Chapter 57 Master, are you crazy?
Xu Yu and Sang Zhixia came out one after another. Xu Wenxiu said anxiously, "Someone from the village just came to tell me that your second uncle's car overturned in the ditch. You should go with your third uncle to check it out."
The road was slippery due to snow, so it was not surprising that something went wrong due to carelessness.
But when Sang Zhixia looked at the gloomy and dark sky, a sense of uneasiness inexplicably arose in his heart.
"Xu Yu, wait a minute."
She hurried into the house, took out the cloak that was pressed at the bottom of the box, and put it on Xu Yu's shoulders. In a voice that only Xu Yu could hear, she said, "The road on the other side of the ditch is wide and the water is not deep. It shouldn't fall over."
"Go and see what's going on with the people first. If anything seems amiss, seize the village chief's mule cart first."
The old lady hasn't said much lately, but everyone in the family knows that Uncle Xu is the old lady's true love.
Going to the county town to sell charcoal is not an easy job. Uncle Xu San didn't want to go a second time after going there once. The old lady specifically suggested that Uncle Xu Er go alone. This trip must not be just to sell charcoal.
Xu Yu's eyes flickered as he nodded gently: "Grandfather, the wind and snow are getting stronger. You and Grandmother should wait for news at home. Third Uncle and I will go."
"Brother, I'll go with you."
Xu Minghui stepped forward and said, "I can help."
Xu Yu nodded without saying anything, and Sang Zhixia hurriedly supported Aunt Xu who was about to fall.
"Second Aunt, don't be anxious."
"It's not far from here. Xu Yu and the others will be able to bring my second uncle back soon."
"Mingyang, come and help your mother into the house to hide."
Xu Mingyang ran over with tears in his eyes and held Aunt Xu's trembling hand. Sang Zhixia winked at Xu Wenxiu calmly.
"Grandma, go inside first."
The sudden change broke the tranquility of the night, and everyone gathered in the main room waiting for news.
The old man had a gloomy face and said nothing.
The old lady suppressed her anxiety and looked around again and again, clenching the handkerchief in her hand again and again.
The wind and snow outside the door were getting stronger, and Sang Zhixia's heart began to beat up and down in the howling cold wind.
Until there was finally movement outside the door.
"Grandfather, we're back!"
"Are you back?"
The old lady rushed out in a fit of rage and bumped into Uncle Xu's dark face.
He threw the hemp rope to the ground with snow all over his body and said angrily, "This is ridiculous!"
"Shamelessly ridiculous!"
Aunt Xu, with tears in her eyes, was shocked when she heard the sound. Before she could say anything, she saw Xu Minghui struggling to support Uncle Xu, whose head was bleeding, over the threshold.
But what was more eye-catching than the bloodstains on his head was the strong smell of alcohol on his body, which was so strong that even the wind and snow could not dispel it.
We clearly agreed to go sell charcoal.
He was completely drunk...
Xu Yu, who was walking last, returned the cloak he was holding to Sang Zhixia and said in a tone that made it hard to tell whether he was happy or angry, "The ditch at the entrance to the village isn't deep, but Second Uncle was so drunk that he didn't see the road clearly and got stuck. When we arrived, he was standing in the ditch halfway up, caught in the middle of the water. If he hadn't been asleep for a while, he would have fallen asleep."
Moreover, this man was drunk and couldn't tell good from bad. When the villagers passing by wanted to pull him up, he just cursed at him, saying, "Don't get close to me, you dirty guy."
Although the passers-by were angry, they could not bear to see him freeze to death in the ditch, so they suppressed their anger and came to Xu's house to report the news.
Uncle Xu, who was unconscious, was leaning against Xu Minghui. Below his chest was a mass of dirty water and mud. When he opened his mouth, he reeked of alcohol. There were obvious traces of rouge on his collar. The strong aroma of powder and alcohol mixed together and hit his face. How could this man be so drunk? He was instantly in a dead end.
"What's wrong with me drinking a little wine?!"
He was so drunk he couldn't tell east from west, south from north, and he yelled at Xu Yu, "You're a worthless piece of shit! I'm your uncle, what right do you have to yell at me?"
"As long as I, Second Master Xu, am here, it's not your turn as a little bastard to call the shots in the Xu family! Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you yell at me? Do you even have the right to speak here?!"
"Grandfather is in the seat of honor, so it's really not my place to speak."
Xu Yu looked at him expressionlessly and said coldly, "It's not surprising that Second Uncle has some resentment towards me, but no matter how big the resentment is, he shouldn't have taken it so far."
He said, no longer paying attention to Uncle Xu's anger, and looking at the old lady with eyes full of heartache, he said cryptically, "Grandma, the mule cart is borrowed."
Uncle Xu, whose face flushed with anger, gritted his teeth and said, "I almost forgot about this!"
"The mule cart we use to sell charcoal in the city was borrowed from the village chief's house, but it flipped over and fell into a ditch today. Not only was the cart floor smashed to pieces, but the mule's leg was also broken!"
"How can a mule with a broken leg still exert its strength? How can I have the nerve to return a mule with only three legs left?!"
Aunt Xu was originally full of disgust, but after hearing this, she became a little restless.
"It's no small matter when a mule breaks its leg."
No one in the village is rich, and there are very few families who can afford to raise livestock to pull carts. If it weren't for some kind of relationship, the owner would not be willing to lend out his precious livestock.
A mule is worth less than twenty taels, which is a huge sum of money for the Xu family at present!
The old lady's rebuttal froze completely. Xu Minghui supported the sobbing Aunt Xu and said through gritted teeth, "Brother, we will compensate you for the mule's money."
Xu Yu glanced at him with a half-smile in his eyes and said calmly, "I have to pay you back, but how I pay you back is not up to you or me."
"Grandfather, what do you say?"
The old man watched the farce without saying a word, and when his heavy gaze fell on her, the old lady couldn't help but shudder.
She forced a smile and said, "Losing money is one thing, but at least the person is fine. As long as he's fine, then..."
"Yu'er."
"The overturned car can't be concealed. The village chief's family must have heard about it. Take Minghui and the money and go there now. Explain the whole story to the people there and pay them the compensation according to the market price."
The old lady was very upset. Why did she let Uncle Xu go in such a moment of confusion? Upon hearing this, she immediately said, "That's the right thing to do."
"I'll get you some silver."
She took out twenty taels of silver from her meager savings and gave it to Xu Yu, and the old man said, "Yu's daughter-in-law."
Sang Zhixia sighed in confusion.
"Take Mingyang and the other kids with you and take care of them."
When elders are punished, younger generations are not allowed to watch.
After sending Xu Yu and Xu Minghui away, it would be enough to take these younger ones away as well.
Sang Zhixia's eyes flashed with enlightenment. She picked up Xu Jinxi with one hand and held the trembling Xu Mingyang with the other hand: "Yanran, hold Mingxu and come out with me."
Xu Minghui cried out in a sobbing voice: "Mother..."
Aunt Xu's face turned pale as she pushed him and said, "Be obedient and go out with your sister-in-law."
Sang Zhixia chased the little ones to the west shed like ducks. The old man's suppressed anger gradually surfaced in his eyes: "Third brother, force this evil creature to kneel in the yard."
"No, old man!"
The old lady glanced anxiously at Aunt Xu and said in a sad voice, "He's already unconscious with blood all over his face. No matter how much you say, it will be like talking to a cow. Let's treat his wounds first and wait until he sobers up."
Aunt Xu lowered her head and said, "Grandpa, the Second Master made a mistake this time, but he's drunk and can't explain himself. He might get sick from this. Please show some mercy and punish him another day."
She knelt straight down, but Uncle Xu, who was staggering, was still shouting, "Punishment?"
"What did I do wrong? Why punish me?!"
"It's not my fault that my family is ruined! It's not my fault that we've fallen to this point!"
"Just because I don't want to fall into depravity with you, does that mean I'm wrong?! What gives you the right to say I'm wrong?!"
He stood up with red eyes. Aunt Xu went to help him up in panic: "Second Master! Second Master, stop talking nonsense!"
"Who said I was talking nonsense?!"
He struggled a few times but couldn't break free from the supporting hand. In anger, he kicked Second Aunt Xu hard in the heart: "You depraved bastard!"
"A lowly merchant girl has reached my glory. I gave you all this splendor and wealth! Now you're blind and acting like a dog, wagging your tail for the bastard from the eldest house. If I had known this would happen, I would have killed you!"
Second Aunt Xu was kicked so hard that she rolled away in a panic. She said in sorrow and anger, "Second Master, have you lost your mind?!"
"The old man and the old lady are still watching, you..."
"You dare to use others to pressure me?!"
Uncle Xu shouted in rage, "I'm going to kill you right now, you bitch!"
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