Gao Shuzhen knew that many people in the village already looked down on her and her son. If Si Zhengwei displayed those things, the village might really kick them out, and her fate might be even more miserable than that of the refugees.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but shudder. Although life was not so good now, it was still more secure than for a large number of people.

Seeing that she was still hesitating, Si Zhengwei grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the village entrance.

"What are you doing?" Gao Shuzhen screamed, fearing that Si Zhengwei would take this opportunity to retaliate against her.

Seeing her frightened look, Si Zhengwei suddenly had an idea. "I've been annoyed by you running around with Acheng for a long time. Now that you've come across this, Acheng can't deal with you. It's a good opportunity for us to settle old scores."

Gao Shuzhen was shocked to find that her guess had come true. She started screaming, "Someone's been hit! Someone's been murdered! Help!"

But when the people in the neighborhood dispersed, they all went to the fields, leaving only a few children who gathered around, but they were quickly taken back by their elderly relatives.

It wasn't that they were cold-blooded, but everyone knew Accountant Si, and they had all heard about their grudges against him, so naturally they wouldn't rush in to meddle.

The main reason they didn't step forward to persuade her was that they also felt this woman deserved to be taught a lesson, otherwise she would keep harassing the village chief every now and then, which would be quite annoying.

When Si Zhengwei saw some elderly people waving at him, he felt even more certain that his actions were not wrong.

"Shut up, or I'll slap you across the face!" Si Zhengwei was so hurt by her shrill screams that he couldn't help but threaten her.

When Gao Shuzhen saw his raised hand, she quickly stopped making a sound and didn't even dare to struggle anymore. She obediently followed Si Zhengwei towards the village entrance.

"Is it really okay if we don't go out and check?" Yun's mother couldn't help but worry when she heard the piercing shouts from inside the house.

"It's alright, my dad won't lay a hand on her." Si Cheng knew Si Zhengwei quite well; he would only threaten her verbally each time, and he had never seen him actually lay a hand on her.

Seeing that she still wanted to say something, Yun Zhiming grabbed her hand and led her into his house.

Si Cheng looked at Yun Qi and let out a deep breath. "Now we should be able to have some peace and quiet for a while. If Lao Si does a good job, maybe we can have peace and quiet from now on."

Yunqi looked at him in confusion. Could it be that he, as a father-in-law, could control his ex-wife?

Seeing that she still didn't understand, Si Cheng explained to her, "Old Si talked to me privately before, saying that if she causes me trouble again, he will help me resolve it. It seems that he has some leverage over her, and if he doesn't want to reveal it, I believe she will stop now."

Yunqi was able to pinpoint the location of him and her, and although it's unclear whether it will be effective, it at least temporarily solved their problem this time.

Yunqi asked, "Should we still send them the things?"

Si Cheng said, "We won't send it. We're not asking for trouble. If we send her something after she comes to our door and causes us all this trouble, wouldn't that just embolden her?"

Yun Qi didn't say anything aloud, but inwardly he thought with schadenfreude, "This is truly a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead. If she had endured it for two more days, she could at least have gained something. Now, she's lost everything. I wonder if Gao Shuzhen will be so angry she'll vomit blood when she finds out?"

Si Zhengwei pulled Gao Shuzhen to the entrance of Pinghe Village and pushed her towards the village entrance. Gao Shuzhen was caught off guard and fell to the ground.

“Gao Shuzhen, I’m warning you, if you step into Pinghe Village again, I’ll have to go to the elders in your Gao family village.” Si Zhengwei squatted down and whispered in her ear, “I never hit women before because I didn’t want to cause trouble for myself, but now it’s hard to say. If I can’t stand it anymore, I don’t mind settling old scores and new ones together.”

As Si Zhengwei spoke these last words, he gritted his teeth and glared at her. Gao Shuzhen couldn't help but take a step back. She didn't know why, but she felt that Si Zhengwei might rush up and tear her apart at any moment.

Her mind couldn't help but drift back to the time when the two of them were going through a divorce. If Si Zhengwei hadn't been so patient, she might not have been able to escape unscathed.

Seeing that she was still daydreaming, Si Zhengwei couldn't help but stand up and kick her thigh. "Did you remember?"

Gao Shuzhen hugged her legs and nodded vigorously, "I'll remember, I won't come to Pinghe Village again."

Si Zhengwei noticed some villagers from Hutiao Village looking in his direction before turning around and entering Pinghe Village. He remembered the main purpose of his visit; everyone was busy with irrigation, and he couldn't make several trips just for one thing.

Watching the people walk away, Gao Shuzhen stood up, dusted off her clothes, and hurriedly ran outside. At this moment, she no longer thought about asking Si Cheng for benefits; all she wanted was to get as far away from here as possible.

Si Cheng and his group actually benefited from this misfortune. Because Si Zhengwei was keeping Gao Shuzhen in check, she really didn't dare to visit again.

In the days that followed, the drought worsened, and many places had to rely on groundwater to survive. Those who couldn't find a water source had no choice but to move closer to nearby areas with water sources.

However, many places are not as tolerant as Pinghe Village. When negotiations fail, conflicts easily arise, and many group fights occur one after another.

If the nearby villages have underground water sources, they can continue to hold on. Those who cannot make a living are all gathering in Pinghe Village. Soon, all the flat land in the vicinity is occupied.

With more people, conflicts arose, and the once-open village gates were all tightly closed.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Kuang and his team recruited a large number of young soldiers who were not burdened with heavy responsibilities, but they could only maintain order and prevent refugees from entering on a small scale.

The conflicts in these villages are simply too numerous to manage, and the population continues to decline due to both conflicts and natural disasters.

With wild animals from the mountains constantly coming down to cause trouble, everyone's lives were incredibly miserable. Some pessimistic people started to let loose and even began to cause trouble for those around them without any limits.

Besides his own farm work, Si Cheng now spends his days patrolling this area with several young and strong men from the villages.

Such efforts do pay off; at least there's never a shortage of meat in the house.

The number of wild boars in the ditch behind the mountain is increasing, to the point that the people living in the back mountain are starting to complain that the howling of these wild boars is unbearable.

The village would hold feasts every now and then under some pretext, but the wild boars' consumption could never keep up with their growth rate.

"Their reproductive ability is just too amazing! We've widened this trench again and again, but it still feels so crowded." Hou Yunhai felt that it was still too narrow every time he passed by, but there was nothing to celebrate in the village recently.