"If that person hadn't behaved today, I think your father would have beaten him to death. He's angrier than me today, but he's more tolerant than your mother. I'm just mad at the villagers. What kind of people are they?"
"Okay, okay, I won't think about it anymore. The truth has finally come out. Will you go to the ancestral hall tomorrow morning?"
"Of course I'm going. I'm going to embarrass that Sun. What the hell did she give birth to? She deserved to die at such a young age."
Ah! This! It's not good to curse someone's deceased wife. "So should I go? I don't really want to go." Anyway, the matter has been settled. It doesn't matter whether she goes or not. She doesn't want to get involved in such a crowded occasion.
"Don't you want to see what happened to that person? He slandered you like that today and almost ruined your reputation. Don't you hate him so much?"
"What's the use of itching? He won't lose a piece of meat. Mom, you forgot, I still have to burn charcoal in the morning, so I won't go." Burning charcoal is a good excuse.
Zhou sighed, "If you don't want to go, then don't go. We'll go and get justice for you." She tucked the quilt beside her, "Then you stay at home. I'll let Shuwen come to accompany you."
Not long after Dahe left in the morning, Zhou got up. She had been up too late the previous night, so Chunxiao really didn't want to get up, so she simply went back to sleep. When Shuwen called her outside, she realized that it was already bright daylight. The sky seemed a little overcast today. She got dressed and opened the door, "Is the village ancestral hall open?"
"It's open. Grandpa, Dad, Grandma, Mom and the others have gone. I heard they caught the thief last night. Auntie, I heard it was our Grandpa and Dad who caught him!"
"Who told you that?" The child sleeps soundly at night, so how could he know what happened?
"When I woke up in the morning, I saw that my father's face was blue and my grandfather's mouth was bruised. I asked my mother, and she said that the ancestral hall was opened today to try thieves. Hey, you didn't call me last night." Shuwen regretted that he missed the big event.
"Why did I call you? Don't join in the fun. Don't you see your father and the others are injured? Auntie didn't go to the ancestral hall today." Chunxiao looked at him while washing her face. "Help Auntie watch over the yard for a while. When Auntie comes back from fetching two buckets of water, I'll teach you how to read."
Shuwen readily agreed, "If you have any work to do, I'll help you."
Chunxiao touched his head and said, "Auntie doesn't have any other work to do here. You can play in the yard for a while." Then she went to the kitchen to get a bucket and went to the river to fetch water.
In the morning, she first taught Shuwen to recognize a few big characters and told him their meanings, then asked him to practice dictation in the front yard. She went to the backyard to start burning charcoal, and reminded Shuwen to remember to notify him if anyone came.
Shuwen is already 11 years old and actually understands everything about the household. The two of them are busy in the front yard and the back yard respectively.
Zhou came over around noon.
Chunxiao had already sealed two furnaces. Seeing Zhou's slightly yellow face with a smile on her face, she asked, "Mom, are you satisfied with the result?"
"It's fair, but it's still too cheap for that boy." So she sat in the yard and told Chunxiao what happened in the morning.
The Sun family received the news early in the morning and went to the headman's house. They refused to believe that their youngest son was a thief. When they heard that he was beaten yesterday, Sun cried and made a fuss, and even threatened to commit suicide. The headman opened the ancestral hall early and summoned the villagers.
When Sun and Yan Qingquan saw their injured son, they initially wanted to seek an explanation from Yan Bangfa and his men. Later, amidst the mockery of the villagers who witnessed the incident, they realized their son had not only stolen but also defamed someone else. They said they were lucky not to have been beaten to death, and only then did they calm down. They knelt and begged for forgiveness. The village head didn't want to make a big deal out of it, as it was a matter of the village's reputation. He asked them to pay compensation first, adding that several other families in the village had lost chickens and were also asking for compensation.
There's a funny thing here. Three families were responsible for the lost chicken, but Yan Sanjiang only acknowledged two. The village head had no choice but to demand compensation from all three. Chunxiao's belongings were worth five taels, and the father and son were to pay two taels for their injuries, for a total of seven taels.
Sun naturally disagreed, saying the item wasn't worth five taels. Why should she pay two taels for a minor bruise? Furthermore, two people stole the item, so why should they both pay? Zhou then argued with her, claiming Yan Sanjiang had brought the person, so he was the one to be found. The family finally resorted to shady tactics, and Zhou refused to budge, declaring they would not accept the compensation unless they were compensated, and would report the matter directly to the police.
In short, it was a long time before Sun finally accepted the loss because she couldn't bear to let her son go. However, Zou, the eldest daughter-in-law of the Yan family, was not happy about it. She felt that she had not only lost money but also embarrassed herself in front of the whole village. She proposed to separate the family on the spot. In short, the scene was chaotic for a while.
The village head stood up at this time and said that the division of the family should be put aside for the last minute and the compensation issue should be resolved first, otherwise they would have to go to the authorities.
Finally, under the wailing of Sun, she paid 5 taels of silver, and the remaining 2 taels were compensated with two piglets. This is roughly how the incident happened.
"I've put the five taels of silver in your money box. We didn't lose out this time." Zhou's frustration from last night had dissipated. "We've already caught two piglets. We picked two strong ones. We originally wanted to buy the pigs and then catch the piglets, but now we don't have to spend any money. Didn't you see Zou's expression? Such a strong person almost cried. I think she's really unlucky. She's smart and capable, and works so hard, but she's held back by her in-laws. If I were you, I'd have to split up too."
"Then their family is in trouble now, right?" Dividing the family is no small matter.
"Yes, the village head is busy at their house right now. It's none of our business anyway. We can be considered as getting rid of a pest for the village this time."
"What about Yan Sanjiang?"
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com