Some things, if you think about them carefully, are really quite puzzling, like how quickly gossip spreads in the countryside.
When the police car brought the live thief back to the station, it's estimated that half of the people at the market knew the news already. And as the marketgoers dispersed, the news was spreading rapidly in all directions.
A lot of people were quite concerned about this news. If it had been a fight that resulted in death, the level of interest wouldn't have been so high. But because the deceased was a thief, it attracted extra attention.
In the eyes of many, this matter was truly relevant to everyone.
There's a saying, "One only sees the thief enjoying the spoils, never the thief taking the beatings." The meaning is that some people see the thief living an easy life without work, indulging in luxuries, and think the life of a thief is very comfortable. They do not see the painful beatings a captured thief endures.
