**Chapter 28**

  After Little New Year’s Day, the Spring Festival quickly approached. After a year of hard work, the only time to rex was during the New Year celebrations. In the northeast, the festive atmosphere was always strong.

  On the 24th, the day of the big cleaning, Daniu started working right after breakfast. She tidied up the east and west rooms in the front yard and swept the courtyard. While she was busy, she suddenly saw Xie Yun coming in from outside, her eyes red and her emotions visibly on the verge of breaking down.

  “Sister Yun, are you okay?” Daniu asked.

  Xie Yun clenched the letter in her hand, forced a smile, and shook her head. The smile was painfully forced.

  She didn’t say much to Daniu and quickly went inside.

  * * *

  Daniu frowned but didn’t say anything. Then she saw her second brother coming in from outside, accompanied by Zhang Xiaoran. Zhang Xiaoran was saying something, her face beaming with a bright smile, while her brother’s expression remained indifferent.

  When Dakui entered the yard and saw his sister shoveling snow, he quickly went over to help. He grabbed a shovel and started moving the snow to the east side of the yard. “Brother, where did you go this morning?”

  “I went to the commune to send a letter,” Dakui replied.

  “Dakui-ge, let me help you clean up,” Zhang Xiaoran offered eagerly.

  “No need, it’s almost done,” Dakui said, quickly shoveling the snow Daniu had swept to the side.

  Daniu gnced at Zhang Xiaoran, then put the broom away in the storage room and went to get some frozen pears. As she checked the bag, she noticed something unusual. The bag of frozen pears and persimmons she had brought back from Second Grandpa’s house was almost empty. They had been eating them regurly, and during Little New Year’s Day, they had served many to the retives who visited. The bag she had brought back was now empty, but Second Grandpa brought three more bags yesterday, distributing two to others and leaving one for their family.

  This bag hadn’t been opened yet, but Daniu noticed it felt looser than before. When she pulled on the sack, she saw a small hole at the bottom, clearly cut with a knife.

  Daniu frowned. Her family members wouldn’t sneak food like this—even Dazhi, who loved to eat, wouldn’t go to such lengths to hide it. In the countryside, a sack like this was valuable, and no one would waste it like this.

  After thinking for a moment, she took out some frozen pears, tied the sack tightly, and flipped it over so the hole was on the inside. As she walked around the storage room, she noticed something else: three of the hides she had tanned had been cut. Upon closer inspection, she saw that a strip about three fingers wide had been cut from each hide. The cuts were precise, made with a sharp knife, and only on three hides. If she hadn’t been paying attention, she might not have noticed.

  Unfortunately, Daniu knew every detail of the hides she had tanned. She estimated that the stolen strips could be pieced together to make a vest.

  “Who do you think did it?” Dakui asked after Daniu told him about the theft in the storage room.

  “I’m not sure. It definitely wasn’t someone from our family or retives,” Daniu said confidently. She trusted her family’s integrity, and besides, there was no need for them to steal. Her family was generous, always sharing what they had. The frozen pears were kept in the storage room, and anyone could take them if they wanted. Moreover, during Little New Year’s Day, they had served a whole vat of them, with only a few left.

  “Do you suspect the three educated youths?” Dakui asked.

  Daniu shook her head. “It doesn’t seem like them either. The cuts on the hides were too precise, made with a very sharp knife. There were no jagged edges, and the cuts were made along the edges so neatly that someone else might not have noticed. It probably wasn’t done yesterday when the house was full of people.” She recalled that her grandfather had been out fishing with Third Grandpa for the past few days, so the front yard had been unattended at times.

  “I’ll go to the backyard and ask if anyone saw strangers around,” Dakui said, standing up.

  “I’ll come with you,” Daniu said, picking up the basin of frozen pears.

  As they stepped outside, before they could head to the backyard, Daniu saw someone approaching in the distance. She squinted and recognized him—it was Zheng Sen.