Chapter 18 Not Grandpa's Son
Gu Shu carried Gu Le on his back and led the way forward.
The group stopped on the grass where they had previously paused.
"Let's wait for Xiaohua to walk into the crowd for a while before we go down." Gu Yin helped Gu Le down, gave him some water to drink, and tried to calm him down.
After waiting for about half an hour, they saw that Li Xiaohua was able to talk to others naturally, so they packed up the wild chrysanthemums and headed down the mountain.
Halfway there, those people were already sitting by the roadside.
Seeing them come down, he greeted them with a smile: "Why is Ah Shu carrying Ah Le on his back? Are you tired? I have some wild fruit here, do you want some?"
Gu Shu smiled and shook her head: "I'm sleepy, just about to doze off. That's how kids are. Aren't you leaving yet?"
The others laughed: "Let's go after dark, we'll pick some more, you guys go back first, the kids are prone to catching a cold if they fall asleep, and it's windy on the mountain at night!"
Gu Shu nodded and said goodbye to them.
Gu Yin looked at Li Xiaohua and greeted her with a smile: "Xiaohua, when did you get up here? Why didn't you come to find me! Shall we go back together?"
Li Xiaohua blinked and smiled, "You've picked so many already, and I've only just arrived. I won't go back yet; you guys go back first! Remember to wait for me if you go to town tomorrow!"
Gu Yin nodded: "Okay!" She will go to the hospital tomorrow to have the stitches removed from her head.
When he got home, the adults were already back. The old lady was cooking, the two daughters-in-law were shelling soybeans, and the others were helping Gu Qingming make furniture.
When they saw them return, all the adults in the courtyard looked up at them.
"You're back? How many wild chrysanthemums did you pick? Should we scald them with hot water tonight and then dry them, or should we sell them fresh tomorrow?" The old lady walked over to take the things from their hands.
Seeing Gu Le on Gu Shu's back, Gu Shu thought he was asleep and quickly reached out to carefully hug him: "Are you tired?" As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that Gu Le's face was covered with scratches.
Gu Le obediently called out, "Grandma."
"What happened?! Why is your face covered in injuries?! No wonder I carried you back! Are your legs injured too?!" After saying that, he pulled up Gu Le's trouser leg and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see any injuries.
Then he looked at the three large ones: "Did it fall?"
Gu Shu shook his head and looked at Gu Yin.
Gu Yin put down the basket and looked at Gu Jianguo: "Grandpa, which family in our village has sheep?"
Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked at Gu Yin with a puzzled expression.
When his granddaughter asked this question, Gu Jianguo thought for a moment and shook his head: "No, it existed a few years ago, but not now."
"Doesn't Master Li's family have any either?" Gu Yin continued to ask.
Gu Jianguo shook his head: "No."
“His family doesn’t have any, but his in-laws do. Didn’t he go to his daughter’s house to help herd sheep today? It seems like he’s been going there for the past few days. What’s wrong? Do you want to eat mutton?” The old lady took out some gentian violet and applied it to Gu Le.
Before Gu Yin could speak, Gu Shu stepped forward and said angrily, "That was him! You all saw it! Why did he do that?"
Gu Hua grabbed Gu Yin and said, "Last time, at the car, wasn't he doing that on purpose too?! Right?!"
Gu Yin pursed her lips and nodded: "It's him!"
Gu Shu was so angry that she kicked over the stool: "Damn it, why is this happening! Our family and his family shouldn't have any conflicts! Why is he stopping us from rescuing A-Le! And why is he taking A-Le away today!"
"What?! They took Ah Le away! Who?!" Li Mengxin was so frightened that she immediately stood up and asked repeatedly.
The old lady was startled and hugged Gu Le tightly.
Gu Le obediently did not move.
Everyone else stood up as well.
"Explain yourself!" Gu Qinglang looked at the children with a grim expression.
Gu Yin recounted what happened on the mountain, and finally whispered, "That man was wearing a big bamboo hat, the kind used for rain protection. Neither A-Le nor I saw his face! But A-Le bit his hand, and, and Xiao-Hua was also on the mountain at the time, and she saw his face!"
The old man was furious: "What a two-faced bastard! So vicious! I thought he had changed his ways in his old age, afraid of dying and going to hell, and wouldn't dare to do bad things anymore. Damn it, I never expected him to have such evil intentions towards my Gu family's descendants. If I don't beat him to death today, I'm not a Gu! Grab your weapons, let's go!"
After saying that, he picked up the shovel next to him and was about to leave. His family was furious and went to grab whatever was at hand. Gu Shu even ran into the house and grabbed a kitchen knife.
The old lady quickly stopped them: "Where are you going! You say it's him, so it's him? He's not even home right now, he's at his daughter's! Who are you going to look for?"
Gu Yin quickly chimed in, "Grandma is right. He's not home right now. Everyone in the village knows he went to the next village. They have proof that he's not here, and we don't have any evidence. If we had evidence, we could call the police and have him shot!"
No sooner had they finished speaking than a commotion arose outside the courtyard. As the group walked toward the gate, they saw Third Master Li being carried back.
Gu Shu's eyes lit up. He put down the kitchen knife, rushed over, and asked loudly, "What happened?"
The person next to him sighed, "Oh dear, Uncle Li went to help his daughter herd sheep, but what happened? He got bitten on the hand by a snake. Luckily, he acted quickly and cut the wound open with a knife to let the blood out, which saved his life. He's still a bit dazed right now. We'll have the old village chief pound some snake medicine on it for him later!"
The Gu family members came out at this moment and heard what this person said. Everyone looked at the back of Li Sanye's hand, which was covered in cuts and bruises. There was no trace of the wound that Gu Le had bitten. The Gu family members felt a chill in their hearts. The evidence was gone!
Everyone went back inside and closed the door.
The old man took out his pipe and took a puff: "Li Genzi is ruthless to others, but even more ruthless to himself! A wolf cub is a wolf cub, even if he wears a human skin, he's still a wolf cub, he'll eat people!"
Seeing that no one understood, the old lady explained, "Li Genzi was abandoned on the mountain by his father for a while when he was a child. Later, he came down the mountain on his own. The villagers all said that he was raised by a mother wolf. During the special period, he reported his father for gambling, which led to his father being shot. Because of this, he was recognized for his merit and became the secretary of our village. Many people were not convinced by him. The family next door to him is one of them. Li Genzi just smiled and didn't say anything at the time. He built his house next to that family. Then, about a year later, he got together with the lady of that family. The man of that family went to their house and was beaten and driven away. After that, nothing happened."
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines. Who are these people? You're getting in my way, I'll sleep with your wife?
The old woman continued, "Whoever's field is next to his is doomed. Either their land is uprooted or sprayed with pesticides. Everyone knows it's him, but no one dares to say a word. He's too ruthless, and no one dares to offend him. Some families in the village receive subsidies, but he collects them directly on their behalf, and they don't dare to say anything. That four-story house—not just in our village, but probably not many people in the town could build it."
Gu Yin frowned: "Has no one reported it?"
"Who would dare? Everyone has a family to support, who would dare touch that madman? Later he stepped down, and his nephew took over, and he became more docile. You young people don't know these things, you think he's easy to get along with, but we've all watched him go crazy all along!"
Gu Shu's eyes widened: "So we're just going to leave it at that?"
Gu Qinglang slammed the stick against the wall, his face darkening. "What a load of crap! Let me think about it. Don't be impulsive. Never be alone again, especially Ah Le. He's caused you trouble time and time again. You absolutely can't be alone. We'll pick you up and drop you off at school from now on!"
Gu Le nodded.
Gu Qingming looked at Gu Qinglang: "Qinglang, do you have some kind of grudge against him? For example, the time when the village recommended you to be the secretary?"
Gu Qingming was originally a teacher, but the school was demolished and he had to go home. At that time, there was a change of leadership, and the village recommended him to take the position. However, Li Genzi clearly wanted his nephew to take the position and even gave gifts to many families in the village. But there were still a few families who had a grudge against him, so he pushed Gu Qinglang to take the position instead.
Their elections were conducted by raising hands and counting votes on the spot. As a result, Gu Qinglang received more votes than Li Dashan. In addition to people who did not have the surname Li not voting, several people also changed their minds. The scene fell silent for a moment. Li Genzi's face was particularly terrifying at that time. He did not speak, and no one below dared to speak either.
Gu Qinglang, however, had no interest in the matter and stood up to refuse, which allowed Li Dashan to take his place, and Li Genzi's expression improved.
Gu Qinglang frowned: "Really? It's not like I wanted to be one. I refused."
Gu Yin knew that wasn't the reason. She asked aloud in her mind, "001, is he a spy planted in Lijia Village by someone behind the scenes?"
001 raised an eyebrow: "How did you guess that?"
Gu Yin thought to herself, "As expected, they've been targeting A-Le all along. If the Gu family offended someone, then my uncle's family should have been their initial target, since they're the eldest, and there's also Gu Shu. But they're all fine, only Gu Le got into trouble. That means my family got in their way. My dad had all sorts of problems with his college entrance exams when he was young, so he must have sabotaged it. I didn't get into trouble, probably because I'm a girl, but that's not important. A-Le is a boy, so is it related to the heir? So A-Le's abduction in my past life wasn't an accident. I was fine at first, but then I appeared on TV. Back then, the internet was so advanced, it was easy to find out my background, so I got into trouble too. That person didn't want me to appear on TV, so do I look a lot like someone, and they're afraid? The real or fake heiress? Or the real or fake young master? Or maybe a rival?"
001 laughed: "You're not stupid, actually."
Gu Yin rolled her eyes: "All the TV dramas I act in have scripts like this, you can guess what they're going to be like."
001 nodded: "You guessed some of it, but not all of it. You can't solve it right now. I advise you to stay put for now, study hard, and improve yourself. When you have enough ability, even if they don't come after you, I'll make you go after them. Understand?"
Gu Yin knew she was too weak and needed time, but she believed it wouldn't be long.
Gu Yin snapped out of her daze and looked at Gu Qinglang: "Dad, how many people in the village know that you're not Grandpa's biological son?"
As soon as Gu Yin finished speaking, everyone in the courtyard except for the old man, the old woman, and Gu Qingming stared at them in astonishment.
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