Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, a few children were running and shouting in the village, “Quick, come and see! The Gu family caught thieves!”

“It’s Liangzi, Zhuangzi, Daqian, and Gousheng, those second-rate guys. They were caught red-handed while stealing.”

Some adults who were about to go to the fields couldn’t help but stop a few children, “What did you just say? Who caught those second-rate guys?”

The children, still holding candies in their hands, licked them lovingly while speaking, “It’s the Gu family who’s building the big brick house in our village. They caught all four of them, and now they’re at Aunt Chen’s doorstep.”

“What?” Some adults nearby couldn’t believe it. “Isn’t the Gu family without even a strong laborer? How could they catch those second-rate guys? Are you sure you’re not mistaken?”

“Let’s go and see. I don’t think it’s very likely. Those scoundrels are skilled at thievery and have never been caught red-handed before.”

“Yeah, I heard they even targeted Wang’s family last time. There are quite a few men in that family, and they even stole two chickens. When Wang tried to settle the score with Liangzi’s family, he couldn’t prove it was them, so he had to suffer in silence.”

“Let’s go, let’s see what’s going on.”

As the children went on their way, they even stopped by the homes of the four captured individuals to inform them.

Liangzi and Daqian’s homes were not in Yongfu Village, but in a neighboring village, not far away. Two slightly older children, who received two pieces of candy each from Gu Yundong, ran off immediately to inform them.

When the villagers arrived at Aunt Chen’s doorstep, they saw all four of them, with bruised and swollen faces, tied to the trunk of a large tree.

Gu Yundong was sitting on a stool nearby, eating sunflower seeds.

The Yang family members were not present; they were probably still inside the house.

The crowd stopped in their tracks, hesitating to approach.

It was Liu Guihua, the wife of Feng Daneng, who finally stepped forward and spoke to her, “Yundong, what… what’s going on? I heard that these four scoundrels went to your house to steal, and you caught them red-handed? Did you catch them?”

Because Feng Daneng praised Gu Yundong so much when he was building her house, she had seen Gu Yundong a couple of times before, making her slightly more familiar with her compared to other villagers with whom she had never spoken.

Gu Yundong handed her half of the sunflower seeds she was eating. “Auntie, have some. I roasted them myself.”

Liu Guihua stared blankly at the fragrant sunflower seeds in her hand, unable to resist taking a bite. Mmm, they were really fragrant.

She forgot to ask any questions and just started eating them herself.

This scene made the onlookers who were eager to know the truth resentful. How dare she eat, eat, eat like she hadn’t eaten seeds for half her life?

Gu Yundong glanced around and saw Liangzi and Zhuangzi, two villagers, approaching from afar.

She handed the rest of the sunflower seeds to Liu Guihua and then clapped her hands, walking up to the four people tied to the tree and waking them up, still unconscious.

“It’s morning now, time to settle the score. Wake up.”

Zhuangzi was the first to open his eyes, feeling a slight pain in his fingers when he saw her. He immediately squeezed out a very ugly and flattering smile.

Liangzi was the second to wake up. As soon as he opened his eyes and saw himself and the others tied up, he immediately became furious. “You damn brat, did you tie us up? Let us go, or I’ll sell you to the furnace.”