Chapter 5: Stealing Grain and Getting Caught

Lin Chaoyang was taken aback. Wasn’t Lin Chaoyu supposed to have left early this morning?

It seemed like after the scolding earlier, Lin Chaoyu was feeling rebellious and didn’t want to go to work at all.

“Sorry, Village Chief. This kid, Xiao Yu, was throwing a tantrum this morning. I didn’t expect him to skip work. I’ll definitely teach him a lesson when I get home.”

The village chief wasn’t very happy with Lin Chaoyu’s attitude, but since he was just a child, there was little else to do about it.

Just as he was about to speak to Lin Chaoyang, a commotion broke out in the distance.

The village chief turned around to see Old Wang, dragging a struggling Lin Chaoyu towards them, cursing and shouting.

Old Wang was an old man, but his eyesight was sharp. From far away, he had already spotted the village chief and Lin Chaoyang.

“Village Chief! You’ve got to help me! This brat—he broke into my house and stole my grain!”

“Yangzi! Your little brother stole my grain, what are you going to do about this?”

Old Wang shouted as he walked over, dragging Lin Chaoyu along. He threw him onto the ground.

Lin Chaoyu, bound by a rope, was half lying on the ground, his face flushed with shame and anger.

Lin Chaoyang was somewhat surprised. This was the first time he had heard of such an incident.

But as he thought about it more, he realized what had happened.

In the past, when he had done his best to support his younger siblings and relatives, Lin Chaoyu had no need to take such risks to steal grain.

Old Wang glared at Lin Chaoyang, clearly dissatisfied. “Yangzi, you need to give me an explanation for this!”

“Uncle Wang, how much grain did he steal? I’ll make sure to compensate you,” Lin Chaoyang said sincerely.

Old Wang, seeing Lin Chaoyang’s attitude, calmed down a little. “He stole half a bag of cornmeal. When he was climbing the wall to leave, he spilled it everywhere, and I caught him.”

Cornmeal wasn’t like rice or millet. If it spilled into the dirt, it was impossible to sift it clean, and it was basically unusable.

To lose half a bag of cornmeal during this time, when the harvest was still far off, was no small matter for anyone.

Lin Chaoyang spoke earnestly. “Uncle Wang, things are really tough at home right now. Once the summer harvest is over, I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

Old Wang wasn’t one to hold grudges against a half-grown child, and since Lin Chaoyang promised to compensate him, he didn’t press too hard.

“Yangzi, you’re a good kid, I know that. But this younger brother of yours, you really need to keep him in check!”

Lin Chaoyang nodded, and without another word, he turned and picked a sturdy branch from a nearby tree. He then began to lash Lin Chaoyu fiercely.

“I told you not to be bad! I told you not to steal food! How did I raise a brother like you?!”

“How dare you steal at such a young age! Answer me, when did you start stealing?”

“Have you stolen before? If you don’t tell me, I’ll beat you to death!”

Lin Chaoyu, bound and unable to escape, rolled on the ground from the beating, screaming in agony.

The majority of Lin Chaoyang’s anger came from his past grievances with Lin Chaoyu, so the beating came easily to him.

However, to outsiders, Lin Chaoyang looked like a man driven mad by frustration. The village chief quickly stepped forward to stop him.

“Yangzi, calm down. If you keep beating him like this, you’ll kill him!”

Lin Chaoyang’s eyes were red. “If I kill this thief, at least he won’t bring trouble to us again!”

Old Wang had never thought much of Lin Chaoyu, but seeing Lin Chaoyang like this, he couldn’t help but try to intervene.

“Let it go, Yangzi. The child is still young. His temperament can still be changed. If you push things too far now, it’s you, as the older brother, who will end up regretting it.”

As the two were trying to calm down Lin Chaoyang, Lin Ershu (Second Uncle) and their cousin Lin Ziqiang arrived.

“Uncle Wu! Uncle Qiang! Save me! Lin Chaoyang is going to beat me to death!”

Upon hearing this, Lin Chaoyang’s anger flared up again. He gave Lin Chaoyu a few more hard lashes without holding back.

“If you’re going to steal, that’s one thing. But to not even recognize your big brother, then get out of my house! I don’t want a thief for a brother!”

Uncle Wu and Lin Ziqiang, seeing Lin Chaoyu in this state, could only shake their heads helplessly.

This child… caught stealing food, being disciplined by his older brother, and yet now he refuses to even acknowledge him.

“Look, I’ll take Xiao Yu with me. I’ll lock him up for a couple of days so he learns his lesson. Yangzi, calm down, don’t beat him to the point where he’s ruined.”

Uncle Wu was also worried. Lin Chaoyang was still young, and Lin Chaoyu wasn’t a child with a good temperament. If Lin Chaoyang lost his temper completely, he might end up doing something irreversible.

Lin Chaoyang shook his head. “No need, Uncle Wu. Your family’s not doing any better, and locking him up at your place will mean you’ll have to feed him. I’ll just keep him locked up at home.”

Uncle Wu and Lin Ziqiang looked at Lin Chaoyang with eyes full of sympathy.

This nephew of theirs was always so sensible. It was a pity that the younger siblings were so troublesome.

Lin Chaoyang asked the village chief for a leave of absence, then dragged the still-bound Lin Chaoyu home.

At this point, Lin Chaoyu was starting to feel scared. He trembled and shouted, “Big Brother, I was wrong! Please don’t lock me up!”

Lin Chaoyang didn’t even respond. He dragged him home, threw him into a room, and from the outside, jammed a wooden stick in the door to lock it.

“Anyone who dares to let Lin Chaoyu out of here will be kicked out of my house. Don’t ever call me your brother again.”

Inside the room, Lin Chaoyu was crying and screaming. Lin Chaoyang’s words had both his siblings, Lin Chaoyun and Lin Chaoxia, staring in shock. What had happened here?

“Big Brother, what happened to Xiao Yu?”

Lin Chaoyang’s tone was cold. “He was caught stealing food from someone else’s house. They came looking for him.”

Both Lin Chaoyun and Lin Chaoxia were stunned, but they were surprised for very different reasons.

Lin Chaoxia couldn’t believe that Lin Chaoyu had dared to become a thief. How was she ever going to show her face to anyone again?

Lin Chaoyun, on the other hand, hadn’t expected Lin Chaoyu to have been a thief in his past life either. This incident completely threw her off balance, making her question what she thought she knew about her own rebirth.

She never imagined that only just after being reborn, she would encounter something that had never happened in her past life.

Lin Chaoyang couldn’t be bothered to explain further. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something.

“Xiaoxia, you’re not hurt, right? Go up the mountain and gather some wild vegetables. We’ve run out of food. We still need to compensate for the food Xiao Yu stole.”

Lin Chaoxia was so furious she wanted to rush into the room and tear Lin Chaoyu apart.

The family was already in such dire straits, and now they had to repay the stolen grain!

When she heard that Lin Chaoyu had stolen half a bag of cornmeal, it felt as though the sky had fallen.

There was nothing to eat at home, and now they had to replace half a bag of cornmeal!

Lin Chaoxia looked at Lin Chaoyang, but before she could speak, Lin Chaoyang interrupted her.

“We can’t let Uncle Wu and Cousin Ziqiang help us with this. Xiao Yu made a mistake, but we can’t drag others into it.”

Lin Chaoxia felt like crying. Half a bag of cornmeal—just compensating for it was already tough, but they hadn’t even gotten to eat it!

Lin Chaoyang, still in a hurry to go to work, reminded Lin Chaoxia not to forget to gather wild vegetables and then left.

Lin Chaoxia was both angry and frustrated, and when she thought about Lin Chaoyu stealing their rice soup the night before, tears began to fall.

Lin Chaoyun stood silently aside, her face dark, for the first time feeling a sense of confusion about her rebirth.