Tao Lengshuang knew this wasn't for her to hear. She smiled and ruffled his hair, "Later, Mommy will take you to the mountains. This morning, we'll have 'geda' soup."
It was better that man wasn't home. She wished it was just her and Xiao Feng in this house.
...
After Tao Lengshuang and Xiao Feng finished breakfast, they gathered their necessities and went into the mountains hand in hand.
Just as the family left, a sneaky figure scaled the not-so-high wall and headed straight for the only main house.
He rummaged through chests and cabinets, packing up all the good things he found, and even destroyed everything he saw.
After searching for a while, he found the few taels of silver Tao Lengshuang had hidden in the corner and pocketed them with a sinister smile.
Finally, he went to the kitchen and wreaked havoc.
After confirming there was nothing else of value, he left with a large pile of belongings, scaling the wall.
Fearing discovery, he secretly took a small path into the mountains and hid all the good things and silver in a small cave.
Before leaving, he took half a tael of silver.
But what he didn't know was that shortly after he left, someone appeared in front of the small cave, took everything, and erased their traces.
...
It was nearing noon.
Tao Lengshuang and Xiao Feng returned home hand in hand, chatting and laughing about what delicious food they would have for lunch.
As they passed a few women, they overheard their conversation.
"The Tao family really spoils their child, giving Tao Dagou money to buy whatever he wants. I just saw Tao Dagou buy a lot of food and supplies, and he even gave them away to the village children."
"This money, isn't it ill-gotten? The Tao family, being such stingy people, would never give so much money to Tao Dagou."
Tao Lengshuang didn't pay attention to what she heard and returned home with Xiao Feng.
Upon entering the house, mother and son were stunned to see the mess.
"This... Mommy, did our house get robbed?" Xiao Feng asked nervously.
Tao Lengshuang scanned the room.
The furniture, clothes, and everything on the ground were destroyed and unusable.
"Xiao Feng, can you stand here and wait for Mommy?"
Xiao Feng closed the main door and nodded obediently, "Mommy, don't worry, I'll stand here and won't go anywhere."
Tao Lengshuang hummed and went into the inner room to check the situation.
The inner room was even more chaotic.
The bed and cabinets were all damaged, and even the silver hidden in the corner was stolen.
Looking at the kitchen, everything inside was also ruined. Even the water in the vat had been poured onto the ground, making it wet.
This made Tao Lengshuang grit her teeth, her hands clenching with a cracking sound.
Just as they had finally earned a little money, they were robbed.
If she found out who it was...
No!
In a flash, Tao Lengshuang remembered the conversation she had overheard from the village women on her way back and had a guess.
Villagers wouldn't steal, but the Tao family might.
Especially Tao Dagou.
In the past, Tao Dagou had often stolen from her house, treating her belongings as his own.
Good Tao family, good Tao Dagou!
She found the sickle that had been discarded, picked it up, and stormed out.
"Mommy, where are you going?" Xiao Feng asked worriedly.
Tao Lengshuang was uneasy about leaving Xiao Feng alone at home and didn't want to take him to the Tao family. She temporarily left him at Aunt Shen Er's house.
"Aunt Shen Er, please keep an eye on Xiao Feng for me. I'm going to the Tao family to settle accounts."
Aunt Shen Er told Tao Lengshuang to rest assured and cautioned her to be careful, "If it's too much, wait until your husband gets back. There are so many people in the Tao family."
Tao Lengshuang thanked her.
She squatted down and instructed Xiao Feng, "Xiao Feng, Mommy has something to do at the Tao family and will be back soon. Will you wait here obediently for Mommy?"
Xiao Feng seemed to guess what was going on and nodded obediently, "Xiao Feng will be here, waiting obediently for Mommy to return."
"Mommy, be careful. We can do without the money, but Mommy must be alright."
Tao Lengshuang hugged him, then, holding the sickle, rushed to the Tao family.
She kicked open the door of the Tao family's house.
"Tao Dagou, get out here!"
She fiercely picked up a broom and charged into the main hall in a rage.
She happened to see Tao Dagou bragging to Yu Shi and others about how he had gotten a lot of silver and bought many things.
"This silver is all mine..."
Upon seeing Tao Lengshuang burst in, Tao Dagou's words stopped abruptly. He quickly hid behind Yu Shi and stuck out his tongue at Tao Lengshuang.
"What are you doing here? Get out! You're not welcome in this house," Yu Shi said fiercely.
Tao Lengshuang snorted heavily and slammed the sickle into the door, "It seems you weren't taught a good enough lesson by my husband yesterday, and you still dare to steal from my house."
This blow reminded Yu Shi and the others of yesterday's events, and they froze on the spot.
Yu Shi, in particular, touched her half-bald head, which she had painstakingly covered, and shrank back, afraid Tao Lengshuang would do the same as Mo Lingxi.
"Scoundrel!"
Old Master Tao reprimanded with feigned ferocity, "You dare to accuse my family of stealing your things with your bare mouth? I say you stole my family's things too."
Tao Lengshuang swept the broom across the table, causing the items on it to shake several times, "Look, what are these?"
"A pile of candy, a large bag of white sugar, clay figurines... such good things, would your family be willing to buy? No, willing to spend so much silver to buy for Tao Dagou?"
Old Master Tao took a few puffs of his pipe, gradually calming down, and looked at her with a grim face, "Dagou is the future head of my Tao family. What's wrong with me buying him things with my money?"
"Tao Lengshuang, I'm telling you, if you don't have proof and you dare to do anything here, I'll beat you to death."
He quickly signaled Tao Dagou and Yu Shi not to admit anything.
As long as they didn't admit it, Tao Lengshuang couldn't do anything to them.
With renewed confidence, Yu Shi and the others taunted Tao Lengshuang.
"You say it's your family's silver, but if you call it, will it answer?"
"How ridiculous. It's my family's business if we want to spend money to buy things for Dagou. What business is it of yours, an outsider?"
Tao Lengshuang knew the Tao family wouldn't admit it easily, and she didn't want to waste any more words. She rushed forward with the sickle and broom.
"Today, it's either you die or I die!"
Her fierce, desperate demeanor greatly frightened Old Master Tao and the others.
Old Master Tao reprimanded, "Why aren't you dealing with her? There are so many of us!"
Yu Shi and the others quickly grabbed suitable weapons to deal with Tao Lengshuang.
But they couldn't match Tao Lengshuang's speed and ferocity. She swung the sickle towards Tao Dagou, who had stolen the items.
Tao Dagou was so scared he lost control of himself and crawled to the side with a ashen face, "Don't kill me, don't kill me!"
"It was Grandpa and Grandma who told me to steal from your house. They said you had money and good things but weren't filial, so they wanted to steal all your things and money. I was really craving meat, so I took the opportunity when you were all out to steal everything."