There were more than twenty people, men and women, all of whom were strong and capable.
The men were muscular, with muscle lines faintly visible above their arms, while the women were broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, more robust than many men in their Shanshui Village!
Upon hearing Bai Manshan's shout, they rushed forward swiftly but in an orderly fashion.
The men gathered in groups of three or five. One group grabbed Uncle Huang's hands, snatched the old hen that was tightly tied with straw rope from his hands, and carried him out of the chicken coop. The other group did the same.
Using their overwhelming strength, they carried the two men directly out of the chicken coop.
Just as Fan's mother was about to shout, two burly women stepped forward with smiles, one on each side, and lifted her out of the chicken coop, their feet barely touching the ground.
Mother Fan was still calling out, "My son! This is my son's!"
The people Bai Manshan brought didn't care. They acted as if they hadn't heard anything and just followed Bai Manshan's instructions to "escort" the person all the way to Fan Qian's courtyard before letting go and leaving.
Li Wen and his group stared wide-eyed.
He thought to himself, "No wonder Magistrate Wu wanted to buy servants; they're so useful!"
It hits exactly where you point it.
Fan's mother sat on the ground in the courtyard, slapping her thigh and wailing about her miserable life.
Uncle Huang and Uncle Huang started cursing loudly.
The old village chief slowly walked over, leaning on his cane. He glanced at the scene in the yard and heard the men from the village who had gone with their sons excitedly explaining what had happened. He then understood the situation.
He said to the people in the courtyard, "Now that we've separated, we're two separate families. The fact that we only brought you back instead of kicking you out after you went to catch someone else's chickens is already a great kindness."
The onlookers nodded in agreement.
With tears and snot streaming down her face, Fan's mother stubbornly insisted, "That's my son! What's wrong with me eating one or a few of his chickens!"
Grandma Xu shook her head. "Then why did you separate the family? Besides, even if you hadn't separated the family, the chickens in the house are very precious. How could you just eat them whenever you want?"
Let alone chickens, they couldn't even bear to part with eggs; they mostly saved them to exchange for coarse salt.
"Aunt Fan, you're willing to eat your eldest son's chickens, ducks, and geese like this?" the young wife couldn't help but ask.
From the moment the eggs start incubating until they hatch, it's considered a great success if ten out of a dozen or twenty eggs produce offspring.
When they're puppies, you worry about dogs, cats, rats, and weasels... It's not easy for them to grow up to the point where they can lay eggs.
Who would be willing to eat this during holidays or festivals?
Fortunately, several of them were eaten.
Aunt Fan only got there because Sister Shuiqing had a lot of chickens, but the chickens were raised by Sister Shuiqing, not because of Aunt Fan's mother-in-law's efforts!
Amidst the lively discussion, not a single person agreed with Fan's mother's actions; those who were older and of higher seniority even offered criticism.
Uncle Huang and Uncle Huang never expected that their third sister was so unpopular in the village!
Previously, we had hoped that everyone would join together to condemn that unfilial son and daughter-in-law.
Now look what's happened; everyone's been drawn to criticize them.
Unable to contain his anger, Uncle Huang roared, "We elders can eat whatever we want!"
Not all the villagers in Shanshui Village were kind and gentle. One of them stood up fiercely and pointed at him, cursing, "How dare you, a maternal uncle, shamelessly go along to catch chickens! Aren't you ashamed?"
"Let me tell you, those chickens are all for a purpose. Before, the people in our village were considerate of you because you were an elder, but now it's different. Did you see those men just now?"
"Try again, but I'm afraid it won't be as polite as before."
"Go ahead and act tough again. If we really cripple you, when the authorities come, we'll just say we didn't see anything!"
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