Chapter 14 Could it be that they want her to take responsibility?

At this moment, Lin's mother, taking advantage of her agility, squeezed through the gaps in the crowd of onlookers.

Looking at Granny You and Zuo Shuanzi, who were cornered on the earthen bed and barely clothed, she curled her lips into a sneer and spoke in a clear voice that could be heard throughout half the courtyard: "Oh dear, You Yongsheng, You Yongsheng, you're already this old, how come you're more troublesome than your son! Your whole body is wrinkled like over-dried bean curd skin, yet you still dare to do these petty thefts."

Erlang, tomorrow morning when you go to the irrigation ditch, remember to mention to Old Man Bi that if his health really isn't good enough, he should find some folk remedies to help him get better. A man is best when he's original; if you keep changing partners, he might catch some kind of dirty disease!

After saying that, he paused deliberately, glancing at Old Lady You's pale face, and added hypocritically, "Don't be angry, I'm just doing this for your own good."

After saying that, he turned around and spat, "But this old widower Zuo Shuanzi, he usually works silently like a taciturn person, who would have thought that he has such a cunning mind? You really can't judge a book by its cover."

Lin's mother's words were like a knife chilled to ice, piercing straight to Old Lady You's heart, causing her already flushed face to turn pale and then bluish-purple.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd muttered, "Don't you guys feel... this place seems a bit empty?"

"Sigh, I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out—it seems like quite a few things are missing from the Bi family compound!"

Awakened by these words, Old Lady You abruptly turned her head and scanned her surroundings. When she saw that even the wooden box on the earthen bed in her room was gone, she let out a strange howl. Without thinking of anything else, she hurriedly pulled a patched coarse cloth sheet from under her body, wrapped it around herself, and ran barefoot into the yard.

When she arrived at the pigpen, she found that the black-haired pig she was raising and the feeding trough were gone. She rushed to the kitchen in a panic, and when she saw that the big iron pot on the earthen stove, the stack of firewood in the corner, and even the earthenware jar for storing grain were nowhere to be seen, she couldn't hold back anymore. She plopped down on the muddy ground, slapped her thighs, and burst into tears.

"Who the hell bastard is! They emptied my house! This is trying to drive this old woman to her death! God, please open your eyes! My food, my pots!"

Seeing her wailing and crying, the brigade leader's wife leaned close to the woman next to her and whispered, "Strange, when I came to borrow the fermented dough this afternoon, everything in the yard was fine. How come everything is gone in just two or three hours? Who has the ability to move all the belongings without a sound?"

The woman beside him also looked panicked: "I just went to check Bi Yuntao's room, and even the wooden box by his bedside is gone. At first glance, I thought the whole family had moved out! But there are so many people, young and old, enjoying the cool evening air on the street tonight. Who could move things away without anyone noticing? Could it be..."

As she spoke, she secretly held up five fingers, and the brigade leader's wife turned pale instantly—who didn't know the saying "Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth"? The older generation said that the five ghosts could not only transport money, but also move objects.

Although the country has been cracking down on superstitions in recent years, smashing the Buddha statues in temples and having monks and Taoists return to secular life, the current situation involving the Bi family is so bizarre that it cannot be explained by common sense.

Lin Baozhu, standing in the crowd, listened to these discussions, and her lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

"Captain."

One villager couldn't contain himself and said, "This is too bizarre. Our village probably can't handle it. Why don't we call the police? And while we're at it, call Old Man Bi back from the irrigation canal construction site?"

"We can't call him back!"

Old Mrs. You, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, let out a sharp screech: "No! He'll kill me when he gets back! I didn't do anything with Zuo Shuanzi... If he comes back now, I won't be able to explain myself no matter how hard I try..."

Before he could finish speaking, a furious roar suddenly erupted from the courtyard gate: "You slut! I'm risking my life in the irrigation ditch, and you're keeping a lover at home?!"

Upon hearing the sound, Grandma You trembled all over, forgetting to cry. She hurriedly tried to get up from the ground, but her ankle got tangled in the bed sheet, and the cloth wrapped around her fell to the ground with a "whoosh"—a collective gasp of surprise immediately rippled through the crowd.

Old Man Bi's face turned ashen, and his eyes were filled with venom as he clenched his fists and charged toward Old Lady You.

Widow Wang watched with amusement, deliberately raising her voice: "Brother Bi, you're finally back! While you were away, your wife first stayed in the same room with Zhu Zi's father for a heart-to-heart talk, then went into the woods with Zuo Shuanzi, and tonight she was even bolder, bringing her lover home, stripping him naked... The way she acted, tsk tsk, she was snuggling into his arms as soon as she woke up!"

"Widow Wang, I'll tear your mouth apart!" Old Mrs. You lunged at him like a madwoman.

Old Man Bi was already so angry he was seeing black spots, and Widow Wang's words provoked him even more, his rage reaching the top of his head. He grabbed Old Woman You, who was lunging at Widow Wang, and slapped her across the face with both hands. A bloodcurdling scream, like a pig being slaughtered, immediately filled the courtyard.

Seeing this, everyone rushed forward to break up the fight, but Old Man Bi was like a madman, his fists aimed only at Old Lady You's face, hitting and cursing at the same time.

Zuo Shuanzi, wearing a pair of patched-up shorts, crouched down and moved toward the front door, trying to slip away in the chaos.

"Oh dear, the adulterer is trying to run away!" Lin Baozhu's clear voice rang out from the crowd.

Old Man Bi suddenly turned his head, his sinister gaze fixed on Zuo Shuanzi, who was shuffling along the wall. He grabbed the wood-chopping knife leaning against the wall, raised it high, and swung it down: "I'll chop you to death, you beast!"

Seeing this, Zuo Shuanzi covered his head and ran quickly towards the door...

"Stop him! Don't let anyone die!" the captain shouted as he chased after him, and the others rushed towards the gate in a swarm, ignoring the old woman, who was groaning on the ground.

Lin Baozhu looked at Old Lady You, who was lying on the ground with a bruised face and unable to move, and sneered.

She had kicked that wood-chopping knife to Old Man Bi's side without making a sound. As for who had summoned Old Man Bi... Lin Baozhu's mind flashed with the face of Lin Erlang!

Just as everyone discovered that Old Lady You and Zuo Shuanzi were having an affair, her second brother quietly left. Not long after, Old Man Bi hurriedly returned.

Lin Baozhu, with her hands behind her back, followed the crowd to join in the fun. Before she even got close, she heard Zuo Shuanzi's heart-wrenching scream, followed by the crowd scattering outwards with screams.

Lin Baozhu curiously pushed her way into the crowd, but her mother pulled her aside and said, "Come home with me. What are you looking at? What's so interesting? Be careful not to get a sty from looking at those dirty things."

Lin Baozhu was extremely curious and grabbed her mother's arm, asking, "Mother, Old Man Bi wouldn't have...castrated Zuo Shuanzi, would he?"

Lin's mother quickly covered Lin Baozhu's mouth and whispered, "What are you asking about, young girl? Let's go!"

Lin Baozhu was pulled home by her mother, and as soon as she entered the door, she saw Lin Erlang waiting at the door.

"Little sister, impressive skills," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Second Brother, what are you talking about?" Lin Baozhu feigned ignorance. "I didn't do anything."

Lin Erlang reached out and touched her forehead: "In the future, remember to clean up your messes after you've done something. Otherwise, you'll cause unnecessary trouble!" After saying that, he turned and went into the house.

Lin's mother stared at his retreating figure, puzzled: "What are you two talking about? What's going on? You're being so mysterious!"

"Hahaha, it's nothing. Mom, I'm so sleepy, I'm going to sleep now, you should go to sleep early too!"

After saying that, he pretended to yawn and strode into the house.

Lying in bed, having slept too much during the day, she was no longer sleepy. A thought struck her, and she slipped into her spatial dimension.

Wild boars and domestic pigs frolicked on the grass in the space. Seeing the empty space, she rolled up her sleeves and got busy overnight. First, she used the wood in the space to build two pig pens and a chicken coop. Then she used bricks to build a row of rabbit burrows!

After finishing all that work, she was covered in sweat, so she luxuriously took a bath in the spiritual spring water. Although the original owner was a beauty, years of exposure to wind and sun had made her skin very rough, and she had a fresh scar on her forehead, so she wasn't particularly attractive. Unexpectedly, after washing with the spiritual spring water, the wound scabbed over, and her skin became delicate and smooth like soft tofu, her face rosy.

She was tender, with a pair of bright, dark eyes that were exceptionally expressive.

Beautiful, so beautiful!

She admired herself in the mirror for a while, then yawned, ran to the bed in the shopping mall, and fell asleep immediately. There were no mosquitoes in the space, and the temperature was just right, so she slept exceptionally soundly.

She only slowly opened her eyes when the team blew the whistle to start work, and then she slipped out of the space.

Just then, Lin's father's voice came from the courtyard: "I'm going to work as a temporary worker at the county machine factory for a few days. You and Lao San shouldn't work too hard; it's okay if you earn fewer work points. There are elderly people at home."

The second son gets his grain rations, and the eldest son sends money every month. I also earn over ten yuan a month at the factory. If we really run out of grain, I'll find a way to buy some.

"Okay, okay! Let's go now," Lin's mother replied.

Lin Baozhu was somewhat surprised. In the original owner's memories, her father loved to chat with people on the tree stump at the village entrance and was too lazy to do any work in the fields. She never expected him to volunteer as a temporary worker! It seemed that the Lin family was really having a hard time right now. She had to think of a way to ensure the Lin family could live a better life without the villagers gossiping...

As soon as she opened the door, Lin's mother came to greet her: "Oh, my dear, you're awake? Don't go herding the cattle today. Hu Zi and Tian Tian have been staying at their maternal grandmother's house for several days. Take advantage of the cool morning and go pick them up."

"Okay." Lin Baozhu washed up with a basin of water, changed into a clean coarse cloth jacket, picked up a basket containing two catties of brown sugar and dozens of eggs, and went out with a three-in-one flour pancake in her mouth.

Just as they reached the gate, they bumped into a woman walking inside. The woman was Qin Haifeng's mother—Shi Hanqiao.

Shi Hanqiao was not tall, about 1.56 meters, with delicate features and an indescribable gentleness, unlike the roughness of other women in the village.

The original owner had never met her, only hearing that she was a refugee from the south who had fled famine. She later met Qin Haifeng's father; both were unmarried, and with the brigade leader's intervention, they married. However, their happiness was short-lived. Qin Haifeng's father disappeared five years ago. At that time, many bachelors and widowers in the village had designs on Shi Hanqiao. If it weren't for Qin Haifeng's ruthlessness, things might have turned out differently…

Later, when Qin Haifeng joined the army, he was picked up by a car from the military. At that time, county leaders would come to visit him during holidays, which deterred many local thugs.

"Is Baozhu going out?"

Shi Hanqiao looked at her, her smile wide and her eyes filled with curiosity. This girl looked delicate and frail, yet she could carry a 500-pound wild boar and still carry her son down the mountain without batting an eye. She was truly extraordinary.

Lin Baozhu felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, and coughed lightly: "Yes, I'm going out for a bit. Is Aunt looking for my mother? She's inside."

"Okay, sure." Shi Hanqiao replied and entered the courtyard.

Lin Baozhu sighed, wondering to herself: Could it be that she came to find her mother at this critical moment because she hugged Qin Haifeng, and she wanted her to take responsibility?