After being reborn, I have seven older sisters.

Just as Chunsheng swung his iron shovel and began to strike the thing that was trying to escape,

Chunmiao had already regained her senses. She found a hoe in the front yard, held it in her hand, and returned with Chunzao.

Chunzao, who was walking behind, was holding a kerosene lamp. As soon as they reached the backyard, she immediately asked loudly, "What was that thing just now?"

Song Mantun took the kerosene lamp from Chunzao and lit it near the thing that Chunsheng had killed.

The family finally realized that it was a mouse.

But the rat in front of me is really too big.

Liu Yan'e exclaimed in astonishment, "My goodness! Where did such a huge rat come from? It's almost as big as a cat!"

Chunsheng used an iron shovel to scoop up the already bloodied and mangled rat, intending to throw it into the garbage dump outside the city.

Liu Yan'e immediately asked, "What is that?"

Song Mantun brought the kerosene lamp closer and looked carefully at the ground, only to find that it was actually a small patch of golden corn kernels.

It's obvious that this was spat out of the rat's mouth by Chunsheng when he was beating it up.

Liu Yan'e sighed and said, "I wonder whose grain these rats have destroyed! They've grown so big; they must have been wreaking havoc on the granary for more than just a day or two!"

Chunsheng immediately said, "It's definitely not our grain."

Liu Yan'e glanced at Chunsheng and laughed, "Of course not. Your father keeps a very close watch on our grain storage. If there were any rats, he would have found them long ago."

Chunsheng looked up at the city wall, a puzzled expression on his face. "The rat fell from the city wall, so whose grain could it have stolen?"

Liu Yan'e shook her head. "Oh! That's hard to say. If you go out from the top of the city wall, there's one team going south and four teams going north."

"Half of the residents in Team One and Team Four have backyards right next to the city wall, so it's hard to say whose grain these rats stole."

Chunsheng nodded. "Now that you mention it, it's really hard to guess which family it is. I'm going to go throw away the rats."

As Chunsheng spoke, he gripped the iron handle of a shovel and scooped up the dead rat as he walked outside.

Chunmiao called out, "I'll go with you."

"Then I'll go too," Chunzao said, pulling Chunmiao along as they chased after them.

At this moment, under the moonlight, the entire village looked as if it were draped in a layer of silver gauze.

As soon as the three siblings stepped out of the city gate, a warm breeze blew towards them, carrying with it a putrid smell.

Chunmiao and Chunzao quickly covered their mouths and noses, while Chunsheng was also annoyed by the stench.

"Don't go over there, just stand there and wait for me!"

Chunsheng started jogging, and when he was still several meters away from the garbage heap, he threw the rat carcass away, and it flew towards the garbage heap.

Immediately afterwards, he turned around and ran back.

"Hurry home, the garbage dump stinks!"

As they approached their home, two people walked towards them. Chunsheng recognized them immediately and called out, "Third Uncle, Third Aunt, where are you going?"

Third Aunt Miao Suzhen said, "I'll go to your house!"

Third Uncle Song Manyao chimed in, "Your Third Aunt just came out of a meeting at the brigade headquarters. She has something to tell your parents."

Chunmiao and Chunzao, who were walking behind, looked at each other. Chunmiao whispered in Chunzao's ear:

"Third Uncle is becoming more and more like a village cadre's family member; now he even uses words like 'convey'."

Chunzao chuckled twice and quickly followed, wanting to see what they wanted to convey.

Upon seeing Liu Yan'e and Song Mantun, Miao Suzhen exclaimed in shock, "Something terrible has happened!"

The elderly couple, who had just recovered from the panic in their backyard, were startled again.

Liu Yan'e hurriedly asked, "What serious incident has occurred?"

Miao Suzhen immediately explained, "I just heard from our Party Secretary at the meeting that a murder occurred last night in Xiaojiaying, near the foot of the Qinling Mountains. I heard that an old man who guarded the animal shed died, and his death was horribly gruesome!"

Upon hearing this, even Chunsheng was startled.

Although he had never been to Xiaojiaying, some of his classmates lived in that village.

It is said that the entire village of Xiaojiaying is located on the edge of the Qinling Mountains, and villagers often hear wolves howling when they wake up in the middle of the night.

Previously, some villagers would often find puppies less than a month old when they went into the mountains to cut firewood. However, when they got home, they would find out that the puppies were actually wolf cubs. In order not to cause trouble for the village, they would have to walk several miles to throw the wolf cubs back into the deep mountains.

At this moment, Song Mantun asked with a look of horror, "Have you figured out how they died?"

Miao Suzhen swallowed hard and replied with a look of fear, "They say he was bitten by a wolf, and I also heard that half of the old man's face was eaten away by the wolf."

Upon hearing this, Liu Yan'e shuddered instantly and asked in confusion, "There are so many livestock in the feeding shed. Even if there are wolves, they should be eating those animals, not hurting people."

Miao Suzhen sighed and explained, "I heard that many livestock were also killed. The old man must have heard some noise at night and went out of the house to check, which is when he was attacked by wolves."

While Liu Yan'e's family was still shocked by the old man's tragic death, Miao Suzhen continued, "The Party Secretary also mentioned something else."

"What is it?" Liu Yan'e asked immediately.

Miao Suzhen lowered her voice slightly and said, "I heard that someone in the commune has made a mistake, and people from the county have already come to investigate today!"

"Who is it?"

After asking the question, Liu Yan'e couldn't help but glance at her family members' faces.

She had already guessed that the person Miao Suzhen was referring to was Pan Yuren, the director of the poor people's association in the commune, but she never expected the news to leak out so quickly.

Immediately afterwards, she began to worry that if Pan Yuren learned of the news and made preparations, her eldest son-in-law's situation might become unsolvable.

After thinking for a moment, Miao Suzhen said, "I don't know exactly who it is, but I heard it's a leader."

Liu Yan'e quickly composed herself and continued, "Even we know about this, so the leader being investigated must have known long ago. If they could pull some strings, maybe this matter would be over!"

Miao Su-zhen immediately shook her head, saying firmly, "It shouldn't be that easy! I heard the mistake was quite serious, apparently related to money!"

Liu Yan'e was somewhat puzzled: Could it be that the person Miao Suzhen was talking about was not Pan Yuren, but someone else?

At this moment, Chunmiao looked at Miao Suzhen and asked curiously, "Third Aunt, these two things you came to convey seem to have nothing to do with us!"

"How can it be alright?" Miao Suzhen immediately explained, "The old Party Secretary said that these days everyone should close all their doors and windows before going to bed."

Chunsheng immediately asked, "Is it for protection against wolves?"

Miao Suzhen nodded. "That's right! Although Xiaojiaying is several miles away from our village, we still can't let our guard down!"