0p0 Chapter 109 Catching a thief in the middle of the night
Chapter 109 Catching a thief in the middle of the night
"How can this be so embarrassing." Everyone said polite words, but in fact no one said no. Food was very precious these days. Li Xiaoxiao was indeed generous. There were dozens of families in the village, and two kilograms from each family was a lot. The little jealousy that had just arisen immediately disappeared without a trace.
When the soybeans are ripe, they have to be brought home as soon as possible. Six acres is not a lot, but not a little either. Usually, farmhands are only paid and go home to eat. Li Xiaoxiao is not a stingy person. At noon, she asked Sun to prepare lunch and bring it to the field. There was scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried meat with beans, and the staple food was steamed buns with white flour.
The four men's eyes widened when they saw the food. They were from the same village, had many children in their families, and lived in poverty. They worked as long-term laborers for other people all year round. Usually, their employers did not provide meals. Occasionally, they met someone who provided meals, but they only gave two steamed buns and at most some pickles. The food was nothing like the luxury of Li Xiaoxiao's family. They even began to doubt whether they were seeing things.
Sun understood their thoughts. Li Laosan was a long-term worker for others. She had heard him say before that the food he ate was horrible to look at, but he had to eat. They were doing hard labor, and how could they have the strength to work without eating?
"I have a lot of work to do in the fields. Thank you for your hard work. I just steamed the buns. They are still soft. I prepared three for each of you. You can eat as much as you want."
Several of them were honest people. They looked at the food and rubbed their hands nervously, secretly swallowing the saliva that kept secreting from their mouths, and some of them did not dare to pick up their chopsticks.
"Eat quickly, the food will get cold soon and we still have to work after eating." Li Xiaoxiao couldn't help but interrupt. She asked Sun to prepare these not to show off, but she felt that no matter what time, a good working meal can not only improve work efficiency, but also gain recognition from others.
The four of them then looked at each other and started to eat.
To be honest, they could only eat the food Li Xiaoxiao prepared for them during the Chinese New Year, and they dared not even think about it at other times. One of the farmhands took a bite of the white flour steamed bun, biting it in his mouth and savoring the unique fragrance of the steamed bun. He was reluctant to swallow it, and hesitated for a long time, then looked up at Li Xiaoxiao, as if he had made a great decision.
"Boss, I have something I want to discuss with you?"
"Uncle, just call me Xiaoxiao. Please tell me if you have anything to say." Li Xiaoxiao smiled at him and said politely.
"This." The farmhand was obviously embarrassed to speak and subconsciously glanced at the steamed bun in his hand.
Li Xiaoxiao saw this and understood instantly: "Uncle, do you want to take the remaining two buns home?"
Due to working outside for many years, his tanned face became even darker. The farmhand nodded naively.
"Okay, as long as it doesn't interfere with my work in the afternoon."
"Thank you, master. Oh, thank you, little girl." The farmhand thanked him repeatedly with gratitude. The reason why he didn't eat it was that he wanted to save it and take it home for his children to eat.
When the other three saw this, they followed suit.
Li Xiaoxiao watched them cherish the steamed buns and carefully put them away. Even though there were still steamed buns from Sun's lunch, she did not feel so kind as to give them another one. At any time, excessive kindness would backfire.
Sure enough, when they were working in the afternoon, they were much more efficient. It’s not that they didn’t work hard before, but that people can get twice the result with half the effort when they are happy.
Sun and Li Ruolan also came to help. Together with Li Xiaoxiao, there were seven people in total. They worked hard for the whole afternoon. Sun was smiling from ear to ear. As a farmer, there is no happier time than the harvest time.
It was already evening. Li Xiaoxiao looked at the ripe soybeans, but there were still so many that had not been harvested. She thought that someone would need to watch over the place at night, so she discussed it with the four foremans, and they expressed their willingness to sleep in the field at night.
The wages were also increased by 35 cents on the original basis, making the total cents. The farmhands were very happy and said they were very optimistic about it.
In order not to affect work the next day, the four of them decided to take turns on duty, every half an hour, and each person would take one hour per night.
Since coming to the ancient times, there has been no entertainment at night, and Li Xiaoxiao has developed the habit of going to bed early and getting up early. He was sleeping soundly when he heard a knock on the door outside the yard, which sounded particularly clear in the quiet night.
Li Xiaoxiao looked at the time. It was just past one in the morning. Could something have happened in the field? Thinking of this, she quickly got dressed and got up. When she opened the door, she saw Sun coming out of the room with her clothes on.
"Xiaoxiao, why is there someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night?"
"Mom, I'll go take a look." After saying that, Li Xiaoxiao walked towards the gate.
The man outside the door heard the voices and shouted, "Little girl, I am a farmhand who patrols the fields at night. Something happened in the fields. We caught a thief who stole soybeans. I want to ask for your advice on what to do."
The door opened with a whoosh, and Li Xiaoxiao came out and asked, "Have you caught the man?"
"Once they have caught her and tied her up, please ask the little girl to go over." Although it was only the first day that the farmhand started working in their house, it was not difficult to see that Li Xiaoxiao was the one in charge of the family.
"Okay, I'll go with you."
Before he finished speaking, Si Chengxu's voice came from behind him: "I'll go with you."
The group of three quickly arrived at the field. When they got closer, Li Xiaoxiao saw a man lying on the ground. He was tied up with clothes and a sack on his head. He made grunting sounds from his mouth, and it was obvious that his mouth was blocked.
Li Xiaoxiao walked around him and easily identified who he was from the humming sounds he made. Huh, it was actually Li Laosi.
"Thank you for your hard work tonight. I worked so hard to grow the soybeans, but this man wanted to get something for nothing and steal the fruits of other people's labor. Beat him up first and send him to the county government office in the morning. The county magistrate will interrogate him and it will be up to him to decide whether he should be put in jail or exiled." Li Xiaoxiao spoke righteously, and Li Dahu almost wet his pants with his words.
He wanted to steal something, but before he could do anything, he was caught. However, there was a piece of cloth stuffed in his mouth, so he couldn't say anything. He could only try harder to make grunting sounds to attract Li Xiaoxiao's attention.
"Okay, we'll send him to the government office at daybreak."
As soon as he finished speaking, several farmhands surrounded him and started beating and kicking Li Laosi. Each of them put in all their strength, and the man in the sack groaned in pain.
After beating him for a while, perhaps the cloth in his mouth loosened, and a voice begging for mercy came from the sack: "Stop beating me, I'm your fourth uncle from the boss's family."
Hearing the voices, the four stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. Could it be that they had hit the wrong person?
At this time, Li Laosi had been beaten so badly that he was dying. He was breathing in more than out, gasping for breath, and felt pain all over his body.