Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Dai You tightened his grip on Xia Lanyue's arm.

Xia Lanyue gasped in pain, trying to shake off the hand, but she wasn't strong enough. "It hurts!"

Xia Lanyue glared at Dai You.

Dai You stared at her coldly.

"Let go," Xia Lanyue said.

Dai You didn't let go, but slightly reduced his grip, and just looked at her without saying a word.

After a while of this standoff, Xia Lanyue realized that it was wrong of her to hide her drinking from him, so she smiled and asked in a gentle tone, "Could you let go of my hand first?"

Dai You remained silent, continuing to stare at her as before.

Xia Lanyue sighed, "I won't drink next time, but if I do drink, I'll definitely take you with me."

Dai You didn't say anything.

"I just had a craving for alcohol, so I had a few drinks. I didn't drink too much, so it won't harm my health."

"When did your relationship become so good that you drink together?" Dai You finally spoke up.

Xia Lanyue was taken aback, then explained, "It's not that good. I stole some of his wine yesterday..."

Dai You looked at her in surprise, "You stole wine."

"I had no choice. I wanted to drink, but you wouldn't buy me any, so I had to steal his wine. He caught me red-handed, and we ended up drinking a few cups together," Xia Lanyue said, feigning anger as she turned her head away.

Dai You sighed, shook off her hand, and turned to face away.

Xia Lanyue walked around to Dai You and said, "Don't worry, I've known him before, he won't have any bad intentions."

Dai You glanced at her, then looked away. "Didn't you say you don't remember anything? How do you know if his intentions are good or bad?"

“He vouched for us and took us in. Doesn’t that prove it? If he wanted to harm us, he wouldn’t have needed to lift a finger. If we had just kept quiet that day, we would all be in jail.”

Still angry, Dai You looked at her coldly without saying a word, then turned and went into the kitchen to prepare the meal.

Xia Lanyue stood in the courtyard, not daring to speak. She didn't know if Dai You had accepted her explanation or not. Only when Dai You came out to speak to her did she feel relieved.

“I’m going to deliver the food. Wait for me to come back, and we’ll go to the village chief’s house together,” Dai You said coldly.

Xia Lanyue quickly put on a smile and nodded, "Mm."

As soon as Dai You left, Xia Lanyue ran into the kitchen. She wanted to grab something to eat to fill her stomach, but the moment she lifted the pot lid, she shook her head sadly. There wasn't a single drop of porridge left in the pot.

She began to regret what she had said that morning, but knew it was useless to regret it. Helpless, she had no choice but to make a plate of rice cakes herself.

After filling her stomach, Xia Lanyue looked at the half-eaten rice cake on the plate and decided to leave it for A Xiang.

After tidying up, Xia Lanyue stood outside the yard looking around, waiting for Dai You to return so they could go to Village Chief Zhao's house together.

She didn't know if it was because she was anxious or what, but she felt that Dai You had been out for an unusually long time today.

Finally, a familiar figure appeared in the distance; it was Dai You who had returned.

He seemed to be in a good mood. As soon as we met, he was eager to share what he had seen and heard. "I just saw Uncle Tian. He said that the person we caught yesterday was Wei Yuanwai. It seems that the grain theft may really be related to the conflict with Acheng."

"Is Master Wei trying to pay off his debt with grain? It's called stealing, but it's actually robbery. But wait, other families also lost grain. Does Master Wei have a grudge against everyone?" Xia Lanyue asked.

Dai You pondered something, then shook his head. "I'm not sure, but I'll find out soon. Wait for me to put down the food box, and we'll talk as we walk."

Dai You came out of the door, left the door slightly ajar, and walked with Xia Lanyue toward Chief Zhao's house.

"Is Xia Yao still in the house?" Dai You asked.

"He just went back to his room and lay down, and hasn't come out since. What happened?" Xia Lanyue asked cautiously.

"It's okay, just ask."

Xia Lanyue and Dai You hadn't walked far when they saw a familiar figure ahead—it was Tian Guang.

"Uncle Tian," Xia Lanyue ran over.

Tian Guang looked at Xia Lanyue with a beaming smile, as if she were his own daughter, "How is Lanyue's health?"

"It's ready."

"Is Uncle Tian going to see Village Chief Zhao?"

Tian Guang nodded. "You guys are going too?" After receiving an affirmative answer, he said, "We should go and see. Now that the person has been caught, it's time to clear your names."

After walking a few steps, Tian Guang said again, "The salted corn that A-Yue made was quite delicious. A-Xiang gave us some yesterday, saying that it was made by Aunt Yue. You know quite a lot."

"Hey, Uncle Tian, ​​I'm thinking of taking that to the market to sell, what do you think?"

“Okay, it’s a novel dish that none of us have ever seen before, everyone will like it,” Tian Guang said with a smile.

Now, Xia Lanyue had confidence.

Soon, they arrived at Village Chief Zhao's house.

Many people had already arrived at Zhao's house and were gathered outside the door. Most of these faces were those who had appeared at Tian's house that night, including Zhao Feng and the tall, thin man.

Xia Lanyue leaned closer and peered into the courtyard, observing the situation. The courtyard gate was locked, preventing villagers from entering. The house was crowded with people, making it impossible to see what they were doing.

The tall, thin man walked over and greeted Xia Lanyue, "You're here too?"

Xia Lanyue was taken aback. When she saw it was him, she ignored him and walked towards Dai You.

“He Yuan is greeting you,” Tian Guang said.

"Huh? Do I know him?" Xia Lanyue asked.

Tian Guang smiled and didn't say anything more.

"Are you still angry? I misunderstood you last time," He Yuan said as he walked over.

Xia Lanyue glanced at him sideways, "Being falsely accused for no reason, who wouldn't be angry?"

"I apologize to you. Please forgive me, you're too kind to hold a grudge," He Yuan said with a forced smile.

"Forgive him. He doesn't know who did it. He mistook someone for someone else. It wasn't intentional," an auntie nearby advised.

"So you're saying it wasn't intentional? You're so nonchalant, while my brother and I have been misunderstood terribly," Xia Lanyue said, not intending to forgive him so easily.

"Stop arguing, Village Chief Zhao is out," another auntie nearby said.

Village Chief Zhao came out of the house, faced the door, and said to the villagers, "Everyone, I'd like to tell you about the progress of the theft. We've caught one thief and he's confessed, and we've recovered some of the grain, but the amount of grain is still far from what you've lost."

Upon hearing this, the villagers began to discuss it amongst themselves.

"Everyone, please be quiet," Village Chief Zhao continued. "We are still investigating the whereabouts of some of the missing grain, so it will take some time before this matter is resolved."

Who stole it?

“Wei Liangxing,” said Village Chief Zhao.

"Village Chief Zhao, how many bushels of grain have you recovered?" He Yuan asked.

“Ten bushels,” said Village Chief Zhao.

“What? Only ten shi? I heard we lost more than forty shi. That’s a huge difference,” He Yuan complained.

"Who told you it was more than forty shi?" After asking, Village Chief Zhao turned to look at the people inside the house.

"Huh? Nobody's here?" He Yuan said softly.

"The amount of grain lost was less than forty shi (a unit of dry measure), and someone reported the wrong amount. As for who it was, I know in my heart."

"When will we receive the grain?" He Yuan asked.

"In a few days, the grain will be distributed according to the proportion of the amounts reported by everyone. I will have Li Chuan notify everyone to collect it then. If there is nothing else, everyone can go home now."

Having said that, although the group didn't want to leave, they knew there was little point in staying, so they all headed back into the village.

Xia Lanyue and Dai You did not leave. They waited outside the courtyard after everyone else had left.