A daily intelligence report; in chaotic times and famine years, grain is plentiful.

Around noon, Chen Mo and Sun Dazhu finally descended the mountain and returned to the village.

I had just walked a short distance from my house when I suddenly heard a series of arguments.

Chen Mo frowned slightly and listened carefully. He heard his sister arguing with someone else coming from the courtyard.

He knew something was wrong and quickly quickened his pace.

Ling'er rarely speaks in this tone; something must have happened at home.

Chen Mo strode into the courtyard, followed closely by Sun Dazhu.

Looking at the scene in the courtyard, Chen Mo's expression changed instantly.

Beside the woodshed stood a short man, blocking Chen Ling'er's way.

Upon closer inspection, the man turned out to be Zhou Hu from the same village.

This man was usually idle and had done a lot of petty theft. Although he was not a member of the Wang family, he was a notorious scoundrel.

His visit to Chen Mo's house today certainly wasn't for anything good.

At this moment, Chen Ling'er was nervously holding a bamboo basket, scolding Zhou Hu.

"These are my chickens, what right do you have to take them?"

"Yours?"

Zhou Hu chuckled dismissively and glanced into the woodshed.

"Little girl, stop pretending. Your family is notoriously poor. How could you possibly afford to raise chickens? Maybe you stole them from somewhere?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling'er exclaimed, "You're talking nonsense!"

"Nonsense? Listen to me now and give me half of what you stole, or I'll tell everyone else and get the Wang family here."

His words were clearly a threat.

At this moment, Chen Dashan also leaned against the door and said accusingly, "Zhou Hu, that's enough. I helped your family a lot when you were a child."

Zhou Hu laughed and said, "Old man, if you're not feeling well, go back and rest. Don't bring up these old stories. My parents are long gone, who remembers them?"

Chen Mo was furious.

He went to great lengths to acquire these chicks, keeping them in a secluded spot to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

In these famine years, a chicken is more precious than a human life. It can lay eggs to supplement nutrition, and when it grows up, it will be meat. How can we just give it away?

"Zhou Hu, you dare touch my sister!"

Suddenly, a cold voice rang out.

Zhou Hu froze, then turned around and saw Chen Mo standing at the courtyard gate.

He had heard earlier that Chen Mo dared to fight Wang Mang and even injured Wang Mang's leg, which made him feel inexplicably apprehensive.

The thought that he had something on Chen Mo's stash of things forced him to force himself to remain calm.

"Chen Mo? You're back just in time! I saw you hiding chickens. Everyone's starving in this famine, and you're secretly raising poultry. You have to give me half, or I'll tell Wang Laoqi you're hoarding supplies and defying the government's donation order!"

When Chen Ling'er saw her brother return, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and said in a choked voice, "Brother, he... he insisted on taking our family's chicks."

"It's okay, I'm here."

Chen Mo patted his sister's head, gesturing for her to hide behind him, his gaze still fixed on Zhou Hu.

"Zhou Hu, when did it become your place to tell me what to do with my things?"

"Why isn't it my turn?"

Zhou Hu continued shouting.

"Who in the village doesn't lack food these days? Your family can hatch chicks, so you must have a lot of grain hidden away! Either you give us the chickens or the grain, or I'm not leaving today and I'm going to make a big scene!"

As he spoke, he reached out to snatch the bamboo basket from Chen Ling'er's hand, clearly ignoring Chen Mo's warning.

Chen Mo's eyes turned cold.

Before Zhou Hu's hand could even touch the bamboo basket, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist and was thrown out, crashing heavily against the wall. It took him a while to recover.

"Chen Mo, how dare you hit someone!"

Zhou Hu clutched his waist, cursing and yelling in a disheveled state.

"You wait! I'm going to tell the Wang family right now, and have Wang Laoqi bring some men to deal with you!"

He shouted fiercely, but inside he was panicking terribly.

Chen Mo's skills are even more impressive than rumored; that last move almost broke his back.

When did this sickly fellow become so brave?

At this moment, Sun Dazhu quickly went to Chen Ling'er's side and asked with concern, "Ling'er, were you scared? Did he touch you?"

Chen Ling'er shook her head and whispered, "I'm fine, Brother Dazhu, it's just that he bullied me too much."

Sun Dazhu turned and glared at Zhou Hu, angrily saying, "Zhou Hu, have some shame! This chick was hatched with great difficulty by Brother Mo, what does it have to do with you? You can't even find your own food, so you come and steal from others, what kind of man are you!"

"Is I looking for something to eat?"

Zhou Hu struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall, his face full of disdain.

"What could we possibly find in this desolate wilderness? As for you, Chen Mo, the Wang family has searched several times without finding anything. I've known something was wrong for a long time!"

In the past two days, he had seen Wang Mang repeatedly leading men to rummage through Chen Mo's house, and he had long suspected that something was wrong.

I secretly hid in the tree and observed for a while, and I discovered that Chen Ling'er was going in and out of the woodshed to feed the chickens.

I intended to steal it while Chen Mo was away, but I didn't expect him to come back so quickly.

"Chen Mo, stop pretending. Your family must have a lot of grain hidden away. You can fool the Wang family, but you can't fool me."

Upon hearing this, Chen Mo felt a slight chill.

In times of famine, people's hearts are more ruthless than jackals and wolves.

Zhou Hu is a scoundrel who only cares about profit. Once he discovers that someone else is benefiting, he will relentlessly pursue them and refuse to let go.

Chen Mo stared intently at Zhou Hu, his tone calm as he asked, "What do you want?"

Seeing that Chen Mo did not deny it directly, Zhou Hu knew that he had guessed correctly and immediately felt more confident.

"I don't want anything. I'm not greedy. Give me 30% of the grain stored in your house and half of the chicks, and I'll pretend I didn't see anything and won't let the Wang family hear a word about it."

"You're dreaming!" Sun Dazhu retorted immediately. "You want 30% for just one sentence? Have you no shame?"

"What's wrong?"

Zhou Hu looked disdainful.

"I'm in your shoes now. If you don't agree, I'll go and inform the Wang family. When Wang Laoqi comes with his men, forget about your grain and chicks; your whole family might not even survive!"

He was certain that Chen Mo wouldn't dare to gamble.

The Wang family wields absolute power in the village, and Wang Laoqi is a ruthless man. If he knew that Chen Mo had secretly hoarded so many things, he certainly wouldn't let it go.

Chen Mo's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes had already shown a hint of hostility.

Zhou Hu is the kind of person who is never satisfied and is an ungrateful wretch.

If I give him 30% of the grain and chicks today, he'll dare to ask for 50% tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow he might even try to take everything for himself.

Such a shameless person still wants a share of the pie.

Rather than compromising and backing down, it's better to resolve the problem once and for all.

The Wang family has already been keeping a close eye on him. If Zhou Hu adds to the problem by spreading rumors everywhere, it will only embolden the Wang family and make things even more difficult to deal with.

"It won't do you any good to tell anyone."

Chen Mo spoke slowly.

"No benefit?" Zhou Hu sneered. "If I tell the Wang family about this, Wang Laoqi will definitely reward me with some grain. On the other hand, your hidden things will be confiscated, and you might even be forced to do hard labor. No matter how you look at it, I'm the one who gains."