Chapter 265: Chapter 257: The Melon Thief

They weren’t literate, but they recognized the character *Lan*. It was identical to the one on the bottom of the bowls used to deliver their meals every day.

Uncle Hu was even more familiar with this character. The bottoms of the newly bought bowls, and the cloth bags Zhao Lan had recently made herself, were all embroidered with this same *Lan* character.

Uncle Hu pointed at the bag and said, "This... isn’t this a bag your mother made?"

Bai Zhi nodded. "It is a bag my mother made, but it’s not my mother’s bag. Something like this should, by rights, be with the Bai Family."

After she said that, everything was perfectly clear.

Wu Jiang shook his head and sighed. "The Bai Family is truly shameless. You and your mother only have this one plot of land, you depend on it to get by, and they still have the gall to steal from it."

Li Cheng said, "The strange thing is, if they’d already stolen it, why did they abandon it on the ridge of the field?"

Wu Jiang suddenly recalled something. "Last night, when I got up in the night, I think I heard Bai Dazhu howling. I didn’t pay close attention at the time; I just thought they were fighting at home. Now that I think about it, it must be related to the theft of the yams."

Bai Zhi said, "For people like them, there’s no way they’d give up something they’ve already gotten their hands on, unless something happened that forced them to."

Uncle Hu chimed in, "They’re pretty bold. Who dares to go into the fields at night? Venomous snakes love to come out and hunt after dark."

Bai Zhi smiled faintly and said no more on the matter. She turned to Wu Jiang and Li Cheng. "Have you two had breakfast yet? If not, you can eat here before you go back."

The two of them quickly waved their hands. "No, no, it’s already made at home. They’re just waiting for us to get back to eat. You go on with your business, and just give us a shout if you need anything."

Bai Zhi nodded. "Alright, I will."

After watching the two of them leave, Uncle Hu eagerly asked, "It was definitely the Bai Family who did this. What are you going to do?"

Bai Zhi’s gaze shifted in the direction of the Bai Family’s home, a smile still playing on her lips. She said, "I don’t have time to settle this score with them today. In a bit, I have to go to Boss Chen’s Diner Inn. It’s the first day for the new dish, after all. I need to go check on things and make sure nothing goes wrong."

She drew her gaze back and said to Uncle Hu, "After I leave, no matter who comes looking for me—whether to borrow the cart or borrow money—just ignore them."

Uncle Hu understood immediately, a grin spreading so wide he couldn’t close his mouth. "Good, I understand. Don’t you worry, I’ll be here at home."

A short while later, the person sent by Boss Chen came knocking.

"Is this the home of Hu Changlin?" the cart driver asked politely, addressing the man standing in the doorway.

Hu Changlin nodded. "I’m Hu Changlin. And you are?"

Seeing he was in the right place, the driver quickly jumped down from his cart and smiled at Hu Changlin. "I’m a driver from the Diner Inn. The Shopkeeper sent me to pick up the yams. Are they all ready?"

Hu Changlin hurried to open the courtyard gate to let him in. "They’re all ready. You’re certainly early. The children are still eating. I’ll go get them for you."

Before Hu Changlin could go inside to get anyone, Bai Zhi and Hu Feng walked out. "I’m done eating," Bai Zhi said.

The driver had seen Bai Zhi before. Yesterday, while hauling vegetables from the market back to the kitchen, he had seen her cooking. The aroma was so tantalizing that he’d even drooled in his dreams that night.

"Miss Bai, I’m here to pick up the yams," the driver said, approaching with a beaming smile.

Bai Zhi quickly led him over to the base of the wall and pointed to four sacks of yams placed there. "Each of these sacks is twenty-five jin. There are four sacks in total, making it exactly one hundred jin—if anything, it’s a little more, not less."

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