The fatty was surprised for a moment, then reacted and felt a little guilty. If he had gone out to relieve himself and lingered outside for a while longer, Ye Tiancheng and the little fox would have worried about him.
"Isn't that place a bit far from here? It's late at night, and it's pitch dark outside. When I went out, I couldn't see the road clearly, and then I took a wrong turn, went around a circle, and only then came back. That's why I was a little late. I didn't mean to make you worry. I'm really sorry. Don't worry, nothing happened to me."
The fatty apologized to Ye Tiancheng and the little fox with a look of remorse. However, in his subconscious, he still hid the conversation he had overheard between the two villagers from Ye Tiancheng and the little fox, not telling the whole truth.
It wasn't due to distrust, suspicion, or any other reason. It was just that the fatty had some inexplicable worry that Ye Tiancheng and the little fox would discover his true intentions, that he was still thinking about raising sheep in this village, and then they might do something about it.
Fortunately, the two villagers the fatty encountered didn't chat for long, and the fatty only stayed for a short while, so he didn't delay too much time.
Because of this, the fatty's excuse was barely tenable, and he finally managed to deceive Ye Tiancheng and the little fox.
The little fox's gaze swept over the fatty. After a long while, she turned to Ye Tiancheng and said, "Brother Fatty wouldn't lie to us. Forget it, it doesn't seem like he's too late."
Ye Tiancheng's expression remained serious, but he didn't blame the fatty further. "This place is all over the place, and I don't know if it's safe. From now on, no matter who it is, we should try to avoid acting alone at night. Let's try to find a companion. This is too worrying. Don't blame me for thinking too much; it's all out of fear of something happening."
"Yes, yes, of course, I've noted it. If there's a next time, I'll definitely ask you to go out together." Regarding the concern Ye Tiancheng and the little fox had for him, it should be said that even after this period, no matter what disagreements they had, the fatty was still very grateful for their concern.
It could be said that after the events of this night, some of the dissatisfaction that had accumulated in the fatty's heart was finally resolved.
He thought to himself that they were still similar to how they were before, and perhaps he was overthinking things, really looking for trouble. They were such good brothers, especially since he had known Ye Tiancheng for so long, and his relationship with the little fox was so good. How could Ye Tiancheng and the little fox not care about him?
Thus, the fatty slept soundly for the night. The next day, they woke up and, as usual, followed their previous plan to find clues by exploring in different directions during the day.
While investigating clues outside, the fatty suddenly couldn't help but recall the conversation he had overheard between the two villagers while eavesdropping when he went out to relieve himself. He thought about what he had hidden from Ye Tiancheng and the little fox.
From the meaning of the two villagers' words last night, it seemed that there was still a sheep in the village that was close to being ready for slaughter. This meant that the situation in the past few days seemed to have some problems, which was why the villagers hadn't made up their minds and decided when it would be best to slaughter it.
Moreover, according to the two villagers, they both seemed to have seen that sheep last night. It was just that he didn't know through what channel they had seen the sheep, or perhaps they were the ones who could feed the sheep in the village.
Perhaps if he could find out who those two villagers were who were whispering last night, he might have a way to follow the clues, follow those two villagers, and find the clue he wanted to see that sheep that was close to being ready for slaughter and hadn't been slaughtered by the villagers yet.
After pondering this, the fatty was determined to observe which two villagers in the village were the ones he had encountered last night while eavesdropping.
The villagers in this village were generally hospitable. When the three of them first arrived, they were warmly welcomed by almost all the villagers.
However, after the three of them had settled in the village, there were only a few people who still interacted with them. Primarily, it was the village chief and the two villagers who brought them food that they talked to the most.
Apart from that, it wasn't that the other villagers had become cold. If the fatty took the initiative to talk to them, those villagers would still respond and wouldn't ignore him.
However, although the other villagers would still respond to the fatty when he approached them, they basically no longer actively approached the fatty to chat. It could be said that as long as the fatty didn't initiate contact with them, they wouldn't actively approach the fatty.
This attitude was a bit strange, but the fatty always remembered that it was when he was fighting with someone by a stone at a construction site that the stone suddenly glowed, and it was this glow that transported the three of them to this village.
In other words, any strange things that happened in this village were not surprising. It could be said that whatever these villagers did seemed normal to them, but their current attitude, which was neither exclusionary nor particularly enthusiastic, was a kind of avoidance that made it difficult to understand.
The fatty was fortunate that if he took the initiative to talk, these villagers were still willing to respond to him. The fatty wandered around the village for a while, originally intending to find the two villagers he had met last night, but he hadn't seen their faces, only heard their voices.
Therefore, the fatty wandered around the village for a long time without any clues or targets, like a tangled mess without a starting thread.
Since there was no direct target, the fatty could only guess. He thought that since he couldn't find a specific person, it wouldn't be impossible to casually find a villager, try to chat with them about raising sheep in the village, and then figure out other things.
With this decision made, the fatty randomly found a villager in the village. At that time, the villager was alone in front of his house, lying on a lounge chair, squinting, and leisurely basking in the sun.
When the fatty approached, the villager immediately saw him and was slightly stunned. However, he remained lying on the lounge chair without moving until the fatty walked up to him and greeted him. Only then did he force a smile and greet the fatty.
Since he could strike up a conversation, the fatty took the opportunity to sit next to the villager and strike up a conversation. "Hey, fellow villager, basking in the sun here? You're so comfortable. Don't you need to take care of your crops or look after the livestock in your pens?"
The villager heard the fatty speak, his gaze fell on the fatty's face, and after a long while, he replied, "What crops are there to take care of in this weather? Have you ever seen crops that stay in the fields all year round? What crops are so delicate? It's the farming off-season now, and there's nothing to do, so why not just bask in the sun."
The fatty smiled and continued to ask, "Then you must raise livestock, right? I heard from my two brothers that you raise... sheep, right? They told me that yesterday, you even saw them slaughtering sheep to eat."
"Raising livestock always requires someone to take care of them, right? But you can't be without someone every day, at least you have to feed them. How can you have nothing to do?"
The villager immediately glanced at the fatty and then chuckled. "What you're saying makes sense. Livestock definitely requires someone to take care of them, but that's not my job. I'm not responsible for feeding the sheep, so what does it have to do with me? Like me, I just wait to eat meat."
"Whoa! There's such a good thing? Do the sheep you raise in this village have a fixed number of people who raise them, and then the whole village shares the meat?"
"Or do you take turns feeding the sheep? Otherwise, to get meat without doing anything is like a pie falling from the sky. Your villagers are quite fortunate." The fatty immediately put on an expression of surprise. He was indeed quite surprised. Such a system in this village was truly incredible.
However, the fatty also felt that this matter wouldn't be so simple. There was definitely no pie falling from the sky for people to pick up for free. There must be other explanations, but he just didn't know them yet. Otherwise, someone would always be dissatisfied, especially those who did the hard labor.
Human nature is always like this. As the saying goes, one monk carries water to drink, two monks carry water to drink, and three monks have no water to drink. It's the same principle. In the end, someone will be unwilling to do it, especially since everyone is idle and enjoying the benefits for free, while only one person does all the hard work. Who would feel balanced?
If it were solely based on such a system, then those who had to put in the effort would think, "Why should I do everything? You do nothing, yet you get to share the benefits with me. Even if I get the lion's share, I'll still be resentful and definitely wouldn't want to share anything."
As expected, as soon as the fatty finished speaking, the villager was displeased and immediately retorted, "How have we done nothing? What do they feed the sheep with? The food for feeding the sheep is all provided by us. We cooperate, and then we get meat to share. Otherwise, do you want to get benefits for free? Is there such a good thing in the world?"
"Haha, I'm sorry, fellow villager. I'm an outsider, so I don't understand your situation. Then what I said is correct. It was my misunderstanding earlier, which is why I found it a bit strange and spoke out of curiosity. I didn't mean anything else. Please don't take offense, fellow villager."
The fatty chuckled and apologized to the villager with an embarrassed expression. "Then which households raise sheep here? I'm quite curious. I haven't seen where you keep your sheep. I heard my two brothers say that it's not allowed to see them, right?"
"Alas, I understand the rules. I'm not saying this to see your sheep. We're not unreasonable people who can't understand that you don't want people to see your sheep."
"It's just that we mentioned it casually in our conversation, and I couldn't help but ask. I wanted to ask about your sheep. Aren't the sheep you raise quite delicious?"