Chapter 143
Li Ergou was walking at night when someone kicked him and broke his ribs and legs. The villagers secretly said, "He deserves it!" Li Ergou not only stole things on a regular basis, but also often forced poor families to sell their daughters or sons.
He always likes to flirt with pretty girls in the village. If he meets a bolder girl, he will spit back at her. If he meets a shy girl, he will go back crying and be too embarrassed to go out for two days.
When the widow Li saw her son being carried back like this, she felt as if the sky had fallen. She cried and wailed at the top of her lungs and went to the village chief and clan elders, asking them to make a decision for her widow and orphan.
It was dark, and Li Ergou was drunk, so he didn't see who kicked him. He couldn't find the person who kicked Li Ergou that night, but Li's mother was unwilling to accept it. She cried and wailed that her family, an orphan and a widow, were being bullied.
In the end, the village chief and clan elders, who were troubled by the trouble, each pooled some money and gave it to Li's mother, asking her to send Li Ergou to the town as soon as possible.
After getting the money as she wished, Li's mother was smart enough to stop making a fuss. She quickly joined a few people from the village to send Li Ergou, who had fainted from the pain, to the town to see a doctor to treat his leg. She hoped that he would not become as lame as the boy from the Yin family.
When several people were carrying Li Ergou and rushing towards the village entrance in a hurry, Yin Zheng was standing at the gate of the yard holding Jiaojiao, watching them from afar.
Jiaojiao, who was in her father's arms, looked at her father, then looked at the group of people leaving in the distance, blinked in confusion, and then continued to nibble on the snack in her hand.
Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye. During this half month, two things happened in Lijia Village at the foot of Wushan Mountain that made people talk about them and marvel at them.
The first thing was that the village chief's eldest daughter-in-law, who had not been pregnant for more than ten years since she got married, became pregnant.
The Chen couple went to the town several times and after confirming that she was really pregnant, they took the pregnancy-preserving medicine prescribed by the doctor and walked from the beginning to the end of the village and from the east end to the west end of the village that day.
Every time I meet someone, I always say, "The pregnancy-maintaining medicine that Dr. Zhou prescribed is really expensive. It costs 100 coins per pair. It really hurts me to death."
"If my mother-in-law hadn't said that we should take good care of this first child so that we can have a second one later, Li Da and I would not have been willing to buy it."
"I've heard people privately say that my Li Da is no good. I can't remember who said it, but I have a bad memory. Otherwise, I would tear those people's mouths apart. Sister-in-law, don't you agree?"
Mrs. Yang, who had once privately mocked Li Da's incompetence, could only laugh awkwardly, say a few words of congratulations, and then hurried away.
Ever since it was confirmed that Chen was pregnant, she became Wang's darling. She no longer had to do any work in the fields or the kitchen. Every day, she would just get up after getting enough sleep, feed the chickens and clean the house before returning to her room to rest.
Old Wang didn't let her do any other work, for fear of tiring her unborn grandson.
The newly married Zhao was very dissatisfied. Whose pregnant wife couldn't do any work like her elder sister-in-law? Her love was even more precious than that of the wife of the scholar in town!
Sensing her discontent, Old Lady Wang shrugged and said, "If you were pregnant, I'd treat you the same way. Put away your sullen expression. Who are you trying to show it to? If you start scaring my grandson, I'll skin you alive!"
After being scolded by Old Wang, Zhao quickly lowered her head and finally behaved herself a little.
These days, Li Da has straightened his back when going out. You know, in the past, some people secretly laughed at him for being incompetent, which made him feel ashamed to face people when he went out. He kept his head down all day long, feeling very inferior, and would not go out if he could avoid it.
Now, his wife is pregnant!
Thinking of this, Li Da bared his teeth and asked everyone he met what they needed to prepare for having a baby.
Besides this, the second thing is that Yin Zheng’s leg is healed. Yes, Yin Zheng’s leg is healed!!
When they heard the news, Yin Dazhu and his wife made a big fuss, saying that Yin Zheng had deliberately pretended to be lame to deceive them, and demanded that Yin Zheng come back to do the work in the fields for them.
When Yin Zheng refused to agree, they started making a fuss all over the village, saying that Yin Zheng was unfilial and that they would report him to the government to have him punished for being an unfilial son.
The villagers were stunned by the couple's shamelessness. Aunt Chen couldn't help but scold them back, "Sister-in-law of the Yin family, you said Yin Zheng was pretending to be lame. You should know that the wound on Yin Zheng's leg was real. It was so bloody that it made people shudder. It was you who refused to pay for Yin Zheng's medical treatment and even kicked him out. The village chief and the elders tried to persuade him for nearly a month but to no avail."
"Now that Yin Zheng's leg has been healed by a kind-hearted Taoist priest, you're shamelessly asking him to go back and work like a slave for you. So, you've taken all the good things in this world, haven't you?"
"Fortunately, Yin Zheng is a man of sense, otherwise he would have been used like a mule by you two black-hearted people."
"Bah, you're so shameless to make such a request. You're so shameless! It makes me feel sick just listening to it."
Mrs. Wu was not a pushover either. She started arguing with Aunt Chen right away, and when they got too excited, they even started fighting.
In the end, Mrs. Wu was defeated and was beaten by Aunt Chen.
The people watching the fight rushed over to separate them.
Most people in the village agreed with Aunt Chen's words and agreed that Yin Zheng should not go back. Of course, there were also some confused people who tried to persuade Yin Zheng to go back, saying that parents don't hold grudges overnight, and how could children hold grudges against their parents?
Yin Zheng simply gave them the cold shoulder and ignored them completely.
When the village chief and clan elders learned that Yin Dazhu and his wife had caused trouble for Yin Zheng, they came to their house the next day and scolded them severely, and threatened that they would move out of Lijia Village if they made trouble again.
Yin Dazhu and his wife then stopped working and continued to work in the fields.
In fact, the main reason they wanted Yin Zheng to return was that the farm work was too hard. In the past, Yin Zheng had been the one to cultivate most of the family's land. The old couple would work in the fields for an hour at most before carrying their hoes home. Over the years, they had become lazy.
Now that the family has split up, and both sons are in town, the family's total of 13 acres of land has to be cultivated by the two old people. They are already old and cannot handle it, so they thought of making a fuss and asking Yin Zheng to help them with the work in the fields.
Unexpectedly, he was not only scolded, but also warned to get out of Lijia Village if he made trouble again.
Jiaojiao was brought to the Fog Mountain by her father again. Now she was sitting under a tree eating berries picked by her father.
Jiaojiao first picked out two larger and redder berries and put them in her pocket, intending to give them to her father later. Then she stuffed the two berries into her mouth, puffed out her cheeks and chewed them while shaking her head like a little adult. Dad is so clingy!
Yin Zheng didn't go far, but went hunting nearby. He was worried about Jiaojiao, so he would come back to check after hunting for a while. Although he had walked through the area carefully and there shouldn't be any danger, he was still worried about the possibility.
Seeing her father, Jiaojiao took out the two big, round berries from her pocket and said, "Daddy, eat—"
Yin Zheng squatted down and took the berries from his hand, then placed another kind of berries he had just picked in front of Jiaojiao. Then he looked around carefully and sprinkled some medicine to repel insects, mosquitoes, snakes and ants before leaving.
Not long after Dad left, there was a noise in the woods nearby. Jiaojiao looked up in confusion and saw a man covered in blood stumbling out and falling in front of him.
Jiaojiao blinked in confusion, tilted her head and stared at the man for a while, then she remembered what her father had told her before. Just as she was about to shout at the top of her lungs, Yin Zheng, who had already noticed the noise and ran over, grabbed her and held her in his arms.
Yin Zheng, who held Jiaojiao in his arms, pursed his lips, his face gloomy, and all kinds of dark and intense emotions swirling in his dark eyes.
No one knew what kind of horrifying murderous intent arose in Yin Zheng's heart when he smelled the faint smell of blood in the air while hunting.
His eyes fell on the unconscious person lying on the ground, and a ferocious murderous intent like a raging storm burst out from his body and rushed towards the person.
Yin Zheng took a step forward and raised his foot to crush the man's head. Jiaojiao, who was held in his arms, suddenly reached out and tugged at his clothes on his chest. A muffled voice came from his arms: "Dad."
Yin Zheng stopped, removed his hand that was pressing on Jiaojiao's head, and looked down at Jiaojiao in his arms.
Jiaojiao raised her head from her father's arms, rubbed the tip of her red nose, looked around, and saw the person lying at Yin Zheng's feet.
Jiaojiao pointed at him and said, "Dad, he's bleeding and dying, help him."
Yin Zheng looked at the man under his feet expressionlessly without making any movement.
Jiaojiao tilted her head in confusion, then reached out and tugged at him again: "Daddy, save me."
Meeting the bright and clear eyes that were filled with a hint of expectation and doubt, Yin Zheng finally compromised and squatted down to check the man's injuries.
But just as he squatted down and his hand had not yet touched the man, a group of people wearing gray-brown linen clothes and holding scimitars in their hands appeared around him. Without saying a word, they rushed towards him with knives in hand and murderous intent.
Those people exuded a ruthless aura and had ferocious expressions on their faces. It was obvious that they had no intention of letting go of Yin Zheng and Jiaojiao, the innocent father and son.
Yin Zheng covered Jiaojiao's eyes and put him down from his arms, blocking Jiaojiao's sight with his body so that he could not see the person rushing up with a knife from behind.
He poked her fair little face and said in a low, hoarse voice, "Let's play a game. Blindfold yourself and recite the names of the uncles and aunts you know. Dad will agree to save this person."
"Okay." Jiaojiao nodded, then squatted on the ground obediently, covered her eyes with her hands, and recited the aunts she knew in a serious and low voice: "Aunt Chen, Aunt Feng..."
As a series of crackling sounds accompanied by muffled groans rang out, Jiaojiao, feeling a little panicked, tilted her head, but still obediently did not open her eyes.
After quickly taking care of the man, Yin Zheng turned around and saw a small group of people squatting on the ground with their eyes tightly covered.
He walked forward and was about to pick up Jiaojiao, but suddenly remembered something and looked down at his clothes that were stained with scattered blood.
He couldn't help but frown and picked carefully for a while. He felt that the clothes on the left side, which were only stained with two drops of blood, were cleaner. He wiped his hands on the right side of the clothes, then tore off the bloodstained part on the left side, and then went forward to pick up Jiaojiao who was squatting on the ground.
Jiaojiao, who was held in her arms, still covered her eyes with her hands. Her tender voice was a little distressed: "Dad, Jiaojiao hasn't finished yet."
"It's okay, keep reading."
"Um."
While Jiaojiao was reciting, Yin Zheng picked up the person on the ground whom he had promised to save, then went back to pick up his prey and strode down the mountain.
He deliberately avoided people along the way and was not seen by anyone.
After returning home, Jiaojiao finally finished reading and looked up at her father with a silly smile.
“Cough cough cough…”
Xie Shuyu woke up after coughing twice. His eyes fell on the dilapidated roof above his head. He was dazed for a moment and then suddenly felt a chill. His mind, which had been distracted by the burn, suddenly became clear.
He supported himself on the headboard and sat up. His vision went dark for a moment. When he regained consciousness, his forehead was instantly covered with cold sweat. Intense pain spread throughout his body. He gritted his teeth and swallowed the pain.
After the pain subsided, he began to look around. When he heard footsteps, his eyes moved and fell on Yin Zheng who was walking to the door with medicine.
This man...is dangerous!
Xie Shuyu's alertness instantly reached its peak, but he looked calmly at the person in front of him who made him feel oppressed.
As he looked, he met the gaze of the little boy who was sticking his head out from behind the man's legs and looking at him curiously.
Jiaojiao blinked when she met his gaze, then smiled: "Hello uncle, Jiaojiao and dad are here to bring you medicine."
Xie Shuyu was stunned for a moment. He usually didn't like to smile, but without knowing the current situation, he forced a warm smile: "Hello."
His voice was very pleasant, like the sound of an icy spring, clear and chilling.
Yin Zheng walked forward and handed the bowl to him. Xie Shuyu reached out to take the bowl, but his slender jade-like fingers were out of place with the rough porcelain bowl.
After receiving the medicine, he did not drink it immediately. When he was thinking of finding a reason to trick this person away, he saw Yin Zheng turned around and walked out of the door, and continued to sit in the yard to make a small lounge chair for Jiaojiao to bask in the sun.
Although she was very curious about this handsome uncle, Jiaojiao preferred to stay with her father. After waving her little paws to the uncle, she happily followed her father out.
I pulled my own little stool, sat next to my father and talked to him. As he was talking, I leaned my body on my father's arm.
Xie Shuyu, who was holding medicine in the room, glanced at them. The gentleness he pretended to have on the surface disappeared, and his whole body was like a cold pond, with a chill from the inside out.
Especially those eyes, which were free of desire and thought, giving people a sense of silence for no reason, as if nothing could fall into them without causing any ripples.
He lowered his head to look at the coarse linen clothes on his body, then turned to look at the clothes he had changed out of on the cabinet beside him. There were still clotted blood stains on the clothes, which obviously had not been washed.
He reached out and took the bag that was pressing on his clothes, took out a thumb-sized jade bottle from it, uncorked it and smelled it. Seeing that the smell had not changed, he dripped a drop of the liquid into the medicine bowl.
After waiting for a while and finding that there was nothing wrong with the medicine in the bowl, he tilted his head back and drank it.
At this time, a 24-year-old woman came to the village chief's house. Her name was Wu Yulan. She was Chen's good sister before she got married. The two had little contact since Chen married into Lijia Village.
She came today because she heard that Chen was pregnant and wanted to ask what prescription Chen was using and whether she could try it too.
Strangely enough, after Wu gave birth to a daughter, she hadn't gotten pregnant in the past few years. She went to see a doctor in town, but the doctor said there was nothing wrong and that it was probably because she wasn't destined to have children yet. He told her not to worry.
But how can this not be urgent?
Her parents-in-law were not as easy to talk to as Chen's parents-in-law. If there hadn't been a girl before who proved that she was fertile, they would have sent her back to her parents' home long ago.
Wu, who was extremely anxious, had consulted all the doctors and fortune tellers in the area over the past few years. She even invited the goddess of fertility to her home to worship her, but she just couldn't get pregnant.
So, when he heard that Chen, who had been married for many years but had not conceived, was pregnant, he could not wait and ran directly to Lijia Village, intending to ask Chen how she got pregnant.
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