The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 46: Hold the shit basin
This jade pendant doesn't look like something from the village.

When Shi Tou saw the jade pendant, his heart skipped a beat. How could his brother-in-law's jade pendant be in Lin Jianshan's hands?
He subconsciously turned to look at Lu Chengjing.

Lu Chengjing stared at the jade pendant expressionlessly, his eyes deep and dark.

The villagers were surprised to find that there was actually such so-called evidence.

Just now, the Lin family came back saying they had lost some silver, and they were making a fuss about everyone gathering around the old elm tree to catch the thief.

No one in the village could identify them, and the Lin family couldn't definitively say who was who. So Lin Jianshan suggested that two people from the village go with him to look for evidence at the Lin family's house.

Upon hearing this, the villagers naturally couldn't let those who were on good terms with the Lin family go. What if they covered for each other and used something to frame someone?

Therefore, Wu Mingli and Zhang Da, the sons of the Wu family, were elected by the villagers.

The crowd gathered around to examine the jade pendant.

"Good heavens!" someone exclaimed. "This jade pendant is worth more than thirty taels of silver. Which thief picked up a sesame seed and lost a watermelon?"

Some people wondered, "Our village is full of peasants, who would have such a good thing?"

"Yes," someone chimed in. "With something this good, wouldn't people treasure it as a family heirloom? Who would wear it around to show off?"

"Look at the middle of this jade pendant, doesn't it look like characters?"

"No, no, let me see."

"Go away, you can't even read. It's better to ask a scholar to take a look than to let you see it."

The villagers started discussing the jade pendant, each offering their own opinion.

Yuan Musheng glanced subtly in Lu Chengjing's direction, his heart filled with worry.

Five years ago, the Lu family sent someone to the village to bring Lu Chengjing home. Yuan Musheng went to help. To thank him for his care over the past two years, Lu Chengjing wanted to give him a jade pendant representing the Lu family. If Yuan Musheng encountered any difficulties, he could take the jade pendant to the Lu family for help.

Although Yuan Musheng did not accept the jade pendant, he still remembers what it looked like.

It is round, with openwork carvings of magnolia branches around the edges, and a prominent "Lu" character in the center, exactly the same as the one Lin Jianshan found at the Lin family's house.

But why is Chengjing's jade pendant in the Lin family's house?
He didn't believe Lu Chengjing was the thief who stole the silver.

Wu Mingli and Zhang Er witnessed Lin Jianshan retrieve the jade pendant from under the rumpled clothes on the kang (a heated brick bed). Wu Mingli, who could read a few characters, had some guesses about the owner of the jade pendant, but he didn't say anything.

Shang Wan was illiterate, but the original owner had memories related to this jade pendant.

Master Lu happened to acquire a fine stone. Since the stone was not large, he took it out and had a jade pendant made for each of the three young masters of the Lu family.

The eldest son, Lu Chengyuan, has a jade pendant with a pattern of green bamboo, symbolizing continuous advancement.

The second young master, Lu Chengyi, has a hibiscus pattern on his jade pendant, symbolizing good fortune and wealth.

The third young master, Lu Chengjing, has a magnolia pattern on his jade pendant, which symbolizes his noble character.

Since obtaining the jade pendant, the three young masters of the Lu family have worn it on their bodies every day, and the jade pendant is their symbol of identity in the Lu family.

However, after Lu Chengjing went to prison, the jade pendant disappeared without a trace. Now it has appeared in the Lin family and has become the object of a silver thief, obviously to smear Lu Chengjing.

Shang Wan couldn't understand it. Lu Chengjing was a useless person who had been diagnosed by doctors and didn't bother anyone. So who was so bored as to use the Lin family as a pawn and go to the trouble of dealing with such a useless person as Lu Chengjing? What was their motive?

Lin Jianshan, holding the jade pendant, walked straight to Lu Chengjing. He stood, while Lu Chengjing sat.

He looked down at Lu Chengjing, and although he tried his best to hide the malice in his eyes, Lu Chengjing saw through him at a glance.

“Lu Xiucai, none of the people in our village can read a single character. Please help us identify the characters on this jade pendant and find the thief.”

Lu Chengjing didn't even lift his eyelids, and said indifferently, "I don't recognize you."

Lin Jianshan was stunned. He didn't expect Lu Chengjing to react so calmly after seeing the jade pendant and to lie through his teeth.

He was about to speak when Madam Zhou jumped out, pointed at Lu Chengjing and shouted, "You're lying! The jade pendant clearly has the character 'Lu' in the middle."

"Oh, so it's the character 'Lu'." Lu Chengjing's tone was tinged with mockery. "Since you already knew, why make me recognize it again?"

Village Chief Lin's face darkened, and Lin Jianshan glared at Zhou Shi with a black face, saying, "You think you're so great!"
Zhou felt wronged; she was just trying to help her husband.

Aunt Zhou rolled her eyes and looked at Zhou Shi, "Lin Dajia, when did you learn to read? Even the scholar can't read, but you can. You're even more learned than the scholar."

The villagers burst into laughter, and Zhou blushed deeply, hiding behind Lin Jianshan.

Lin Jianshan was annoyed, but he knew that now was not the time to scold his wife, so he secretly gave Gao Qi a wink in the crowd.

Gao Qi understood and raised his voice, saying loudly, "This jade pendant is obviously not from our village. Only the Lu family moved here from the county town, and the jade pendant has the character 'Lu' on it. There are no other families with the surname Lu in our village. It's possible that this jade pendant belongs to Lu Xiucai."

The villagers fell silent at the sound and all turned to look at Lu Chengjing.

Clearly, after hearing that the jade pendant contained the character "Lu," some people suspected that the pendant belonged to Lu Chengjing, but none of them wanted to take the lead and offend anyone.

Someone tentatively asked, "Scholar, is this jade pendant yours?"

Before Lu Chengjing could answer, Village Chief Lin suddenly said, "The Lu family is a well-known family in the city, they will definitely recognize their own jade pendant."

The implication is that even if Lu Chengjing denies it outright, they can still take the jade pendant to the Lu family and let them identify it.

They were practically itching to pin the blame on Lu Chengjing.

“It is my jade pendant, but it has been lost for quite some time.” Lu Chengjing’s tone was as indifferent as ever.

Lin Jianshan scoffed coldly, his tone dripping with sarcasm, "You're saying the jade pendant is lost, so what proof do you have?"

"You say the money is lost but there's no proof?" Shi Tou glared at Lin Jianshan. "So you say it's lost, and that's it, but my brother-in-law says that if it's lost, we have to produce proof. What kind of logic is that?"

"The silver is gone!" Liu, standing nearby, slapped her thigh in distress. "Thirty taels of silver! It's all the family's hard-earned money! Damn thief, give the silver back!"

As she spoke, she lunged at Lu Chengjing to tear him apart, but Xiao Huan pulled out a kitchen knife and slashed forward. Liu Shi didn't even have time to pull her hand back, and she didn't dare to get any closer.

"You little bitch!" Liu cursed angrily, but Xiao Huan didn't talk back. She just held the kitchen knife and stared at her coldly, as if she was thinking about where to chop.

Liu felt her hair stand on end under Xiao Huan's gaze, and took two steps back, only feeling safe when she was next to Lin Jianshui. She glared fiercely at Xiao Huan and Lu Chengjing, but didn't continue her tirade.

Shang Wan began to reflect on whether she had led Xiao Huan astray.

The little girl who was afraid of mice when we first met has grown up so fast! It's only been a few days, and she's already wielding a kitchen knife to kill people. Isn't that a bit too fast?

(End of this chapter)