The one caught stealing a chicken was none other than Wang Yaozong, who had recently been getting more and more comfortable with doing bad things.
Ever since he picked up a young hen before the New Year, and then successfully stole a chicken from Wu Guihua—Li Chunjuan’s old rival—Wang Yaozong felt as if he had opened the door to a whole new world.
Back when his family was doing well, he never lacked anything to eat, but he still felt it wasn’t enough.
He no longer had to work the fields, yet he thought the food wasn’t good enough; once the food improved, he thought the clothes weren’t good enough; once the clothes got better, he started complaining that his family hadn’t gotten him a watch or a bicycle. Basically, there was always something dissatisfying.
At the same time, he was quite well-known in the brigade. Among all the boys in the brigade, very few—counted on one hand—aged fourteen or fifteen, still refused to work the fields.
Many people in the brigade gossiped idly, saying Wang Yaozong was already quite grown. It was understandable that he didn’t work while attending school, but during the busy farming season, when he came home during school breaks, he still never lent a hand. People said Wang Yongshun and his wife had raised a little prince.
Especially after Wang Ying publicly fell out with Wang Yongshun’s family, the rumors only intensified.
Beyond that, people had very little impression of Wang Yaozong. One reason was that he was often away at school and rarely in the brigade. Another was that he didn’t like going out much.
With his father, mother, and sister taking care of everything at home, Wang Yaozong spent his free time reading or napping, and couldn’t be bothered to go out and socialize.
Precisely because of this, when chickens in the brigade started going missing, no one suspected him at first.
But now it was different—Wang Yaozong couldn’t stand the oil-less, flavorless three meals a day anymore. There wasn’t much meat at home, and with it being winter, there was nowhere to get meat. For the first time in years, Wang Yaozong felt deprived.
No oil or flavor? Then he’d just steal. After all, if you didn’t eat the stolen chicken, it was wasted.
Who told those families to be so stupid, unable to keep an eye on their chickens?
This time, the person who caught him stealing was one of the brigade’s gossipy women. She used to get along quite well with Li Chunjuan. The two of them were the types who constantly cursed the heavens and found fault with everyone else, often gossiping together.
But now, the gossipy woman absolutely hated Li Chunjuan.
“I see your mother having a good time this New Year, always with oily lips, even got fatter! Turns out it’s because she’s been feeding her family on stolen chickens from other brigade members! Li Chunjuan, get out here! Have you no shame? Your son steals chickens and you eat them with him. What’s next? If he steals a person one day, are you going to help him hide the body? You’re all a bunch of shameless bastards!”
The gossipy woman slapped Wang Yaozong a few times across the face, completely losing control and making a public scene.
Wang Yaozong hadn’t expected to be hit and, enraged, began to fight back.
“Who the hell are you hitting!? So what if I stole your chicken? You should feel honored!”
Although Wang Yaozong was scared, he was not one to take a beating without retaliation. He had never suffered such humiliation in his life, so naturally, he struck back when someone hit his face.
And once he hit back, things spiraled out of control.
The gossipy woman let out a shrill wail, crying and screaming, which not only drew the attention of everyone in the brigade, but also prompted her husband and son to come out and beat up the thief.
Wang Yaozong had only hit back twice—once on her face and once on her waist.
What he didn’t realize was that the women in the brigade were all fierce, and by retaliating when he was clearly in the wrong, he gave them the perfect excuse to escalate.
The gossipy woman’s husband and child came out wielding firewood sticks. Her younger son, around the same age as Wang Yaozong, carried a folding stool.
By the time Wang Yaozong realized things were going south, it was already too late.
The gossipy woman’s husband hit him twice right away, knocking Wang Yaozong to the ground, screaming in pain.
“You little thief, still got the nerve to act tough? I’ll beat the life out of you, you little bastard!”
The gossipy woman egged him on from the side: “Beat him to death! How dare he steal our chicken!”
Her younger son didn’t hold back either, hitting Wang Yaozong’s waist repeatedly with the stool.
By the time Li Chunjuan arrived with the crowd of onlookers, Wang Yaozong was already bruised and swollen, a large chunk of his lip torn, unable to speak clearly.
Li Chunjuan had felt nervous when she first heard the news, but when she saw her son being beaten like that, her fear vanished.
With eyes blazing red, she lunged at the gossipy woman, and the two started clawing at each other, pulling hair and scratching faces.
“You bitch! How dare you touch my son! I’ll never forgive you, Song Huaihua!”
“Li Chunjuan, you shameless tramp! Your whole family are thieves! Your son steals chickens and you eat them—aren’t you afraid your guts will rot?!”
“You should’ve kept a better eye on your damn chickens! Besides, my son didn’t even succeed in stealing it!”
“Whore! Your son is bound to end up in prison one day!”
…
The fight was chaotic and uncoordinated, but the momentum was even fiercer than that of Song Huaihua’s husband. Blood specks appeared on the snowy ground that hadn’t yet melted—it turned out they were from the clumps of hair the two women had torn out, bringing skin and blood with them.
The surrounding crowd had been enjoying the drama, but as they listened more closely, things started to feel off.
“Damn, Song Huaihua said she saw Wang Yaozong sneaking around the east end of the brigade a few days ago… Didn’t Widow Sun from the east side lose a chicken around then?”
“Widow Sun was so furious she yelled outside for a long time. She almost caught a cold from it.”
“Damn it, we lost a chicken before the New Year too! My wife thought it was odd — there wasn’t much snow this year, so it didn’t make sense for wild animals to be driven down from the mountains.”
“It’s true. We’ve lost chickens before in other years, but never this many. I’ve been wondering too.”
“Beat him to death! No way I’m letting this go. I’m getting in a few punches myself. This family’s shameless — stealing chickens from their own village!”
…
Thieves are despised in any era — but especially during hard times like this, when every household can only raise a couple of chickens to scrape by. Meanwhile, Wang Yaozong had the audacity to steal nearly ten chickens during his winter break!
What the hell — are you on vacation or came back just to “improve your standard of living” by robbing your own village?
Looking at it, the three members of the Wang family were eating a chicken every five or six days. No wonder Wang Yongshun and Li Chunjuan both looked noticeably fatter this winter!
Song Huaihua was from the Tian family, which meant she had lots of relatives. Once she blew this whole thing open, exposing that Wang Yaozong had stolen from multiple households, no one could sit still anymore.
Some families had been saving chickens to slaughter for the New Year, and now couldn’t eat meat. Others were raising chickens for eggs — and even those were gone.
A few households only ate meat once or twice a year, and losing their chicken didn’t just mean their kids missed out — it also meant the kids got beaten for “lying” when they insisted the chickens were missing.
“Beat him! The shameless bastard! The hen he stole from me laid one egg a day — super productive. I couldn’t even afford to make myself a thicker winter coat, but I made sure the chicken coop was snug and warm, with door curtains and dry straw. I cared for that bird better than my own parents. And that little thief stole her!”
“Damn it, I saw Wang Yongshun sneaking around the back mountain a few days ago with a shifty look. Was he burying feathers and chicken bones?”
“Beat him! Beat him and then parade him around the village with a sign around his neck like a criminal!”
The anger among the villagers spread like wildfire. Before long, Li Chunjuan realized the situation was spiraling out of control.
Many women joined in beating her, but the most vicious was Widow Sun.
Widow Sun hit and cried at the same time, even biting Li Chunjuan during the chaos.
“That chicken was meant for my daughter’s wedding banquet! You heartless bastard! Didn’t your conscience ache when you ate my chicken? That wasn’t just a chicken — that was my own flesh and blood!”
Li Chunjuan screamed in pain from the bites, but no one cared.
Everyone was furious. These days, the number of chickens a household could raise was limited. Every family was barely scraping by. Some relied on chicken eggs to make a bit of income — those weren’t just chickens, they were family banks!
And Wang Yaozong, that good-for-nothing, had completely trashed everyone’s banks.
This time wasn’t like previous incidents. Before, people watched the drama like a soap opera — as long as the problem didn’t land on their own doorstep, it was just entertainment.
But this time, the thief came from their own village, and he’d committed a string of thefts over the entire winter. Ten chickens in a row! Even if you weren’t directly affected, how could you not be furious?
To be honest, life in the countryside was tough for everyone, but they were all in the same boat. When trouble came, most people could sympathize. But to go around stealing chickens just because your own life was tough? Who the hell could accept that?
When Tian Youfu arrived, Li Chunjuan and Wang Yaozong had already been beaten beyond recognition.
Tian Youfu took one look and thought, forget right or wrong — first get them to a doctor.
Coincidentally, Wang Ying wasn’t in the brigade that day. She had gone into the county with Xu Shuang to buy medicine.
Tian Youfu made a quick decision: “Take them to the town health clinic!”
Unlike in the past, when something happened and Tian Youfu gave the word, someone would always step up to help — after all, they were all from the same brigade. They might argue, but no one wanted to see someone completely ruined.
But this time was different.
These people were thieves.
Song Huaihua spat, “Whoever wants to take them can do it!”
The crowd watching didn’t budge either — not a single person offered to help.
Tian Youfu understood — everyone hated the thief right now. But what could he do? He was in charge of this brigade.
Left with no choice, Tian Youfu had to go home and call on his two sons for help.
But his eldest son was more shrewd than him and cut straight to the point.
“Dad, what about Wang Yongshun?”
Tian Youfu was confused too. He’d only seen Li Chunjuan and the unconscious Wang Yaozong getting beaten up earlier — Wang Yongshun was nowhere in sight.
His eldest son said, “If there’s no one else in their family, it’s fair for us to help. But Wang Yongshun’s perfectly fine — if we help now and he refuses to repay the medical fees later, what do we do?”
Tian Youfu frowned and called out, “Someone, go check the back hill — see if Wang Yongshun is hiding out somewhere!”
Then he turned back and said, “Don’t worry about it. Just take them. If they don’t pay back the fees, I’ll deduct it from their work points.”
If it had been any other issue, Tian Youfu might’ve been more lenient — especially for a family truly in need. But he was tired of the Wang family.
Who would want to take care of a family like that?
What a bunch of garbage.
So Tian Youfu made his unwilling sons take Wang Yaozong and Li Chunjuan to the town health clinic, and he followed along to check on them.
But the people back in the brigade were still furious, still cursing loudly.
“This damn family has no conscience! Wang Yongshun, his wife, and his son are all rotten to the core!”
Sure, they’d beaten them up — but the villagers still felt they hadn’t had their fill of revenge.
If thieves just got beaten up and that was the end of it — what about all the chickens?
Shouldn’t they be paid back, too?
Impossible!
So, when Tian Youfu returned to the brigade, he realized the situation had gotten serious.
The Revolutionary Committee members were already at the brigade waiting for him.
![The Villains Are All My Reserve Food [Quick Transmigration]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Villains-are-Reserve-Food-1.jpg "The Villains Are All My Reserve Food [Quick Transmigration]")
