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In the early morning, the sunlight shone on the earth, giving people a warm and comfortable feeling. After a quick breakfast, Ruan Xiaojun and his younger brother Ruan Xiaohai went to their family's field to begin their day's work.

The land allocated to Ruan Xiaojun's family was very close to their home, not because they were lucky, but because they received secret assistance from the clan chief. When the land was initially allocated, Ruan Dongchang was used to bullying Ruan Xiaojun's family, so this time he planned to give them the furthest and worst land as well.

So he divided all the good land into one plot, then divided the middle plot into another, and finally left the worst land as a separate plot.

Upon seeing this method of land allocation, the clan chief immediately understood Ruan Dongchang's malicious intentions. To help Ruan Xiaojun's family, the clan chief decided to tamper with the lot-drawing slips. He marked all the slips with the best plot of land, since few in the village were literate and wouldn't know what he had written.

Then, the clan chief gestured for Ruan Xiaojun, the eldest son, to draw lots first. When Ruan Xiaojun drew his lot and handed it to the village chief and clan chief for inspection, they discovered that it was the best piece of land.

After confirming that everything was correct, the clan chief quickly destroyed the other undrawn slips in his hand to prevent others from discovering the secret.

Although Ruan Zhangshi cried and made a fuss about this division of property, everyone ignored her unreasonable behavior and accused her of deliberately bullying her eldest daughter-in-law's family.

When Ruan Xiaojun and Ruan Xiaohai arrived at their own paddy field, they were dumbfounded. Yesterday, the rice seedlings in the field were growing well and they were ready to start transplanting them. But who would have thought that this morning they looked like they had been ravaged by some animal, with only half a foot of roots left, and footprints everywhere.

Ruan Xiaojun was furious. He quickly told his younger brother to stay in the field while he followed the footprints to investigate. Just then, several villagers who had gotten up early to work in the fields saw Ruan Xiaojun looking down and searching for something. They asked curiously, "Xiaojun, what are you looking for so early in the morning?"

Without looking up, Ruan Xiaojun continued to stare at the road, answering as he walked, "Last night, I don't know what kind of animal ate all the rice seedlings in my field, so I followed these footprints to see where it came from." His tone was full of anger and helplessness.

Those who heard the news screamed in alarm, then quickly turned and ran towards their fields, shouting repeatedly, "What a tragedy! Are they trying to kill us all?!"

After speeding to their fields, the villagers quickly checked their rice seedlings and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that they were all safe and sound.

Just then, someone finally noticed Ruan Xiaohai standing by the field with a mournful face, so they quickly went up to him and asked, "Xiaohai, why are only your rice seedlings being eaten like this?"

Faced with everyone's questions, Ruan Xiaohai looked bewildered and didn't know how to answer, so he could only sigh helplessly.

"Xiaohai, stop daydreaming and hurry up and go to the field to tidy up. See if those roots can sprout again in the next few days. If they really can't, I'll go check it out later and see if I can get some seedlings from our land for your family."

The person who spoke was Ruan Dongming, who lived near the ancestral hall. Last night, after finishing his farm work and returning home, he heard from his wife that Ruan Xiaohai's family had moved out and lived separately. At the time, he was happy that they had been allocated fertile land. But who knew that when he went to the fields this morning, he would find that all the rice seedlings had been destroyed beyond recognition.

Upon hearing Ruan Dongming's words, Ruan Xiaohai felt as if he had been granted a pardon and thanked him repeatedly: "Uncle Dongming, thank you so much! I'll start working right away, please don't worry."

Meanwhile, Ruan Xiaojun was following the footprints. However, he was surprised to find himself back at the pigsty of the old family home. Looking at the mud still clinging to the pig's leg, he was almost certain that this was the pig that had eaten their rice seedlings.

He dared not speak out easily, partly because he had always harbored a deep fear of the old woman. Although he deduced from the footprints that the old woman's pigs had damaged the seedlings, he lacked concrete evidence to prove it. Helpless, he could only return to his home in the ancestral hall, filled with indignation.

"Xiaojun, didn't you go to the fields? Why are you back so soon?" Chen Donghua noticed her eldest son returning with a face full of resentment and couldn't help but ask him.

"Mom, all the rice seedlings in our field are ruined!" Ruan Xiaojun said, his voice trembling with tears. Although he was already sixteen years old, he was still just a child who had not yet fully grown up.

As Ruan Mumu lay in her room, pondering how to secretly take things out of her spatial storage without arousing suspicion, she suddenly heard someone enter the room. Immediately afterward, she heard Ruan Xiaojun and Chen Donghua whispering to each other.

Ruan Mumu quickly got up and walked out of the corridor, where she immediately saw Chen Donghua and Ruan Xiaojun talking. She hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "Brother, are you sure it was Grandma's pig that ruined our seedlings? If you are sure, we need to go find the clan chief right away! What a coincidence! We just separated the family yesterday, and the seedlings were destroyed first thing this morning."

Upon hearing this, Chen Donghua thought it made a lot of sense, and she hurriedly urged Ruan Xiaojun to report the matter to the clan chief. After all, the whole family depended on this land for their livelihood. If they lost the rice seedlings and missed the planting season, how would they survive?

Ruan Xiaojun dared not delay and immediately went to the clan chief's house to report the situation. Upon hearing this, the elderly clan chief, despite trembling slightly, insisted on personally going to the field to investigate. He followed the footprints all the way to Ruan Dongchang's house and saw a ring of mud around the pig's feet. At that moment, the clan chief understood everything.

He went straight to the main gate and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Dongchang, come out here for a second!"

Ruan Dongchang, who had just finished breakfast and was about to go out to work, heard the clan chief's voice, quickly put down what he was holding, and jogged out.

As soon as he stepped outside, he saw the clan chief standing at his door with Ruan Xiaojun. He couldn't help but wonder, "Why is Uncle Clan Chief here so early in the morning? And Xiaojun, why is he here too?"

The clan chief looked at Ruan Dongchang with an authoritative expression and reprimanded him sternly: "No matter how much you are dissatisfied with the division of the family, you can't take it out on the rice seedlings! Those are the lifeblood of Xiaojun's family! If you ruin the rice seedlings like this, how will Xiaojun's family live in the future?"

Ruan Dongchang was bewildered by the clan chief's sudden reprimand. He quickly asked, "Uncle Clan Chief, what are you talking about? What happened?"

Seeing that Ruan Dongchang seemed to know nothing about the matter, the clan chief explained to him in detail how the rice seedlings had been destroyed. Afterward, he took him to the pigsty to see the mud on the pigs' feet, and then led him to the fields.

When Ruan Dongchang saw that only the rice seedlings in Ruan Xiaojun's field were destroyed and scattered, he probably already understood that this matter was most likely related to his mother.