I traveled back to ancient times, but I was able to lie down and relax.

"Tsk tsk tsk," Liu Nanjia took the silver piece, "There's still oil on it, cousin, uncle, still not admitting it?"

"I picked it up from the ground, I didn't steal it!" Liu Anhe finally mustered up the courage to shout when he saw his father being held back by several people, no longer uttering words in short bursts.

"Why doesn't my cousin say where he found it? My family keeps our silver in the main room. Even if it's on the ground, it's not like it went into someone else's house and he said he found it. Taking it without asking is stealing."

"You, you did this on purpose!" Liu Song realized something was wrong. They originally wanted to get their hands on the fried chicken recipe, but those guys were guarding against them like thieves, and they couldn't see how it was made at all.

That's when they decided to steal the silver directly.

Today I saw Liu Nanjia and a few others making braised pork and talking about calculating the money. After they finished, the door to that room was still wide open.

He then let his son sneak in to take a look when no one was looking, and sure enough, his son found a piece of silver.

Looking back now, their behavior today was so deliberate; they had been waiting for me all along.

"Heh," Liu Nanjia sneered, "Uncle, you really know how to shirk responsibility. Did I let my cousin into the house? Did I tell him to pick up the silver on the ground? Or did I tell you to keep refusing to return the money even after I reminded you several times?"

"Alright, stop embarrassing yourselves. You really are a family. The Fang family did something that was reported to the whole village last time. Do you want me to report it too? Two thieves have appeared in the eldest branch of the Liu family?" the village headman said angrily.

He also realized that Liu Yanxi had deliberately called him here today, but he wasn't angry. Nan Jia was right. They had only revealed a small flaw, and the two of them had taken the bait. Who could they blame?

Even though they've separated their households, they still manage to cause so much trouble and bully these kids. How badly must they have been bullied when they lived together?

Li Zheng sighed inwardly, "After doing something like this, they shouldn't continue working here. Nan Jia, I'll take charge for you. Send these two home."

"Thank you, Uncle Village Chief." Liu Nanjia smiled.

Today's events unfolded exactly as she had planned. She was initially worried that they wouldn't take the bait, but they turned out to be even more foolish than she had imagined.

That piece of silver was something she had prepared specially over the past few days. Simply dipping it in a little oil wouldn't achieve the same effect. She had placed it next to the oil pan and let it be smoked by the fumes for several days, and then soaked it in waste oil for a long time before putting it on the ground.

Liu Anhe was a timid and cowardly person. When stealing, he was afraid of being discovered, so he would just take the food and leave without paying attention to such details.

"Wait," Liu Nanjia called out to Liu Anhe and his son as they were about to leave dejectedly.

Then he took out his purse, poured out a handful of copper coins, and handed them to Liu Song.

"This is your wages for the past few days, uncles. Please count it. I don't want anyone else causing trouble later."

Looking at the copper coins in his father's hand, Liu Anhe felt a pang of regret, as if he shouldn't have listened to his father and mother.

The daily wage is 15 coins. My father and I have earned more than 100 coins in the past few days. If we continue to work honestly, earning more than 200 coins is not a problem. So why should we steal that piece of silver?

Liu Song, however, clearly did not share this sentiment. He carefully counted the numbers, snorted coldly, and left.

"Uncles and elders, we were the ones who set things off today, which led to what happened later. We apologize for taking up your time," Liu Yanxi said to the other workers.

"Hey, what's there to apologize for? We get paid for coming here. Besides, today's show was more exciting than any play I've ever seen in town! Don't you all agree?"

The first person to speak was not Uncle Wang, but someone else from the village.

These words drew laughter from the others. Indeed, who usually has the means to pay to see a show? They paid for it today and got to watch it, giving them plenty to talk about for days to come.

Although the village head did not inform the entire village about this incident, with so many people witnessing it, the news quickly spread throughout the village. Everyone present recounted what happened that day more than once, and some villagers, who had already heard it before, still listened with great interest.

So the whole Dushui Village knew that the Liu family's eldest branch had lost face again, and that Old Master Liu was so angry that he couldn't even eat.

The villagers living near the Liu family's old house have been hearing angry curses coming from his house every day for the past few days, and they haven't had a single day of peace.

A few days later, the work in Liu Nanjia's yard was finished. The amount of work was not large, except that Liu Nanjia had requested that the bathroom and toilet have floor tiles laid, which took some extra effort.

Liu Nanjia usually doesn't have time, so he chooses to invite the village head and the men who work to his home for a meal on his day off.

If a new house is completed, a banquet is usually held, but since they only built two more rooms, a simple banquet will suffice.

Apart from the two from the Liu family, everyone else worked very hard, otherwise they wouldn't have finished so quickly, so Liu Nanjia certainly wouldn't be stingy with food.

We asked Aunt Wang to come and help. She started working from morning. Of course, she made enough fried chicken and bread that she sold herself, and she also made the braised pork that everyone had been craving that day.

Those people ate so much that they didn't even have time to talk. By the end of the meal, all the food on the table was gone, not even a drop of soup or broth was left.

After finishing their meal, they finally had time to chat. One of the more outgoing people spoke up, "Nan Jia, when are you going to build a new house? You must let your uncle come over again! I've been eating your braised dishes these past few days, and I haven't been able to enjoy my meals at home. Today's meal made even the braised dishes seem unappetizing."

His words elicited a burst of laughter.

Liu Nanjia smiled and said, "No problem. In the future, if there is any work to be done at my house, I will definitely ask you uncles and elders first."

Liu Yanxi, Song Chen, and Li Zheng were at the same table, talking at this moment.

The village head said, "The new classroom has been built. Yanxi, are you ready to start teaching?"

"I'm ready, Uncle Village Head. Ever since Brother Chen recovered from his injury and went to town in my place, I've been preparing at home. However, I've only tried teaching Little Sister so far; I'm not sure how it will go with the other children."

Liu Yanxi was a little embarrassed. He was only 13 years old and he was about to start teaching other children. He felt a little unsure of himself.

“That’s easy. I’ll bring my little stone over first, and you can use him to test it out,” the village head said with a smile.

"And my son, Xiao Hu, let him come too. You can try him out. If he doesn't listen, you can hit him!" Uncle Wang also chimed in. They had become quite familiar with each other over the past few days.

Song Chen also said, "Yan Xi, don't worry. I've seen you teach Si Rou, and you've taught her very well."

As it turned out, both of them were impatient and brought their children over the very next day.

Liu Yanxi looked at these people:

Stone, a little girl who is a little over 3 years old, her own younger sister, and two others beside her...

Yes, there are two. Uncle Wang not only sent his 10-year-old son, but also packed up his eldest son and threw him over as well.

The small ones are so small, and the big ones are so big, Liu Yanxi couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache.