Lu Shaotang had briefly understood the situation and asked the village chief, “Have you investigated the new son-in-law who recently joined our village? What’s his character like?”

The village chief replied, “The bald man? He seems alright. Although he hasn’t been here long, he works hard and is enthusiastic.”

Lu Shaotang asked, “What did he do before coming to our village? Does he have a criminal record?”

A young man marrying into a second marriage with three children must have a reason.

After all, it was quite unusual.

It wasn’t that young men couldn’t marry women with children from previous marriages, but most men wouldn’t, and if they did, there had to be a convincing reason.

It was particularly rare if the woman was wealthy, had done him a favor, they had a past relationship, or if the man was exceptionally poor.

The village chief hesitated, “The bald man had a bad reputation before. He had a temper and got into fights, which led to him being sent to labor reform for two years. He was also poor and couldn’t afford a wife, so he ended up marrying into a family. Since he’s been in our village, he’s been quite honest, hasn’t had conflicts with anyone, and works hard.”

When the bald man first arrived, the village chief was naturally wary and kept a close watch on him.

During the autumn harvest, the bald man didn’t slack off at all. In winter, he sought work from the production team and actively helped anyone in need.

He had a good reputation in the village.

The village chief was somewhat troubled. Usually, it would be easy to investigate, but on New Year’s Eve, with everyone visiting each other and then going home to sleep, it was truly difficult to determine who the thief might be.

Pan Pan whispered something to Lu Shaotang and then went off with Tian Tian to check on the fields.

Lu Shaotang saw Lu Ping and his brothers and asked them to keep an eye on Tian Tian and Pan Pan while he went to investigate further.

Earlier, he could only ask questions while holding a child, but now he could look for traces and evidence.

Thieves would leave traces when climbing walls, prying doors, or entering homes.

Recent snowfall would have left footprints at the crime scenes.

Pan Pan, holding Tian Tian’s hand, found Hu Zhi, Hua Hua, and other young girls and soon approached Zhang Xiaoliang.

Pan Pan discussed New Year’s money, candies, sunflower seeds, and peanuts with Hua Hua and the others. “My mother also said she would make us candied fruit.”

Huzhi and the others immediately salivated. “Pan Pan, can we have a taste too?”

Pan Pan: “That depends on whether you behave well.”

Huzhi and Others Immediately Pledge Their Loyalty, Eager to Be Like Little Lackeys

Panpan said, “I’ll reward you with a piece of candy first.”

He had several pieces of candy in his pocket.

He started distributing the candy, but instead of giving them a whole piece, he made them bite into it themselves and share.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaoliang was no longer interested in the commotion.

He approached Panpan, hoping to get some candy too.

Panpan said, “You’re not a good child if you lie. I can’t give you candy.”

Zhang Xiaoliang replied, “I didn’t lie!”

Panpan continued, “You said your stepfather hit you. I asked him, and he said he didn’t hit you.”

Zhang Xiaoliang insisted, “He did hit me! He was really fierce and scared me!”

Panpan asked, “What kind of dumplings did your family eat last night? How many did he eat? Was he so fierce that he gave you any?”

Zhang Xiaoliang said, “He and my mother had pork and cabbage dumplings. My elder brother ate six, my sister ate four, and I ate four.”

Panpan asked, “Didn’t your family kill a pig? Where did the meat come from?”

Zhang Xiaoliang explained, “The meat was brought by the bald man. We only had one pig, and it was sent to the commune.”

Panpan then asked, “Did your stepfather take you out to play last night? Didn’t he take you to your great-grandfather’s house to get New Year’s money? My grandparents gave me money!”

Zhang Xiaoliang replied, “He went out to play by himself last night! He still wasn’t back by midnight!”

Panpan asked, “How do you know?”

Zhang Xiaoliang said, “I got up to pee after drinking a lot of dumpling soup. I haven’t wet the bed for a long time!”

Tiantian asked, “When did your stepfather come home?”

Zhang Xiaoliang shook his head. “I don’t know.”

After questioning Zhang Xiaoliang, Panpan gave him two pieces of candy and then took Tiantian to find their father.

Lu Ping said, “What are you two running around for? It’s time to go home for breakfast.”

Panpan wanted to find her father but couldn’t locate him. “Where is my dad?”

Lu Ping and Lu An were puzzled. “He was just here a moment ago.”

At this time, Deng Dalaba and Brother Lu Dage were asking around at Widow Sun’s and Bald Man’s places.

Deng Dalaba, with his loud voice, was not holding back. “Bald Man, there’s never been such an incident in our village before. You’re new here, so we need to ask you, right?”

The Bald Man smiled kindly. “No problem, of course not.”

Widow Sun chimed in, “Hey, Director Deng, are you bullying us? Why should we, the new ones, be suspected of being thieves?”

Deng Dalaba replied, “We’re not suspecting anyone, just asking. Everyone in the village has to be questioned.”

The Bald Man pushed Widow Sun aside and said, “Let the Director ask. It’s only right.”

Deng Dalaba asked, “What did you do last night?”

The Bald Man thought for a moment, “Although I don’t have any proper elders in our village, I did visit a few places to pay New Year’s greetings, especially to those with whom I have a good relationship and with some friends.”

Lu Dage asked, “You went to other people’s homes on New Year’s Eve?”

Local custom dictates that on New Year’s Eve, only family members eat the New Year’s Eve dinner and then visit elders to ask for red envelopes.

Genuine New Year’s greetings start on New Year’s Day.

Visiting non-family members or people from other surnames typically begins on the first day of the new year.

Very few people visit others on New Year’s Eve.

The bald man casually mentioned a few households, including those near Widow Sun’s house, Zhang Xiaoliang’s relatives, and a few young people’s homes at the village center, including Lu Changfu.

He met some people on the road, chatted a bit, and then the village chief called out the time and played around a bit before heading home to sleep.

Most households didn’t have clocks.

The village chief usually came out at 8:30 p.m. to announce the time and did the same at 10 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.

After making his rounds, it was usually around 10:30 p.m.

The last few people he saw included Lu Changfu and a couple of other young men.

Since he had reported their names, he wasn’t afraid of the village leaders investigating.

Widow Sun said, “We were asleep and didn’t wake up until we were disturbed before dawn.”

The head of the village asked a few young men he met before going home if they had seen the bald man, and they confirmed that they had.

Lu Dage turned to look for Lu Changfu but couldn’t find him.

At this moment, Lu Changfu was trembling in fear!

Although Lu Changfu had not participated in the thefts last night, he knew from the bald man’s talk about the wealth of the second uncle’s family what it meant.

Initially, he thought the bald man might wait until the third uncle was not home to steal from the second uncle’s house.

He didn’t expect them to be so bold!

They had taken advantage of the New Year’s Eve when everyone was relaxed and tired to steal from several households!

He hadn’t felt too anxious when he first thought about the money in the second uncle’s house; at most, he was a bit nervous.

But after the bald man’s group stole from several households, he suddenly became panic-stricken.

This… was stealing!

This was different from when he used to steal scrap metal at the steel factory in the capital!

If the village team caught him, he would be sent to labor reform!

Terrified, he spent time hiding at home, afraid to go out, and sneaking around to check the situation.

Ultimately, during one of his many sneaky attempts, Lu Shaotang caught him.

Lu Shaotang dragged him to the side of the haystack, threw him against the wall, and looked at him coldly.

While Pan Pan was suspicious of Lu Changfu, Lu Shaotang had not ignored these concerns.

Lu Shaotang knew Lu Changfu didn’t have the courage to commit theft, but—

……

Widow Sun Panicked and Rushed Over

“What are you doing? Why are you arresting people indiscriminately?”

Soon, the brigade leader and the others arrived.

The brigade leader was furious and scolded Widow Sun, “We’ve treated you well in this brigade. How can you turn around and harm your own people?”

Widow Sun denied it, crying out that she was wronged and had done nothing wrong.

The Bald Man protested, “It’s true I’m a new son-in-law, but I’ve always behaved honestly. You can’t just arrest people at random!”

Widow Sun could testify that he had been home sleeping.

In principle, apart from being a new addition from another village, he shouldn’t be suspected.

He glanced at Widow Sun’s elder son and daughter. Although he hadn’t been very kind to them, he hadn’t been bad either.

Besides, they were asleep when he came back, so they shouldn’t know anything.

At this moment, his two brothers, Ma Lian and the thin one, were thrown in, and the stolen goods were displayed.

The head of the village was furious.

He immediately pulled out his pipe and began hitting the bald man on the head repeatedly, “You damn scoundrel! I thought you had turned over a new leaf, but you’ve come to our village to ruin our reputation!”

He continued angrily, “All the good reputation I’ve built over the years is being destroyed by you. Just got the advanced team award, and if we don’t get it next year, it’s all your fault!”

The bald man, seeing that he was caught red-handed, was no longer afraid.

It was just petty theft, nothing serious.

The worst that could happen was a few months in labor reform, he thought.

The victims, like Zhang Xiuying and others, rushed over and started hitting and scratching the bald man.

Zhang Xiuying, however, didn’t hit the bald man but instead went after Widow Sun, pulling her hair and scratching her face.

“You ingrate! Your family’s food was provided by our team, and now you’re colluding with thieves to harm us! You’re a heartless, filthy harlot, and I’ll beat your face to a pulp today!”

Widow Sun, of course, was not going to take this lying down.

Her two sisters-in-law joined in, pulling her away from Zhang Xiuying and helping to restrain her, allowing Zhang Xiuying to continue slapping her.

The village officials didn’t immediately intervene; they let the victims vent their anger a bit.

The head of the village was genuinely upset.

He had always taught people not to have prejudices and believed that labor reformers could change for the better.

He had even hoped to recommend the bald man for a positive role next year.

Fortunately, Lu Shaotang acted quickly.

He obtained information from Lu Changfu and had the team leader bring people to arrest the two accomplices who had been working with the bald man.

The two thieves, who had never imagined they would be suspected, returned home after the robbery, thinking they could sleep peacefully.

But they were arrested and caught with the stolen goods.