Jin Wang glanced at Zhao Shi and said embarrassedly, "What time is it? You're not a young lady anymore. Why are you making such a fuss over doing some work? It's like no one else is doing any work. Look, isn't Chunyan carrying sand too?"

Zhao clutched her lower back and glanced at Chunyan, who was indeed carrying sand on her back, seemingly unaware of her fatigue.

“You heartless brat, the first person in Daling Village to disown her parents. What’s there to brag about? I’ll just pretend I never had such a ungrateful child.”

"Alright, keep your voice down. Are you afraid of giving others nothing to talk about or what? Why are you talking so loudly?"

Jin Wang glanced at Zhao Shi.

Zhao put her hands on her hips and shouted, "Hmph, are you afraid of being laughed at? Laugh at me? This Chunyan, she recognizes a thief as her father. I don't even want to talk about this wretched girl. She has no conscience. Now she really thinks she's one of my sister-in-law's people. Once my sister-in-law's novelty wears off, she'll be in for a world of hurt."

Chunyan breathed a sigh of relief, walked over, put down the bamboo basket, and whispered, "Mother, what are you saying? What time is it? I said we're going to school. Why aren't you working? If Grandpa Lizheng sees you, he'll kick you out again."

As they were talking, Li Zheng walked over, pointed at Jin Wang and his wife, and said, "What are you two standing there for? Hurry up, or if you can't do it, learn from Er Niu and we'll give you two a separate section to fix yourself."

Upon hearing this, Jin Wang hurriedly said, "Righteous, I'll start digging right away."

Zhao quickly got up and started working. She didn't want to end up like Erniu, digging a section of road by herself, either exhausted or driven to death by stress.

In the afternoon, when the sun came out, everyone sat down to rest by the irrigation ditch. Liang Shuyan walked over to Grandma Jin and said, "Mom, the sun is quite strong now. You should go back home. Second son's wife is at home."

"How can that be? Everyone is digging irrigation ditches, why am I the only one who's different? If I go back, what will people think of us?"

A piece of bad news came from the neighboring village: "It's terrible, Yu Lizheng. Two of our villagers who were doing business in the provincial capital tried to turn back on their way, but they were killed by bandits. I want to discuss with you how to deal with the bandits."

Li Zheng said, "But look, the people of Daling Village are busy repairing the irrigation canals. If a flood comes, everyone in our village will be in danger of being blown away. You should also make preparations. Let's put the matter of the bandits aside for now."

"You people are all just bored and have nothing better to do. Who said the flood would pass through our village? You're just worrying unnecessarily. Why waste your time here on something that isn't going to happen? Let me tell you, these bandits are no pushovers. If they make their move tonight, you'll regret it."

Liang Shuyan glanced at Li Zheng and said, "Otherwise, you should go and discuss it. I'll help keep an eye on things here. Besides, everyone has already dug almost all the way up. I believe we can finish the repairs in a few more days."

Li Zheng threw down the shovel in his hand and said, "Alright, since you put it that way, I'll go and discuss it. What kind of trouble are these bandits causing at this time? They're just making things worse!"

The village officials sat on the edge of the field. Yu, holding a pipe, said while smoking, "Do you think we should report this to the magistrate? On one side is flood, and on the other are wild beasts. Before the flood comes, we should eliminate these wild beasts first!"

"I'm sure you've heard about the flood, but you probably don't know about the bandits. Why don't you go and report to him first? Everyone in our village is digging irrigation ditches, and I, as the magistrate, can't just leave at this crucial moment."

Yu Jiande shook his head and said, "Really, what kind of time is this to be thinking about how to deal with bandits?"

At this moment, Xiao Huzi received unexpected news and ran towards the mountain not far away. When Erniu saw this, he asked curiously, "Xiao Huzi, what are you doing? Don't you want to dig the irrigation ditch anymore?"

When Liang Shuyan saw the little tiger, she was curious. She put down her tools and followed the little tiger to see what it was going to do.

Along the way, Xiao Huzi arrived at the foot of Wuyou Mountain. Standing at the entrance, he called out twice, and a man dressed in plain clothes came out. He glanced at Xiao Huzi and immediately said with a stern face, "So you know how to come back. The chieftain is very angry and ordered his brothers to find you. He said if you don't dare to come back, he will break your legs."

"I want to see my father. Where is he now?"

Liang Shuyan hid to the side and quietly observed the commotion. It seemed that Xiao Huzi's father really was a bandit. Could it be that the bandit Li Zheng mentioned earlier was Xiao Huzi's father?

"It's in the lobby, go in!" the man said, and closed the door.

A man in a tiger-skin coat, with a burly build, kept spinning on the ground. His eyes were wide open. He saw Little Tiger from afar, went up to him, and before Little Tiger could speak, he picked him up and said, "You idiot, I asked you to do something for me, and you actually dare to come back now? Who gave you the guts?"

"Father, that little girl has been rescued. It was my incompetence. But I came back this time because I learned something. Are you planning to take action against the villagers?"

"Otherwise, what's the point of keeping those good-for-nothings around? We brothers need to eat and drink, where are we going to get our things? If we want to take their things, we have to kill them one by one."

Xiao Huzi immediately knelt down on the ground: "Dad, please don't do this. No matter what, those people are innocent. Didn't you say that we were robbing ill-gotten gains? Why are you robbing ordinary people now? They have it tough too."

"You beast, you really think I'm your father? Let me tell you, I'm the one who raped your mother and forced her to die. I never thought you'd actually consider me your father now, haha! Men, drag this brat away and beat him hard! Don't stop until I give the order!"

A series of crackling sounds came from the courtyard, accompanied by Xiao Huzi's cries. Liang Shuyan's heart began to pound: "What should I do? If I don't go to save Xiao Huzi now, he might really die!"

A pitiful sound came from behind, and Liang Shuyan kicked the door open: "Let go of Xiaohuzi, or don't blame me for being impolite!"

The bandit burst into laughter: "Oh dear, what a coincidence! Little Tiger is my bastard son. What business is it of yours if I discipline my son?"