Zhai Xiaoyan stopped trying to persuade her.

However, the credit cooperative could not immediately provide all two thousand yuan; it required approval.

She filled out the forms and submitted them to the deputy director and the accountant, expecting it to be processed in about three days.

She was told to come back then to collect the money.

At this moment, Deputy Director Song Youliang and Accountant Zuo walked in, chatting and laughing.

When they saw Fang Dihua, their smiles instantly froze.

Even after all these years, they remembered vividly how Fang Dihua had scolded them that afternoon.

Fang Dihua glanced at them and ignored them.

The two had originally wanted to greet her with forced smiles, but finding her unresponsive, they awkwardly moved on.

Fang Dihua thought to herself, as her third daughter-in-law said, the credit cooperative wasn’t reliable.

Those two with their shifty eyes clearly had no good intentions.

Initially, she had doubts about depositing such a large amount of money in one passbook.

Wouldn’t they get envious and have ulterior motives if they knew?

Later, when she received remittances, she deposited only a small part into the passbook and kept most of it at home.

….

Accountant Zhuo was getting anxious.

He and Song Youliang had just quietly made some extra money, but now they had no funds to give Fang Dihua.

The other money?

That was used by the team to buy pesticides and fertilizers.

With the autumn harvest not yet in, and the team not having sold any surplus grain, they had no money saved up.

As for the other funds… they had lent them out.

They had lent money to people with bad credit, who promised to give them some kickbacks.

They had lent the money to someone from the city with connections, who promised to pay it back in a few days.

Zhuo was now in a panic and immediately went to find Song Youliang to discuss a plan.

Song Youliang hadn’t expected that the elderly woman, who never withdrew money, would suddenly want to withdraw so much.

Did she… know something?

Zhuo: “No way. She’s just a rural woman. How could she know anything?”

Song Youliang: “Her son is in the capital serving in the military, right? He’s been a high-ranking officer for years. Doesn’t he earn a lot? He must know many people.”

Zhuo: “Even so, he’s not that high-ranking. Plus, he’s dead.”

Song Youliang pondered: “We should get some deposits from the team to cover her withdrawal.”

Zhuo: “There’s none. I checked a few days ago.”

With no solution, Song Youliang said they would have to think of something and must not let the team leader know.

The money was almost like the kickbacks they received.

Zhuo was also quite upset; getting money wasn’t easy.

He wanted to invest with someone from the city to make more money.

That person had connections to get good-quality steel.

After discussing for a while, Zhuo went back to his desk.

As he approached the counter, he noticed a crumpled piece of paper on the floor.

“Who threw this paper on the ground?” He scolded, pretending to care about cleanliness.

He picked it up and, out of habit, unfolded it. To his surprise, it had several neat charcoal pencil writings:

“I’ve been watching you.”

“You can’t escape.”

“The law’s net is wide, but nothing escapes.”

Zhuo was startled and his hand trembled.

He quickly tossed the paper into the nearby metal trash can.

Don’t panic, don’t panic.

It definitely wasn’t about him.

Returning to his desk, he found another similar piece of paper under it.

Who did this?

He bent down to pick up the paper and looked around through the desk gap, trying to see if anyone was watching.

He carefully observed the reactions of the counter staff to figure out if someone was playing a prank on him or if they were genuinely watching him.

He slowly stood up, noticing that others seemed unaffected.

Soon, someone came to him for a signature and a stamp.

He began to examine everyone’s handwriting, and it didn’t match the charcoal pencil writing.

He couldn’t help but speculate:

The charcoal writing was so beautiful, obviously someone skilled in calligraphy and art.

That type of pencil was clearly used by artists.

Who at the credit union would be into drawing or use charcoal pencils?

Old Luo? He’s into ink painting, not charcoal sketches.

At that moment, Zhai Xiaoyan joked with Old Luo: “Brother Luo, your paintings are getting more vivid and artistic. You’re at a level where you could participate in city art exhibitions.”

Old Luo replied with a smile: “Oh, it’s just average. Recently, I went to the city to learn Western painting techniques and charcoal sketching.”

Zhuo Accountant: “!!!!”

He immediately went to find Song Youliang again.

After discussing for a while, Zhuo decided to ride to the post office and send a telegram to the city lender.

It was unsafe to make a phone call at the credit union; someone could overhear.

However, when he went to get his bike, he found another crumpled piece of paper next to a bicycle!

Though the paper wasn’t directly by his bike, he wondered if it might have been blown over there from his place.

He anxiously looked around, seeing no one paying attention, quickly bent down to pick it up, and sneakily opened it in the bike shed.

Sure enough, it had similar messages:

“I’ll keep a close eye on you!”

“To avoid being known, don’t do it!”

“You can’t escape!”

Zhuo was so startled that he accidentally knocked over his bicycle, causing a commotion as it fell and clattered.

He was furious.

Fang Dihua didn’t know why the third daughter-in-law had her do this, but since the third daughter-in-law said it was necessary, she did it.

How could she ignore the divine instructions?

All the crumpled papers were indeed her doing.

The third daughter-in-law didn’t specify who to give them to or where to drop them, so Fang Dihua just scattered them widely.

The paper was just plain white paper, the cheapest kind, costing ten cents for a large sheet.

Some people even used it to roll dry tobacco.

Fang Dihua tossed the papers casually, pretending to see who picked them up.

Earlier, at the credit union, someone picked up a paper but quickly dismissed it as a prank.

Another woman picked one up and scolded it.

The accountant picked up one, and his face instantly changed.

Fang Dihua followed Lin Shu’s instructions.

Inside the credit union, Fang Dihua dropped a few crumpled papers under the counter when no one was looking and also scattered some in the bike shed.

She didn’t just casually drop them; she used her strength and skill to throw them from a distance.

No matter where they landed, someone would pick them up and take notice.

Sure enough, when Accountant Zhuo came out to ride his bicycle, he picked up the nearby paper and looked extremely angry.

Fang Dihua knew she had achieved her goal.

She didn’t do anything else since the daughter-in-law had only instructed her to see who was involved and not to do anything further to avoid alarming the “snake.”

She knew the idiom “to alarm the snake” was not something taught by Mr. Ma but something everyone, including the third daughter-in-law, knew.

Fang Dihua went home, where dinner was being prepared.

She quickly pulled Lin Shu into the house and whispered to her.

Lin Shu already knew who was behind it.

The crumpled papers were meant to scare them, making them nervous and suspicious while not knowing who was responsible.

In their fear, they might act out and expose themselves, leading to their capture by the authorities.

Fang Dihua didn’t want to take risks herself; it was better not to be involved directly.

She reminded Lin Shu, “Don’t tell anyone about this. We don’t want to provoke a mad dog at our doorstep.”

You can’t just ignore a mad dog; otherwise, it might get desperate and bite someone, causing harm to your own family.

Lin Shu agreed, aligning with Fang Dihua’s caution.

Sister-in-law Lu Er saw her mother-in-law come back and immediately pulled Lin Shu into the house.

They whispered and kept a wary eye on the window, clearly talking about her.

Was it just over a pair of shoes? Was it worth this much fuss?

Sister-in-law Lu Er blocked the doorway deliberately and waited to confront them when they came out, hoping to catch them in the act.

Sister-in-law Lu Er, with a deliberately unpleasant smile, said, “Mother, what are you discussing?”

Fang Dihua replied, “It’s nothing; it doesn’t concern you.”

Then she went to wash her hands and prepare for dinner.

Doesn’t concern me?

Saying that actually makes it clear it does!

Sister-in-law Lu Er was so angry that her nose and mouth twisted.

Lin Shu pointed out, “Second Sister-in-law, your face is twisted. Have you been exposed to a draft? Be careful of facial paralysis!”

Sister-in-law Lu Er’s chin twisted in anger, “You—”