Several town militiamen were held back by Xu Genyou and Wu Yang, and the pushing and shoving between the two sides became increasingly violent, and it looked like a fight was about to break out.
Song Lizheng probably hasn't encountered such disobedient villagers before.
Villagers in other places are law-abiding and treat officials like cats and mice, able to be manipulated however they please.
He originally thought he could suppress the matter with a few words, turn a big problem into a small one, and then let the people from Xujia Village go to the inspection area and release the people brought by the Wang family.
But here, not only do they disobey, they even dare to fight back.
As expected, a shrew led a group of vicious men.
When a woman is in charge, the house collapses; the ancients were right.
Song Lizheng was so angry that he was blowing his beard and glaring. He seemed to have forgotten that this place was originally a gathering of refugees.
Of those who become refugees, who abandon their old homes to establish themselves in unfamiliar places, how many are truly timid, cowardly, honest, and law-abiding?
"This is outrageous! You are all lawless!" Song Lizheng shouted sternly, trying to scare the crowd away with his voice.
He was furious with this group of uncouth, ignorant men and women who lacked manners and respect for hierarchy.
"It's backwards! It's backwards!" Qin shouted, mimicking the shrill voice of Village Head Song: "The Village Head's pants are on backwards!"
Li Laoshi hid behind a basket not far away and laughed so hard he almost fell over. For the first time, he found Qin Shi, this woman, quite amusing.
Meanwhile, after Song Lizheng appeared, chaos erupted under the drying shed. Taking advantage of the lack of supervision, Xu Genbao and Wang Xiaoju slipped away together again.
"Xu Genbao, if you dare to divorce me, I'll fight you to the death, and my son will die with you," Wang Xiaoju threatened in a low voice.
Xu Genbao glanced at her and said irritably, "You can choose not to remarry, but you must listen to me."
Wang Xiaoju retorted, "Why should I be the one to listen to you, and not the other way around!"
Xu Genbao said, "Because you made a mistake, I have to be beaten."
Wang Xiaoju's eyes widened: "You're a grown man, why are you afraid of a thin stick? Anyway, it won't hurt if you get hit a few times."
"When Granny Jiang realized that hitting you wasn't working, she stopped! We can't really force us to separate."
She had to make Xu Genbao stand up to the village and not give in, since it wasn't her who was being beaten.
When she said it didn't hurt, she patted her waist and hips, and ended up wincing in pain but stubbornly refraining from making a sound.
Xu Genbao felt a burning sensation in his buttocks, assuming that Jiang Zhi had shown leniency towards Wang Xiaoju. He snorted coldly and said indignantly, "You still have the nerve to say it doesn't hurt? It's only because the village chief didn't hit you hard enough. If you're not afraid of pain, then I'll hit you from now on."
Wang Xiaoju's eyes immediately reddened: "Xu Genbao, I misjudged you, my sincerity has been wasted!"
You once said that as long as you could marry me, you would be willing to live or die for me, to go through fire and water for me. That's why I left my town to marry into your family, endured hardship, and even carried your child for ten months.
For years, there was hardly anything good to eat or wear. I didn't care even when the girls in town laughed at me for jumping from a rice basket into a bran basket; I was still willing to follow you. Now you won't even protect me anymore!
Xu Genbao frowned as he listened. In the past, whenever he heard Wang Xiaoju say these words, his heart would burn with passion, and he would feel that he was willing to give everything for Xiaoju's sincerity, completely ignoring the words of his parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law.
But at this moment, he really hesitated.
Because in the past, Wang Xiaoju could get whatever she wanted—whether it was not wanting to work, fighting with her nephews and nieces for food, or wanting to live in the brightest room—by simply arguing with her family.
Things are different now. Once I agree, my butt really hurts!
"Xiaoju, don't cause trouble anymore. Let's come back and farm the land and live a good life..." Xu Genbao felt that his own backside was still very important.
"Impossible, Xu Genbao, are you crazy? Why would I go back to such a dirty and smelly place and do such tiring and dirty work?"
And...that old woman Jiang wants to eat me alive, if I stay I'll be beaten to death!
Although staying at her parents' home would be disliked by her two sisters-in-law, Wang Xiaoju was still unwilling to return to Xujia Village to live in such a shack and do farm work, and besides, the beatings from the yellow thorns really hurt.
As long as she can take things back to her parents' home, her two sisters-in-law will smile. If anyone is to blame, it's Xu Genbao for not earning enough money.
Xu Genbao was a little annoyed: "If I leave, I will be removed from the village and have no household registration. What will I eat and drink then?"
You think life is easy in your own home? I'm not a son-in-law, I'm just a spineless bastard who can't speak and only does things.
If you don't want to be divorced, you'd better come back obediently... otherwise, we'll go our separate ways.
Xu Genbao touched his own buttocks and finally said something tough.
"Xu Genbao, you heartless bastard! You dare to divorce me? I'll fight you to the death!"
Upon hearing Xu Genbao say that they should go their separate ways, Wang Xiaoju burst into tears, let out a loud cry, and raised her hand to scratch Xu Genbao's face.
With one claw, four bloody scratches appeared on Xu Genbao's face.
Xu Genbao, feeling both pain in his face and buttocks, flew into a rage, grabbed Wang Xiaoju by the hair, and slapped her.
Wang Xiaoju was stunned; this was the first time she had been beaten in the years since they got married.
Xu Genbao, who wouldn't even touch his own finger, got beaten up today!
She cupped her burning face in her hands, her eyes filled with disbelief: "You really hit me? You really hit me?"
Xu Genbao breathed a long sigh of relief.
He had wanted to hit someone countless times, but he always refrained from doing so.
Now that he'd hit her, seeing Wang Xiaoju's shock, he felt a strange sense of satisfaction: "Fine, I hit you. If you keep causing trouble, I'll teach you a lesson!"
Wang Xiaoju couldn't believe her eyes. She pounced on him and scratched him again: "If you dare hit me, I'll tear you apart!"
Once a precedent is set, it becomes a rule; domestic violence is either zero times or countless times!
Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Genbao grabbed Wang Xiaoju's arm and slapped her several times.
The earth-shattering cries from this side immediately alerted the tense atmosphere on the other side. Zhen Yong, Wu Yang, and everyone else stopped what they were doing and turned to look.
Wang Xiaoju cried her heart out, jumping up and down on the ground, pointing at Xu Genbao and yelling, "Brother, beat this bastard to death! How dare he say he'd divorce me and then hit me!"
Xu Genbao covered his face with one hand and his buttocks with the other, and shouted with his neck straight: "You lazy, good-for-nothing woman who brought people to rob grain and steal things, I don't want you anymore! Get out! Get as far away as possible, I feel disgusted just looking at you!"
"You were the one who brought the people here, and you were the one who said you'd use them after selling them for money. Now you're blaming everything on me, you good-for-nothing!"
Enraged, Wang Xiaoju charged forward again, and the two immediately began to wrestle...
The eldest son of the Wang family was stunned, and so was Song, the village head. Before they could even explain themselves, the other side was already confessing!
Jiang Zhi felt that Song Lizheng's arrival was perfectly timed, as it would resolve everything cleanly without delaying the grain harvest. She shouted to stop everyone, "What are you all standing there for? What's there to see? Pull these two mad dogs apart!"
Xu Genyou stepped forward and grabbed his younger brother, while Qin, Tian, and Pi grabbed the jumping and hopping Wang Xiaoju, separating the two whose hair was disheveled and clothes were in disarray.
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