Even in a famine, there's no panic; the eldest sister has stockpiled plenty of money and grain.

"The county? Isn't he from Qianshan Village?"

"He's from Qianshan Village, but I heard from the villagers that Ji Laoliu made a fortune, bought a house in the county, and moved his whole family there."

Get rich?

Such a coincidence?

Jiang Bai's eyebrows darkened slightly.

Does anyone know where in the county they moved to?

"I don't know." Ji Yanwen shook his head, pursed his lips slightly, and then said, "If Miss Jiang needs anything, I can help you find out."

Jiang Bai raised an eyebrow in surprise: "Then thank you very much, Scholar Ji."

He's from Qianshan Village. If he's willing to help, it's much better than her asking around herself. She just doesn't know why he would help.

After walking a long way, Jiang Bai turned to look at Ji Xiucai's house. He had already entered the house, and the door was tightly closed.

"Sister, what are you looking at?"

"Er Ya, why do you think he helped us?"

"what?"

"Never mind, you're still young."

Standing at the window, Ji Yanwen saw Jiang Bai turn her head clearly. Only after the two sisters disappeared into the night did he turn around and go to the table.

He took out a tinderbox to light the oil lamp, and lifted the grass leaves to reveal the golden-brown roasted chicken inside.

His stomach rumbled again. He went to the bedside, unwrapped the cloth covering the pillow, and pulled out a small cloth bag from the center of the pillow.

Inside, there was a small row of silver needles.

He took a silver needle, inserted it into the chicken meat, pulled it out, waited a while, then changed the location and inserted it again.

He breathed a sigh of relief when the silver needles didn't change color, and his eyes became eager as he looked at the roast chicken.

He swallowed hard, carried the roast chicken to the kitchen, boiled water in a pot, cut the roast chicken into four pieces with a knife, put three pieces in bowls and put them in the water to chill, and cut one piece into pieces and put it in the pot to make chicken soup.

The hot chicken soup filled my stomach, bringing a long-lost sense of satisfaction. If only there were a bowl of white rice with it.

He thought regretfully.

It's a bit strange, though, why is Jiang Bai inquiring about Ji Laoliu's family?

The sky gradually brightened.

Wang, who had been lying on the grave all night, slowly woke up. Her scalp throbbed in waves, and there seemed to be something sticky on her face.

She subconsciously reached up and wiped her face, and the sight of her hand covered in red made her pause in surprise.

"what……"

Then came a deafening scream, which woke up Jiang Anlin, who was lying next to her.

"Boss, how... how did we get here?" Wang stood up shakily, looking around. A chill ran through her as the morning wind blew.

"Jiang Bai, it was Jiang Bai who did it."

As dawn broke, memories of last night returned. Glancing at the marks on their bodies and the ashes of the burnt paper money at Jiang Anliang's grave, Jiang Anlin immediately realized that Jiang Bai was behind it all.

"Yes, it's that brat. I saw her last night."

Their eyes met, and they turned to look at Jiang Minchang, only to find him still lying on the ground with an abnormal flush on his cheeks.

"Old man, old man."

"Dad, wake up."

The two men hurriedly carried Jiang Minchang down the mountain. When they finally arrived home, they encountered his distraught wives.

"Honey, you're finally back! I have something to tell you, the kitchen..."

Hearing the commotion, Lin went out to greet them. Before she could finish speaking, she saw Wang and Jiang Anlin carrying Jiang Minchang in. All three of them were covered in blood. Her words caught in her throat.

Liu and Zhang, who were behind them, were so frightened that they almost screamed. They had to put their fists in their mouths to keep quiet.

"Why don't you come over and help."

"I'm coming."

Several people carried Jiang Minchang into the house, instructed Jiang Songhu to fetch a doctor, and brought water to wipe the faces of Jiang Minchang and the others.

After wiping his face, Jiang Anlin finally caught his breath and asked while changing his clothes, "What did you want to say earlier?"

“Zong’s daughter-in-law got up early this morning and found chicken feathers all over the kitchen floor, and chicken scraps scattered everywhere. She lit the chickens and found that one of the old hens was missing. We’re afraid our house was burgled last night.”

Jiang Anlin paused in changing his clothes, thinking about last night's experience, and couldn't help but grit his teeth: "No wonder we were robbed! And by such a daring thief."

After saying that, he put on his clothes, strode to the main room, and knocked on the door.

A short while later, Wang Shi, her face covered in blood, rushed towards Jiang Bai's house.

"Jiang Bai, you little brat, get out here right now!"

"You wretched, money-losing brat! How could my third son have raised such a thieving child?"

"Give me back my chickens!"

"You're so unfilial! Your father has only been gone for less than a month, and you're already stealing chickens to eat!"

"My dear third son, look at the wonderful daughter you've raised!"

"If the little one beats your mother, the big one will steal the chickens your mother raises!"

"Why is my life so miserable? I, an old person, have to bury my child, and my granddaughter treats me like this... Waaah..."

Jiang Bai and her sister had just returned home. Jiang Bai took a bucket to fetch water from the well. Only Jiang Lu and Jiang Songwen were at home.

Hearing Wang's voice, Jiang Lu's heart skipped a beat. She added more firewood to the stove, determined not to open the door.

No matter how loudly Wang pounded on the door, there was no response from inside.

Seeing that they didn't open the door, Wang felt a surge of resentment. This brat must be feeling guilty. So she simply sat down in front of Jiang Bai's house and started wailing. Her face was covered in chicken blood, and one of her hands was wrapped in gauze. Her tears washed away some of the blood on her face, making her look pitiful at the same time, yet also somewhat ridiculous.

She came shouting "thief!" all the way here, attracting all the young women and wives who got up early to cook.

At this moment, they gathered outside Jiang Bai's house and whispered among themselves.

"Did Jiang Daya really steal her grandmother's chicken?"

"No way, that girl doesn't seem like the type to do something like that."

"Hey, who knows? You can only know a person's face, not their heart. Look at Wang's hand. They say it was Er Ya who hit her. I heard the bones are broken, and her face is covered in blood. Could she have been beaten again?"

"Can't you?"

The villagers were talking amongst themselves. Seeing that Jiang Bai's house was tightly shut and that Wang had been crying and making a fuss for a long time without anyone coming to open the door, they couldn't help but mutter to themselves.

Could it be that Jiang Bai really stole her grandmother's chicken?

"Grandma, if you don't want to return my things, just say so. How can you falsely accuse me of stealing chickens?"

Jiang Bai's voice came from behind the group. There was a bucket of water in front of him, indicating that he had brought water back.

Without giving Wang a chance to speak, she continued, "You disfigured Er Ya, and you also damaged A Wen's head. Are you going to force me to my death now?"

"Now you want to pin the reputation of the thief on me."

"We are all your own grandchildren! Can't you bear to see us alive? Waaah..."

Jiang Bai's tears came suddenly; the wound on his neck was still there, his face was pale, and he was swaying precariously.

Just then, Jiang Lu opened the door, and what came into everyone's view was that half of her cheek was bruised and swollen.

Jiang Songwen stood beside her, looking dazed and blank, staring ahead with his eyes wide open.

"Grandma, please, please give us a way to live!"

She was a shrewd woman; she pulled Jiang Songwen to kneel down right at the door.