My sister became the empress, but I'm still growing vegetables and raising chickens

The dojo is spacious, and when the weather is nice, many people bring stools here to bask in the sun, mend shoe soles, sew clothes, and chat.

The children were running around the dojo.

The villagers like to gather together, so there are relatively fewer people on the other side of the temple. A few children are running back and forth among the poplar trees beside the temple.

But not today.

Today, adults and children gathered in the dojo to watch the fun.

As the second and youngest sisters walked over, they heard the loud and proud voice of Mrs. Zhang at the edge of the crowd.

"Xiao An from the Si family is such a troublemaker. This time he actually stole something. Tsk tsk tsk, stealing something, how can this be tolerated?"

The second sister's brows knitted together: "Stealing things, how could you do this, little brother!"

"How could this happen to you, little brother? I don't believe it!" the younger sister said immediately.

After she wronged her younger brother last time, she had always felt guilty and remembered what her elder sister said: no matter what happened, she had to find out the reason first before making any plans.

Before the two of them squeezed in, the chattering sounds beside them had already let them know what had happened.

"Xiao An is so restless that he actually stole the scholar's son's book. Tsk tsk tsk."

"Can he understand it? He actually stole the book."

"I understand. The Si family used to be a wealthy family, so they must know how to read and write. Don't Xiao An's sisters know how to read and write?"

"That's different. When his sisters came, they were already seven or eight years old and could remember things. He was very young then and definitely didn't know these things."

There were many different opinions, but the second and youngest sisters understood that Xiao An did not steal anything else, but books, books from Mr. Song's house.

Song Xiucai's original name was Song Ming. He passed the imperial examination in his twenties and was the most promising person in the village. He was also the pride of the Song family. Moreover, the teacher in the county town said that he had good abilities and could continue to be considered for consideration.

It was a pity that he was in poor health and caught a cold during the provincial examination. He died before he could finish the test and did not make it.

This is also the greatest sorrow for the entire Songji Village.

Fortunately, Song Xiucai's son, Song Chunbo, was born extremely smart like Song Xiucai. He loved reading very much and was able to read a lot of books at a young age.

Song Chunbo studies at the Dahu Village School. He has one day off every ten days. Today is his day off. The weather outside is good, so he sits under a poplar tree at noon with a book in his hands, reading and basking in the sun.

Maybe it was too warm, I fell asleep without realizing it.

Then his book was stolen by Xiao An.

The second and youngest sisters squeezed into the crowd and heard Si Muyan's clear voice: "You said you fell asleep, and my brother stole your book? He ran away?"

"If he didn't sneak away, then he's not stealing, right?" The village head's wife put her hands on her hips and looked at Si Muyan with an unhappy face, "If Chunbo hadn't woken up in time, he would have definitely sneaked away."

Si Muyan held Xiao An's hand and said softly, "Xiao An, tell me, did you steal his book?"

"I..." Xiao An lowered his head guiltily.

The village head's wife saw this and immediately said, "Look, he admitted it! He stole my son's book!"

"No, I didn't steal it!" Xiao An said stubbornly, "Sister, I didn't steal the book. I just... wanted to read... wanted to read that book..."

"You speak so nicely, the book is yours, so why don't you read it?"

Song Chunbo is only twelve years old, but he has been studying since he was young and is very knowledgeable in theory.

"Don't you understand that taking something without asking is stealing?"

Xiao An shrank his neck and didn't say anything.

Si Muyan still looked at Xiao An gently: "Xiao An, if what he said is true, and you took the book without asking, then they are not wronging you. But I don't think it's a big deal. You just don't understand. Just be careful next time."

This made Madam Zheng unhappy: "Si Muyan, what you said is not right. People say that when a child steals needles, he will steal gold when he grows up. How can you let a child steal things? There is a thief in our village. Won't everyone be in danger in the future?"

Si Muyan looked at her coldly: "Mrs. Xiucai, you just opened your mouth and closed it, and you labeled my brother a villain. Isn't this inappropriate?"

"Why is it inappropriate? Everyone knows that Si Jingan used to..."

"Madam Xiucai, are you planning to slander my Xiao An without any evidence?" Si Muyan shouted sternly, "What happened in the past has long been clarified. Those older kids in your village ganged up on Xiao An!"

The scholar's wife couldn't stand being bullied by a young girl like this, so she immediately said, "Why don't you think about why they only bully Xiao An and not other children?"

"Okay, okay." Si Muyan sneered and looked around. "Do I think what you said means to be xenophobic? Just because we are outsiders and not from your Song family, do we deserve to be bullied like this?"

The scholar's wife was stunned. How could she mean that?

In fact, many years ago, the entire Fenghuang County was very desolate. Most of the people who came here to escape famine settled here, so the people here are relatively less xenophobic.

More importantly, in order to increase the population, Fenghuang County required each village to have a certain number of people. Songji Village had never had many people before, and it had only started to pick up steam in the past decade or so.

Even the village head would not dare to say that locals can bully outsiders.

"I...that's not what I meant. I meant...it takes two to tango. They were wrong to bully Xiao An, but Xiao An must have had problems too."

Si Muyan was not polite at all. He rolled up his sleeves and slapped the scholar's wife.

The scholar's wife covered her face and screamed, "Why did you hit me?"

"Didn't you say that one hand clapping can't make a sound? I'll show you if you can make one!"

When the surrounding villagers heard this, they all burst into laughter.

Song Chunbo is very young, but because he is the only child in the village who can go to school, he has been admired since he was a child. He always holds his head high and looks down on others.

Seeing his mother being beaten, he was unhappy and angrily looked at Si Muyan and said, "Xiao An stole my book and refused to admit it. He even tore up my book. You actually beat my mother. I will never let you go!"

Si Muyan crossed her arms over her chest and said nothing, just wanting to see how this little brat would get through to her.

Song Chunbo's face flushed red, and after a long while he said, "You...when I go to high school in the future, I will definitely not care about you guys..."

That's it?

To be honest, Si Muyan was a little disappointed. She thought this little brat could come up with some profound truths.

She didn't bother to care about him, turned around and looked at Xiao An and said, "I heard what others said, but Xiao An, I want to hear you say it. Tell me what happened."

Xiao An lowered his head and told the whole story honestly: "I saw him lying there asleep. I was afraid he would catch a cold, so I took off my coat and put it on him... I happened to see his book thrown aside, so... I sat down next to him to read. But when he woke up, he was angry and said I stole his book..."

When Song Chunbo heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then he realized that Xiao An was not wearing a coat. When he woke up earlier, it seemed that there was indeed a coat on him, but he was busy reading his book and didn't pay attention to the clothes.

"Then what about the fact that he said you tore up his book?"