His son was sentenced to actual prison time. Even his grandson was affected; in the future, he wouldn’t be able to hold important jobs. Some of the younger grandchildren were even ostracized at school. The reputation of Zhaojia Village had also become notorious. When people from Zizhou mentioned Zhaojia Village, their first thought was Stealing melon village, a village of thieves. At night, no one dared to venture into their village.

"Ah, what a sin."

At night, a group of elderly people sat in the courtyard, looking at each other and sighing continuously, their faces full of frustration and regret.

"Zhao Laosuan, are you going to the community reporting session tomorrow?"

After a long silence, the old people started to communicate with each other again. They had just been sentenced to probation and had received a notice requiring them to report to the correctional community for rehabilitation.

"Go, of course we have to go."

They exchanged glances, not daring to act rashly anymore. This time, whether it was the local law enforcement or the court, they were clearly serious. Not being thrown in jail and still being able to take care of their grandchildren in the village was already the greatest leniency they had received.

"Speaking of which, if it weren’t for taking care of my grandchildren, I’d actually be quite curious to experience prison."

"I wonder if Third Brother has been assigned to the ward for the disabled and elderly."

"In that ward, I heard they treat you well, with good food and drink, and you can go for a walk when there’s nothing to do—just help sweep the floor or water the plants."

"If there weren’t other associated consequences, prison would actually be a nice place."

"..."

As they talked, they fell silent again.

Those in jail might be comfortable, but for these people who had been given probation... After personally experiencing the mockery and cold stares from the neighboring villages, they were already mentally and physically exhausted. They couldn’t buy daily necessities, were ridiculed, and their grandchildren were also greatly affected. The cost was far greater than they had imagined.

Therefore, faced with the directives of the correctional community, they dared not defy.

"So... what about the money? We still owe a lot in fines and compensation."

Before long, another old man raised his head, looking at the others.

This money—a portion was for the law enforcement agencies, and the other portion was for Hu Wenning. But they hadn’t paid either. In fact, at the time of the sentencing, they had all made up their minds not to pay a cent. But now, after experiencing so much, the cost was escalating. If they didn’t pay, who knew what the consequences would be.

Now, they had realized they didn’t understand the law. Facing the law, they no longer dared to be blindly arrogant. The consequences were not just affecting them individually, but the whole village!

「Three days later.」

「Jin City.」

In the nursing home, Qin Mu continued to work as usual, enjoying his happy slacking-off time. During work, he suddenly received a call from a delivery service. The delivery guy informed him that he had about a dozen boxes of parcels being delivered to the nursing home.

What’s going on? A dozen boxes? After hanging up the phone, Qin Mu was baffled, completely unaware of what had happened.

It was not until the delivery arrived at the nursing home and he began opening them in front of Zhang Qingyuan and others that he discovered they were all pumpkins! They filled more than a dozen large boxes, each containing several pumpkins, and were piled up in the yard.

Zhang Qingyuan and the others, hearing the news, also gathered around the courtyard.

"Why are there so many pumpkins? Xiao Qin, you didn’t go stealing melons, did you?"

"Where did all these pumpkins come from? Could someone be trying to frame Xiao Qin by deliberately sending these to him?"

"Everyone step back! With my sixty years of vegetable-growing experience, there must be something fishy about these pumpkins. They could even be bombs disguised as pumpkins!"

"HISS! Bombs? Should we call the police?"

"..."

In the courtyard, everyone stared intently at the pile of boxes, speculating wildly. Almost all were conspiracy theories. Some thought someone was framing Qin Mu. Some thought they were sent by Qin Mu’s enemies. Some thought Qin Mu had offended too many people in the past and was deliberately being retaliated against. Some even said the pumpkins were hollow and contained several tons of explosives...

Qin Mu listened to the discussions, and several lines of exasperation appeared on his forehead. He stopped their speculation, picked up the delivery address, and took a careful look.

He found that these parcels had actually come from Zizhou!

His mind stirred. Just as he was about to reach for his phone to ask Qing Lan, he happened to see a message from her: "Qin Mu, did you receive the delivery? My best friend sent it to express her gratitude."

After reading it, Qin Mu shifted his gaze, glancing at the pumpkins piled up like a small mountain in the yard. He took a picture and typed in reply: "If you’re talking about these pumpkins, then I must have received them."

The number of these pumpkins was simply too many. There must be dozens of them. Even if all the elderly in the nursing home ate together, it would take a month to finish them, and that’s the kind of overeating that makes you sick of them.

"My best friend says pumpkins are good for the elderly’s digestive system. They’re good for health, rich in vitamins. You can make pumpkin porridge when you cook congee. These were specially selected from the field to thank you for your help..." Qing Lan sent another long string of messages.

After reading them, Qin Mu replied with some resignation: "It was nothing. Please thank your best friend for the... pumpkins for me."

Looking at the courtyard full of pumpkins, Qin Mu sighed. Then he turned to Zhang Qingyuan and the others, saying: "Anyone who wants pumpkins can pick a few to take home."

He alone...