Just as an internal conflict was about to break out, Li Xingshan, the most senior member of the family, suddenly stood up from his armchair and slammed his cane on the ground with a thud.
The ancestral hall fell silent instantly.
Li Xingshan's eyes were sharp as he swept over everyone.
“Our Li and Zhang families have lived on this land for hundreds of years, always united and weathering storms together! Now those bastards from Wang Village are neither reasonable nor admitting their mistakes, and they even dare to shoot and chase after the powerful and wealthy!”
"Even if this matter goes all the way to the Emperor himself, we're still in the right!"
He paused, then reached into his pocket and slowly pulled out a yellowed booklet.
"Today, I brought the family tree!"
Everyone was shocked, and the ancestral hall fell into a deathly silence, with only the crackling sound of the burning torches.
Li Xingshan held up the family genealogy, his voice suddenly rising in pitch.
"Tonight, let's speak from the family genealogy! Anyone who is willing to stand up for Zhangjia Village today, regardless of life or death, will have their own page in the genealogy, and will be worshipped by future generations! Their wives, children, and elderly parents will be supported by the entire village, and they will never suffer the slightest grievance!"
Zhang Xianggui's expression changed drastically. "Grandpa, what's wrong...?"
The family genealogy is on a separate page, and the wife, children, and relatives support them.
This is just pushing people to fight desperately, even... to the point of mutual destruction!
Among the crowd stood a man, about forty years old, short and thin, wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket covered in patches, with snot almost dripping from his nose.
Suddenly, he let out a dry laugh, pushed aside the person in front of him, and walked a few steps to Li Xingshan.
He stared intently at Li Xingshan, grinning to reveal his yellowed teeth.
"Grandpa, my name is Li Eats Meat. If I go, will I really get my own page in the family genealogy?"
Li Xingshan nodded solemnly.
“As long as you go, whether you live or die, I, Li Xingshan, guarantee that your name, Li Chirou, will be prominently featured in the family genealogy!”
"Sir, I'm going!"
Li Chirou raised his hand, wiped his nose vigorously with the back of his hand, and then casually wiped it on his tattered cotton-padded jacket.
"I don't have a wife, just my elderly mother. From now on, I'll have to trouble you uncles and brothers to take care of her and make sure she doesn't go hungry!"
“Alright!” Li Xingshan replied in a deep voice and opened the family genealogy.
The two elderly gentlemen sitting beside them were prepared; one took a brush, and the other began grinding ink.
"Grandpa, I'm going too!" Li Xiaodai shouted, squeezing through the crowd with a loud laugh.
"Those bastards from Wang Village, if we don't teach them a lesson, they'll never know who they're dealing with! I'm giving my life to the village today!"
"Husband!" Li Xiaodai's wife exclaimed in surprise, tears welling up instantly.
"Shut up!" Li Xiaodai turned around and glared at her fiercely.
“You stupid woman, listen to me clearly! I’m not losing out by doing this! Being able to have my own page in the family tree is a blessing from our ancestors! Others just have their names on the family tree, but I get my own page, hahaha, that’s great, that’s great!”
Li Xiaodai's almost manic laughter echoed in the ancestral hall, and a strange light ignited in the eyes of many villagers.
In this day and age, the allure of leaving such a glorious mark on the family genealogy is unimaginable.
Li Xingshan's gaze swept over the crowd.
"Besides Li Chirou and Li Xiaodai, who else is willing to go through fire and water for my Zhangjia Village?"
Another elderly man, leaning on a cane, spoke slowly, his face expressionless.
"What, are all people with the surname Zhang cowards? Nobody's saying anything? Or do you want this old man to have a page in the family tree too?"
"Grandpa, I'm going!" Zhang Weiguo's young face flushed red as he took a step forward.
Li Xingshan raised an eyebrow.
"You're not even fully grown yet, this kind of glorious achievement isn't for you!"
"The old man is right!"
Zhang Jucai laughed loudly, slapped Zhang Weiguo on the back of the head, shoving him back, then turned to Li Xingshan, speaking in a muffled voice...
"Grandpa, count me in!"
"Master!"
"father!"
Zhang Jucai's wife and son Tie Zhengzi started crying.
Zhang Jucai turned his head and glared, "What are you crying for! If you cry again, I'll beat you and your mother up! This kind of good thing only happens once every few decades, you should be laughing!"
Li Xingshan nodded slowly.
"Alright! Then Li Chirou, Li Xiaodai, and Zhang Jucai! Tonight, the three of you will represent Zhangjia Village to set up an altar in front of the Wang Village Ancestral Hall and pay respects to the ancestors of the Li and Zhang families!"
He then turned to Zhang Xiangui.
"Xiangui, go to the air-raid shelter in the back mountain right now and dig out all the hand grenades and homemade bombs that were hidden there back then!"
"Changheng!" Li Xingshan then looked at Li Yongheng.
"Go to your third uncle's house and bring over that mountain cannon!"
It was only forty years since the war that swept the country ended, so it wasn't surprising that the village still had some "tools" hidden away. As for whether they were still usable, only heaven knew.
The portraits of the ancestors of the Li and Zhang families were solemnly brought out. There were six portraits in total, and the people in the portraits were dressed in clothing from different eras. The oldest portrait can be traced back to the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.
"Paying homage to our ancestors!"
Li Xingshan was the first to kneel down, his forehead hitting the cold bluestone slab with a heavy thud.
The women inside the ancestral hall had already been asked to leave. At this moment, all the men who remained, regardless of age, knelt down in unison, their expressions solemn.
At the entrance of the ancestral hall, Tie Zhengzi's mother, supported by Aunt Hua, was sobbing uncontrollably with tears in her eyes.
A moment later, Li Hongzhuang hurriedly ran out of the ancestral hall.
About five or six minutes later, Li Hongzhuang, carrying a huge wine jar and three rough porcelain bowls, plunged back into the ancestral hall.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The sound of porcelain bowls shattering on the ground echoed from inside the ancestral hall.
Immediately following was the sound of hurried and heavy footsteps.
Li Chirou, Li Xiaodai, and Zhang Jucai, surrounded by the crowd, slowly walked out of the ancestral hall.
The three of them, accompanied by several elders including Li Xingshan, stood solemnly at the main entrance of the ancestral hall.
The other men, their faces grim, quickly dispersed and headed towards their own homes.
Before long, the village tailor, "Pants-Sewing," came running back, panting, and handed three brand-new cotton-padded jackets to Li and the other two.
"I've added several layers of thick cloth to the lining of your cotton-padded jackets, and stuffed them with some wood blocks soaked in tung oil. Wearing them might provide some protection."
Li Chirou grinned, took the new cotton-padded coat, and held it up against himself.
"Sew my pants, that's a good thing! When I die, I'll definitely bless you from heaven so you can marry a lot of wives."
"Pah! Don't die! Come back alive! If you all come back alive, I'll make you a new set of clothes every year from now on, for free!"
"That's great!"
Li, happily eating meat, took off his old, patched-up cotton-padded coat and carefully put on his new one.
"Hey, this is so warm!"
Li Xiaodai looked around and suddenly asked, "Have you... seen Er Gouzi?"
His question caused everyone present to pause slightly in surprise.
Yes, from beginning to end, it seems that no one has ever seen Zhang Cheng.
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