In the old family estate, the village head, Zhang Wenyuan, found himself with a massive headache. This situation was truly bizarre.

If it were a theft, then why was only this one family’s wheat stolen?

But if it wasn’t a theft, then who had taken the wheat?

The most baffling part was that everything had vanished overnight.

Even thieves wouldn’t be able to work this fast, right?

Of course, if dozens, or even a hundred people had worked together, then maybe it was possible.

But if that were the case, surely there would have been some noise?

It was simply impossible for such a large-scale operation to be completely silent.

“You’re sure you didn’t misremember when you last saw the wheat?” Zhang Wenyuan finally asked, trying to make sense of it all.

“What do you mean by that, Village Head?” Old Madam Liu snapped, unable to hold back her anger.

“I mean… is it possible that you harvested the wheat a few days ago and just forgot?” Zhang Wenyuan asked, furrowing his brow.

The crowd: “……”

Even Zhang Wenyuan’s voice grew quieter as he spoke.

“Village Head, that’s a ridiculous accusation! How could we forget our own harvest? And even if we somehow did, do you think the entire village would forget too?”

“Exactly! You’re making it sound like we’re causing trouble for no reason,” Fang Miaojun chimed in, standing her ground.

“But don’t you realize how absurd your claims sound too?” Aunt Zhao suddenly spoke up.

Yesterday, Scholar Jian had given her a large piece of wild boar meat.

Naturally, she felt the need to defend her now.

Besides, she was home last night.

How could Scholar Jian have stolen the wheat?

To Aunt Zhao, this whole thing was just ridiculous.

“How is it absurd? It’s not impossible! That wretched woman is building a house right now. If she gathered enough people to help, she could have easily harvested all that wheat in a single night!”

The moment Old Madam Liu said this, Zhang Wenyuan’s expression darkened.

Never mind anyone else—just considering his own son, Zhang Zhiyong, and his daughter-in-law, Lin Chunzhi, he could not agree with Old Madam Liu’s statement.

“If you truly believe that, then go ahead and report it to the authorities,” Zhang Wenyuan snapped, his patience wearing thin.

Hearing this, Old Madam Liu suddenly realized what she had just said.

After all, it wasn’t just Zhang Zhiyong who was working on Jian Xiu’s house.

A large number of villagers were involved as well.

Sure enough, as soon as Zhang Wenyuan suggested reporting the matter, several families started to scold Old Madam Liu.

“My husband came home at the hour of Hai (9–11 PM) last night, reeking of alcohol. How could he have stolen the wheat? If you ask me, you’re the one being punished by the heavens for your misdeeds!”

“Exactly! My husband also came home at that hour, completely drunk. And yet, we’re being accused of stealing wheat? What a joke!”

“If you’re so sure, why not just report it to the authorities?”

“…..”

The villagers all spoke up, leaving Old Madam Liu speechless.

She couldn’t even come up with a proper rebuttal.

Deep down, she knew it was impossible for anyone to harvest several acres of wheat in one night, no matter how skilled they were.

But the fact remained—her wheat was gone.

Thinking about this, Old Madam Liu suddenly dropped to the ground, clinging onto Zhang Wenyuan and wailing,

“I don’t care! My wheat is gone, and I won’t leave until it’s found!”

Zhang Wenyuan: “……”

The villagers: “……”

If you want to make a scene, go ahead!

This was her land, after all—not theirs.

Of course, as the village head, Zhang Wenyuan couldn’t say that out loud.

Instead, he coughed lightly and, with a righteous air, declared:

“There is only one solution to this problem.”

“What solution?”

“Report it to the authorities!” Zhang Wenyuan said decisively.

Old Man Zhang: “……”

Just the thought of dealing with the government made him tremble.

Old Madam Liu: “……”

“What’s wrong? You don’t want to? Reporting it is the best solution. This happened in Zhangjia Village, but I have no way of solving it. The only option is to involve the authorities.”

Hearing this and seeing Zhang Wenyuan’s serious expression, Old Madam Liu shuddered.

She scrambled to her feet, dusting off her clothes frantically before stiffening her neck and saying,

“What’s the point of reporting it? You just need to check each household’s granary to see if anyone has extra wheat!”

The moment she said this, the crowd erupted in anger.

“Your wheat disappeared, so now you want to search our granaries? Who do you think you are?”

“Exactly! If you ask me, this is divine punishment!”

“Even the heavens can’t stand people like her!”

“If she keeps acting this way, she’ll lose all her crops soon enough!”

“That’s right!”

“……”

As the discussion grew louder, the whole situation became more and more bizarre.

At first, the villagers had been skeptical.

Then, they started to believe it might be possible.

And now, they were completely convinced that this was divine retribution.

“You know, this really does seem like a punishment from the heavens.”

“Of course it is! Think about it—there wasn’t a single noise in the village last night, yet her entire field was emptied by morning. Isn’t that suspicious?”

“If this isn’t divine punishment, I don’t know what is! Why did it only happen to her?”

“If you ask me, we shouldn’t even report it. That’ll just make us a laughingstock!”

“……”

By the time Jian Xiu returned, she saw a large crowd gathered around the field.

That was just how village life was—whenever something happened, people would rush over to watch the commotion.

Where there was excitement, the villagers would gather.

This time, however, Jian Xiu didn’t bother joining in.

Even from a distance, she could guess what was going on.

Besides, the village was full of gossips.

Sure enough, as soon as Jian Xiu’s carriage arrived, Aunt Zhao hurried over to her.

She eagerly recounted everything that had just happened in great detail.

Jian Xiu couldn’t help but laugh.

“If you ask me, this really is divine punishment. Everyone else’s fields are perfectly fine—only hers got emptied. Isn’t that strange?”

“Haha, Jian Xiu, have you eaten yet?” Aunt Zhao asked, smiling slyly.

“Oh, is it time already?” Jian Xiu grinned back.