Stepmother Reborn: Dad, my mom hasn't hit me for three days

What was Jidong doing? Of course he was asking the teacher for advice.

It's a compliment to say that he has talent. He is just a child. His learning ability doesn't mean he can investigate a case. But he can't say that he can't, right? That would be embarrassing for him.

It's better to lose the game than the battle. Besides, there's a dollar hanging on the line, so he has to try his best.

If he fails, he loses nothing.

When Zhou Pandi heard that he wanted to investigate the thief, she quickly explained to him, "You can check to see if there are any footprints at the door of the house."

Fortunately, it is winter now and the roads in the countryside are all dirt, so it is easy to find footprints.

Li Xiaoying also gave him some advice, "First, check outside the village to see if there are any footprints. This way you can determine if it's from the village or outside. Then go to other houses to look for footprints. Oh, you must remember to check Li Jianxin's house for footprints. He must not have gotten up yet. The footprints there are the most complete."

Jidong's eyes lit up and he took out his notebook to write it down, "Okay! I'll go now!"

After consulting the teachers, he told his aunt and took Youcai and Guoxiang out to find the culprit.

Jidong followed the instructions of the two teachers and went outside the village to take a look. Because today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, no one from other villages has come to pay New Year's greetings. The local custom is that the first day of the Lunar New Year is for the villagers to pay New Year's greetings to each other. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, married daughters return to their parents' home to pay New Year's greetings, and on the third day of the Lunar New Year, relatives pay New Year's greetings to each other.

Youcai and Guoxiang followed him, sweating profusely. The village wasn't that big, but it was winter, so the ground was muddy. Guoxiang's butt was injured, and he walked around the perimeter, shivering with cold. "Did you finish looking? Who is the thief?"

Jidong gave him a calming look and said, "Why are you in such a hurry?"

He slowly led the two to the door of Li Jianxin's house. Just as Li Zhiqing said, Li Jianxin had not yet gotten up.

The couple was staying in the house for the winter. Unlike Zhang Xiuhua, they were not willing to heat the kang for the children. Instead, they wore cotton clothes and roasted sweet potatoes at home.

Hearing the noise outside, the two thought it was Miao Xiaohua coming over, and Li Jianxin immediately shouted at the top of his voice, "Mom, I'm not going out! I'm in the house wishing you a happy new year!"

As he spoke, he kowtowed. Jidong and the other two looked at each other. It was not right to say it, and it was not right not to say it. It was even more impossible to leave now.

Jidong hushed at the two of them, took out a ruler from his pocket to measure the size of the shoe print, took out a small notebook from his pocket to record the data, and then traced it according to the pattern on the sole.

After writing it down, he ran away.

Youcai saw him running and followed him. Only Guoxiang was a little slow to react and was caught by Li Jianxin who had not waited for his biological mother to reply. "You bastard! What are you doing at my doorstep!"

Guoxiang pointed at his door and said, "Let me see if the couplets in your house have been torn down!"

Li Jianxin snorted, "I didn't buy the couplets, so the thief has nowhere to tear them up!"

There was a hint of pride in his tone. Look how smart he is. The couplets are not for eating or drinking, so why buy them? Everyone said they don't know how to live. According to him, these people don't know how to live.

Guoxiang ran away and bumped into the two men at the corner. "Aren't you two running too fast? Uncle Jianxin just said that he didn't buy the Spring Festival couplets."

“I heard you.” Jidong motioned for him to shut up. “With such a small size, it must be for a child.”

Youcai scratched his head for a long time, "That shoe print just now looks familiar, I think I've seen it somewhere."

At that time, rural people made their own shoes. The soles were all made of 1,000-layered soles. Zhang Xiuhua said she didn't know how to make shoes because the soles had to be sewn stitch by stitch, which was very laborious.

Guoxiang has always been a careless person. He just watched it with them and didn't think, "Who is it? Whose soles are like this?"

Youcai has a bad memory, so how could he know? "I can't remember."

Guo Xiang snorted, "I'll go find my grandma. She must know."

Her grandmother definitely knows which daughter-in-law in the village is the best at making shoes.

So the captain's wife, Song Lianhua, was called over. Her grandson held her arm and she ran unsteadily to keep up with him. "Run slower! The ground is slippery and you might fall on your butt."

Guoxiang doesn't care whether he falls or not. He just wants to prove that he is not a thief.

After finally running to Jianxin's door, Guoxiang pointed at the footprints and said, "Grandma, look! Whose footprints are these?!"

Song Lianhua is old and her eyesight is a little blurry. She squatted down to identify it for a long time, and suddenly clapped her hands, "Oh! Isn't this the work of so-and-so?"

Guoxiang's eyes were burning with fire, and he grabbed his grandmother's sleeve tightly, "Grandma, who is it?"

Song Lianhua went to look for footprints in front of other houses, but the other doorsteps were so trampled that she couldn't tell whose was whose.

She sighed, "Forget it! Let's not talk about it."

Guo Xiang certainly refused, "How can that be possible? Now the whole village says I'm a thief. If I can't prove myself, I'll have to take the blame! Grandma, you have to tell me!"

Song Lianhua was so annoyed by her eldest grandson that she had no choice but to bring her three children to this house.

"Lihua? Lihua? Are you home?"

Next to Zhang Lao's collapsed house lived Tie Lihua, a widow with her son Tie Niu. Her husband was a son-in-law who died of illness when he was young, and she lived alone with her son.

Tie Lihua often made shoes to supplement the family income and was considered the best skilled woman in the village.

When Song Lianhua came to the door, Tie Lihua was making shoes. Tie Niu's clothes were wet and he had no clean clothes, so he could only lie in bed. The kang was cold without fire.

Tielihua put down the sewing basket and came forward to greet the person. "Auntie, why are you here?"

Seeing three little kids following behind her, she was a little confused, but didn't take it seriously.

Song Lianhua didn't know how to start the conversation. Life was hard for an orphan and a widow. If she came to their house, the villagers would be dissatisfied with her. However, Guoxiang was wrongly accused of being a thief, and they were clamoring to catch the thief. She had no choice but to come. She came, but she couldn't say anything.

Adults want to save face, but children don't know the difference. Guoxiang knew he was wronged, so he looked around, "Aunt Tie, where is Tieniu? I have something to ask him!"

Tielihua didn't think much about it. They were the same age. She pointed inside and said, "He's on the kang. He got his pants wet while playing yesterday and is warming himself by the fire. You can go look for him in the house."

Guoxiang rushed in without her saying anything.

Song Lianhua was afraid that her grandson might be too strong and might hit her too hard, so she hurried in and said, "Hey, Guoxiang, please speak properly."

Guoxiang had already rushed onto the kang, grabbed Tieniu's arm and asked, "Did you tear up the couplet? How could you do that? You made the villagers misunderstand me!"

Tie Niu was lying on the kang and naturally was not as strong as him. He was pressed down and couldn't turn over. When he heard his words, he didn't even have the heart to resist, and his dark face turned purple.

Jidong and Youcai didn't know how to persuade him.

Tie Lihua walked in and heard Guoxiang's words clearly. Seeing her son's reaction, she knew everything. She yelled, "Tie Niu! Did you do this?"

Tie Niu lowered his head and didn't dare to look at his mother.

Tielihua was not used to his bad habits. She started looking for tools and said, "You are a traitor! You are a traitor! How dare you steal things? I will smash your hands!"

She was extremely anxious, but her family was too poor and she couldn't find any suitable tools, so she just took off her shoes and rushed over.

How could Song Lianhua just stand there and watch? She quickly reached out to stop him, "Don't hit him yet. Maybe this kid has some difficulties."

This is actually a way out. After all, no matter what the hardship is, you can't tear down all the couplets in the village.

But when Tielihua heard it, she felt it made sense. Her son had always been well-behaved, so how could he suddenly do such a stupid thing?

Tielihua pulled her son out of bed and said, "Tell me! Give me a reason!"

Tie Niu's eyes were red. "I heard that red couplets cannot be posted on the dead! Grandpa Zhang is dead, I am so sad. I think the whole village will remember Grandpa Zhang."

Grandpa Zhang is Zhang Sanxi's father. Because his sons don't live with him, Grandpa Zhang is very lonely. Tieniu is very lonely in the village, so he likes to play with Grandpa Zhang. When Grandpa Zhang has something delicious, he will give it to Tieniu. The grandfather and grandson have established a deep friendship.

The whole village was celebrating the New Year, but Tieniu was sad because his Grandpa Zhang had passed away. He couldn't make the whole village sad, so he just wanted to take down the Spring Festival couplets to let everyone remember that Grandpa Zhang had passed away.

Tielihua hugged her son and cried bitterly.

When Guoxiang heard the reason, he was confused. He had no connection with Grandpa Zhang, but when he saw Tieniu crying, he couldn't do it anymore. So he looked at Jidong and Youcai, who were also embarrassed and didn't know what to do.