"Li Qiming, you son of a bitch, stop hiding in the crowd and pretending to be dead!"
Zhang Jianhao suddenly pointed the carrying pole in his hand at the crowd, directly at Li Qiming, whose face was deathly pale.
He cursed, spitting as he spoke: "In the mountains, who knelt down before Er Gouzi, crying and begging him to save Junyi? Huh?!"
"You acted like a dog when you were begging, but now that Junyi is dead, you dare to smear Er Gouzi?!"
"Do you have any shame?!"
He then turned to Li Houcheng, his voice even louder: "Uncle Houcheng! Junyi was ruined by your Qiming!"
"When Er Gouzi wanted to go and save the person, it was he who stopped him!"
"All of us, more than a dozen people, witnessed this with our own eyes!"
"Qiming! Tell me yourself! Was it you who initially stopped Er Gouzi from saving people?!"
"If you hadn't stopped me, Junyi might have actually been saved!"
Li Qiming was under the spotlight, trembling all over, extremely flustered.
He never imagined that the fire would spread to him!
He shrieked and retorted, "Bullshit! Junyi was killed by Zhang Ergou! Who treats wounds by pressing red-hot charcoal ash onto them?!"
"You're the one who's talking nonsense!"
Unable to contain himself any longer, Zhang Da Nao suddenly pointed the muzzle of his old hunting rifle at Li Qiming, his eyes filled with malice.
"Li Qiming, I was blind before! I never imagined you were more vicious than a jackal in the mountains!"
"Enough! Shut up, all of you!"
Just then, a dignified shout came from the front yard, drowning out all the noise.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound.
The old village chief, wrapped in a thick cotton-padded coat, clutched his old pipe that he had used for many years, his face ashen, and strode over.
"Village Chief! You've finally arrived! You have to get justice for Er Gouzi!" Zhang Jianhao shouted first. "These Li family members are scoundrels! Ungrateful and twisting the truth!"
"Old village chief! You can't favor those Zhangs! My Junyi died unjustly!" The Li family members also gathered around.
Both sides have their own version of events, and it looks like they're about to have another big argument.
The old village chief irritably raised his hand, rubbed his signature bulbous nose hard, stomped his foot, and roared, "All of you, shut the hell up!"
"Are you all just bored and have nothing better to do? You have so much energy to burn?!"
The old village chief was a formidable figure, and his outburst finally brought a temporary respite to the scene.
He glanced around and said in a deep voice, "Before I came here, I already had the old blind man check on Junyi."
"The old blind man said that Junyi died from blood loss due to the wound on his neck, and it had little to do with the ash and charcoal that Er Gouzi put on later."
Upon hearing this, the Li family fell silent, and Li Qiming's face turned ashen.
The old village chief paused, then changed the subject: "However, the person is gone after all. Er Gouzi, you did handle this matter in some ways."
He looked at Li Houcheng, then at Zhang Cheng, and made a decision: "How about this, Er Gouzi, you compensate Houcheng's family with two hundred catties of coarse grain, and we'll call it even."
Two hundred catties of coarse grains!
This is no small amount for any farmer; one would have to work for at least a quarter of the year to earn that many work points.
The old village chief added, "When we start working in the fields next spring, the work points Er Gouzi earns will be allocated to Hou Cheng's family first."
He looked at Li Houcheng, whose face was gloomy: "Houcheng, do you think this will work?"
Li Houcheng frowned, his mind racing with calculations.
He knew that with Zhang Cheng's gun, there was absolutely no way he could make him pay with his life.
My son is dead, and there's no going back.
If we could get 300 jin of coarse grains, it would be a considerable compensation, at least enough to make things a little easier for the family.
He gritted his teeth, finally nodded, and said in a hoarse voice, "Okay, I'll listen to the village chief."
The old village chief breathed a sigh of relief, a hint of satisfaction appearing on his face.
He turned around and looked at Zhang Cheng, who had been holding a hunting rifle the whole time with an expressionless face. His tone softened a bit: "Er Gouzi, look, Hou Cheng has agreed too."
"Regardless of who's right or wrong, Junyi is dead after all. You'll pay 300 jin of coarse grains as compensation, and that'll put this matter behind us, right?"
Regardless of right or wrong?
Upon hearing this, Zhang Cheng's lips curled into a cold smile, as if he had heard the biggest joke in the world.
This old village chief is a master at mediating disputes.
To assign equal blame to both sides? Dream on!
"I won't lose a single grain of rice."
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