After reaching the foot of the mountain, everyone split up and went back in two groups.
Li Mo originally planned to stay on the mountain, but when he encountered Wu Lian's incident, he changed his mind temporarily and planned to go back with them to see the excitement, leaving only Lin Yi and the others to go back to the mountain.
Although they were carrying Wu Lian, Chen Zhen did not let them walk back slowly. Instead, he asked several servants to take turns carrying her and jogging back.
Everyone got home around midnight. As the weather was fine today, the sun was just beginning to set and it would probably take more than half an hour before it got dark.
When they were almost at the village, He Jinshu asked his servants to go ahead and call the village chief and several elders. After the village chief and others arrived, he asked Chen Chen to take Wu Lian to the Wu family.
When Chen Zhen and the others arrived at the village, Village Chief Wu had not come yet. Now every household was basically cooking and eating at home, so there were no people walking around in the village.
Chen Chen and the others were waiting for Village Chief Wu not far from Wu Ergou's house. They didn't have to wait long before Village Chief Wu, who had received the news, hurried over.
"Mr. He, what's going on?" Village Chief Wu looked at Wu Lian, who was standing next to Shen Zhen and was a little dirty, then raised his eyes and asked He Jinshu.
Wu Lian had almost recovered now, so he got up from the stretcher and stood beside Chen Chen.
Upon hearing this, He Jinshu gave the village chief a scholarly salute and then said, "Village chief, you should ask this young man for the specific matters."
Village Chief Wu turned to look at Wu Lian and asked, "Brother Lian, what do you think is going on?"
After hearing the question from Village Chief Wu, Wu Lian first glanced at Chen Chen, and then nervously told Village Chief Wu what happened today.
Village Chief Wu's expression suddenly turned grim upon hearing this. Without waiting for the elders to come over, he said to Wu Lian, "Let's go to your house first."
After saying this, he took the lead and walked towards Wu Ergou's house.
He Jinshu, Chen Zhen, Li Mo and Wu Lian followed closely behind, and Chen Zhen asked the servants in the house to go back first.
When we arrived at Wu Ergou's house, his family was sitting in the house eating dinner.
When Wu Laoshi, the head of the Wu family, saw that the leader was Village Chief Wu, he quickly stood up and asked in surprise, "Village Chief, why are you here at this time?"
Village Chief Wu saw the whole family sitting at the table eating, and thinking of Wu Lian he had just seen, he said a little angrily: "Everyone is eating? Don't you feel that something is missing at home?"
When Wu Laoshi heard this at first, he was a little confused. But when he raised his eyes, he saw He Jinshu and others following behind Village Chief Wu, as well as Wu Lian, who was standing diagonally behind Village Chief Wu and was dressed in tattered clothes. He immediately understood what the village chief meant when he said that something was missing from the house.
But before he could say anything, Wu Pozi, who had risen up behind him, saw Wu Lian and, not caring that the village chief was right in front of her, she immediately started cursing, "Wu Lian, you little bitch! It's so late, and you still remember to come back? Why don't you die outside?"
She had originally wanted to wait for him to come back from picking mushrooms and cook them for her grandson in the evening, but she waited and waited but no one showed up. Mrs. Wu thought that Wu Lian must have been slacking off outside, so she came back so late, so she couldn't help but scold him angrily.
When Village Chief Wu heard this, his expression instantly darkened. When Wu Lian heard Mrs. Wu's scolding, he instinctively shrank his shoulders and hid behind Village Chief Wu.
Chen Zhen was standing next to Wu Lian. Seeing him like this, he said directly, "Don't be afraid. Think about what we said on the road. You have to remember that you died once, so why do you still need to be afraid of them?
If anyone hits you, hit them back. If anyone scolds you, scold them back. The village chief is doing justice for you! You can't let him lose face. If you don't stand up for yourself, who will be willing to help you in the future? "
After hearing this, Wu Lian thought to himself: Yes, I have died once, so who should I be afraid of?
Thinking of this, he stood up from behind Village Chief Wu, clenched his fists, and mustered up the courage to say to the Village Chief: "Grandpa Village Chief, the reason I went up the mountain to pick mushrooms today is because my younger brothers said they wanted to eat mushrooms.
Then my grandmother threw me a bamboo basket and told me to go to the mountain to pick mushrooms. She also said that if I didn’t pick up a full basket, I shouldn’t come back. That’s how I got bit by a poisonous snake and fainted on the mountain.
When Mrs. Wu heard this, she said in a stern voice, as if it was a matter of course: "What's wrong with me asking you to pick some mushrooms? What kind of boy doesn't work at home? You are so hypocritical. You were bitten by a poisonous snake while doing your work. What's the use of you? Why didn't the snake bite you to death?"
As Village Chief Wu listened to Mrs. Wu's increasingly harsh words, he said loudly with a grim expression, "Enough."
After saying this, without caring about Mrs. Wu's reaction, he looked at Wu Laoshi who was standing beside him and said coldly, "Laoshi, what did I tell you at the village meeting before? Repeat it to me."
After hearing this, Wu Laoshi stood aside, stammering and unable to speak.
Wu Laoshi really lived up to his name and was an honest man, but he married a powerful wife, Wu Pozi, so he was suppressed by her all his life. Wu Laoshi told his family what the village chief conveyed, but Wu Pozi didn't take it seriously.
Since ancient times, the status of boys and girls has always been lower than that of men. Men will take the imperial examinations in the future, so how can they be bothered by these trivial matters? So if boys and girls don't do the housework, who will do it? Therefore, she thought it was okay to let Wu Lian do more work.
Seeing Wu Laoshi's expression, Village Chief Wu didn't wait for him to finish his words and continued, "Didn't I tell you that for the future development of our Wujia Village, every household doesn't need you to treat boys and girls well, but at least you can't treat them harshly? Didn't I say that?"
Upon hearing this, Wu Laoshi whispered, "Village chief, I have told this to my family." But his family didn't listen, what could he do?
"Have you told your family?" Village Chief Wu became even more angry when he heard this and said, "The consequence of you telling your family is that a little brother Wu Lian ran to the mountain ten kilometers away to pick mushrooms and was bitten by a poisonous snake. If it weren't for little brother Shen passing by and saving him, you would have to go to the mountain to collect his body today."
When Mrs. Wu heard that it was Chen Zhen who saved the person, she immediately turned the tables and said, "Who knows if what they said is true or not? If he was really bitten by a venomous snake, how could Wu Lian still be alive? There are not a few people who die from venomous snake bites every year. How come he was so lucky that he was cured?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
