Chapter 354 - 348_1
"Eh, Xiaomei, you haven’t gone back yet? Has something happened?" Lin Yue was eating when she saw Li Xiaomei return hurriedly, somewhat surprised, especially since she seemed so rushed, she guessed something must have happened.
Li Xiaomei felt that speaking outside was not safe, fearing that someone might overhear, "Sister-in-law, let’s go inside and talk."
Once inside the house, Li Xiaomei informed Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue about the theft of the sweet potatoes, "Sister-in-law, I reckon this must have been done by an insider, an outsider can’t get into the workshop, let alone steal the sweet potatoes without anyone noticing. It’s infuriating, and if I hadn’t paid special attention today, I wouldn’t have noticed."
Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue were initially angry to hear that someone had stolen the sweet potatoes, that despite being vigilant, there still was an internal thief. Human nature is particularly unpredictable. But seeing Li Xiaomei seething with indignation, they couldn’t help but shake their heads with a smile, which made them feel much less frustrated.
Although Li Xiaomei had a bad reputation in the village before, the tasks Lin Yue had given her lately, she performed exceptionally well, treating them with even more importance than her own family’s matters. Now, one reason Li Xiaomei wanted to earn money for her family was because of the division in her old home, and another was something Lin Yue had seen before: that at her core, Li Xiaomei was a decent person. Even though she appeared to have many small faults and shortcomings, she wasn’t greedy or insatiable. To the extent that you were good to her, she sincerely kept it in her heart and repaid you with her actions.
With Li Xiaomei able to do such things, Zhao Erhu, who had previously been prejudiced against Zhao Cheng and his wife, had come to really think this couple was not bad these past few days. Not to mention how hard Li Xiaomei worked for their family, Zhao Cheng also worked tirelessly when it came to labor, his dedication motivating many others. Consider, if a lazy person usually could work so hard, then the rest could not bear to fall behind and would put forth their greatest effort.
"Brother, Sister-in-law, I’ve got our Zhao Cheng hiding near the workshop keeping an eye out. You need to come up with a plan quickly. Who knows how much of our sweet potatoes this damn thief has taken," said Li Xiaomei, increasingly anxious seeing Zhao Erhu and Lin Yue seemingly unperturbed.
Lin Yue soothingly patted Li Xiaomei’s hand, "Don’t worry, there’s not much we can do about this kind of thing except to keep a close watch and wait for the thief to fall into the trap."