The people from the town's government office arrived very quickly.
Besides the two town guards dressed in blue cloth and black robes, there were also two officials, one of whom was an acquaintance from Xiaoshi Village.
Song Dequan was in his thirties, dark-skinned, thin, and serious-looking, with a small mustache, just like Song Lizheng.
He was originally a minor official in charge of grain taxes and other matters in the town, but today the government was short of manpower for corvée labor, so he volunteered to be transferred here to fill the gap.
I heard there was a case in Xiaoshi Village, so I decided to make a trip there.
As soon as they arrived at the village entrance, they saw a group of people gathered together, talking excitedly. When they saw the town officials coming, they all rushed over to greet them.
Song Dequan called out to Song Lizheng, who was walking at the front and whose belt wasn't even fastened, "Dad, what happened in the village that you reported it so early in the morning?"
Although he asked the question, there was no doubt in his eyes, only worry.
Yesterday, my father came to the town hall under the pretext of delivering the list of conscripts, and brought up the matter of Song Lao Er's family, and also vaguely mentioned Song Liyun's "marriage".
For someone who works in the town government office, he has seen far too many petty family squabbles and conflicts.
In his view, it was not a good thing for a young woman of marriageable age to be dissatisfied with her arranged marriage and to want to elope.
It's only natural for a young woman to get married, but they always have to cause trouble.
However, he had also heard about the Song family's mistreatment of the eldest son's children, and he also deeply resented Granny Gu.
So when his father suggested using Song Zhenping's forced labor as an opportunity for Song Liyun to escape her arranged marriage, he went to find his colleagues without hesitation, leaving a vacancy for a cook to be filled, and even agreed to let his third brother also go to perform forced labor.
Unexpectedly, just as the laborers from several villages left Qingping Town that morning, someone from Xiaoshi Village came to report that the Song family had been robbed.
Could it be that Dad is up to something again?
Sweating profusely, Song Lizheng said, "Boss, you've come at the right time! Something's happened at Song Defu's house! Let's go check it out quickly."
The village had been turned upside down, and even the cellars of every household had been opened. He was certain that Yun Yatou was not in the village.
Then this matter becomes even more difficult to explain; the person wasn't hidden by Song Lao Er.
Could it be that Yun girl was really taken away by a thief, and even... this thief even stole firewood!
A group of people followed the town officials and crowded into Song Lao Er's courtyard.
After the initial panic, Song Lao Er had calmed down.
As soon as he saw the officials approaching, he knelt on the ground and shouted, "Officials! You must do justice for the common people! Quickly catch the thief, he can't have gone far!"
Song Dequan frowned and asked, "Don't shout randomly, ask them one by one first."
Who is the owner? Please report the loss and show your household registration. What else did you lose? Please describe it in detail so we can take a statement.
The clerk accompanying him quickly opened his leather pouch, took out a pen, ink, paper, inkstone, and a scroll, turned to a blank page, and prepared to take notes.
Before Song Lao Er could even speak, Granny Gu jumped up and said, "Song Gou Dan, you short-lived devil! You've only been out eating for free for a few years, and you've already gone blind and can't recognize people anymore!"
"It was clearly my family that lost something, why are you talking about names and household registration?"
Song Dequan's forehead veins bulged. This old woman Gu had been bullying everyone in the village every day. She really didn't know what fear was. She was a government official and yet she dared to shout like that.
However, he was on official business at the time, and it wouldn't be 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."
Granny Gu doesn't understand, but Old Man Song should!
At this moment, Song Lao Er was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Hearing that he needed the household registration book, he was also unhappy. However, he knew what was important, so he told Xiao Gu Shi to hurry up and get the household registration book.
But Madam Gu slumped down and said, "The box containing the land deeds, house deeds, and household registration documents is all lost! Where are we supposed to find them?"
"Exactly, you've lost everything, and you still want this and that even though you don't care about anything else."
"Dog Egg, don't think you can bully this old woman just because you look like a decent person now." Granny Gu pointed at Song Dequan with her hands on her hips.
Song Dequan's face darkened, and he turned to glare coldly at Song Lao Er: "Song Defu, if you can't manage your own family, don't blame me for using the law."
Old Song tilted his head, his face contorted with rage: "Try touching her. You don't look for thieves, and you still want household registration? You're just making things difficult for people. Anyway, we can't survive, and we're just looking for a few days of jail time."
Their house was ransacked by thieves, the village headman found nothing, and now the town officials are dragging their feet. It's obvious that the father and son don't want to help.
Since that's the case, he's not going to be reasonable anymore.
When Granny Gu heard her son's meaning, she felt even more that what he said made sense. Song Laohei was just stalling for time. He should have been on the road catching the thief, but he was still searching around in the village. He must be in cahoots with the thief.
Thinking this way, she suddenly saw everyone as a thief. Granny Gu rushed up to the clerk who was recording the case file, grabbed the mulberry paper, and shouted, "Write, all you know is how to write! You've let the thieves get away! It's because of you useless people who wanted to build this wall, causing the whole village to run around, that the thieves were able to get into the village."
The more ignorant a person is, the more inexplicable courage they possess.
The clerk was writing with his head down and had no idea that someone was trying to snatch his file. He reacted too late and was caught red-handed by Granny Gu.
With a "whoosh," the mulberry paper file was torn in two. Granny Gu threw it on the ground, stomping on it while cursing, "You heartless bastard, all you know how to do is torment people! You even gave birth to a child without an anus!"
The minor official who came with Song Dequan was surnamed Zhong. He was from the town, very young, and his wife was just pregnant. Hearing Granny Gu's curses, he immediately flew into a rage.
Xiaoshi Village was originally Brother Song's hometown, and the village head was Song Dequan's father. So he wisely stepped down to be an assistant and didn't get involved. This was also a tacit understanding among the small officials in the town government.
But this family doesn't follow the rules at all and is unreasonable. Since Brother Song can't handle it, he can handle it officially.
The young clerk's face darkened, and he said to the accompanying town guards who had already pulled Granny Gu away, "Disrupting official business, slap them ten times, and see how they behave!"
Slap him in the face!
The villagers watching were in an uproar. Song Lao Er jumped up and shouted, "What are you doing? Let go!" He tried to snatch the person, but the town's soldiers stopped him.
The next second, all that answered him was Granny Gu's scream.
These town militiamen were adept at dealing with unruly women and shrewish women. They first grabbed Granny Gu's hair by the wrist, and without any restraint, pulled her upside down.
With his other hand, he slapped her quickly and urgently, his handprints flying up and down, the slapping sounds continuous.
After only a few breaths, the sound stopped, and he withdrew his hand.
His movements were too fast; Granny Gu's head was pinned down, preventing her from struggling.
I could only feel as if my head and face had been sprayed by a summer downpour; first it felt numb and cool, and then it burned with pain, making me cry out in pain.
"Ah! Ah! Song Dequan has killed someone! Song Dequan is avenging that bitch Huang."
After the fight was over, Madam Gu and Song Shuirong rushed out crying, clinging to Madam Gu and refusing to let go.
Hearing this cacophony of shouts, Song Dequan's face darkened considerably.
Only then did he truly realize how difficult it was for his father in Xiaoshi Village to deal with these shrewish women.
I also felt a pang of heartache, knowing how much my mother had suffered over the years.
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