Chapter 27: The Power of Petty Officials
People from the town’s public housing came quickly.
In addition to the two town guards wearing blue cloth and black robes, there were also two officials, one of whom was an acquaintance of Xiaoshi Village.
Song Dequan was in his thirties, dark, thin and serious-looking, with a small mustache, and looked the same as Song Lizheng.
He was originally a minor official in the town who was in charge of grain taxes and other matters. Today, the government office was short of laborers for corvée labor, so he volunteered to be transferred here to help with the emergency.
I heard that a case happened in Xiaoshi Village, so I decided to go there.
As soon as I arrived at the village entrance, I saw a group of people gathered together and talking excitedly. When they saw someone coming from the town government office, they all hurried over to greet them.
Song Dequan shouted to Song Lizheng, who was walking in front with his belt untied, "Dad, what happened in the village? Why are you reporting it so early in the morning?"
Although he was asking questions, there was no doubt in his eyes, only worry.
Yesterday, my father came to the town government office under the pretext of delivering a list of corvée labor and mentioned the affairs of Song Laoer's family, including a vague mention of Song Liyun's "marriage".
For someone who works in the town government office, he has seen too many family disputes.
In his opinion, it was not a good thing for a girl of age to be dissatisfied with her engagement and want to escape from the marriage.
It's natural for a girl to get married, why do you have to cause trouble?
However, he had also heard about how the Song family treated the eldest wife's children harshly, and he hated Mrs. Gu very much.
So his father said that he would take advantage of Song Zhenping's labor service to let Song Liyun escape the marriage. Without saying a word, he went to find his colleagues, left a vacancy for the cook unfilled, and agreed to let his third brother serve labor service as well.
Unexpectedly, just as the workers from several villages left Qingping Town in the morning, someone from Xiaoshi Village came to report that the Song family had been robbed.
Could it be that Dad is doing something in this again?
Song Lizheng's face was covered in sweat. "Boss, you guys came at the right time. Something happened at Song Defu's house! Let's go check it out."
The village had been turned upside down, even every household's vegetable cellar had been opened. He could be sure that Yun Yatou was not in the village.
Then this matter is even more difficult to explain, because the person was not hidden by Song Laoer.
Could it be that Yun girl was really taken away by a thief, and even... the thief stole the firewood!
A group of people followed the clerks from the town government office and rushed into Song Laoer's yard.
After the initial panic, Song Lao Er was now calm.
As soon as he saw the officials coming, he knelt on the ground and shouted, "Officials! You must help me and catch the thief quickly. He won't be able to get far."
Song Dequan frowned and asked, "Don't shout, ask them one by one first.
Who is the owner? Can you report your life and show your household registration? What else was lost? Please tell us in detail so we can take a statement.
The clerk who was traveling with him quickly opened the leather bag he was carrying, took out writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, as well as a book, and turned to a blank space, ready to take notes.
Before Song Lao Er could say anything, Mrs. Gu next to him jumped up and said, "Song Goudan, you short-lived ghost, you've only been eating for free for a few years, and you've become so blind that you don't recognize people anymore.
It's clearly my family that lost something, why are you still talking about names and household registration?"
Veins popped out on Song Dequan's forehead. This old lady Gu was always dominating the village. She really didn't know what fear was. She was a public servant, yet she dared to shout like that.
But I was on a business trip at the time, and it was not appropriate to argue with an old woman in front of the villagers.
He suppressed his anger and said, "Song Defu, this is routine. Everyone has to do this. I hope you understand."
Mrs. Gu doesn’t understand, but Old Second Song should understand!
Song Lao Er was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan at this time. He was unhappy when he heard that the household registration was needed. However, he had to know the seriousness of the matter, so he asked Xiao Gu to get the household registration book quickly.
But little Gu sat slumped and said, "The boxes containing the land deeds, house deeds, and household registration are all lost. Where can we find them?"
"That's right, everything is lost, and you still want this and that.
Goudan, don't think that you can bully an old woman like me just because you look like a decent person now." Mrs. Gu put her hands on her hips and pointed at Song Dequan.
Song Dequan's face darkened, and he turned around and glared coldly at Song Laoer: "Song Defu, if you can't manage your own family, don't blame me for using public law."
Song Lao Er tilted his head, a ferocious look on his face: "Just try to touch her. There's a thief and you don't look for him. What's the point of registering him? You're just making things difficult for us. We can't survive anyway, and we're just thinking of spending a few days in jail."
The house was ransacked by thieves, the village headman found nothing, and now the town headman is dragging his feet. It's clear that the father and son don't want to help.
In that case, he is no longer reasonable.
When Mrs. Gu heard what her son said, she felt that what he said made sense. Song Laohei was just delaying time. He should have caught the thief on the road, but he was still looking for him in the village. He must be in cahoots with the thief.
Thinking this, she immediately saw everyone as a thief. Mrs. Gu rushed to the clerk who was recording the files, grabbed the mulberry paper, and shouted, "Write, just write! You let the thieves escape. It was you useless people who wanted to build a wall, causing the villagers to run around, and that's how the thieves got in."
The more ignorant a person is, the more inexplicable courage he has.
The clerk was writing with his head down and had no idea that someone was coming to snatch his file. He reacted a step too late and was caught red-handed by Mrs. Gu.
With a "swish" sound, the mulberry paper file was torn in two. Mrs. Gu threw it on the ground and stomped on it while spitting out foul language: "You black-hearted thing, you only know how to torment me. You can't even give birth to a baby without an asshole!"
The clerk who came with Song Dequan was named Zhong. He was from the town, very young, and his wife had just become pregnant. When he heard Mrs. Gu's curse, he immediately became furious.
Originally, Xiaoshi Village was Brother Song's hometown, and the head of the village was Song Dequan's father, so he tactfully stepped back as an assistant and did not get involved. This was also the private understanding among several clerks in the town's public housing.
But this family doesn't follow the rules at all and is unreasonable. Since Brother Song is difficult to deal with, he can handle it impartially.
The young clerk's face darkened, and he said to Zhen Yong, who had already pulled Mrs. Gu away, "You're disrupting official business. Ten slaps will be given, and we'll see what happens next!"
Slap!
The onlookers were in an uproar, and Song Laoer immediately jumped up: "What are you doing? Let me go!" He wanted to snatch the person away, but the brave soldiers stopped him.
The next second, he was answered by Mrs. Gu's scream.
These town warriors were used to dealing with unruly people and shrews. They first grabbed Mrs. Gu's hair bun at her wrist with one hand, and without any resistance, pulled her upside down.
The other hand slapped quickly and sharply, with handprints flying up and down and the slapping sounds continuing.
After only a few breaths, the sound stopped and he withdrew his hand.
His movements were too fast, and Mrs. Gu's head was fixed, preventing her from struggling.
I could only feel that my head and face were sprayed by a heavy summer rain. At first it felt cool and numb, and then it was burning hot. I couldn't help but cry out in pain.
"Ah! Ah! Song Dequan beat someone to death! Song Dequan was helping that bitch Huang to vent her anger."
The fight was over here, and then little Gu and Song Shuirong rushed out crying, hugging old Gu tightly.
Hearing all this shouting, Song Dequan's face turned really black.
At this moment, he deeply realized how difficult it was for his father in Xiaoshi Village facing these shrews.
I also felt a little sad because of how much injustice my mother had suffered over the years.
(End of this chapter)
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