The minor official surnamed Zhong standing nearby was dumbfounded. What was going on? He had beaten the man himself, so how did it become Brother Song's fault?
Seeing his mother being beaten, Song Lao Er's eyes turned red with anger, and he became reckless, shouting, "You're all in cahoots! I'm going to the county to report this to the authorities!"
My house was stolen by those people in the village who were performing corvée labor.
They also took my niece away; I know it was them.
I told you to chase after them on the road, but you pretended to search the village instead.
At first, he was hoping to find the thief as soon as possible, but after all this trouble, Song Lao Er knew there was no hope.
Losing things isn't a big deal; the most important thing is that Song Liyun is also missing.
He had accepted Master Xue's money and promised to send a young lady there.
Now that the person is gone and the money is gone, if Master Xue asks for it back, where will I get the money back?
The situation was beyond repair, so Song Defu decided to drag everyone down with him. He claimed that the villagers had stolen things and taken Song Liyun away, so that he would have an explanation to give to Master Xue.
The scene was deathly silent; everyone was dumbfounded.
Song Lizheng and Song Dequan exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with astonishment: Did Song Lao Er know that Song Liyun had run away from her arranged marriage to the county town?
The other villagers thought: they had spent the whole morning helping to find the thief, but the other party had already assumed that their family members were the thieves. They were so angry that they all cursed.
Neighbor Aunt Zhang jumped out and started yelling at Song Lao Er: "Song Lao Er, you blind fool! So many people were waiting at the village entrance to watch the excitement this morning, but who saw you bring extra things?"
They even said it was stolen, but I think you're just embarrassed to admit you sold Yun'er off, so you're making this up by saying there was a thief stealing something."
The others thought it made sense. For the past two days, Song Lao Er's house had been locked up and no one was allowed to enter. Even Song Zhenping and his brother could only stay at the village head's house.
That's something everyone saw.
Who knows what this family is doing inside with the door closed? Maybe Yun'er has already been sent to the Xue family, and Song Lao Er is trying to extort money from her again.
The thought of their family being unjustly branded as thieves infuriated everyone who had to perform corvée labor. In addition, Granny Gu was publicly slapped as punishment, and her former prestige vanished.
In an instant, Song Lao Er was almost drowned in spittle.
Some impatient old women and daughters-in-law took off their shoes and rushed out to beat Song Lao Er, who ran away with his head in his hands.
Without Granny Gu charging into battle, Madam Gu and Song Shuirong were like toothless tigers, pushed, shoved, and beaten by angry people until they couldn't lift their heads and could only huddle together and cry.
They never expected that instead of sympathy, they would be scolded after their home was robbed.
Granny Gu sat on the ground, dumbfounded, clutching her swollen cheek.
She wanted to open her mouth and yell back, but the ten slaps loosened her teeth, making it difficult for her to even speak.
What shocked her even more was being slapped.
From childhood to adulthood, Granny Gu has never been afraid of anyone.
Back when she was still a young girl who hadn't even left home yet, she was already so capricious that her brothers and sisters dared not contradict her.
After marrying into the Song family, the widower Song Laohan didn't talk much to her, and he would always back down when they argued.
As for the "heartless man" Song Lizheng, he was someone she could scold at will.
Over the decades, Granny Gu had become arrogant and fearless, and she had only suffered a loss at the hands of Song Liyun in the last two days.
I never expected to be beaten up today, and in front of the villagers no less, by an order from some young punk.
Public servants are so terrifying!
The ten slaps instilled fear, but even more so, anger in Granny Gu.
Now she knows that she can't mess with the people in the town government, but she can probably mess with those mean old women who beat and scold her son, and she'll want to vent her anger on them.
With courage in your heart, even the pain in your face disappears.
Granny Gu gritted her teeth, stood up abruptly, took off her shoes, and rushed towards the cursing old woman and her daughter-in-law.
Xiao Gu also stepped forward, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law joined forces again, engaging in a chaotic battle with the village women.
Suddenly, a chorus of profanities erupted in Song Lao Er's courtyard, stinky shoes flew everywhere, and the crowd scrambled about like a flock of ducks, quacking and splashing.
Song Dequan, Zhong Xiaoli, and the two town guards had never seen such a scene before and were dumbfounded.
Holding his torn-in-half dossier, Zhong Xiaoli murmured, "I never imagined that Xiaoshi Village was such a place where hidden talents reside!"
Seeing a group of women pulling each other's hair and kicking each other's smelly shoes, Song Lizheng felt utterly humiliated. He led seven or eight men forward and separated the fighting parties.
This farce ended with Song Dequan and the others leaving in a huff.
However, the matter was resolved: the town government immediately sent someone to the county government to report the theft and at the same time, they brought back the people from Xiaoshi Village who were performing corvée labor.
Because now everyone is a suspect.
Song Lao Er shouted that the town government should immediately arrest the criminals and recover the losses.
It's unprecedented for a family to lose all their property, and for the entire village to become suspects. Song Dequan and Song Lizheng dared not delay any longer.
Such a major case needs to be reported as soon as possible.
Therefore, the town government sent someone on horseback to the county government office as quickly as possible to notify them to arrest the person.
The incident in Xiaoshi Village caused quite a stir, but the conscripted villagers, who had already become suspects, were unaware of it and continued their journey to the county town.
At this time, the sun was high in the sky, and the official road from Qingping Town to the county seat was filled with people, like beans scattered everywhere.
The hundreds of people who had walked forty miles carrying their bedding since before dawn were exhausted and hungry.
Each person moved at a different speed, and the two ends of the procession stretched for several miles.
The town official in charge was very experienced and didn't rush them. He just told them to rest where they were and leave after an hour, as long as they could reach the construction site outside the county town before dark.
So everyone sat down on the official road to rest and eat some of the dry food and water they had brought with them.
Song Liyun and her brother Song Zhenping sat on the bedding to rest.
Song Dekui, unable to stay idle, went to visit an acquaintance.
Xiao An bit her lip and watched the people around her eat their pancakes, while silently drinking a sip of water from her gourd.
They were almost without bedding when they left, so naturally they didn't prepare any food.
Song Liyun was also a little troubled. She had cooked chicken in her space, but it was not appropriate to take it out in broad daylight under everyone's watchful eyes.
As for the energy bars and compressed rations in the space, they were foreign objects, and she dared not show them to anyone.
Song Dekui looked around, his eyebrows raised high, and returned with a bewildered expression.
"What do we do? They've all disappeared! We can't find them!"
Song Liyun and the others wanted to take Xiao An with them, but Song Zhenping's legs were flat and she couldn't walk quickly. After leaving Qingping Town, she got separated from the people of Xiaoshi Village, and at this time, she didn't know anyone around her.
“Uncle Kui, since we’re all going to the construction site in the county town anyway, we can go with them and find someone later.” Song Liyun said absentmindedly, her hand groping under the covers.
She was considering what to take out and eat.
"That's all we can do for now. You didn't bring any food, did you? Here, I have some extra flatbread. One for each of you to make do. When we get to the county town, I'll treat you to a good meal. Oh, by the way, Yun'er used to work at a restaurant in the county town. Do you know what dishes are good at your boss's place?"
Song Dekui was a talkative man. As he spoke, he took a satchel off his shoulder and took out four pancakes from it.
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