Chapter 52: Convening a meeting of villagers
The villagers came to the grain drying ground one after another, all with confused looks on their faces.
"Hey, is there something big happening in the village? Why did the headman summon the villagers so suddenly?"
"I don't know. I was at home all day and didn't hear anything."
Meanwhile, Mrs. Li and Mrs. Yang came over arguing and cursing at each other.
Li: "You were sitting next to me on the ox cart. If you didn't steal, could it have grown legs and run away?"
Yang's anger reached its peak at this time, and she roared: "I didn't steal your purse. Wasn't your daughter Xu Xiaoju sitting next to you? Bah, maybe it was your own daughter who stole it!"
Upon hearing this, Li rushed towards Yang angrily: "Ah! You stole my purse and now you want to ruin my daughter's reputation. I will tear your stinky mouth to pieces!"
Not to be outdone, Yang grabbed Li's hair and said, "Bah, I think you two are teaming up to blackmail me. You didn't lose any money at all."
The villagers watched as the two men started fighting, grabbing each other's hair and neither of them willing to give in, so they came over to try to stop the fight.
"Hey, what's wrong with you two? Stop fighting."
"That's right. If there's anything, let's discuss it in a good way! Why ruin the harmony?"
"Stop immediately! He is talking to the elders of the various families in the village. He will be here soon!"
When Xu Lei came over, he saw that his wife was fighting with a shrew in the village. The two of them were wrestling with each other and their clothes were about to be torn off!
He could still get away with it if he wasn't present, but now that he is here and can feel the villagers' whispers, he is about to lose face because of the Li family!
Seeing that there were many men and women watching the excitement nearby, his face suddenly became long and he shouted angrily: "Li..."
When Li heard Xu Lei's roar, she was so scared that she subconsciously let go of Yang and started crying: "Boss, Yang stole my purse and now she refuses to admit it. That's more than one or two taels of silver! My mother and I spent several months embroidering handkerchiefs and purses to get it."
Yang: "Li, if you don't have any evidence, don't make false accusations here."
When the village head came over, he saw the villagers gathered together and immediately said with a stern face: "What are you all doing together? Didn't you hear the gong? Everyone line up, I will tell you if there is anything."
When Li saw the head of the village coming, she immediately cried out, "Head of the village! You have to make a decision for me! Yang stole my purse, and now she refuses to admit it!"
Yang was so angry that her neck became thick: "I didn't steal"
Upon hearing this, the village head looked at Li and asked, "Why didn't you see me? Where did you not see me?"
Li: "I went to town this morning, carrying a basket with embroidery in it. I put the purse on the embroidery and covered it with a cloth. Who would have thought that after getting off the ox cart and walking a short distance, I found that the purse was gone!"
"When we were riding in the bullock cart, Yang sat next to me."
Yang: "It's so funny. Just because I was sitting next to you, I stole it? Then I would suspect that you didn't bring any money at all."
Hearing this, Xu Zhiyi deliberately said loudly: "Huh? Aunt Li didn't bring any money with her when she went to town today! She even asked me to borrow twelve copper coins this morning to pay for the ox cart fare, saying that she forgot to bring her purse when she went out!"
When Yang heard this, she was so angry that she pointed at Li and said, "Okay! Li, you really want to blackmail me."
Li: "No, I brought a purse. I just lied to Xu Daya and wanted her to help me pay for the ox cart ride."
Xu Zhiyi: "Tsk tsk, Aunt Li, why do you say you'll bring it and then not bring it? With your attitude, who would dare to believe which of your words are true or false?"
When Li heard this, she thought of something and pointed at Xu Zhiyi and said, "Xu Daya, did you steal it? No wonder you were so kind to lend me the copper coins. You should give me the silver back."
Xu Zhiyi: "Auntie Li, you are blackmailing everyone you see? I stole your money? May I ask, from the time I got on the ox cart to the time I got off, did I get close to you?"
"Even when I gave you the copper coins, the most I did was just stand in front of you. If I made any move, I would have known it immediately. Are you blind?"
When Li heard this, he knew that he couldn't get the upper hand, as this money-loser had never been close to him from beginning to end.
"Auntie Li, do you have to return my twelve copper coins now?" Xu Zhiyi stretched out his palm and swept it back and forth towards Li and Xu Lei.
Li looked at Xu Zhiyi. She had no intention of paying it back in the first place. She gave the twelve cents voluntarily. Why should she pay it back?
Xu Zhiyi saw that Li had no intention of paying back the money, so he took back his hand and said loudly: "Now everyone can see clearly that someone is shameless enough to borrow money and then default on it. If she asks you to borrow something in the future, don't lend it to her! It's like throwing meat buns at a dog, and it won't come back."
Uncle Li, who was pulling an oxcart outside the crowd, also spoke up for me: "Ms. Li didn't bring any money with her when she got off the oxcart. When she got off the oxcart, she looked for it herself before saying that she didn't bring any money. Then she borrowed twelve copper coins from Zhiyi to pay for the oxcart fare for two round trips."
Several village women at the time also came forward to testify that they had not walked far when they heard Xu Zhiyi say that he wanted to lend copper coins to Li, and Li also clearly said that she did not bring any silver.
The head of the village looked at the people who came out to testify, then looked at Li with a stern face: "Li, if you keep making false accusations like this, your Xu family will have to leave the village! It's you Xu family who are making trouble every day and setting a bad example."
When Li heard this, she looked unconvinced. Just as she was about to speak, she was pulled aside by the furious Xu Lei!
Then Xu Lei counted out twelve copper coins and handed them to Xu Zhiyi angrily.
Mrs. Li: “………” Oh, her chest was choked with anxiety. It was clearly she who lost the silver, but she was being punished instead. She was so angry!
The most important thing is that she thought she could cheat this money-loser out of twelve copper coins today, but she would have to pay it back in the end, so why did she go to such lengths this morning?
The head of the village looked at the representatives coming from every household and shouted loudly, "Everyone stand up and be quiet. What's going to happen next is of great importance. Listen carefully!"
"The government posted a notice saying that the life-saving food we were waiting for from the imperial court had been robbed!"
As soon as the head of the village said this, the villagers were in an uproar, crying and complaining.
"What? How are we going to survive then?"
"Woo woo, my whole family is waiting for this life-saving food! God won't give us a chance to survive!"
"That's right, the grain was robbed! Did the government give any other explanation? When will the grain be delivered again? Doesn't the government care about the lives of ordinary people like us?"
Village Chief: "Be quiet first"
Hearing this, everyone fell silent, but everyone was in a very heavy mood, and many people were already sobbing.
"Alas, I have just discussed this with the clan leaders. Given our current situation, if we continue to wait for food to arrive, it will be difficult!"
"Even if we wait, if God still doesn't rain, then we will be dead even if we have food but no water. I suggest that the whole village should consider fleeing the famine!"
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