months, one member of the family had died, and another had gone into the mountains and mysteriously disappeared, with no body ever found.
The two constables exchanged a glance and both saw a hint of fear in each other’s eyes.
Their faces darkened instantly, a flicker of alarm passing through them.
They realized this case was likely far from simple.
They decided not to ask further questions. After hastily bidding farewell to Gu Chang’an and the villagers, they said they would report the matter to the county magistrate and quickly left the Gu household.
“Brother Liu, why does the Gu family feel so eerie?”
“Exactly. The entire house was emptied out, yet not a single sound was heard. It’s truly strange!”
…
The more they talked, the more uneasy they felt, and they unconsciously quickened their pace, as if something terrifying was chasing them from behind.
Although Cui Shi was distressed, she had already experienced widowhood twice before, and her mental resilience was quite strong.
Faced with this series of strange events at home, she quickly calmed down and began analyzing the situation.
Cui Shi secretly thought that when she first saw the condition of her room, she had suspected her stepdaughter. However, based on the current situation, the theft was not done by Gu Shiyi.
She did not have the ability to empty the entire house.
It must have been a thief. She suspected that someone had been targeting her. Since she had not been home last night, the thieves likely took advantage of that opportunity to break in.
Fortunately, she had earned twenty taels of silver at Master Liu’s residence last night, plus the five taels of loose silver she already had with her, so she would not go hungry for the time being.
Moreover, Master Liu had asked her to come again in three days, so she would definitely have another source of income then.
Cui Shi no longer wanted to stay in this house.
So she made a decisive decision to have the village head accompany her to the town to reissue her property deed and land deed, just in case.
Considering that Cui Shi had just lost her husband and was newly widowed, Gu Chang’an worried that villagers might gossip about her. He therefore arranged for his wife, Hu Shi, to accompany her to the town.
With the village head present as witness, as long as a certain amount of silver was paid, the property deed and land deed could be reissued.
After arriving at the yamen, Cui Shi paid three taels of silver and successfully obtained the reissued property and land deeds.
After leaving the yamen, Cui Shi did not want to return to the village with the village head. “Village head, sister-in-law, given what has happened at home, I don’t dare go back for now. I plan to return to my natal family and stay there for a few days.”
Cui Shi’s natal family was on the other side of the county, in the opposite direction from Dahe Village.
“Younger sister-in-law, since this has already happened, don’t dwell on it too much. Taking care of your health is the most important thing,” Hu Shi said sympathetically. She felt that Cui Shi was truly pitiful. Although she had a son, the child was devoted entirely to his studies and could not help with household matters at all.
Cui Shi replied gratefully, “Thank you, sister-in-law. I’m really fine, so don’t worry.”
Cui Shi’s expression of sorrow and distress made Hu Shi feel even more pity for her, and her sympathy deepened further.