Su Qingzhu (Part 2)
A group of people gathered in front of Lao He's old house and made a lot of noise.
Layue, with a bruised face and nose, held the door shut inside the house, squatted by the door with his hands on his knees, and looked at the group of people outside the house with hatred through the crack in the door.
Usually, behind a naughty child who refuses to change despite repeated teaching, there is most likely a group of naughty parents.
Now that the younger ones have been beaten, here comes the older ones.
An average of 3 to 4 naughty kids came from each family, blocking the door and clamoring to settle the score with the 8-year-old Layue.
The village chief stood in front of the group of parents and said, "Calm down, everyone, calm down."
The village chief is less than 30 years old and is also a native of the village. He left the village to study at university, but for some reason he came back to the village.
He is a kind person, so generally speaking, the people in the village are not really afraid of him.
A bear head yelled, "Village head, get out of my way! Call that little girl out here! What did she do to my son, Erzhu? I need an explanation!"
The village chief helplessly persuaded: "It's just children playing around, it's not necessary, it's really not necessary!"
"What kind of kid's play is this? What kid would get beaten to the point of needing four or five stitches? She's beating him to death!"
"Exactly. We felt sorry for her, but who knew she would be so cruel!"
"She's not from our village to begin with. She's an ungrateful bastard. We can't keep her in our village!"
The parents of the Xiong family were vying to see whose voice was the loudest, but the village chief just stood there, not letting them move forward even a single step.
Seeing that the village chief refused to budge, the bear parent started to throw a tantrum.
I saw a bear patriarch sitting on the ground, slapping his thighs and howling:
"My poor little Xiongxiong, his ear was bitten so hard that he's hanging there, covered in blood! What will happen to such a little kid if he becomes deaf in the future? How will I live?"
Seeing that the village chief could not hold on, the village women's director, Sister Ma, arrived in time.
After she sent Xiao Layue back, she remembered that she left her medicine at the doctor's place and went back to get it. When she came back, she saw this scene.
Sister Ma was straightforward. She pointed at the group in front of her and started cursing: "What are you making such a fuss about! You, a bunch of people who have lived for most of your lives, are here to block an 8-year-old girl. Do you have any shame? Do you have any shame?"
Sister Ma stepped forward with considerable authority and said, "The village chief is a gentleman and will not argue with you. I, an old lady, cannot tolerate this.
You, your Erzhu is 10 years old this year, right? And you! Your Daxiong is almost 11, right?
Have some shame! A few boys ganged up on a little girl who was not even their age. It would be fine if they couldn't win, but now they have the nerve to cause trouble!
"Pah! Are you ashamed? Even if you're not ashamed, I'm ashamed for you!"
As soon as Sister Ma said this, the villagers who were watching the fun nearby laughed out loud.
Some of the Xiong family members blushed and wanted to back out.
Sister Ma continued, "If I were you, I'd go home now and teach my little brat how to behave, so he doesn't grow up to be a nuisance and cause trouble for the family!"
The Xiong family member who had been throwing a tantrum on the ground earlier couldn't take it anymore. "Sister Ma, how dare you say that? My child has been beaten like that, and I don't even want to ask for an explanation?"
Hearing this, Sister Ma let out a forced smile, "Old He is gone, and this immature little girl is all that's left at home. How are you going to get justice?"
"Get rid of her!" The head of the Sassy Bear family rolled his eyes. "That girl isn't from our village to begin with. I don't know where Old He picked up such a ferocious wolf cub. She's such an ungrateful person! Who knows, maybe Old He is just being unlucky by her..."
"Pah!" Before the angry parent could finish, Sister Ma interrupted and cursed:
"You have the nerve to say that I don't even have the nerve to listen!
After Lao He left, the village chief and everyone said that the child was pitiful and that everyone should take good care of him. It would be fine for your family to pretend to be deaf and blind, and our village would not force you.
But now you're actually licking my face and calling me an ungrateful wolf? Where did I get the ungratefulness? Did I get the ungratefulness on your face?!"
Seeing that he couldn't reason with his child, the naughty parent immediately lay down and prepared to continue throwing a tantrum with his old tricks.
“That’s enough!!”
The usually amiable village chief got angry, which not only shocked the group of angry parents, but even Sister Ma was stunned.
The village chief adjusted his glasses and said, "Sister Ma's words may be harsh but they make sense. Your child is not in the right in this matter. Everyone's eyes are bright. Even if you make a big fuss here today, it won't be justified!
Now, those who need to go home should apply medicine to their children, and those who need to teach their children should also teach their children well."
The village chief glanced at the group of people with a serious look, and the parents of the Xiong family subconsciously avoided his sight.
The village chief said in a deep voice: "Don't think that I can't see your little tricks. Lao He has been gone for a year, and I know that some of you have been thinking about the land he left behind for a long time.
I'm putting this on notice today. If anyone dares to have those crooked thoughts, I will definitely make him pay the price!"
Having said that, the village chief gave a warning look to the naughty bear parent still on the ground.
The head of the Naughty Bear family shrank his neck and stammered without saying a word.
Then the village chief looked at the others and said, "If you don't have such intentions, you should keep a clear head and don't be instigated by others and make a fuss!"
After saying that, the village chief started to drive people away.
The bear parents thought they would not get anything good today, so they looked around and left. The onlookers also dispersed when they saw that there was no more excitement to watch.
After a while, the tranquility in front of the old house finally returned to its former state.
Sister Ma walked up and knocked on the door, and Layue opened it cautiously.
Sister Ma looked at Layue's bruised and swollen face and hugged her with pity. She pulled her into the house and carefully applied medicine to her.
Layue was tired after a long day. He had a fight and was then surrounded by the Xiong family's gate. Only now did his tense spirit relax and he fell into a deep sleep.
Sister Ma tucked in the quilt for little Layue before leaving the house.
At this time, the village chief was still sitting on the doorstep outside the house, not leaving, just smoking one cigarette after another.
Sister Ma walked over to the village chief and sat down next to him. "Village chief, what are you going to do about this?"
The village chief exhaled a puff of smoke and said nothing.
Sister Ma went straight to the point: "Those people have been eyeing this piece of land for a long time. Now that Lao He is gone, as long as Xiao Layue can be driven away, this land will naturally be ownerless.
So, Xiao Layue is getting in their way, and they'll grab a little thing and start a fight by just saying something."
The village chief also sighed: "This matter is not over yet. I can suppress it today, but I can't suppress it tomorrow. There will be more trouble."
Sister Ma was a little worried: "Layue is still so young, if they really have evil intentions, it will be hard to guard against them.
Even if they don't have the courage to spread some nonsense, it's not something that the twelfth month can tolerate.
Xiao Layue’s life is also a problem. She was a chubby little girl when Lao He was still alive. What has she become of her now?
When I applied medicine to her just now, she looked so skinny that she was just a bag of bones!"
The village chief was silent for a moment, then put out his cigarette. "I heard there's an orphanage opening in the next county. I'll go ask about it in a couple of days..."
Sister Ma was also silent, and after a while she said, "That's fine. No matter how bad the orphanage is, it's better than staying here and being treated as a thorn in the eyes of others.
I also heard that orphanages now also solve the problem of children going to school. When Lao He was alive, he only wanted Xiao Layue to go to school..."
After muttering for a while, Sister Ma seemed to remember something and said indignantly, "But if we do this, won't that group get what they want?"
The village chief snorted and laughed: "Even if Lao He has no relatives, the land will be taken back into public ownership according to regulations. Even if it needs to be redistributed, the families who have celebrated the last day of the twelfth lunar month will be taken care of first, so that they will not lose more than they gain!"
The next day, the village chief finished the matters at hand and went to the neighboring county to inquire and visit.
After running back and forth several times over a month, I finally completed all the procedures.
At the end of the next month, Xiao Layue was sent to an orphanage in the neighboring county.
"From today on, our little Layue will begin a new life. There will be new uncles and aunts to take care of us, and we can still go to school..."
The village chief and Sister Ma are saying goodbye to Xiao Layue.
After that, they visited Xiao Layue once or twice, but because transportation was not so convenient at that time, they gradually stopped coming.
So they didn't know that things would not go as smoothly as they thought.
Because of the children's academic status, the orphanage had been arguing with the school. It was not until more than half a year later in December that the children were able to enter the school for the first time as transfer students.
Before the twelfth lunar month, I had no foundation, couldn't keep up with the school's progress, and was ostracized because of my identity...
All these things caused Layue's personality to become more and more withdrawn and sharp.
However, misfortunes never come singly. A year and a half after entering the orphanage in December, the orphanage was closed for various reasons.
After coordination, Layue was sent to a children's welfare home in the city.
It was also here that Xiao Layue finally ended her wandering life and had a home again more than three years after Lao He passed away.
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