Chapter 46 Summer Field Vacation
By the time the court's documents were sent back to Lingnan, more than a month had passed.
All of Li's property was confiscated and Li Qiong was executed.
Before he died in prison, his voice was completely damaged and he became mute.
In addition, his body was almost half dead after being beaten with a stick, and he was only half alive when the execution was carried out.
The Li family's life was worse than death.
A seal was affixed to the door of Li's residence.
After Li Qiong died, Mrs. Li took Li Zhangsheng, whose hand was broken, back to her parents' home.
Some of her jewelry was sold, and some was used to please her parents' home.
Her parents asked her to remarry an old landlord in the countryside, and even if Mrs. Li was unwilling, she had no other choice.
Li Zhangsheng's hand has not healed yet, so he cannot lift things and cannot even take care of his daily life. He can only cry, curse and complain every day.
The doctor came to check on his injuries and said that if he continued like this, Li Zhangsheng's hands would be crippled.
I can't be a scholar, and I can't do any work.
The naughty kids of the same age all tried to bully him. Seeing him crying and yelling but unable to fight back, they would pull him to his knees and beg for mercy.
Aunt Feng had no family background, but she was still beautiful. She hooked up with a wealthy businessman who passed by and became a concubine in another family. There was no news of her since then.
Li Shaoer could not go with her aunt, so she had to be fostered in the home of her aunt who had no children in the clan.
Aunt Li's family was not wealthy, and she did not plan to send Li Shaoer to study at the academy.
A girl of seven or eight years old can help with cooking and chores at home. Raising her for a few years and finding her a husband would be the most kind thing to do.
“Why?!”
"I can't do this kind of work. I want to go to the academy."
Li Shaoer was crying and making a fuss about going to the academy, refusing to work, and even smashing the dishes in the kitchen.
Aunt Li was not tolerant of her. She raised her hand and slapped Li Shaoer to the side of the stove, pointing at her nose and scolding:
"You little bastard, I took you in because of my nephew. If you dare to make trouble again, I will sell you tomorrow!"
"Go clean up the floor! You can't eat until you finish!"
Li Shaoer was beaten and a big cut was made on the corner of his mouth by the stove. Half of his face was bloody and painful.
She had no one to support her, and she heard her aunt say she wanted to sell her.
She was shaking with fear.
Li Shaoer cleaned up the debris in the kitchen with a pale face, and was then urged to carry firewood to make a fire.
She had never done these jobs before, and if she did not do them well, she would be scolded by her aunt or hit with a shoe.
The next morning, she still had to go and pour out the night incense.
She went out with the bucket, and after a few steps she met a familiar figure.
"Li Shaoer?"
Zhou Xiaomeng went out to help her family get soy sauce. When she passed by the alley, she saw Li Shaoer struggling to carry a bucket.
Ever since she took the blame for Li Shaoer and was expelled from the academy, she has been helping out in the family's dry goods shop.
The business in the shop was once prosperous because of the care of the Li family, but soon something happened to the Li family and their business became slow again.
"It's all your fault! It was you who caused me to be kicked out of the academy." All the grievances Zhou Xiaomeng had felt at that moment turned into anger.
She swung the soy sauce bottle in her hand and hit Li Shaoer at him, while grabbing Li Shaoer's hair with her other hand.
"Let go!" Li Shaoer's scalp was pulled and hurt.
Li Shaoer hadn't eaten or slept well in the past two days, and he felt weak all over. When Zhou Xiaomeng grabbed him, his hands lost strength and the night-scented incense bucket fell over.
The filth splashed all over the two of them.
Zhou Xiaomeng screamed and wrestled with Li Shaoer.
Li Shaoer was no match for Zhou Xiaomeng and was trampled to the ground by Zhou Xiaomeng in a few moves.
"Zhou Xiaomeng...if you dare to step on me again..."
Li Shaoer was uttering threatening words, but his momentum was not as strong as before.
The other children in the alley watched them fight, but no one stood up to help Li Shaoer.
"It's not me who hurt you, it's all Su Zhi's fault..."
As Li Shaoer spoke, her voice started to sob.
Zhou Xiaomeng stepped hard on Li Shaoer's face with her dirty soles, her voice as sharp as her chin:
"Are you crying already? When you bullied Gu Qingning before, she wasn't as weak as you."
"Don't talk about Su Zhizhi, you are not as good as Gu Qingning!"
There was a burning pain on his face, and the smell of the night-blooming incense bucket lying beside him was nauseating. The children watching were all laughing at him.
Li Shaoer could no longer hold back her tears and broke down in tears.
At this moment, she finally realized that some things could never go back to the way they were before.
Those glamorous days of bullying others are gone forever.
…
May, Grain in Ear and Summer Solstice.
The weather is beginning to enter the hottest time of the year.
Mingde Academy offers a farm holiday from May to June every year, so that students from farming families can return home during the busy farming season.
The early rice is almost ripe, so we need to harvest it quickly and plant the late rice.
So Hao Ren took his family back to Black Bandit Mountain.
Su Zhizhi and Xue Che were both very happy and willing to go back to the mountain.
When we came to the county town, we were in one car; but when we returned to Heifei Mountain, we were in two cars.
There was an extra car at the back that held Grandma Qiu, Old Xu, and others.
Su Zhizhi glanced at Grandma Qiu and winked playfully.
Before the academy closed for the holidays, she saw through the villagers' disguises.
The opportunity to see through it is simple.
One day, Su Zhizhi woke up late in the morning and went to the kitchen in a daze. Her eyes were not fully open when she got her meal.
The grandmother in the kitchen scooped her a bowl of egg porridge, and she subconsciously said:
"Thank you, Grandma Qiu."
Grandma Qiu was probably too busy to think clearly, so she just replied:
"Zhizhi is so good."
As soon as the words were spoken, both of them reacted with a start.
Su Zhizhi turned around.
The old and the young looked at each other.
In a flash, Su Zhizhi finally understood why she had been so lucky recently.
It turned out that the villagers from Black Bandit Mountain had ambushed the academy!
After Li Shaoer and Li Zhangsheng left, the staff who had been doing miscellaneous work in the academy's logistics department recovered and returned to the academy to take up their duties.
The academy no longer needed so many temporary helpers, but only asked Grandma Qiu to stay because the food she cooked was so delicious and received unanimous praise from everyone in the academy.
Grandma Qiu agreed.
As long as Zhizhi is still in the academy, she will naturally be willing to stay.
Back in Black Bandit Mountain, the days without school were truly pleasant and fulfilling for Su Zhizhi.
The villagers harvest early rice, plant late rice, and hunt.
Su Zhizhi took Xue Che to pick beans, eggplants and catch dragonflies.
Wu Yingniang and Grandma Qiu made a lot of grass jelly cakes and mung bean soup to relieve the heat. Kong Wu carried two large buckets and sent them to the fields for everyone to drink to relieve the heat.
Everyone's skin color has become much darker, but when they smile, their teeth become whiter.
As mid-June approached, Su Zhizhi felt a little complicated.
Thinking about going to the academy after the holiday, Su Zhizhi wished she could split one day into three.
But when Su Zhizhi thought about her birthday coming soon, her eyebrows were about to dance.
She had been looking forward to it every day since the first day of June.
June 20th.
The village is going to celebrate her birthday!
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