These villagers are indeed cunning and ungrateful; they can betray you without hesitation for the smallest gain. But they are also quite simple and honest; at least most of them still value filial piety.
Take Wang Gou Dan for example. No matter how poor or destitute his family is, he would never do anything to his paralyzed mother. At most, he would eat less and be a little lazier in taking care of her. He would never dare to abuse her.
As for severing ties, that's something that can only be done if the son or daughter has incurred public wrath, like Xiaolong from Cuihua's maternal family, who reported his own father. How could the ties not be severed?
But what did these brother and sister do? Their parents had just been beaten down in their hometown, and they couldn't wait to sever ties with their parents. No, Teacher Liu said that they wrote a letter severing ties while their parents were still healthy. How cruel must they be?
Severing ties is one thing, and it's understandable to protect oneself in this situation, but to expose one's own parents is just like Xiaolong from Cuihua's family. It turns out that all ingrates look the same.
The students of Teacher Liu were furious. They picked up stones and mud from the ground and threw them at Li Ping and her companion. The students' parents were also furious. They had to set a good example for their children and severely punish these unfilial children.
Li Qiang and Li Ping never imagined that the letter of severance they wrote themselves would become Liu Limin's most powerful weapon against them. Compared to Wang Yan, Liu Limin was the real wolf, rarely making a move, but when he did, it was to bite their lifeline.
But things have come to this point, there's no turning back. What else can we do but work hard, admit our guilt, and try to lull the villagers into a false sense of security?
The criticism meeting finally ended, and the two returned to the cowshed, filthy, especially Li Ping, whose face was covered in blood from the beatings. She needed to wash herself with hot water.
If people were to live in the cowshed, a kitchen would naturally be needed. However, there was no room to build a kitchen inside the cowshed, so the kitchen was built in a low-lying area outside the cowshed. Li Ping and her companion had nothing but an earthenware pot and no firewood. They had no choice but to shamelessly knock on the door of Ye Chenming's room.
Ye Chenming and Ye Chen'er were not in the room. They watched the scene of being criticized for a while and then left. The weather was getting colder, and now there were two more people, so the two of them needed to gather firewood as soon as possible. Ye Chenming even took a rope to the mountains to trap wild game.
Seeing the rope in his hand, Ye Chenming thought of Bei Nan and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. If he hadn't gone to the black market, Bei Nan would still be farming happily. It was all his fault. No wonder he had to live in the cowshed. This was retribution.
Fu Qingping was cooking in the kitchen. They had collected their grain from the village committee that morning, and with the things Chen'er and Chenming had brought, they were able to have a proper, filling meal.
Chen'er and Chenming are really amazing. In the few years they've been here, not only are their quilts and cotton-padded clothes thick, but even their pots and pans are good. They've also added two new outfits. In addition, they have sweet potatoes, corn, refined grains, lard, sausages, dried pheasants and rabbits. If they're careful with these things, they can eat until the end of the year and still not be able to afford more.
Ye Huixian wrapped her entire face with a towel, especially her nose. She was going to clean the cowshed and stick the cow dung on the wall. After it dried, she would hand it over to the village. That was work that would earn her work points.
Fortunately, the cowshed wasn't very big, and Ye Huixian cleaned it meticulously every day, cleaning up the rotten hay and leaving no cobwebs in any corner.
The water trough for the cows was also washed clean. The two cows mooed when they saw her, which made Ma Mingchun and Fenqiu exclaim in delight that Teacher Ye's aunt was so hardworking. They also began to pay attention to hygiene, and the grass they cut was much cleaner.
Li Ping didn't knock on the Ye family's door. She cursed inwardly that everyone was dead. When she saw the lock below, she spat and turned back. Li Qiang was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), his whole body aching so much that he didn't want to move. When he saw Li Ping come in, he coldly told her to go cook.
Li Ping was furious, but she was a little afraid of Li Qiang, so she could only say in a low voice that she didn't have a pot and couldn't cook rice.
Li Qiang sneered: "Isn't there an earthenware pot? Let me tell you, Li Ping, if I don't get any food today, you can get out of here."
Having no other choice, Li Ping took a handful of grain, some vegetables, a few sweet potatoes, and an earthenware pot, and went to the kitchen outside the cowshed. As she approached, she smelled a delicious aroma coming from inside. Li Ping was delighted; could it be Ye Chen'er cooking here? No wonder she couldn't get the door open.
Li Ping quickened her pace and pushed open the kitchen door. An old woman was putting food into baskets, and both baskets were almost full.
Li Ping was delighted. It turned out to be Ye Chenming's grandmother. This old lady was usually very easy to talk to, so she smiled sweetly at Fu Qingping and said, "Grandma Fu, are you cooking?"
When Fu Qingping saw that it was Li Ping, he was furious. Not only did she bully his own child, but she also dared to spread rumors about his granddaughter. She was utterly heartless.
She grabbed two baskets and ran into her house. She wanted to put the baskets down first, then get the pot and firewood. She couldn't let this family take advantage of her.
Li Ping glanced at an iron pot on the stove. Ye Chenming had bought it in town. Since they got this pot, cooking rice and dishes had become much more convenient. It was so much better than the pot they bought from Accountant Ma.
She originally wanted to take the old pot with her, but Liu Limin and the others refused. They had all paid for these pots and pans, so why should she take them? In the end, Liu Limin gave each of them 50 cents and two bowls and chopsticks, and that was how he bought the pot completely.
So Li Ping urgently needed a pot to cook rice. She didn't know when she would be able to cook rice and boil water in an earthenware pot. Seeing Fu Qingping walk out, she quickly put the rice into the iron pot. There was still firewood in the stove, so she didn't stand on ceremony.
When Fu Qingping returned, she saw Li Ping burning her own firewood and using her own pot. The water in the bucket was almost empty. She was so angry that she pointed at Li Ping and wanted to curse her, but her own upbringing made her not know what to say.
After much effort, she managed to squeeze out, "Li Ping, you've gone too far! You used my things without even consulting me. You have absolutely no manners."
Li Ping looked at Fu Qingping and said, "Grandma Fu, don't be so stingy. We're all bad elements, so it's only right that we help each other."
"You, you, shameless!" Fu Qingping's hands began to tremble.
After cleaning the cowshed, Ye Huixian closed the door and prepared to go to the kitchen to wash his hands and face before helping his mother bring the food into the room. However, he overheard their conversation at the door, snorted inwardly, and went inside.
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