Chapter 204 Wang Ergou is dead.
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The constables looked at each other, none of them wanting to offend Li Shiyue, for fear that offending Li Shiyue would bring Ma San out.
Li Shiyue was clearly one of General Liu Tan's men. The yamen runners didn't care whether Li Shiyue was a skinny girl less than six feet tall or a burly man seven feet tall.
They didn't care whether Li Shiyue was strong enough to lift a heavy weight or had a fortune.
The ancient profession of yamen runners, considered one of the lowest classes, has been passed down through generations, and they have their own ways of making a living.
Finally, with Li Shiyang's tacit approval, they had no choice but to have someone carry Wang Ergou, Sun Laoliu, and the burly man who had been knocked away by Li Shiyue at the beginning onto a cart and send them to the clinic in Qingsong Town to see a doctor for treatment.
The person who paid for this money could only be Li Shiyang.
After all, Li Shiyang was the real leader of these dozens of men. He was originally sent to Liujiatun to supervise the construction, so he was responsible for the failure to supervise properly when the accident happened.
Everyone thought that after Li Shiyue and his men established rules in front of the men performing corvée labor, the two sides should not interfere with each other from now on. You build houses and I repair roads, and we will keep to ourselves.
And that was indeed the case afterward. Li Shiyang and the yamen runners stopped being lazy and put all the men back in their ranks, keeping them under control. They no longer dared to cause trouble in Liujiatun.
But three days later, Li Shiyang, who had taken some time to return to Sanshan County, received some news that surprised him.
Wang Ergou is dead.
Yes, Wang Ergou, the man who harassed Zhou Lanhua and Zheng Meiniang, was beaten half to death by Li Shiliang and his men. Li Shiyue smashed all his teeth, broke his hand bones, and shattered his kneecaps. He died!
He's dead!
Li Shiyang always felt that there was something strange about Wang Ergou's death. Although he also disliked people like Wang Ergou, a human life is still a human life.
He even went to inquire and found out that among the people who were sent to the clinic for treatment along with Wang Ergou, apart from Wang Ergou, Sun Laoliu and the others were all still alive and well.
Feeling somewhat guilty, Li Shiyang went to find Wang Ergou's family.
Who knew that Wang Da, who worked at the Sanshan Port dock and was Wang Ergou's older brother, was completely unwilling to answer Li Shiyang's questions.
Finally, Li Shiyang revealed his identity as a clerk in the county government, which made Wang Da stop and speak to him.
At that moment, Wang Da was working as a laborer at the Sanshan Port dock, carrying heavy loads and earning copper coins. After telling the foreman, Wang Da left the team and followed Li Shiyang to the side.
Li Shiyang treated him to two bowls of coarse tea at a nearby tea stall. Wang Da wiped the sweat from his face with the cloth draped around his neck, then turned to Li Shiyang and said, "Young master, you seem to be a scholar. Why did you suddenly ask about my family's brothers?"
Did he also owe his lover money?
Don't think I'll give you any money. Er Gouzi and I separated a long time ago. We separated when my parents were still alive. We're brothers on the surface, but we have no relationship anymore.
If he owes the young master money, I won't pay it back for him.
Now that he's dead, a dead man is dead. Even if you come to bother me, I have no money."
After saying this, Wang Da picked up a cloth and wiped the sweat from his head. At this moment, Wang Da, who was about to get up, felt a little sorry for the half-full pot of coarse tea left on the table. However, he did not want to talk to Li Shiyang anymore, so he made a move to get up and leave.
However, Wang Da was only halfway up when Li Shiyang grabbed his arm and pushed him back down.
Li Shiyang raised his hand and poured more than half a bowl of coarse tea into the large, rough porcelain bowl in front of Wang Da. Not only that, Li Shiyang also took out more than a dozen copper coins from his pocket and put them on the table.
"This pot of tea is for you, Mr. Wang. Please finish it before you leave."
And these copper coins are my token of gratitude to Mr. Wang for being willing to sit down and talk to me.
"I know that talking to me has delayed your work, Mr. Wang. Please accept these ten or so copper coins," Li Shiyang pushed the handful of coins in front of Wang Da.
I just have a few questions I'd like to ask you, and I'll leave after that.
Even if Wang Da carried heavy loads all day, he could only earn a few dozen copper coins.
The dozen or so copper coins that Li Shiyang gave him were equivalent to what Wang Da worked for most of an hour.
For the sake of the money, Wang Da sat down and drank the large bowl of tea that Li Shiyang poured for him, which meant that he agreed with what Li Shiyang said.
So Li Shiyang spoke up: "Is Wang Ergou really dead?"
When did he die? How did he die?
Why weren't you saddened by Wang Ergou's death? Why didn't you go to the county government to inquire about it?
Wang Da looked up and carefully examined Li Shiyang's face. Seeing that Li Shiyang really looked serious, he asked, "Young master, you're not from our Sanshan County, are you?"
Li Shiyang was taken aback, somewhat puzzled. "Is this related to my question?"
"Haha," Wang Da laughed twice, "It seems that you are not from our local area."
The young man must be from out of town.
If you were from Sanshan County, how could you not know what Er Gouzi had done?
My father, to make amends for being spied on by Er Gouzi while his wife was bathing, told the family not to report him to the authorities and sold half of the family's land to pay the price.
Later, when my father went to dredge the river, he fell and fell. So, the other half of the family's land was sold to pay for my father's medical treatment.
I finally grew up and was able to work for someone. I saved every penny to get married, but Er Gouzi dared to flirt with my wife. I beat him up badly, forced my parents to separate from the family, and moved out of the house with my wife.
My lord, guess what happened next?
Although Wang Da's lips were turned up and he was smiling, Li Shiyang looked into Wang Da's eyes and knew that Wang Da was extremely sad inside.
It didn't matter if Li Shiyang didn't respond; Wang Da continued talking on his own.
"He assaulted a pregnant woman, who was so frightened that she had a miscarriage and almost died!"
The people came to our house with their clansmen and sticks. Father took a blow for Er Gouzi, and Mother fell on the threshold so that Er Gouzi could run away.
"Haha, my lord, my parents died because of Er Gouzi, they're both dead."
Wang Da said this with a smile, but his eyes were already filled with tears.
The man, whose skin was already tanned dark, now had one half of his face crying and the other half smiling, a sight that made one feel very uneasy.
Wang Da lowered his head, rubbed his rough hands on his eyelids a couple of times, and wiped away the tear.
When Wang Da looked up again, his eyes were no longer calm. He picked up the teapot and poured himself a large bowl of tea.
Lifting the teapot, feeling that it was almost weightless, and having almost finished the whole pot of coarse tea, Wang Da turned to Li Shiyang, who was expressionless, and said, "When Er Gouzi was brought back, someone did go to my house to tell me."
I asked, and they said a doctor would treat me and I wouldn't die, so I didn't bother with it.
Later, the medicine boy who went to deliver medicine knocked on the door and heard no one answer, so he started shouting. Uncle Zhou from next door climbed over the wall and went inside to check, only to find out that Er Gouzi had died.
I don't know how he died; he was probably too badly injured.
I'm not angry or sad. My parents died because of him, and he still wronged my wife. Why should I be sad when he's dead?
As for how he got injured?
I bet he bullied some woman and got beaten up again.
This time the beating was too severe, and he couldn't withstand it, which is why he died.
It's good that he's dead, it's good that he's dead. He'll be at peace when he's dead. My parents are waiting for him down there too. The three of them can finally be reunited. That's good.
I collected his body and buried him next to his parents.
That's fine, it's good.
Wang Da picked up all the copper coins from the table and held them in his hand. After nodding to Li Shiyang, he got up and left.
Li Shiyang was left alone on the table, staring blankly at the empty teapot.
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