After much persuasion, Da Wa finally managed to get the village chief into the house. Xia Manni had just arrived home. She and the children had just put away the charcoal and hadn't had time to wash their faces.
The village chief became even angrier when he saw Xia Manni's dark and gray face. Gao Deng, who was sitting in the house, curled his lips and crossed his arms without saying a word.
"Village chief, what's the matter that makes you so angry?" When Xia Manni saw the village chief's attitude, she sat down and asked about the situation without even having time to wash her face.
"Hmph, it's all your fault." The village chief looked at Xia Manni's face with disdain. He initially thought that Xia Manni was a clear-headed person, but why was she so ignorant now?
"Grandpa Village Chief, please have some tea." Last time, Xia Manni did not take all the dried tea leaves to the market to sell, but kept half a jar at home.
When Da Wa saw the village chief come into the house, he quickly took the hot water he had just boiled and made some tea.
When Xia Manni was frying tea leaves, she told the children that they could pour tea for guests when they came.
The village chief didn't expect that the Xia family had tea to drink, and he didn't expect that the eldest boy was so polite.
This calmed his anger a little, but when he thought about these children having such a confused mother, he became angry again.
"Village chief, please tell me..." Xia Manni asked after seeing the village chief pick up the cup and take a sip of tea.
"What are you talking about? Look at what you have done." The village chief said angrily without letting Xia Manni finish her words.
"Mannier is stupid. She doesn't know what good things to do?" Xia Manni was a little amused. She shouldn't have done anything harmful to the world.
"Now everyone in the village is saying that you were the one who sent everyone up the mountain to chop firewood. They're saying that if we don't go, there's no firewood left, and that this winter might be very cold. Did you say all that?"
After hearing this, Xia Manni shook her head with certainty. She roughly knew why the village chief was angry from his words.
She said calmly, "I never said that, Village Chief. I just told Aunt Qiao and the others at the village entrance that the weather seemed to be getting colder. You also know our family's situation. We have few adults and always work slower than other families."
She looked at the village chief, who had begun to listen to her attentively, and continued, "I saw that the weather was getting colder, and I heard everyone say that the price of cotton had increased, so I thought about going to the mountains to chop firewood in advance."
After saying this, she looked at the village chief with resentful eyes and continued, "Are you going to let our family of five freeze to death?"
After listening to Xia Manni's words, the four children of the Xia family gathered around Xia Manni with gray faces.
"It's not as exaggerated as you say. It's not that cold here yet." The village chief also thought of the situation of the Xia family. It was no wonder that such a thing happened when there was no adult in the family.
"I understand, Village Chief. I've been overthinking it."
Xia Manni's attitude in admitting her mistake was very good, and the village chief lost his previous momentum. Instead, he explained while drinking tea, "You can't blame me for coming to you. It's really that the rumors are spreading too much. You are a capable person and everyone trusts you. Sometimes your words are more effective than mine, but have you ever thought about what to do with the mountains next year if everyone goes out to chop wood?"
The village chief sighed and continued, "I heard today that you went to burn charcoal again. Just wait and see. In a few days, there will be a large number of charcoal burners again. There is no wind now. If there is another wind, will we be able to survive?"
Xia Manni thought for a moment and said, "Village Chief, I know I was wrong. But I really didn't say anything outside. I think it was misreported by someone with good intentions. Village Chief, did someone go to you and tell you what?"
"So what? Can you find someone else to go to?"
"Haha, village chief, look at what you said. I would never do such a thing." Xia Manni glanced at Potato who had been growling all the time, and she listened attentively to the movement in the yard.
So she said in a loud voice: "Although there are no elders in our Xia family, we are all good fighters and not easy to bully. I think ordinary people don't dare to mess with us."
The village chief glanced at Xia Manni and said nothing more.
Before he finally left, he said to Xia Manni, "If you want to do something, just do it quietly. There's no need to make a fuss like you. It's a good thing the situation has cooled down. If nothing had happened, wouldn't you have been guilty of spreading rumors and causing chaos?"
"Thank you, village chief." Xia Manni was also angry, but she couldn't vent her anger on the village chief.
In the end, Xia Manni promised not to go up the mountain to burn charcoal tomorrow before she was willing to leave.
"They're coming out, they're coming out, run." As soon as the village chief came out of the house, he saw a dozen people watching the excitement in the Xia family's yard.
After Potato followed Erwa out of the house, he saw so many strangers and started barking.
Everyone dispersed, leaving only the five members of the Xia family standing in the yard.
"Wash your faces, we'll have dinner soon." Erwa, Sanwa and Sinier didn't know what had happened, as long as their mother was fine.
Da Wa guessed that someone wanted to mess with their family. For some reason, he always felt that this matter was related to Cui Yanzi, who was almost going crazy.
After finishing their meal, the children could no longer hold back and stood around Xia Manni, wanting to know what had happened today.
It was only while eating that Xia Manni figured out what had happened.
This incident seemed to be just a rumor she spread that angered the powerful village chief. In fact, it was probably someone taking advantage of her actions and the village chief's strong power.
She hasn't figured out who started the rumor yet. If it was the aunties at the village entrance who spread it, she not only has no evidence but also thinks it's unlikely.
After all, when she first said that, they hadn't thought about chopping wood yet.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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