If you don't consummate the marriage for three years and then marry a successful educated youth

The group nodded repeatedly: "Understood, we'll listen to Brother Tiger."

Around three o'clock, the sound of a gong rang out, and the crowd came up from the fields to the threshing ground to get food. The aroma of meat wafted over, and the stomachs of those people kept rumbling.

His mouth was practically watering: "Brother Tiger, I'm so hungry! What are they eating that looks so delicious?"

"Hmm, it smells like meat, but even more fragrant. How is this made? This brigade is really something else, they can even afford to eat a meal in the middle of the night."

"Where did they get so much food? Is it free? Damn it, I'm so hungry too. When will this end? How come we're still not finished eating?"

Half an hour later

After finishing their work, they lay down to rest, and then others took their place to continue working. The threshing ground quickly quieted down, and the few people hiding behind the trees exchanged glances: "Let's go, split up."

"Remember, it's only one hour. No matter how much you pack, you have to come back to the assembly point. Also, be careful to erase any traces so that no one will notice that they've lost food."

"Walk."

Several dark figures dispersed and ran towards areas with fewer people guarding the grain. Taking advantage of the darkness, they crouched down and began stealing grain. After smoothing out the traces with their hands, they carried dozens of kilograms of grain away.

After stealing the grain, the person left quickly.

The next morning, as dawn broke, the atmosphere at the meeting was somewhat tense. The team leader, his face ashen, asked, "Did any of you notice anything amiss when you got up this morning?"

The group looked at each other and shook their heads: "No, Captain, we were on guard duty all night and didn't notice anything amiss."

"Really? Look at the chalk lines drawn around the grain drying area. There are gaps in the grain in some places, which means there is a shortage of grain. No one has moved the grain area after dark."

"The chalk was drawn before dark. It was just a simple mark. The chalk marks from the night before and the morning before matched up, but today's don't."

These words caused an uproar among the audience.

"What? Is someone stealing grain? Could it be someone from the production brigade? Stealing is a crime, they can't be that stupid, can they?"

Hearing their discussion, the captain picked up the megaphone and said, "Don't doubt it, it's not one of our team members. After Xiao Lie and I noticed something was wrong, we went to check the surrounding woods."

"There were scattered rice grains on the ground, especially in the bushes, so we suspect that people from other brigades came to steal our grain."

"We don't know exactly who it is, so everyone stay alert tonight. If they come again, we have to catch them."

The crowd was furious and shouted, "How dare they steal our life-saving food! Captain, don't worry, as long as there's no traitor within our brigade..."

"If they dare to come again, we will definitely catch them."

Ugh, I'm so angry! They've worked so hard for so many days, and they just let someone steal their house right under their noses. It's outrageous!

The captain said seriously, "Just keep this to yourself, don't spread it around, lest they stop coming and we won't be able to catch them then."

"Be careful starting tonight. We need to ambush people in the woods and trees. I want to see who's so bold."

"Okay, we've got it."

Everyone was thinking about this while they worked all day. Soon it was night, and Jiang Lie led a few people into the forest, hiding directly in the trees, each of them holding a whistle.

If they notice anything amiss, they can simply blow their whistle, and the patrol team will surround the area in the direction of the whistle. They'll surely catch the culprit.

No one came all night until dawn.

The chalk lines drawn around the grains were not moved, indicating that no one had touched them. As for changing their positions, that was impossible. The chalk color was not visible under moonlight at night; it could only be seen with a flashlight.

Thieves wouldn't dare turn on a flashlight, so the location couldn't be wrong; if it didn't move, it meant no one was trying to steal it.

No one dared to let their guard down. On the third night, when Jiang Lie was leaning against a tree trunk and closing his eyes to rest, a rustling sound came from behind him, and he immediately opened his eyes and looked over.

Under the moonlight, several dark figures crept over furtively.

"Brother Tiger, we've come to this brigade again. Their rice is really plump. No wonder it was harvested after it was ripe. The brigade we went to yesterday was no good. Their grain was harvested too early and was shriveled."

"Okay, I got it. Do more work today, and we won't come here next time. Make sure to wipe away all traces so no one gets suspicious."

"Understood, Brother Tiger, don't worry."

Jiang Lie took a deep breath and glanced at his brother on another tree. The two nodded slightly. When they arrived at the threshing ground, they squatted down to steal the grain.

A piercing whistle rang out, startling the group. Before they could react, the patrol rushed over, shouting, "There they are! Catch them!"

"Ahhh, Tiger, something's happened to Tiger!"

"Run! What the hell are you doing coming at me? Split up and run, you idiot!"

Yang Hu shoved the people away forcefully and ran into the woods. He didn't care about these idiots. These good-for-nothings had been discovered and instead of running away, they were coming this way. What were they thinking?

Tie Dan was grabbed from behind and forced to the ground, his face pressed against the muddy earth. He screamed at the top of his lungs, "Brother Hu, Brother Hu, save me!"

"Let go, let go of me!"

Jiang Shi kicked him directly, his face full of anger: "Let go of your father! Who the hell allowed you to come and steal our grain? How dare you! This is our life-saving grain for the winter!"

"Stealing people's grain is a capital offense. If the brigade leader hadn't said not to kill you, I would have killed you right now."

"Does anyone have a flashlight? Come and see who this is, which brigade they belong to. Send it over tomorrow and settle accounts with their brigade. If they can't manage their own people, they'll have to pay them money and grain compensation."

"Yes."

Tiger didn't dare look back. He dashed into the woods, his lungs throbbing with pain as if they were about to explode. He glanced back and spat, "Damn it, I'll have to hide in the mountains again."

He wasn't afraid of them going to the brigade. Anyway, he had no parents, so even the brigade leader couldn't do anything to him. If they had the guts, they could kill him. If they didn't catch him, he could just hide for a while and then come out again.

"Phew, I'm exhausted. This Xiangyang Brigade is really weird, it's like a ghost story. I wish I hadn't come."

A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. Tiger's pupils contracted, and he froze on the spot, too afraid to move: "Who, who is it?"

Jiang the Hunter clenched his fists and said coldly, "What do you think?"

He kicked the man in the back of the knee, then grabbed the man's clothes by the back of his neck and dragged him toward the threshing ground.

"Please, I have several tens of dollars here, I'll give them all to you."

Jiang Lie hissed, "Shut up!"