…Bang, bang, bang…Bang, bang, bang…
"Open the door, open the door, Lao Tian's"
"Li Dazhu, open the door, open the door quickly"
A large group of people came to the door of Lao Tian's house, and two younger men went up to knock on the door.
The people in Lao Tian's family were so frightened that they threw on their clothes and got out of bed, thinking that they were robbers. They were relieved when they heard the voices of the villagers talking.
"What's going on? Who is this so early in the morning? Can't we sleep?" Uncle Tian An and Li Dazhu's wife Qian said in an impatient voice.
"Hey! You are a heartless person. You have done so many bad things and you still want to sleep. Aren't you afraid of someone knocking on the door in the middle of the night?" an aunt who had a grudge against Qian scolded.
Qian is usually a hot-tempered person, and now she is being scolded and pointed at, how can she bear it?
She walked past Li Dazhu who was about to open the door, took down the door valve, and opened the door.
"Who, who was scolding just now, was it you, Wang Qiaozhen? Huh?" Qian put one hand on her waist and pointed at a woman in the crowd.
The woman was no pushover. She pushed aside the person in front of her and stood up, saying, "So what if it was me? You dared to do it and are you afraid of what others will say? You black-hearted person, be careful of retribution."
"You..." Qian was about to speak when she was interrupted by the village chief.
"Shut up, go wake up Old Tian's family, and let's go inside and talk," said the village chief.
Then, he brought everyone into the courtyard in a menacing manner and went straight to the main room. A young daughter-in-law hurriedly brought a stool for the old man to sit on.
When the old Tian family (Mrs. Wang from the Tian family) and the first and third wives of the Tian family came in, they saw the scene of the three-court trial and their hair stood on end for no reason.
The crowd had packed the Tian family's main hall, and the few available stools were all occupied by the elderly, leaving none for the old woman. There was nothing she could do; those seated were all older than her, so she didn't dare say a word. Didn't she see that even the village chief was standing?
"I heard that you threw Mingwu's daughter into the back mountain?" The village chief said to the Tian family.
The Tian family members' faces turned pale.
Qian rolled her eyes and said, "Village Chief, this year we paid so much more grain, and our family is really struggling to make ends meet. Tian An was too weak to endure, and she just passed away like that. Poor girl..."
As he said this, he wiped his eyes, but unfortunately there was not a single tear. His eyes were dry and looked so fake.
It was so embarrassing that even the Tian family members standing nearby could hardly bear to watch it anymore.
"Hey, you're talking about not having enough food! Look at them, everyone, they're all plump and have rosy complexions. They don't look like they can't afford to eat."
Wang Qiaozhen, who was at odds with the Qian family, pointed at the Tian family.
"You..." Qian was about to speak when the village chief interrupted her.
"You said Tian An was weak and didn't have enough food, so he couldn't hold on. Is that because your whole family didn't have enough food or was it just Tian An who didn't have enough food?" the village chief said.
Qian said with a guilty conscience: "Of course there is not enough food, otherwise we can't let Tian An go like this."
The village chief raised his voice and said, "Qian, think it over before you speak. Do you really have no rice left in your family? You can't watch a child starve to death. I'm going to have someone verify it. If you are found to be lying, you will be severely punished."
He looked at the rest of the Tian family and said, "And you, think it over carefully. If we send someone to check later and find that your family still has surplus food, then even if you watch Tian An starve to death and refuse to give her food to save her, it will be considered intentional homicide. The lightest punishment is imprisonment, and the worst is beheading."
The Tian family members were so frightened that their faces turned pale. If it weren't for the cane, Mrs. Tian would have almost fallen to the ground.
Under normal circumstances, the two daughters-in-law would have come over to support her and show their filial piety, but at this moment, Qian was so frightened that she sat on the ground. Li Dazhu and the two from the third branch of the Tian family were so frightened that they stood there in a daze. Who would care about her?
After a while, Tian Laosan's wife pulled Tian Laosan to the ground and cried:
"Village chief, it has nothing to do with us! It was my eldest sister-in-law and eldest brother who did it. They made Tian An do a lot of work and didn't feed her enough. As a result, Tian An starved to death from exhaustion. My eldest brother then threw Tian An to the back mountain. My head of the family and I only found out about it later."
Tian Laosan also hurriedly said: Yes, it was done by sister-in-law and brother, it has nothing to do with us, you can't involve us!
Upon hearing this, Qian was furious. She stood up and started to tear at the third son's wife, Du: "You are so good, Du Chunhong! They say that a dog that bites doesn't bark. You are usually very quiet, but now you can speak and sing!
I've tired Tian An to death and starved her to death. I often see you making her work! When you gave her the porridge, why didn't you say it was too little? Why didn't you give her some of yours? Now you're pushing it away completely. I'll tear your mouth off."
At the critical moment of life and death, Du Shi also changed her usual weak attitude and said unwillingly:
"Sister-in-law, please speak with conscience! All the work in my house is done by me and my daughter. What Tian An does are public work, which is work that everyone has to do.
It was you who let Tian An do all the work under your family's name, so you and your daughter could have a good time. And you said I have ready-made labor and you're a fool not to use it.
I've warned you before, that if you work too hard and eat too little, that girl will be as thin as a bamboo pole and something bad will happen to her sooner or later. But you refused to listen, and now you've killed Tian An, and everyone else will go to jail and even be beheaded."
The two Du daughters were originally sleeping in the inner room. As a result, they were awakened by their mother's crying. As soon as they walked out of the main room, they saw their aunt beating their mother. They rushed over to help, and Qian was unexpectedly knocked down by them.
Du regained her composure and changed her usual weak demeanor. She climbed up and sat on Qian's stomach, then started slapping her in the face...
Here, Qian's daughter Li Chunmei also came out. She happened to see Tian Caihe from the third room pushing her mother, so she grabbed a broom and hit Tian Caihe, chasing her all over the house.
Then, Li Dazhu and Tian Laosan also joined in, and the fight turned into a collective fight between the Tian family's first, third and second branches. Not to mention that each branch had two sons and two daughters, the fight was really evenly matched for a while.
Everyone present was stunned. What a huge event this morning! How could it be so intense this early in the morning?
Old Mrs. Tian was so angry that she sat on the ground and cried loudly: "You are rebelling, you are rebelling, you are trying to piss me off to death, stop hitting me, stop hitting me."
Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to her. There was nothing she could do. Who told her that the Tian family was not authentic in their daily lives? The only family of the Tian family that was respectable was the second branch, Tian Mingwu. If it weren't for Tian An this morning, no one would have wanted to come.
The village chief couldn't bear to watch it anymore and asked everyone to hold them back, and the situation was finally under control.
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