Siheyuan: Start with a Truck Driver

Chapter 1120: Food Thief
Jia Shan ran towards home in a hurry, his heart full of longing for his wife in the city. He ran out of breath, his face full of excitement.

At this moment, he ran into the militia captain Jia Donglai. Jia Donglai staggered and almost fell to the ground. After he stabilized himself, he frowned at Jia Shan and asked sternly, "Jia Shan, what are you doing? You look so flustered."

When Jia Shan saw Jia Donglai, he panicked and stammered, "Captain Jia... Captain Jia, I... I have something to do."

Jia Donglai looked at Jia Shan's nervous expression and became even more confused. He asked, "What's the matter that makes you so anxious? Explain it to me clearly."

Jia Shan hesitated, not knowing how to answer. His eyes flickered and his hands kept rubbing the corners of his clothes. Jia Donglai noticed that Jia Shan was abnormal and a trace of suspicion surged in his heart. He observed Jia Shan carefully and found that Jia Shan's clothes were a little messy and there seemed to be some dust on his body.

Jia Donglai's face turned serious. He stared at Jia Shan and said, "Jia Shan, are you hiding something from me? You'd better tell me the truth."

Jia Shan became even more nervous, with beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He was very conflicted as to whether he should tell Jia Donglai about Jia Zhang's affairs.

Jia Donglai stared at Jia Shan and pressed him again, "What on earth are you doing? Tell the truth!"

Jia Shan panicked and lied quickly: "Captain Jia, I... I have a stomachache and I'm in a hurry to go home to use the toilet."

When Jia Donglai heard this, his brows furrowed even more. He had been a veteran militia captain for so many years, and he could tell at a glance that Jia Shan was lying. His face darkened, and he said sternly, "Don't try to lie to me. You must be hiding something from me. Tell me, what's going on?"

Jia Shan hesitated and refused to tell the truth. Jia Donglai was completely furious and decided to teach Jia Shan a lesson. He stepped forward, grabbed Jia Shan's collar, raised his hand and slapped him.

With a crisp "slap" sound, a red palm print suddenly appeared on Jia Shan's face. Jia Shan was stunned by the slap, he covered his face with a look of fear in his eyes.

Jia Donglai glared at Jia Shan and said, "You still don't want to tell the truth, right? If you don't tell me today, I will punish you."

Jia Shan had no choice but to tell him about what Jia Zhang had told him about finding a wife. He cried and said, "Captain Jia, it was Jia Zhang who said she would introduce me to a wife from the city and asked me to go back and change into clean clothes. I really didn't do anything else."

After Jia Donglai heard what Jia Shan said, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind - the granary. His face changed instantly, and a bad premonition came to his mind.

"You idiot!" Jia Donglai scolded Jia Shan harshly, "If anything happens, you will be in trouble."

After saying this, Jia Donglai didn't bother to teach Jia Shan a lesson anymore, and immediately turned around and ran towards the granary. His steps were fast, and he was extremely anxious. As an old militia captain, he knew the importance of the granary. If there was a problem, it would be a big deal.

Jia Donglai prayed in his heart as he ran, hoping that nothing unexpected would happen. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his eyes were filled with tension and worry.

After a while, Jia Donglai ran to the door of the granary. He stopped, took a few breaths, then carefully opened the door and walked in.

Jia Donglai stood in the granary, looking at the obviously reduced amount of food, and stamped his feet in anger. At this time, Jia Shan also followed in. When Jia Shan saw that there was less food in the granary, he was puzzled and scratched his head and said, "What's going on? Why is there less food?"

Jia Donglai glared at Jia Shan fiercely and said, "What else could it be? It must have been stolen by Jia Zhang."

When Jia Shan heard this, he immediately shook his head and said in disbelief, "It's impossible. Jia Zhang is a good person. How could she steal food?"

Jia Donglai snorted coldly and said, "Good man? Would a good man lie to you and say he would introduce you to a wife, and then take the opportunity to steal food? You don't even use your brain."

Jia Shan still couldn't believe it, and stammered, "Maybe... maybe it wasn't her. Maybe someone else stole it."

Jia Donglai was so angry that he pointed at Jia Shan and said, "You are still speaking for her? Who else would come to the granary at this time? You have been deceived by her."

Jia Shan lowered his head and stopped talking. He was very conflicted. On the one hand, he didn't want to believe that Jia Zhang would steal food, but on the other hand, he felt that Jia Donglai's words made sense. He didn't know what to do.

Jia Donglai looked at Jia Shan and sighed helplessly. He knew that now was not the time to blame Jia Shan. The most urgent task was to find Jia Zhang and get the grain back.

Donglai reported the loss of grain to the commune leaders in a hurry. The commune leaders were discussing matters in the office. When they heard the news, they were stunned and their faces were full of disbelief.

After a moment, they all stood up, with shocked expressions on their faces. One of the leaders said with great sorrow: "How is this possible? How could the grain in the granary be lost? That was all grown by the villagers with great effort. It is everyone's lifeblood!"

Another leader also frowned, looked at Donglai with heartache, and said, "Those grains are used to ensure everyone's lives. Now so much of it has been lost. What should we do?" They gathered together, expressing their heartache over the loss of the grain.

"How much food will be lost! It's all the hard work of everyone."

"That food is everyone's hope to survive this winter. Now it's gone. What should we do?"

The leaders' faces were filled with worry and distress, as if what was lost was not the grain, but their beloved treasures. Finally, the leading leader waved his hand decisively and said, "Dongli, you must send someone to chase Jia Zhangshi immediately and get the grain back. We can't let everyone's efforts go to waste."

Donglai immediately straightened up and said firmly: "Yes, leader, I will arrange it right away." After that, he turned around and walked out of the office quickly to organize people to hunt down Jia Zhang.

Jia Zhang dragged her heavy steps and walked forward with difficulty. She had already escaped five miles away. Her face was red and sweat kept flowing down her cheeks. Her breathing was rapid and heavy, and every breath was like pulling a bellows.

Her legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and every step she took required great effort. She leaned forward slightly, holding her trouser legs tightly with both hands, fearing that the food inside would fall out. Her eyes were bloodshot, but they were gleaming with greed.

Jia Zhang looked back from time to time to see if anyone was catching up with her. She was both nervous and excited. She was nervous because she was afraid of being caught, and she was excited because she had stolen so much food. Suddenly, there was a shout behind her. Jia Zhang was startled and turned her head in panic. She saw Jia Donglai and a group of people chasing after her. Her face turned pale in an instant, and she was filled with fear.

"It's over, I've been discovered." Jia Zhang shouted desperately in her heart. She didn't dare to hesitate, turned around immediately, and ran forward quickly. Her steps staggered, but she didn't dare to slow down, as if there was a flood or a beast chasing her from behind.

However, Jia Donglai and his men were faster. They were running very fast, closing the distance between them and Jia Zhangshi. Jia Zhangshi looked back as she ran, and her heart was in her throat as she saw the approaching pursuers.

After a while, Jia Zhang felt that her strength was gradually running out. Her breathing became more rapid, and her legs seemed to have lost sensation. Her speed was getting slower and slower, while Jia Donglai and the others were getting closer and closer.

In the end, Jia Zhang still couldn't escape.

Jia Donglai's eyes widened with anger. He stopped Jia Zhangshi and asked loudly, "Why did you steal the commune's grain? Don't you know that the members of the commune will have to rely on that grain to survive in the future?"

Jia Zhang's eyes flickered, but she refused to admit that she had stolen the grain. She stiffened her neck and said, "Don't spit blood at me. When did I steal the grain? I didn't do anything immoral."

When Jia Donglai saw that Jia Zhang was denying it, he became so angry that his face turned blue and he said, "You don't admit it, right? Then I'll search you to see if you have any food." As he said that, Jia Donglai was about to step forward and search her.

Jia Zhang suddenly panicked and started yelling, "What are you doing? You are a hooligan! Help! Someone is acting like a hooligan!" Her voice was so sharp and piercing that it attracted the attention of passers-by.

Passersby gathered around him amid the curses. Everyone was talking about it, looking at Jia Donglai and Jia Zhangshi, not knowing what had happened. Seeing more people around, Jia Zhangshi cried even more unscrupulously, cursing Jia Donglai for bullying her.

Jia Donglai was somewhat at a loss for words by Jia Zhang's reaction. His face flushed as he explained, "Don't listen to her nonsense. She stole the commune's grain. I just wanted to search her for evidence."

However, Jia Zhang refused to give in and continued crying, "He is a hooligan, everyone help me drive him away." Some passers-by began to look at Jia Donglai with suspicion, while others felt that the matter was not that simple, and the scene was in chaos for a while.

Jia Donglai was angry and anxious when he saw Jia Zhang throwing a tantrum. He had never thought that Jia Zhang would be so shameless, so he quickly explained the situation.

"Fellow villagers, listen to me. This person stole the commune's grain, and I chased her to get it back. But not only did she not admit it, she also slandered me as a hooligan. The commune's grain belongs to everyone, and she is damaging everyone's interests!" Jia Donglai said anxiously.

When the passers-by heard that Jia Zhang was a grain thief, they were immediately furious and cursed Jia Zhang.

"You bad woman, how could you steal the commune's grain? That is everyone's life-saving food!" An old lady pointed at Jia Zhang angrily and said.

"That's right. You are so shameless. You don't work yourself, and you steal everyone's food. Do you have any conscience?" An old man also scolded angrily.

"Humph, this kind of person should be sent to the police station and punished." A young man said indignantly.

"You are a foreigner, but you are not grateful at all and you do such a wicked thing." said another passerby.

Everyone was talking and cursing. Jia Zhang's face turned ugly under the accusations of everyone. She shrank her body and wanted to find a crack in the ground to crawl into. But she was unwilling to be caught like this and tried to defend herself.

"I didn't steal any food, they wronged me." Jia Zhang said in a low voice.

Seeing that Jia Zhang still dared to quibble, Jia Donglai immediately called two women comrades over. The two women stepped forward without hesitation, grabbed Jia Zhang's trouser legs, and pulled hard, and the food immediately poured out like water.

When the food was flowing out, passers-by were stunned, and then they started to make even more angry accusations. But Jia Zhang was still unwilling to accept it, and continued to say stubbornly: "I brought this food from my own home. I am a city dweller, how could I be short of food? You are slandering me."

At this time, Jia Shan also came over. When he saw the grain, he understood everything in an instant, and a surge of anger at being deceived surged in his heart. With red eyes, he rushed forward and beat Jia Zhangshi.

"You liar! You lied to me and said you would introduce a wife to me, but you ended up stealing food. You caused me to be scolded by Captain Jia, you're too much!" Jia Shan beat and scolded me at the same time, with increasing strength in his hands.

Jia Zhang never thought that Jia Shan would dare to attack her. Her already arrogant temper was instantly ignited and she became angry. Her eyes were wide open and her face was red, like an angry beast.

"You little bastard, you dare to hit me? I'll teach you a lesson." Jia Zhang roared, waving her hands and rushing towards Jia Shan. Although she was an old woman, she was fat and had great strength. She rushed towards Jia Shan with her teeth and claws bared, and her appearance was very scary.

Jia Shan was caught off guard and was pushed hard by Jia Zhang, almost falling to the ground. After he stabilized himself, he became even more angry. "You grain thief, you dare to fight back." Jia Shan cursed and rushed forward.

The two men immediately started fighting. Jia Zhang relied on her strength to push Jia Shan and scratch his face with her nails. Jia Shan was not to be outdone, he resisted Jia Zhang's attack with all his strength, and occasionally punched and kicked him.

"You scoundrel, you stole the food and you still don't admit it." Jia Shan beat him and scolded him.

"I didn't steal it. This is my food." Jia Zhang retorted stubbornly, but her hands did not stop moving at all.

They rolled on the ground, raising dust. Jia Zhang completely disregarded her image and bit and scratched like a shrew. Jia Shan's face was scratched with several bloody marks and his clothes were torn. But he did not back down and continued to fight fiercely with Jia Zhang.

Passers-by shook their heads in disgust at Jia Zhang's rogue behavior. Jia Donglai was so anxious that he tried to pull the two apart, but he was afraid that he would be dragged into it.

"Stop fighting, or someone will die." Jia Donglai shouted loudly, but the two men didn't listen at all.

Jia Zhang knew very well that he had been caught, and if he could not escape, he would be in big trouble. In this situation, he could only give it a try.