Until this point, no one in the village realized that this was actually a violation of the law that could be reported to the authorities.
Although they constantly spout the laws of the imperial court, not a single person in the village understands what those laws actually entail.
Even the village chief knows very little about laws and regulations.
In the village, he, as the village chief, was the eldest, the clan chief was the second eldest, the clan elders were the second eldest, and the rest had to obey him.
To protect their own status and interests, they usually put on a respectable facade, appearing fair and just, but in reality, they know perfectly well whether things are fair or not.
"Since the village chief has said so, I, as a good villager, will naturally abide by it. As long as the villagers don't bully my Zhou family at will, I have no interest in meddling in other people's business!"
Lin Xue didn't plan to leave the village anytime soon, and she had to give the village chief some face at this point.
If this old guy provokes her, she'll still beat him without hesitation, but while she'll beat him, she'll still try to reason with him.
Seeing Lin Xue change her tune, the village chief knew that she was giving him a way out. He said a few more polite words and then left with his men.
"Sister-in-law, everyone's gone, let's go back too!"
Seeing that most people had left, Zhou Xiaocang reminded Lin Xue that she could go home.
They can talk about it when they get back; this isn't the place to talk in broad daylight.
"I'm waiting for Wang Cuihua's apology. If she doesn't come, I'll go to her house in person to collect it!"
Lin Xue didn't plan to go home. Instead, she stood at the crossroads, holding a bamboo stick, gazing in the direction Wang Xiaocui had left.
"No need for you to go get them yourself, I'm here, I've brought the eggs for you!"
Hearing Lin Xue's words, Wang Cuihua, who had been hiding around the corner, dared not let this jinx come to her door. She immediately grabbed the eggs she had prepared and ran out.
[Hmph, do you think I'm blind? Didn't you see you hiding there for ages? You're not getting away with refusing her egg!]
"Xiaoting, go and pick up the eggs your Aunt Zhou gave us. Let's go home and cook. I'm tired and a little hungry after all this activity!"
Seeing Wang Cuihua's ingratiating expression, Lin Xue glanced at her indifferently, instructed Zhou Xiaoting to take the eggs, and then turned and walked towards her own yard.
Seeing that the group of menacing figures had finally left, Wang Cuihua wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and slipped away as well.
Back home, Lin Xue asked Zhou Xiaoting to put the eggs away properly.
"If anyone in the village bullies you again, just fight back! Hit wherever it hurts, but remember, don't kill anyone!"
The oldest of the Zhou family's children is only 15 years old, and Lin Xue does not want to teach them to become bullies who prey on men and women.
So he sent the two girls to prepare the meal. After all that work, let's eat early today.
"Although I beat up all the people from the village who came to provoke us today, and they won't dare to bully us anymore, my behavior was still wrong!"
"It's one thing if it happens in a village far from any town, but if someone dared to do such a thing under the government's control, being arrested and thrown in jail would be the least of their worries!"
"If the offense is serious, you'll be arrested and beheaded as a warning to others!"
"It's just that our poor and remote area breeds unruly people. Nobody knows the importance of the law. Everyone is clenching their fists. In fact, we are just following their customs and habits!"
"If we leave this village and go to other places in the future, we must not do such bullying and extortionate things again..."
It's one thing for someone to hit someone, but the principles still need to be explained to these children.
"We understand, sister-in-law. We won't bully others!"
Although the Zhou family children now idolize Lin Xue immensely, they themselves dare not retaliate against the villagers like Lin Xue has done.
On the one hand, it was because they knew their own weakness and that they were no match for the villagers.
On the other hand, they have long developed a cowardly character, which cannot be changed in a short time.
"Alright, you don't need to go check on the corn in the field every day. If a few are missing, I'll have the villagers compensate us!"
"Anyway, the missing ears of corn were just stolen by the village kids. They stole my corn, so of course they have to compensate me!"
"You all should rest well at home for the next few days. You can go back and pull out the weeds that have grown back in the field in a few days!"
After saying that, Lin Xue went back to her room and continued the work she hadn't finished.
I cleaned and wiped several cabinets. Looking at these old wooden cabinets, there were several rat holes behind them, so they couldn't hold anything at all.
She got angrier and angrier as she looked at it. If she hadn't planned to stay in this village permanently, Lin Xue would have ordered a whole new batch of cabinets to be made.
"Forget it, I'll just make do for now. You can't spend money like this even if you have it, especially since all my money was saved up before!"
"If you want to spend money, you still have to earn it back in this world. If you rely on the resources in this space for everything, then you lose the point of traveling through time..."
Lin Xue tried to catch her breath and comfort herself.
As the old saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.
She's had too many good days, and she can't adapt to living in poverty all of a sudden.
"Sister-in-law, dinner is ready!"
She sat in her room brooding for a while when she heard Zhou Xiaomei come over to call her for dinner.
"Okay, I'm coming!"
Angry as I am, I still have to eat.
When Lin Xue arrived at the kitchen, she saw the little ones sitting properly at the table, waiting for her to eat together.
"Alright, everyone, let's eat!"
"I see it's still early outside. After we finish eating, I'll take you for a walk in the mountains!"
"I saw some wild berries in the mountains a while ago, and they should be ripe after a few days!"
"Let's go back and pick these wild fruits, make them into jam, and then sell them in town!"
Lin Xue glanced at the children, whose clothes were mostly patched up.
Even the clothes worn by the two little girls were hand-me-downs from their older brothers.
It's really quite inappropriate for a girl to be wearing boys' clothes.
She needs to find a way to earn some money as soon as possible so she can buy some decent clothes for her children.
As they talked, the group quickly finished their meal, and then the two girls took charge of clearing away the dishes.
Zhou Xiaocang led his two younger brothers to find the bamboo basket and bamboo basket, as well as two small hoes, a sickle and a short-handled axe.
When the time comes, the younger brothers will be in charge of picking wild fruits and digging wild vegetables, while he can go around to collect some dead branches and shrubs, cut them down, and add some firewood to the house.
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