Huang's words startled the village chief so much that he fell to the ground, no longer daring to plead for Shuigen.

He was filled with remorse and slapped himself hard across the face twice.

"Please spare my life, sir; it was all my fault for being so talkative."

This bad seed deserves to be punished. People say you can tell what a person will be like at three years old. This kind of person, who has always been bad, should go to jail.

Report it to the authorities; you must report it to the authorities.

Everyone was speechless at the village chief's "pragmatic" attitude, and no one paid her any attention. Shuigen's mother, outside the yard, could only peek into the yard through the crack in the village chief's gate.

She couldn't see clearly, but she clearly heard that the boy from the village had never had a father.

In this village, it seems there are only two families with children without fathers: one is her family's Shuigen, and the other is Yang Sanchun's son at the village entrance.

However, that kid is only four and a half years old, so it's impossible for him to be out causing trouble in the middle of the night.

Could that boy from the village in the courtyard be her family's Shuigen?

The old woman's mind was quick at this moment.

"Village chief, village chief, open the door! My son Shuigen has gone missing. Please help me send people out to look for him!"

My son and I have such a hard life. Big Head, why did you die so young, leaving us, a widow and her child, behind?

"If anything happens to Shuigen, I won't live either..."

Clearly, the old woman knew how to cry.

Not only can she cry, but she can also articulate the content of her lament clearly.

The village chief was already regretting his loose tongue, and when he heard the old woman crying, he felt a headache coming on.

"Big Head's wife, stop wailing outside. It's all your fault. You didn't teach the child properly and didn't discipline him strictly. You caused Shuigen to make such a big mistake at such a young age."

"Shuigen isn't missing; he's in my yard. You go home and get some sleep. We're waiting for the officials to come and take him away."

Upon hearing this, the old woman lost control of her emotions and began banging frantically on the village chief's door.

"Open the door, open the door, I want to come in, let me in! Shuigen, how are you? Shout out for your mother to hear..."

What's the point of shouting anymore? Shuigen just wants to faint right now; he's in so much pain.

My body ached, my buttocks felt cold, and I was trembling all over with my teeth chattering.

For him, even humming a sound was a luxury, let alone shouting.

Huang gestured to the guards at the main gate to open the courtyard gate.

The moment the courtyard gate was opened, the old woman, due to the excessive force, stumbled into the courtyard.

The ground was frozen solid, and the old woman's hands immediately broke from rubbing them so hard.

The pain in her hand did not calm the woman down; she desperately called out her son's name.

Finally, among the crowd of people who had been beaten to the ground, he spotted the distinctive red patch on his son Shuigen's body.

It's really not eye-catching enough for a grown man to sew a red patch onto a green melon seed.

But this person, Shuigen, thought red was auspicious.

He should wear some red on him so that he can win big when he goes to play cards.

When the old woman saw her son lying curled up on the ground like a jar of mud, she pounced on him with a cry.

"My son, what's wrong with you? Say something! These damned bastards, why did they beat and kill my son like this? I'm going to sue you, I'm going to report you to the authorities."

"You will all pay for my son's life."

The old woman was now in a frenzy, her gaze sweeping over everyone in the courtyard as if they were all her enemies.

"In all my years, this old woman has never seen anyone so good at turning the tables on others. You're the first one."

"Your son brought a bunch of thugs into our house in the middle of the night, put some sleeping potion in it, and stole things. Shouldn't he be beaten?"

When the old woman heard someone speak up, she said, "Why did you hit my son? It's because you yourselves don't know how to restrain yourselves."

When other families are traveling, one horse-drawn carriage is enough for the whole family, but you insist on showing off by loading dozens of carriages with goods.

By showing off like this, aren't you just telling us ordinary people that you're rich?

We're all human beings, so why are you so rich while we have to be poor?

If I don't steal from you, am I supposed to steal from those guys who have nothing left?

It's all your fault, you're the ones who seduced my son into making a mistake.

My son lost his father at a young age and suffered so much. All he wanted was a better life. What did he do wrong?

This statement shattered the worldviews of everyone in the courtyard.