You are unlucky and I am tough

Cheng Shuang ran to open the door, and outside was Lin Erlang. He was sweating from running, and his trouser legs were still rolled up and covered in mud.

Lin Erlang is a servant of a wealthy family in the town. Now his family of three lives at the foot of the North Mountain and takes care of more than 100 acres of soybeans.

Because the watermelon field is on the north side of the mountain, the people from the restaurant transport the goods out in truckloads, and the villagers all know that the watermelons can be sold for money. They are not afraid of the large number of villagers during the day, but they are afraid that thieves will sneak in at night to steal the watermelons.

So after Wei Qinglang got the goods from the restaurant for the first time, he went to find Old Man Lin who lived at the foot of the north mountain. He paid him 900 coins a month and asked them to help watch the watermelon field at night to prevent anyone from stealing the watermelons.

Old man Lin and his two sons didn't have much to do on a regular basis, so they didn't mind earning some extra money, so they took the job and took turns keeping watch every night.

Seeing that it was Cheng Shuang who opened the door, Lin Erlang took two steps back and said, "Sister-in-law, is Brother Qinglang home?"

"He went to the vegetable garden, what happened?" Cheng Shuang asked in confusion.

"Someone picked your watermelons."

Lin Erlang said, "A middle-aged man, he was very aggressive when I asked him about it. He said that this was his son's melon field and he could pick as many as he wanted.

But Brother Qinglang told us before, except for your family and the people who buy goods for the restaurant, everyone else is a thief, tell him if you see him."

Cheng Shuang frowned. She knew who it was and asked, "Is he alone?"

"The first and second times it was just one person, and the third time there were three people so I went over to stop them, but they refused to listen and were very aggressive.

Oh, sister-in-law, when I just came here, the three of them left again, and they brought a big sack with them."

It turned out that this morning, when the Lin family's father and son were working, they saw a middle-aged man swaggering into the watermelon field, picking a watermelon, carrying it on his shoulders and going back.

They just saw the man at night, and when he came so openly in broad daylight, they thought he was sent by the Wei family and ignored him.

Then less than an hour later, the man came again, picked another melon and left. Lin Erlang felt something was wrong and thought of going back to tell the Wei family.

Unexpectedly, three people came in the afternoon. Lin Erlang ran over to stop them, but the middle-aged man pointed at his nose and scolded him, saying that this was his son's land, which made him confused.

Lin Erlang went home to discuss with his father. Although they were only paid for watching over the house at night, they decided to inform the Wei family after the discussion.

Because they had all met everyone in the Wei family, and they knew that Wei Qinglang was the head of the family, and he had no parents or elders above him, so what that person said might not be true.

When Lin Erlang went out, he saw the three men carrying sacks and heading towards the watermelon field again, so he ran all the way here.

After understanding the situation, Cheng Shuang said to Lin Erlang, "Thank you, Erlang. Could you please run to the field to call Qinglang for me? I'll go over and take a look first."

Lin Erlang nodded hurriedly: "No problem, sister-in-law! I can run fast, just tell me the location."

The vegetable field was quite far away, so Cheng Shuang told Lin Erlang the approximate location, locked the gate and went out. She did not go to the watermelon field but went directly to the Wei family's old house.

The day she and Wei Qinglang had a hasty wedding was also the first day Wei Qinglang separated from the Wei family. They had lived together for such a long time, and she had only visited the Wei family's old house once last time when she was treating a headache.

The courtyard of the Wei family's old house is not surrounded by an earthen wall, but by a fence that is almost one person high. You can see people in the yard from the outside without going in.

The door outside was not closed, so Cheng Shuang walked in directly. Inside, Li Xianglan and Wei Xiaokui's wife Li Chunyan were sharing watermelon with several children around the table. A large watermelon on the table was divided into two halves, and one half was cut into many small pieces.

The threshed rice and the unthreshed rice were mixed together on the ground in the yard and thrown under the sun to dry. The whole yard was in a mess and there was no cleanup.

Cheng Shuang didn't know where to go in. She frowned and stood at the door, raising her voice and asking, "Is the stolen watermelon delicious?"

Everyone in the yard turned around when they heard the sound. Li Chunyan was timid and was so scared when she saw Cheng Shuang that her hands shook and the watermelon in her hand fell.

Li Xianglan was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted and went out to greet him with a flattering smile on her face, "Oh, it's my third brother's wife."

She reached out to pull Cheng Shuang, but Cheng Shuang dodged sideways without leaving a trace.

Cheng Shuang's face was cold. "You haven't answered me yet? Is the stolen watermelon delicious? Is it sweet?"

Li Xianglan froze in place, caught red-handed. She didn't know how to respond, and none of the men in her family were at home.

"This was not stolen. My grandfather took it back." Wei Dakai's eldest son stiffened his neck and shouted righteously.

He was a few months older than Wei Xinyi and was the most favored grandson in the family. His mouth was full of watermelon juice, and his arrogant look was exactly the same as his father's.

Cheng Shuang looked at him coldly, "Your grandfather brought it back? Then where did your grandfather get it from? Taking something without asking is stealing. Don't you understand such a simple principle?"

The child was frightened by Cheng Shuang's severity and opened his mouth for a while without daring to say a word.

Li Xianglan quickly tried to smooth things over with a smile on her face, "Oh, Third Sister-in-law, the child is ignorant. Don't bother with him. Come in and sit down and talk."

Li Xianglan knew where the watermelons came from, but she didn't think it was stealing. Even if her father-in-law picked them without permission, now that she knew it, it was just a few watermelons that she could just talk about.

Cheng Shuang dodged her hand, walked in sideways, looked at the table, and said, "One."

Then he went to the kitchen and saw three more on the table. He continued, "Two, three, four."

Feeling the number was wrong, she came out and asked Wei Da Kui's little daughter, who was not even four years old, "Miao Miao, where are the watermelon rinds from the watermelon you ate this morning?"

"My mother was thrown into the river..."

Before Wei Miaomiao could finish her words, Li Xianglan rushed over and covered her mouth.

Cheng Shuang got the answer and held out her hand. "Five in total, twenty coins per catty, so each catty is ten catties. One ounce of silver, thank you."

Li Xianglan looked at the hand extended to her, "Third sister-in-law, w-what do you mean?"

Cheng Shuang looked innocent. "Watermelon money? This is the price I sell to Taibailou. Since you said you didn't steal it, I'll consider it yours. But next time, don't pick them without my permission. Even if I sell my watermelons, I have to share them with everyone. I won't sell them to just anyone."

There was a moment of silence in the yard. After a while, Li Chunyan muttered softly, "It's just a few watermelons. We're all family, is it necessary to make such a fuss?"

Li Xianglan also said, "Third sister-in-law, although the family has been divided, your father-in-law is still your husband's stepfather. What you said is too much."

"You don't want to pay?"

Li Xianglan just didn't want to give any money. She looked away guiltily, "I don't have any money. All the money in the family is in my father-in-law's hands. We can't even give a copper coin, let alone a tael."

Li Chunyan nodded quietly in agreement, "Yes, we are not as lucky as you, Third Brother's wife. Third Brother is so good to you. He has money to buy you clothes and jewelry."

Li Xianglan and Li Chunyan were both from the Lijia Village in front. They had known each other since childhood and had quarreled many times over the years since they became sisters-in-law. Now they were united against the outside world.

The main reason was that these two often talked about Cheng Shuang behind her back, saying that if the family had not split up, the one thousand taels from selling the Ganoderma lucidum would have been enough for the whole family, and they would never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of their lives.

Even though they had already separated, the couple was still so cruel and showed no mercy, which made them jealous so much that their eyes turned red.