Ma Xiaomai is not afraid of anything except his father's disgrace.
He wasn't afraid that his father would get upset and beat him, but he liked to see his father smile. He liked to see his father smile at his mother and at his three brothers.
In Ma Xiaomai's memory, his father seldom smiled before. He started to love to smile after he was injured and almost died. He liked his smiling father and didn't want to make his father become the unsmiling father again because of him, so he honestly admitted his mistake to his mother.
"That's more like it." Ma Fuquan said, "You have no right to yell at your mother. If anyone needs to yell at her, only I, your father, can yell at her. You, a little bastard, have no right to yell at her."
Tian was originally quite happy. What kind of a master is he if he can't control his children? She was feeling happy when she heard Ma Fuquan say this. She immediately retorted, "Why are you yelling at me? I'm not your daughter. Even if I were your daughter, you wouldn't have the right to yell at me. My father and mother have never yelled at me."
"I treat you like my own daughter and love you like one. Is that okay?"
Ma Fuquan chuckled twice.
Ding Youtian glanced at him and said, "Hey, hey, I can't stand it anymore. This is too much. There are people here."
"You have a wife, what's there to be afraid of?" Huo Jincheng glanced at him. "If anyone can't stand it, it should be me."
Wei Dong coughed lightly: "Doesn't anyone consider our family's feelings?"
Tian glared at Ma Fuquan, "It's all your fault. You're so dishonest. Tell me now, who poisoned you? Was it that slutty vixen? I'm sure it was her!"
Thinking of how that slutty vixen had teased Ma Fuquan in public before, Tian was so angry that she wanted to tear her apart alive.
Jian Ning had already started walking towards the stable. Wei Dong had broken the hands and feet of the five men and thrown them into the stable. She wanted to use some tricks to interrogate the woman again because she had a suspicion in her mind. The fierce look in Ding Sheng's eyes when he looked at Dabao had been flashing in her mind, and she wanted to ask clearly.
Ding Youtian saw her going to the stable and followed her.
Ma Fuquan and others followed.
As a result, when they arrived at the stable, they found that the five people were dead, just like Ding Qiang, with blood all over their mouths, ears and noses.
Tian hated the woman to death, but seeing that the person was dead, she didn't say anything. She just believed in her heart that Ding Qiang was indeed killed by these people. The way of death was the same. Who else could it be if not them who poisoned him?
On the surface, it did seem like one of the five had poisoned them. Ding Youtian asked several children if they had seen any of the five enter their yard before. Several children said they hadn't noticed.
Many strangers had come to the village recently, and many villagers from other villages had come to Ding Youtian to ask for advice on hybrid grains. He and Jian Ning had been secretly on guard against poisoning their food and water. But despite all their precautions, they had never expected Ma Xiaomai to dig up wild fruits, allowing someone to take advantage of their situation in such a short time.
Jian Ning wanted to quietly ask her children if Ding Sheng had been near the basin containing the Hovenia dulcis before the incident. But after thinking about it, she gave up. After all, it was just her speculation. If she asked without solid evidence, she might scare the children.
Although, her intuition told her that Ding Sheng was involved in this matter.
However, there was no evidence, so she could only repeatedly remind Dabao to be more careful in the future. She also gave him a silver needle and asked him to carry it with him. Before eating or drinking outside, he should test it with the silver needle to make sure it was non-toxic before consuming it.
"Sister." Tian came to the east room to find Jian Ning, "The dishes are almost ready. I'll ask Xiaomai's father to help you fry them. I'm going to go to Chang's house to see off the poor kid. I'll be back soon."
"Yeah." Jian Ning felt a strange feeling in her heart. Although she had no evidence, if Ding Sheng was really bewitched by the assassin to poison Dabao, and ultimately harmed his own brother, he would definitely suffer the punishment of his conscience.
Unless he has no heart at all, he will not feel good inside.
Indeed, Ding Sheng was terrified. He was just a half-grown child, and his hands were stained not only with his own brother's blood, but also with the blood of five assassins. No matter how calm he appeared, he was like a frightened bird inside. He watched his mother change Ding Qiang's clothes without a trace of emotion on her face. He tried to help several times, but was pushed away by Chang.
Chang's attitude towards him made him even more uneasy.
He hid in the backyard vegetable garden, hoping to be alone for a while. When he saw Mr. Ding San digging a hole with a hoe, his heart skipped a beat. He suspected that Mr. Ding San had seen him poison the five assassins and told his mother.
Ding Sheng carefully recalled the scene. After the assassins were thrown into the stables, Jian Ning and the others had gone to the main house to discuss matters. His mother, hugging his brother, was crying in the dining hall. Besides the children, only Mr. Ding San and his son, Mr. Mo's family, and Yue'e were in the dining hall. He feared the woman would reveal that he had taken her poison and intended to harm Dabao but would instead harm his brother, so he mustered up the courage to go to the stables. Fortunately, the men had fainted after their limbs were broken. He dripped a drop of poison into their mouths, sending them all to their doom.
Coming out of the stable, Ding Sheng seemed to see someone slip into the back door of Jian Ning's kitchen. He thought he was dazzled, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that the person who slipped in was Mr. Ding Sanye.
It was over, and he felt a sense of fear in his heart.
Uncle Ding San finished digging the hole and came over. When he saw him, he paused for a moment, as if he wanted to say something. Then he sighed and walked into the inner room.
Chang and Tian, who had rushed over, had already dressed Ding Qiang. Seeing Chang sewing a body bag for the child with a piece of white cloth, Mr. Ding squatted aside silently, took out his pipe, and started to smoke.
"Third brother, is the pit dug?" Chang asked after sewing the bag.
"Yeah." Uncle Ding San nodded. According to seniority, he is Ding Pingshun's cousin.
After Tian helped Chang put Ding Qiang into the cloth bag, she saw Chang carrying Ding Qiang to the backyard and asked, "Where are we going to bury him? Aren't we going to bury him with his father?"
"No need. He didn't like this child when he was alive. Let him be born into a good family quietly. In the next life, he won't have to suffer in a poor family. It will be a relief. It's not necessarily a bad thing."
Chang's face was calm.
Ding Sheng wanted to help bury Ding Qiang, but Chang pushed him away without saying a word. It was still Master Ding San who helped bury the body in the vegetable garden in their own backyard.
After burying Ding Qiang, Chang went to work at Jian Ning's as usual in the afternoon. In the evening, she returned home and still ignored Ding Sheng. She didn't scold him, nor did she talk to him. She always gave him a cold face.
Ding Sheng couldn't contain himself any longer. He didn't know how he got through the entire afternoon. He sat by his brother's grave all afternoon, thinking a lot. A few days after his mother became pregnant with Ding Qiang, his father was diagnosed with tuberculosis by a doctor. His father often said that Ding Qiang was a debt collector and that his illness was caused by Ding Qiang.
His father doesn't like Ding Qiang, and he doesn't like him either.
Even if he didn't like his brother, he didn't want to kill his brother. At night, he lay in the bed he and Ding Qiang slept in, closed his eyes, and his mind was filled with the image of his mother holding his brother covered in blood.
He couldn't stand it anymore, opened his eyes and sat up.
But he saw his mother Chang standing beside his bed, staring at him with cold eyes.
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