Seeing Zhao Shi’s face turn pale and her legs go weak, she moved closer to Old Madam Liu and said tearfully, “Mother, I don’t want to go to jail. Let’s just admit it. You’re her grandmother anyway—what can she really do to you?”
In ancient times, common people feared the government the most.
Old Madam Liu also felt a bit scared, but she still insisted stubbornly, “She’s my granddaughter. So what if I took a bit of grain from her house? She should be filial to me!”
Liu Qingyan was both angry and amused. She retorted, “Who is your granddaughter? Our families already cut ties a few days ago. What you took from my house is theft—I can absolutely report you to the authorities!”
Old Madam Liu remained unreasonable. “Even if we cut ties, you’re still a member of the Liu family. The blood of the Liu family runs in you—you must still be filial to me!”
Her shameless words made Qingyi and Qingyou’s faces turn red with anger. Their little fists clenched tightly.
The village chief could no longer stand it and shouted angrily, “Shut up! Old Liu woman, you are being completely unreasonable!”
“The severance documents are officially stamped by the government. You cannot deny it.”
“I originally wanted to settle this within the village—just return the stolen goods and that would be the end of it. But with your attitude, I won’t interfere anymore.”
“Qingyan, report it to the authorities!”
Liu Qingyan sighed helplessly and said, “Village chief, since you’ve said so, then let’s report it.”
“From now on, everyone in the village should hide their valuables properly. Don’t let thieves get ideas again. If they dared steal from my house, they could steal from others too. Everyone be careful.”
The villagers all agreed and angrily demanded that the thieves be punished.
Hearing everyone’s condemnation, Old Madam Liu became even more frightened.
Liu Qingyan turned to the village chief and said, “Village chief, could I trouble your nephew to accompany Qingyi to report this? He’s still a child—I’m not at ease letting him go alone.”
The village chief nodded. “Alright, Da Jiang, you go with him.”
Seeing things escalate, Old Madam Liu panicked and trembled all over. She quickly begged, “Oh village chief, it’s just a small matter, why report it to the officials? Let’s just settle it ourselves—I’ll return the grain, alright?”
The village chief had originally only intended to scare them. Seeing her back down, he gave a way out. “Qingyan, since Old Madam Liu admits it and is willing to return the items, then let’s not report it. It would be embarrassing for the village if word gets out.”
After thinking for a moment, Liu Qingyan said, “Village chief, then I’ll follow your decision. But they must return the grain and the one tael of silver they stole. As for the land deed, I just remembered it was actually on me.”
When Old Madam Liu heard she still had to return the silver, she immediately exploded in anger and cursed, “You unfilial wretch! There was no silver in your rotten clothes at all!”
“Just half a sack of coarse rice and half a sack of flour! You’re trying to frame me for money? Not a chance!”
The village chief sternly rebuked her, “Old Madam Liu, you must not be so cruel!”
“You originally only gave them two taels of silver. After they bought grain, they were left with one tael. You took even their remaining grain and silver—are you trying to starve them to death?”
“Aren’t you afraid your second son and his wife will come back to settle accounts with you at night? And now you still want to deny that one tael? How can you be so heartless!”
The villagers also criticized her harshly.
Old Madam Liu’s face turned green with rage, but she had no choice but to grit her teeth and say, “I’ll return it. I’ll go home and get it now.”
After speaking, she dragged Zhao Shi away in a sorry state.
Not long after, Old Madam Liu brought back the grain and silver.
Reluctantly, she handed the silver to the village chief and said, “Village chief, you can be witness—I’ve returned everything.”
Liu Qingyan said seriously, “In front of the village chief and everyone here, you must promise that from now on, no one from your family is allowed to step into my house again. We don’t want any further contact, and we don’t want to lose anything again.”
Old Madam Liu agreed unwillingly and made the promise.
Thus, the farce finally came to an end. Liu Qingyan thanked the village chief and villagers again with her siblings.
Aunt Wang helped them carry the things home. By then it was already late, and the house was still in chaos, so the siblings began cleaning up.
On the floor, they found some mung bean sprouts scattered around—probably left behind because the old madam and Zhao Shi thought they were useless.
Liu Qingyan picked them up, washed them, and put them back into a basin, silently hoping they could still sprout properly.
After finishing cleaning, she suddenly remembered she had hunted a wild chicken but hadn’t told her siblings yet.
Seeing the two children still looking a little down, she said softly, “Qingyi, Qingyou, actually we didn’t lose the one tael of silver. After buying things, we still had over 700 copper coins, and I kept them. I even tricked Old Madam Liu into paying us one tael of silver. Happy?”
Qingyou immediately laughed. “Really, sister? That’s great! Look at how heartbroken she looked—so satisfying!”
Qingyi also said, “Sister, you’re amazing. That money was originally ours anyway.”
Seeing the children’s smiles return, Liu Qingyan added, “Look, I even caught a wild chicken. We’re having meat tonight!”
Qingyou jumped in excitement, clapping her hands, and Qingyi also bounced happily. At that moment, they finally looked like children their age—innocent and lively.
Normally, the two were too sensible, which made people feel heartache for them.
Qingyi volunteered, “Sister, I’ll boil water and pluck the feathers.”
Qingyou quickly asked, “Sister, what should I do?”
“You remove the roots from these mushrooms and wash them clean. I’ll make wild chicken stewed with mushrooms—guaranteed to make you eat until you’re overwhelmed by the aroma!”
Liu Qingyan and Qingyi quickly plucked the chicken feathers, and soon the preparation was done.
With no proper seasonings at home—no scallions, ginger, or garlic—she simply stir-fried it briefly and started stewing it with only a bit of salt.
However, she secretly added spiritual spring water, and soon the entire room was filled with an irresistible aroma. She also baked some coarse grain flatbreads.
She served a bowl of chicken meat, covered it with a plate, and placed it in a bamboo basket. Then she said to Qingyi, “Take this to the village chief’s house. Tell them the mushrooms are edible—we’ve already eaten them and they’re not poisonous.”
Although the children were tempted, they were well-mannered. Qingyou insisted on waiting for her brother to return before eating.
Qingyi carefully carried the basket, afraid of spilling anything.
When the village chief saw the chicken, he quickly said, “Child, keep this for yourselves. Why did you bring us a whole bowl?”
Grandma Li took out three eggs from the kitchen and placed them into the basket. Qingyi tried to refuse, but couldn’t, and eventually accepted them.
When he returned home, the three of them began eating. Although there were no seasonings, the meal was extremely satisfying—the taste was so delicious it enchanted them.
While eating, Qingyou said, “Sister, I’m completely overwhelmed by the aroma.”
Qingyi also said, “Sister, it’s too good—let’s save some for tomorrow.”