Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

Chapter 261: 259: The Chain Reaction Caused by Xiaokang

At the same time, he also brought back the three lost inkstones and a few wolf hair brushes from the shop. As for the rest of the little things, only bits and pieces were brought back.

But the fact that he was able to retrieve these major losses, Liu Sisi was already overjoyed!

“I really didn’t expect that you’re actually quite capable!”

With the returned items in hand, Liu Sisi’s eyes widened in surprise as she scrutinized Di Yelei up and down.

Di Yelei lifted his head proudly and flashed a recklessly teasing smile, “What do you think? Don’t you think your husband is impressive too?”

“Pfft! Look at you, so smug!”

Liu Sisi couldn’t help but burst out laughing, “Alright! Stop pretending, this is nothing like you. Hurry up and tell me, how did you find the clues, and how did you track them down? Who took these things, and how did you retrieve these lost items?”

The grin on Di Yelei’s face crumbled, and he switched back to his usual innocent expression. He approached Liu Sisi and wrapped his arm around her waist, his bear-like paw reaching out again, “Sisi, you’re really undermining your husband’s confidence.”

“Stop messing around! Hurry up and tell me!”

With a forceful pat, Liu Sisi brushed away the paw on her chest.

“Xuan’er and YingEr have gone to the old house, they could come back at any moment. And what about father? How bad it would look if he saw.”

She carefully sorted out these retrieved items one by one, planning to put them back in the shop tomorrow.

“What are you patting for? We’re husband and wife!”

Di Yelei argued, but followed her instructions and released her, “Who else could it be? Only she could make Di Cheng drop his guard, steal things from under Di Cheng’s nose, and still not face any consequences.”

“Is it her?”

Liu Sisi raised an eyebrow in question.

“Exactly her!”

Di Yelei nodded, looking helpless.

Liu Sisi couldn’t help but click her tongue in surprise, “She played such a dirty trick, isn’t she afraid that I would expose her to the authorities?”

“I’m afraid your Second Sister-in-law really thinks so.”

Di Yelei also looked quite frustrated.

“I’ll tell you this! We cannot keep indulging her like this! Once Brother Nan comes back, the shop has to be returned to him. When the truth comes to light, if he insists, not only will your Second Sister-in-law be sent to court, even us, who have been harboring the knowledge of a crime, you could even be charged for knowingly breaking the law!”

Liu Sisi really wished she could rush over right now and give that shameless woman a few slaps on the face!

“Didn’t you hear the commotion from the old house?”

Di Yelei raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Just now, when Ms. Wang refused to admit it, I brought the person who wanted to take over the stolen goods to confront her. The two of them kept blaming each other, and in the end Second Brother slapped her a few times. Dad and the two children have gone to watch the excitement! Don’t worry, I don’t think she’ll dare to do it again this time.”

She did hear some commotion from the old house, but considering the constant noise from there, she didn’t think anything of it.

She never thought it would end up like this.

Looking at Di Yelei, who had picked up the torch and seemed to want to go out, Liu Sisi raised an eyebrow.

“Where are you going now?”

“Well, the two brothers from Old Feng’s house had a fight, supposedly over a camphor tree growing on the embankment. A wealthy man took an interest in it and proposed to buy it. However, the two brothers have been fighting over that sum of money for days now. They’ve finally come to me.”

As Di Yelei spoke, he put on a leather shoulder scarf. This scarf was made from sheep wool that he himself had prepared, and Liu Sisi had sewn it for him. It was exceptionally warm to wear. Even though Liu Sisi’s handiwork was not very good, Di Yelei still wore it outside all the time to show off.

Now that he had become a constable, traveling to and from Upper Village every day on horseback had indeed become far more convenient than before.

However, with the convenience came an array of new problems, which kept cropping up out of nowhere.

The eastern boss’ chicken had gone missing, the western boss’ field was lacking a few vegetables, and they would often turn up at his door, demanding some sort of resolution.

Seeing that they were his fellow villagers, he couldn’t help but take the matters seriously.

Normally, after a hard day’s work, he was utterly exhausted. But upon returning home, he had to immediately jump into solving such trivial issues. He was kept so busy, he felt like a spinning top- not a moment of peace.

And if the family involved happened to be unreasonable, he ended up receiving all the blame. It was classic exertion without appreciation.

“Trouble seems to follow the upright and incorruptible official, but could you mediate these issues?”

Setting aside the shoulder scarf she was mending, Liu Sisi looks up and asks with amusement. The shoulder scarf was being made for Elderly Mr. Di.

Di Yelei was visibly helpless. “We are all fellow villagers. If I don’t intervene when they approach me….”

If he didn’t, the villagers might start thinking him arrogant now that his family was prospering, and that he would turn a blind eye to others’ problems.

Indeed, such rumors had already begun to circulate.

“Even if you do intervene, not everyone can be satisfied. It’s better to avoid getting involved.”

“But how do I do that?” Di Yelei asked, scratching his head in distress.

“It’s simple. Here’s what you should do…”

In the end, Liu Sisi came up with a solution for him.

That very night, Di Yelei took half a leg of badger meat and a jug of rice wine to the Land Officer’s home to politely express the difficulties these matters were causing him.

The Land Officer had been in a sullen mood these days.

Previously, people turned up on his doorstep every day. Despite feeling annoyed, it was also somewhat comforting. It made him feel like he was doing his job well.

But ever since Di Yelei had become a constable, everyone went to him with their problems, causing the Land Officer’s home to become unusually still.

So when he saw Di Yelei appear carrying half a leg of badger meat and a jug of rice wine, his spirits lifted immediately.

When they were deep in their cups, Di Yelei started pouring out his troubles. Watching the tormented Di Yelei, eyebrows knotted together in worry, the Land Officer burst into laughter.

“I’ll handle this matter! Rest assured, you’ll be pleased with the outcome!”

The Land Officer patted his chest and assured him.

Overjoyed, Di Yelei knelt down. “My deepest thanks, Uncle Land Officer. The responsibilities of my office are tremendously heavy as it is. Your generous offer to help defuse this situation comes as a great relief. You have my utmost gratitude.”

“Well, well, well! The older you get, the more capable you become, and also better at speaking. Now, get up…”

The Land Officer bent down to help him up himself, squinting his old eyes as he gave him a once-over. “Tell me honestly…did Sisi come up with this idea?”

Caught off guard by the question, Di Yelei had to abandon his serious face. Scratching the back of his head and smiling his simple smile, he replied.

“Uncle Land Officer, please don’t be angry…Truthfully, I was…out of ideas. You know I’m bad with words and rather busy, so…”

“Haha…I knew it!”

The Land Officer patted his shoulder. “I knew that’s how it would be. You can go now! Sure, work is important, but you must also spend time with your wife, isn’t that so?”

“Thank you for your advice, Uncle Land Officer!”

Having received confirmation, Di Yelei happily left to go home.

As expected, the Land Officer made an official announcement the next day.