Chapter 91: The Little Thief

The night was deep, and a cool breeze drifted by. The village, lively and bustling during the day, had fallen silent, as if all its colors and sounds had been tucked away into a mysterious bag, waiting for dawn to be released once more.

In this stillness, faint rustlings came from the wall of the Tang family's house. The sounds rose and fell, quick and slow, accompanied by a woman's anxious urging and scolding.

"Be gentle, slower, don't make a noise..."

"Mother, this ladder is a bit short."

"Just stand on your tiptoes and you'll get up."

"I can't, how am I supposed to get down?"

"Are you stupid? Jump!"

Thud! Something heavy landed on the ground.

Tang Mingxiu struggled to her feet, wiped the cold sweat from her brow, glanced around, and made her way toward the kitchen.

Suddenly, a black figure darted out, lunging at Tang Mingxiu. "Woof..."

"Ah..." Tang Mingxiu cried out in terror as the shadow bit her arm.

"Ah..." she screamed, pushing and slapping at the creature, calling out to Wang, who was on the other side of the wall, "Mother, help me..."

Wang heard the cries and hurriedly replied, "Why are you yelling?"

"They have a dog!"

"Run, you fool..."

Li Peach Blossom was the first to rush out, wielding a feather duster as she ran toward Tang Mingxiu. "Where did this little thief come from, daring to sneak into our house to steal?"

Tang Dafu followed close behind, holding up a lamp to get a better look. When he saw who it was, he frowned and said, "Tang Mingxiu, what are you doing?"

Tang Luwu, Qin Huiyin, and Tang Yixiao all emerged in turn.

Tang Yixiao, seeing the situation, asked, "Why are you sneaking into our yard in the middle of the night? What are you trying to steal?"

"I'm not here to steal anything," Tang Mingxiu answered evasively. "Something of mine was blown over here, so I came to look for it."

"What was it?"

"My undergarment," she replied. "If it weren't something so important, I wouldn't have come in the middle of the night to fetch it."

Qin Huiyin raised an eyebrow. "And where is it now?"

"I couldn't find it. It's too dark. Maybe I was mistaken and it didn't blow over after all. In any case, I didn't mean to trespass."

Bang, bang, bang! Outside, Wang was banging on the door.

Li Peach Blossom sneered, "Here's another one."

"Mother, let's go ask the village head for justice!" Qin Huiyin said.

"Fine, I'll go fetch him," Tang Dafu replied. "You all keep an eye on them."

Tang Dafu opened the gate. Wang rushed inside.

"Woof!" The big black dog lunged at Wang, barking furiously.

Frightened, Wang fell back, staring in terror at the huge beast. In the darkness, its fur blended with the night, with only its glowing eyes locked intently on her, ready to pounce at the slightest movement.

"Mother, my arm hurts so much... that dog bit me..." Tang Mingxiu sobbed.

"How could you let your dog bite someone?" Wang stammered, trembling. "My daughter is hurt, you must take responsibility."

"I have no patience for this nonsense. We'll wait for the village head," Li Peach Blossom said.

At the village head's house, his wife nudged him, "The dog's barking is eerie tonight. Do you think something's happened in the village again?"

"How could there always be something happening?" the village head grumbled. "It's only been a few quiet days. Stop saying such unlucky things."

"But I feel like the dog's bark tonight is different. That new wife of Tang Dafu's is a bit odd, and all the recent trouble seems to be around their house. That bark doesn't sound like any dog in the village. What if something strange has happened over there again?"

"It can't be. Go to sleep," he replied.

From outside, Tang Dafu's voice called, "Village head, it's Tang Dafu. I need a word."

The couple exchanged glances.

His wife nudged him again, "See? You said there's nothing, but what do you call this?"

"Annoying," the village head muttered, getting up. "I'll go see."

"If you don't show up, he'll stand outside calling all night, and soon the whole village will be awake. Just go and deal with it; if it's nothing serious, handle it quickly."

The village head threw on an outer robe and went out. "What is it? What could be so important at this hour?"

"We've had a thief at our house."

"What?" He tugged at his clothes in irritation. "Did you lose anything?"

"No."

"If you lost nothing, how do you know there was a thief?"

"Because we caught them," Tang Dafu explained. "Village head, the thief is from our own village. You must help us seek justice."

As he spoke, Tang Dafu slipped a bag of sweets into the village head's hand. He felt the bag, tasted a bit, and found it sweet.

"Very well, I'll take a look. Wait here while I put my shoes on."

Inside, he handed the sweets to his wife and whispered a few words. She tasted the sweets and remarked, "They certainly know how to do things. Go and mediate for them. If our village has thieves, it's not safe for anyone."

When the village head arrived at the Tang house with Tang Dafu, he could hear Wang and Li Peach Blossom shouting at each other in the yard.

"We're not thieves, we were just looking for something."

"Then where is it?"

"It's too dark to see clearly."

"You sneak over here in the dead of night to 'look for something'—do you take us for fools?"

"Weren't you the one who told us not to come to your house? If we didn't come at night, would you have let us in during the day?"

Tang Dafu pushed open the door and invited the village head inside, lighting a torch as they entered. Several pairs of eyes turned to them.

"Village head, you must judge for us; our house was robbed!"

"Village head, we're innocent! Mingxiu lost her undergarment, and out of embarrassment decided to come and search at night. You know the trouble between our families—if we hadn't come quietly, they'd have made a scene."

The village head listened to the arguing, his head beginning to ache. Each side had their reasons, and as village head, not a magistrate, how was he to judge?

"Village head, you must help us!" Wang cried. "Mingxiu was bitten by their dog—they must give us an explanation!"

"Bitten? If it's just a misunderstanding, let it go. But if someone's been bitten, that's no small matter. Mingxiu, where are you hurt?"

"My arm," she said, aggrieved.

"Does it hurt much?"

"It hurts terribly," Mingxiu replied. "Village head, they must compensate us."