Chapter 203
The uncle, with half of his makeup on and wearing a wedding dress, cried loudly in the street while holding the captain's thighs with a hoarse voice. This scene shocked everyone nearby who could see or hear it.
Gradually, the hawking died down. Any free locals nearby couldn't help but gather around, eager to see what had happened to make this woman, her makeup all smudged, burst into tears... Wait, why is it a man dressed in women's clothing? Oh, that face looks familiar! Isn't that Uncle Fake Fairy?
The natives who had lent out their yard took out peeled melon seeds and stuffed them into their mouths, leaving a small space for the children who came running over after hearing the noise to watch the show; the players who came to support Sun Cheng smoothly switched to watching the show mode, and their expressions naturally blended in with the crowd of natives who walked into the alley; the servants of the Qiao family leaned against the wall without saying a word, and even Ding Lang and Ren Sirong, who had been arguing just now, stopped arguing for the time being, and stood on each side to watch the show.
Whether natives or players, they were all watching the fun, with no sympathy for the uncle. He had brought this upon himself. Whether it was fraud or selling women, both were crimes punishable by prison. Crying didn't mean repentance, and cross-dressing didn't mean a change of heart.
At first, the captain did not recognize that the person holding his legs was the uncle who had been posted with the notice before. He felt very embarrassed and a little disgusted to have his legs held by a "strange woman" in public, because the uncle's makeup was already smudged.
When the uncle was yelling that he had to go to jail, the captain recognized his voice and realized who the guy was holding his thigh. He kicked his legs in disgust, but found that he couldn't get rid of this sticky candy. The captain gave a look to the detectives and asked them to help pull the guy off his legs: "I'll go to jail, but let go first..."
"I won't! Sir! Please take me away now!" The uncle burst into tears: "I don't want to be someone's wife!"
"You are a man, not a wife, you should call me..."
"Let me go to jail, sir! I don't want to go to the shelter village!"
"……Shut up!"
"The shelter village is still there?" A local man standing on the wall watching the show with his children smacked his lips. "I thought it had been demolished long ago."
"Mom, where is the shelter village?" the child asked curiously.
"The shelter village is a place of self-destruction."
Once upon a time, a village was using human trafficking to recruit women. When discovered, they claimed they were taking women in, claiming they were not breaking the law. This incident caused a huge uproar, and word quickly reached the capital. Upon learning of this, the empress sneered and, with a flick of her red brush, ordered a large tree at the entrance of the village to hold the heads of all those involved in the trafficking operation. In written language, this meant they would be beheaded and hung on the tree for public display.
After this incident, the Kidnapping Village was renamed the Taking-in Village, and its reputation became completely ruined. People from other places refused to consider marrying in this village, and even those who wanted to buy or sell things refused to consider this village, for fear that they would be kept in this village along with their belongings.
Those who survived the beheading in the shelter village initially feared the empress would one day take revenge on them. However, after that, not only were they repeatedly stymied in their marriages, but even normal business operations were impossible. Unable to buy goods from the outside world, the villagers resorted to bartering, often resulting in fights over mere cents. With no new residents joining or emerging, and the empress forbidding them from leaving, the atmosphere in the village grew increasingly bleak, alternating between noise and silence. Even the promise of a new year proved a disappointment, as they could not even afford to buy New Year's goods, and few were willing to visit relatives in the shelter village.
Perhaps it was the frenzy of pre-destruction madness, but after a few good years, the host villagers began to rant about the three unfilial acts, with the worst being the lack of offspring. Clearly, they didn't understand the meaning of this statement, but they stubbornly refused to listen, crying out at the top of their lungs every day that they were unfilial and ashamed to see their ancestors: "It's just a few rants anyway. Her Majesty wouldn't order us to be executed just because we complained about wanting to start a family, would she?"
Seeing how eager the villagers were to start families, the Queen lived up to their expectations and hired someone to build an indestructible lottery machine at the entrance of the village. Each person could only roll once a month and then return the ball to the machine. The lottery machine contained many balls, but two stood out: one had the Chinese character for "son" (儿) and the other had the Chinese character for "husband" (夫) engraved on it.
"By the providence of Heaven, the Emperor decrees that a lottery machine be granted to the shelter village. Once a month, the ball with the word 'son' drawn becomes the son, and can worship anyone in the village as his father. The ball with the word 'husband' drawn becomes the husband, and can marry anyone in the village to start a family. Furthermore, all the people in the village can form a family of three: one as the son and two as the father. The father will be responsible for raising the child, and the son will provide for the child. This is decreed!"
The imperial edict only mentioned husbands, fathers, and sons, but not wives, mothers, or daughters, as there were no women left in the village. The only newcomers to the host village were the remaining males who had been beheaded by the human traffickers the Empress had transferred from elsewhere. All the remaining females, except those who had been killed, had been rescued, along with the abducted children.
This move once again cast a plight of insecurity upon the host village. Someone who won the husband ball was killed by villagers fearing they might be married off while flaunting their affections. Another who won the son ball was forced to support the entire village, calling them their sons. In anger, they poisoned the well, seeking revenge against everyone. After a period of this turmoil, the village was ultimately destroyed by its own people, with all the villagers perishing in the internecine slaughter.
By the time officials arrived to escort the newcomers, the village had been silent for some time. The sight of such devastation would have terrified even the bravest. Furthermore, with trade and commerce in the village stagnant, the newly arrived residents refused to stay, even if it meant a lifelong career as miners. Thus, the village fell into complete decline, with only the large tree at the entrance, covered in skulls, standing as a reminder of the true danger of self-destruction.
"Oh, so Uncle Fake Xian'er refuses to go to the shelter village, because there is nothing there now." Going to the shelter village is almost the same as being a savage.
"Not only that, if you go to the shelter village, the lottery machine will still be used." If you get a special identity through the lottery, the already bad relationship will become even worse.
"oh!"
The constable tied the uncle's hands with a rope. The uncle felt that this action meant that he had a chance of going to jail, so he felt relieved and stopped clinging to the constable. He just followed the team of constables step by step, fearing that if he walked too slowly, he would be caught by the young man.
Of course, it was impossible to just stay in jail; the uncle still had to pay back the money. He had spent most of the money the young man had given him, some on things he hadn't been able to afford before, some in the casino, and the remaining cash was only one-tenth of the total amount of money he had been defrauded of. If he sold some of his belongings at home, he might be able to pay back some of it. As for the rest, he would have to work in prison while paying it back.
Upon learning the uncle was willing to pay back the money, the young man breathed a sigh of relief, his deliberately imperious expression dropping. His previous coercion of the uncle was pure acting brilliance; he had no interest in him, let alone touching him. This whole fuss was simply to get the money back. His previous claim that the debt had nothing to do with the girl was simply to restore his family's reputation. However, plans couldn't keep pace; he hadn't anticipated the sheer number of viewers his scene would attract.
He was actually quite interested in the uncle's daughter, but she disagreed. He tried to force her, but ended up with the wrong person. Although his subsequent words helped to restore some of his family's image, he still felt that the girl's mother seemed to know something and misunderstand something. Since marrying a beautiful woman was hopeless, he decided to focus on money.
The uncle was terrified and no longer wanted to shirk his responsibility to repay the debt. He only struggled with the method and duration of repayment. The young man debated and argued with him publicly about the repayment method, and finally reached a reluctant agreement: after the uncle divided up his property, the young man's family would work with him to appraise the value of his property. Once they reached an agreement, they would seek legal witness. Afterward, according to the agreement, the uncle would work as a handicraft in prison to pay off the remaining debt. He could not leave the prison until all the debts were paid.
Yes, the property was divided. The uncle only just now realized that his wife had unilaterally divorced him. Now he had no wife or daughter at home, and his wife's dowry had been taken back to her parents' home. Apart from the common property that needed to be handed over, he now had nothing.
Finding himself alone, the uncle was very angry and cursed his ex-wife loudly, saying that she was a hen that didn't lay eggs. Apart from having a daughter, she had never been pregnant again in all these years and she also didn't allow him to take a concubine.
"You can't take a concubine because the one who likes you doesn't like you, and the one you like doesn't like you?" The onlookers said, "Don't brag. We are from the same village, so who doesn't know who?"
"Then she is also a hen that doesn't lay eggs. She..."
"I need to say something about this!" A drug dealer from Chuzhou City raised his voice in the crowd, "Everyone in this family told me that you ate something with substandard ingredients and had no reaction! You're the one who's not doing well!"
Oh my! Exciting! The onlookers widened their eyes in excitement: I didn’t expect there would be new gossip!
Add the ingredients...The captain looked at the uncle, then at the young man: Do young people have such strong tastes nowadays?
"You are slandering me! There is no such thing in my house!" Seeing the young girl in the crowd look at her son with a changed look in her eyes, the boy's mother got angry: "If you say that, does our family not care about its reputation? If this kind of thing gets out, who would be willing to marry into our family?"
"Who's slandering me? If you don't believe me, let that fake immortal eat some sulfur. He'll definitely have no reaction now." The medicine dealer said with a pout, "I've been selling medicine for years. Just look at this guy's face and you can tell he's weak and leaking. No amount of supplements will help."
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