When the pears are green

Chapter 226 Punishment

Jiang Qingzhou looked at the dark face in front of him expressionlessly, and calmly asked the ashamed young man: "Jiang Fei, we have no hatred in the past and no grudges in the present, why did you steal so many melon seedlings from my family? It would be fine if you stole them once, but you stole them a second time. If we hadn't caught you today, would you have planned to steal all the melon fields?"

Jiang Fei's face was anxious, and he drooped his eyes and stammered to explain to Jiang Qingzhou: "Brother Dahu, I, I have no choice. My father, my father is sick, and there is no money at home, so I took this path."

Jiang Qingzhou snorted after hearing this and continued to ask Jiang Fei: "Then why did you come to steal my melon seedlings? Can you become rich by stealing them? Do you know how much I have suffered to grow these melon seedlings? Do you know how difficult it is for my wife to grow melon seedlings at home while she is pregnant? You can't come to my house just because you have no money. The things in my house are also earned by my wife and I working hard from dawn to dusk, in the wind and rain."

"Brother, I'm sorry. I... I have no other choice. I sold the melon... seedlings and used the forty... coins I earned to buy medicine for my... father..." Jiang Fei said as he sniffed and knelt down in front of Jiang Qingzhou.

Jiang Qingzhou moved to the side and looked at the man kneeling on the ground and crying with mixed feelings.

Jiang Qingye walked to Jiang Qingzhou with his arms folded, his eyes constantly scanning the vast field. From time to time, a few graves would come into his sight.

"Brother, don't talk here, it's scary." Jiang Qingye grabbed Jiang Qingzhou's sleeve tightly, his voice trembling.

Jiang Qingzhou patted Jiang Qingye on the back, then bent down and put the small wooden shovel still stuck in the soil into the basket brought by Jiang Fei, in which lay two dug watermelon seedlings. It is said that when catching a thief, the stolen goods must be found, so he would take these things to see the head of the village.

"Let's go."

"Brother, where are you going?"

"Go to the village head uncle's house. He has sold all the melon seedlings. Let the village head uncle decide what to do with them."

Jiang Fei quickly grabbed Jiang Qingzhou's calf and begged for mercy, asking Jiang Qingzhou not to take him to see the village head, and he was willing to pay compensation.

"Oh, what are you going to use to compensate? Are you going to steal other people's things again?" Jiang Qingzhou squatted down, pried Jiang Fei's hands apart, pulled Jiang Fei up from the ground and asked.

Jiang Fei hesitated for a while and didn't say a word.

"In that case, let's go see Uncle Lizheng."

Jiang Qingzhou pulled Jiang Fei forward, and Jiang Qingye hurriedly picked up the basket and carried the wooden stick to keep up with Jiang Qingzhou's pace.

Jiang An, the head of Jiangjia Village, had a house at the entrance of the village. Jiang Qingye pointed to the house where there was still light and said to Jiang Qingzhou happily, "Brother, there is still light at the head of the house. He should not have gone to bed yet. I'll go knock on the door."

After Jiang Qingye finished speaking, he ran to the gate of Jiang An's house. The knocking sounds were particularly harsh in the quiet night.

"Who is it?" A stern male voice came from the yard, accompanied by a few "woof woof woof" dog barking.

Jiang Qingye quickly answered loudly: "Uncle Village Chief, I am Erhu. My brother and I caught a thief who stole my melon seedlings. I would like to ask Uncle Village Chief to help us."

"There are so many things going on. It doesn't even let me have peace in the middle of the night." Although the voice was low, Jiang Qingye still heard it.

Jiang Qingye didn't take it to heart and stood obediently in front of the door waiting for Jiang An to open it.

Jiang An impatiently opened the door and saw Jiang Qingye, who was crying, standing in front of the door. He stared with cloudy eyes and asked, "Erhu, are you alone? Where is the thief your brother told you about?"

"Uncle village head, they are over there." Jiang Qingye quickly pointed at two people not far away and showed them to the village head.

Jiang An followed the direction Jiang Qingye pointed and saw Jiang Qingzhou dragging Jiang Fei towards here. The long shadow in front of them reached the door first.

Jiang An first glared at the disappointing Jiang Fei, then sighed and let the three of them enter the yard.

Jiang Qingzhou told Jiang An what had happened and showed him the evidence in the basket.

An angry Jiang An grabbed the melon seedling from Jiang Qingzhou's hand and threw it hard at Jiang Fei's face. The mud at the root of the melon seedling scattered, and the broken soil jumped into Jiang Fei's mouth or fell on the moonlit ground with the melon seedling.

"Puh, puh, puh... Puh, puh, puh..." After spitting out the dirt in his mouth, Jiang Fei knelt in front of Jiang An guiltily, begging Jiang An not to tell his family.

"Jiang Fei, what can I say about you? Others who rent my land have to give me 100 kilograms of grain per acre per season. I see that your family is really pitiful, and you only need 60 kilograms per acre per season. Can't you survive like this? To put it bluntly, your father may have been ill for many years, and you have done your best. You will have to pay the land tax soon, and there will be a head tax in the autumn harvest. Let's find a way for your family to make a living." Jiang An sighed as he spoke, and turned to signal Jiang Qingzhou to untie Jiang Fei.

Jiang Qingzhou untied the knot neatly, rewound the hemp rope and put it into his bag.

Jiang Fei understood what Jiang An meant. He turned pale, trembled all over, and couldn't utter a word.

Jiang An had no choice but to tell Jiang Fei again: "Don't blame your uncle for speaking harshly. A person who is about to enter the earth should not argue with the living. You still have your mother, brother and sister. Think more about them."

Jiang Fei squatted on the ground with his head in his hands. After a long time, he finally nodded to Jiang An.

Jiang An patted Jiang Fei on the back, then stared at Jiang Qingzhou and asked, "Da Hu, how do you want Jiang Fei to compensate you?"

Jiang Qingzhou pretended to be embarrassed and frowned, thinking for a while, then smiled and told Jiang An: "Uncle Lizheng, I don't want to embarrass Jiang Fei, so why not let him dig fifty baskets of green grass for my family."

Jiang An patted Jiang Qingzhou's shoulder with relief, then lowered his head and asked Jiang Fei if he could accept Jiang Qingzhou's conditions.

"Yes, of course. Thanks for your help, brother." Jiang Fei excitedly told Jiang Qingzhou that he could go to the Jiang family to deliver the grass tomorrow.

Jiang Qingzhou asked Jiang Fei to deliver two baskets of green grass to his home every afternoon. Once fifty baskets were delivered, the grudge between the two families would be settled.

"In that case, I won't keep you talking any longer. Let's all go back." Jiang An yawned as he spoke, and the three of them tactfully said goodbye and left.

Jiang Fei was embarrassed to travel with Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye, so he chose another route home.

Jiang Qingzhou and Jiang Qingye were afraid that Song Li would be anxious at home alone, so they ran home in a hurry.

Although the moonlight was bright, Song Li still held an oil lamp and carefully identified Jiang Qingzhou and his brother through the crack of the open door.

"Come in quickly, I've boiled some hot water for you. It's still hot in the kitchen, so just take a quick shower." After Song Li finished speaking, she smiled and pushed open the gate, asking the two people at the door to hurry in.

When Jiang Qingzhou finished washing and returned to the east room, Song Li was lying by the window looking at the bright moon hanging in the night sky.

Jiang Qingzhou hugged Song Li from behind and asked, "Why aren't you sleeping yet?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I wanted to wait for you." Song Li said as she closed the window, turned around and lay in Jiang Qingzhou's arms and asked if anything happened at night.

Jiang Qingzhou carried Song Li to the bed and carefully told her what happened in the melon field.

"Qingzhou did the right thing, but why don't I have any impression of this person named Jiang Fei?" Song Li asked, rubbing his forehead.

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and replied while combing Song Li's hair: "He is not a relative of ours, so it is normal that you have no impression of him. Tomorrow, I will go to the riverbank to find some reed stalks and fish for you, okay?"

"Okay, the rapeseed has been dried thoroughly. While the weather is good these few days, Qingye and I will pick it up tomorrow. After you deliver the goods to the restaurant tomorrow, go to the grain store to buy some sesame seeds. I want to plant some sesame seeds in the mulberry field." Song Li leaned lightly on Jiang Qingzhou's shoulder and said softly.

Jiang Qingzhou readily agreed and blew out the oil lamp to coax Song Li to sleep. Song Li held up her heavy eyelids to look at the bright moonlight shining on the wooden table by the window, then hugged Jiang Qingzhou's arm and slowly fell asleep.

After the sun rose above the treetops, Song Li asked Jiang Qingye to spread the rapeseed evenly on the open space in the yard, and then the two of them stepped on the dry rapeseed together.

The rustling sound of trampling rapeseed instantly rang out in the yard. After a morning and half an afternoon of hard work, all of the Jiang family's rapeseed was finally trampled.

Jiang Qingye used three rows of wooden forks to pick the rape stalks and put them under the shed south of the kitchen together with the wheat straw. Jiang Qingzhou held a winnowing basket and carefully picked out the impurities in the rapeseed, while Song Li sat on a stool nearby, supporting a cloth bag.

"When I come back tomorrow, I will go to the oil mill in town to press oil, and plant sesame seeds the day after tomorrow. I can only look for reed stalks the day after tomorrow." Jiang Qingzhou said to Song Li while working.

Song Li smiled and nodded, then took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off Jiang Qingzhou's forehead.

Towards evening, Jiang Fei arrived at the Jiang family carrying two baskets of green grass. He lowered his head and poured the grass into the shade, not daring to look at the three people in the yard.