Ye Zi’an looked around his front door and, seeing a hemp sack on the left, picked it up. Yang Chuxia saw his movement and silently smiled; he was quite a clever little schemer.
At that moment, the door opened from the inside, revealing a burly young man. Ye Zi’an, being taller than most people, swiftly put the sack over the young man’s head and started to pummel him, eliciting painful cries from his opponent. Yang Chuxia, on the other hand, had locked Ye Zi’an’s front door from the outside upon the young man’s emergence.
Looking at the iron lock in her hand, Yang Chuxia laughed at the sack-headed person, "You’re such an idiot. When breaking into someone’s house, you should take the lock off first, or else people will just end up locking you in." She snorted dismissively. "Pathetic."
"Greedy!" said Ye Zi’an, not stopping his assault.
"Ye Zi’an, you little bastard, let go of me!" yelled the sack-headed person, not giving up hope. The people inside the house were spinning in circles, frantic at the sounds of the scuffle outdoors.
"How dare you insult others while stealing from their homes? Brother An, give him a hard beating! Once he’s dealt with, he won’t dare try it again."
"That remains to be seen. People with sticky fingers will always have a knack for stealing. Having him remain in our Yangshu Village is a disaster waiting to happen," Ye Zi’an said as he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead, continuing to pummel the person beneath him.
His cold demeanor added a chill to the sweltering summer air. Yang Chuxia listened to Ye Zi’an’s words and couldn’t help but glance at him. She wanted to ask him what he planned to do, but since they were not that familiar with each other, it wouldn’t be appropriate to press further, so she remained silent.
Later, Yang Qingtong came back from the village, followed by Land Officer Yang and a large group.
"Brother An, where’s the thief? I want to see which blind fool dared to steal from our village."
Land Officer Yang was fuming, clutching a wooden mallet in his hand.
"Grandfather, there are two of them in total. One was caught here," Yang Chuxia pointed to the thief under Ye Zi’an, and then to the house, "and the other one is locked inside. We heard them plotting to raid Brother An’s stash of silver."
Seeing Yang Chuxia, a flash of surprise passed through Land Officer Yang’s eyes.
However, he didn’t have time to dwell on it, as the appearance of thieves in the village was an absolute disgrace.
"Brother An, stand up. With so many of us here, they won’t get away. I want to see who those troublemakers in our village are."
At this point, Land Officer Yang didn’t realize that the person inside was actually from their village. He had presumed them to be outsiders.
Upon hearing this, Ye Zi’an got up from the thief’s body. A villager behind Land Officer Yang stepped forward, removed the sack, and was taken aback at the sight. They thought to themselves, Brother An really didn’t hold back, the guy’s face is unrecognizable now.
"Ye Zi’an, you little bastard, you dare to hit me? Just you wait, I’ll have my mother flay you alive!" At first, no one had recognized him, but once he began to speak, everyone knew who he was.
"Ziping?" Land Officer Yang’s expression darkened as he glanced at the house again. "Open the door for me," he ordered.
Ye Zi’an stepped forward and opened the lock. As soon as it was unlocked, the door suddenly swung open, and another fist came flying towards Ye Zi’an’s face. "You little piece of shit! How dare you hit my brother! I’ll beat you to death!"