"Yes, Grandpa Village Chief, please accept it. It's not worth much money."

Before Lin Fugui could speak, Wu Yanzi took the basket and went inside. After a while, she came back with an empty basket and two candies in her hand.

"You know what's going on here? I found two candies under the cupboard when I was putting things away. Here, one for each of you. Eat them while those guys are still out of the way."

Er Ya took the candy and said with a smile, "Thank you, Grandma."

Oh my, that "Grandma" sounds so nice! Wu Yanzi ran back into the house and brought out two more pastries, gesturing for Er Ya to eat them quickly: "These are pastries your aunt brought back, they're so delicious, you guys eat them quickly, I have to go back to my room right away."

She'd only listened to half of the radio program; if she missed it, she'd be so anxious she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Lin Fugui watched Wu Yanzi's actions and thought it was a bit too obvious, but since she had already taken the things inside, there was no way to get them back. He could only awkwardly say:

"Just this once, don't let it happen again. Your family doesn't have much savings, and given our relationship, let's not play those games. Tell me, what brings you here today?"

Er Ya recounted Lin Xiao's story with great emotion, focusing on how Lin Xiao was beaten at her house. She even showed Lin Fugui her back, and then pitifully said:

"Grandpa Village Chief, aren't his parents being really unreasonable? They've kicked him out again. He's so young, what will he do in the future?"

Lin Fugui said angrily, "That Lin Shitou has gone too far. This is his own son. Even if that woman causes trouble, you can't kick the child out. Alright, I understand. I'll go find him tomorrow, teach him a lesson, and make him take Lin Xiao back."

Er Ya realized something was wrong; her goal wasn't to get Lin Xiao to go back.

He quickly said, "Lin Xiao only eats one cornbread a day at his family's house. Look at his arms and legs, there's not a single good spot left. Even though his father reluctantly let him go back, he'll probably still get beaten."

Lin Fugui was caught in a dilemma: "What should I do? Should I talk to Lin Shitou and ask him to control his wife?"

“How can we handle this? Besides, his stepmother will definitely have a bunch of reasons and excuses to beat him. Grandpa Village Chief, how about this: you decide to separate Lin Xiao’s household registration. Isn’t his father going to separate the family from him? Then let’s separate the family ahead of time and give Lin Xiao what is rightfully his. He has hands and feet, he can always support himself.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Fugui shook his head and said, "No, he's still so young. Wouldn't it be a laughing stock if he separated from the family?"

"Grandpa Village Chief, I'm only doing this for your own good. Think about it, if Lin Xiao stays in their house any longer, and his parents keep beating him like this, what if one day he has a breakdown or gets beaten to death by his heartless parents? If word gets out, our village will be infamous! Who would dare to associate with our village then?" She then gave Lin Xiao a meaningful look.

Upon receiving the signal, Lin Xiao squeezed out two tears, knelt down with a thud, and cried, "Village chief, I beg you, please save my life. I'm still young, I don't want to be beaten to death."

Lin Fugui quickly pulled Lin Xiao up, saying, "You child, get up! What kind of behavior is this, kneeling like that?"

"No, if you don't agree, I won't get up, and I won't go back to that house. Village chief, look, my thighs are covered with needle marks. So, even if my father listens to you and stops hitting me, my mother will still find a million ways to kill me."

Lin Fugui told Er Ya to dodge, and when he unzipped his pants, he saw that his thighs and knees were covered with tiny red dots, and many of them looked like old wounds.

"How could this vicious woman do such a thing? Even if he wasn't her biological son, he should at least call her 'mother'!"

With tears in his eyes, Lin Xiao said, "Whenever my mother is unhappy, she pricks me with needles and forbids me from telling anyone. She always picks the most secluded spots to prick me, leaving no exposed skin. So, village chief, I really can't go back to that house. Ever since my younger brother was born, she's beaten me even more severely. I'll die there sooner or later."

.

Lin Fugui told Lin Xiao to straighten his pants, then gestured for Er Ya to turn around. He patted Lin Xiao on the shoulder and said, "Kid, the village chief will take care of things for you. Since you've made up your mind, just do as Er Ya said. Don't worry, I've got you covered."

Er Ya quickly thanked Lin Xiao, saying, "Thank you, Grandpa Village Chief, you saved my life."

“I, as the village chief, also bear responsibility for what happened in our village. Alright, it’s getting late, you should all go back to sleep. We’ll go to Lin Shitou’s house first thing tomorrow morning.”

After seeing Er Ya and the others off, Lin Fugui sighed and returned to the house.

He always felt that nothing serious had ever happened in the villages he managed, so whenever he heard other village chiefs being reprimanded by the town mayor for lax management and their villagers committing crimes during meetings, he would secretly rejoice.

Who knew that the series of events that had happened in recent times would completely overturn his imagination? If Lin Xiao's matter was not handled well, and if something really happened to him as Er Ya said, being reprimanded would be a minor matter; he might even lose his position as village chief.

Lin Fugui was so worried that he couldn't sleep well all night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw that he had been dismissed from his post and that people were pointing and whispering about him on the street: "Look, this is the village chief who condoned people beating children to death."

"It's him! A perfectly good child was driven to his death, and as the village chief, he did nothing. Why doesn't he just die? Sisters, let's smash him to death."

Suddenly, eggs and vegetables were thrown at him as if they were free. Then, someone threw a kitchen knife at him, which startled him awake. He was too scared to go back to sleep.

As dawn broke, Lin Fugui hurriedly got out of bed, and in his haste, he even buttoned two buttons wrong.

Seeing that her husband had been acting strangely since last night, sighing all night and rushing out without even eating, she quickly stopped him: "Honey, what are you doing so early in the morning? Why are you in such a hurry? What's wrong? Are you getting a promotion?"

Lin Fugui said angrily, "Promotion my ass! I'll lose my official position soon. Don't worry about me, I'm leaving."

Wu Yanzi clasped her hands together in prayer: "That old geezer, what unlucky things are he saying so early in the morning? Bah, bah, bah, he doesn't have the final say. He'll be in office for another twenty years."

Lin Fugui didn't hear what his wife said. If he had, he would have scolded her for being short-sighted. How could she still be the village chief after another twenty years? Shouldn't she get promoted or something?

To be continued!