Chapter 204: Retribution
Yang Ming's lips trembled, his throat still hurt. He wanted to speak, but the weak sound that came out of his mouth was almost no sound under the bombardment of the Yang family.
Liang Lizheng stopped the Yang family members and said, "Stop arguing. I'll ask them one by one."
"The village head—"
"Sister Hua, listen to me first. You guys are making so much noise and it's giving me a headache. You can't figure out what's going on all day. Just be quiet and listen to what Yang Ming has to say first."
"He is——"
"How about I leave?"
When Liang Lizheng said this with a stern face, it showed that he was angry, very angry.
Aunt Hua and the Yang family didn't dare to say a word.
Liang Lizheng just threw up his hands and left. No matter how the Yang family asked, it seemed like they were bullying. If what Yang Ming said was beneficial to them, the villagers would not believe it at all. This dirty water could not be washed away.
"Okay, okay, then ask, ask, I want to see what tricks he comes up with."
Liang Lizheng: "Everyone be quiet, Yang Ming, please speak."
Yang Ming's lips moved, his eyes were red, his expression was filled with grief and indignation. He endured the burning pain in his throat and said in a hoarse voice, "Zhichun has helped my father and I a lot. I didn't expect that this would cause Aunt Hua to have wild thoughts, saying that Zhichun and I were... She spread rumors about Zhichun and me! If this gets out, wouldn't Zhichun's reputation be completely ruined? If it weren't for her help, I don't know what kind of life we would be living now. I can't repay kindness with hatred!"
"But once rumors spread about something like this, there's no way to defend myself. What can I do? I can only die to prove my innocence!"
Everyone was shocked and looked at Aunt Hua.
Aunt Hua was also dumbfounded. She never expected this to be the reason!
Liang Lizheng was furious: "Sister Hua, I told you that your mouth would cause trouble sooner or later. What did Ren Zhichun do to provoke you? How could you slander someone for no reason?"
Everyone is disgusted.
"What a mouth this damned woman has, haha!"
"If their family wasn't so fierce and domineering, I would have torn her mouth apart long ago."
"She gossips all day long and always thinks she's right. I can't argue with her twisted logic. Isn't it infuriating? Pah!"
"What a sin! How dare she say anything? Isn't she afraid of retribution?"
"That's right. If retribution comes upon her whole family tomorrow, that would be God's blessing."
Aunt Hua was furious, embarrassed, and mortified. She glared at Yang Ming, "What are you pretending for? You don't really want to die. You just want to harm our family, right? If you really miss, why didn't you hang yourself in the middle of the night? You had to wait until dawn when our family was about to get up before hanging yourself. You did it on purpose, you deliberately wanted to harm us!"
Yang Ming coughed violently and said in a trembling voice, "My Xiao An is still so young, of course I don't want to die, but if I don't die, you won't shut up. I have no choice but to take a gamble. If I die, then I die, and you can't throw dirty water on Zhichun anymore. If I'm lucky enough to survive, it's better to make this matter clear. If you, if you keep talking dirty, I, I will really hang myself at your doorstep in the middle of the night next time."
"you!"
"Ridiculous, Sister Hua, please control your mouth from now on. What nonsense are you talking about?"
"That's right! If you spread rumors about something that has no basis in fact, who would dare to do good deeds in the future?"
"It's not that I look down on people, but there is no one in our village who is worthy of Zhichun."
"Zhichun is now rich, has a big house, and a brother-in-law who is so studious. This is a life of luxury. Even if she remarries, can she marry anyone? She can choose any man she wants."
Xu Zhichun arrived at this time.
Everyone couldn't help but look at her with complicated eyes.
Xu Zhichun felt something strange for no reason.
What kind of looks are these? Why does it feel like there's something wrong with the way these people are looking at me? I heard that Uncle Yang Ming is going to commit suicide? What does this have to do with her?
Xu Zhichun racked his brains but never imagined that he would inexplicably encounter such a huge pot falling from the sky.
"Zhichun."
Aunt Liang sighed, took Xu Zhichun's hand, and briefly explained this ridiculous misunderstanding to her.
Everyone talked at once to comfort her.
"Auntie Hua is a bit of a chatterbox, ignore her."
"Just ignore her words and don't take them to heart."
"Zhichun, we all know what kind of person you are."
Xu Zhichun's expression changed as he looked at Aunt Hua. "Aunt Hua, just because I hired Uncle Yang Ming and Xiao An to do something, you're making up these rumors?"
Aunt Hua opened her mouth, perhaps feeling too embarrassed to save some ground, and said in a bashful tone, "There are so many people in the village, but you insisted on hiring these two people. How can you be so strange?"
"Even if I hired someone else instead of them, you'd still say the same thing. Since I can hire someone else, why can't I hire them? Are they of bad character? Are they dishonest? Are they cunning and treacherous? Or are they physically unable to do the job?"
Yang Xiaoan hurriedly said, "No! Absolutely not! We can do anything, and we can do anything well!"
Xu Zhichun: "Yes, I knew you could do a good job, so I hired you. Besides, you're from the same village, and seeing that their family wasn't doing well, I thought I could help out. Is that wrong?"
Aunt Liang sighed: "What's wrong with this? This is just your kindness!"
"Yeah, yeah."
"Why is it that good intentions are not rewarded?"
"Some people just can't stand seeing others do well."
The year that Uncle Yang Ming's wife Bai Shuilian eloped with someone, not only did she spend all the little money the family had saved, she also secretly sold most of the family's grain and two acres of paddy field.
After that, Uncle Yang Ming's family had less than one and a half acres of paddy fields.
The yield of paddy fields in this era was very low, with less than 300 kilograms of dry grain per mu. After paying taxes, how much would be left?
Bai Shuilian emptied the family and left. You can imagine how miserable life was for the father and son. They have not recovered over the years.
There is nothing left, how can I slow down?
The year Bai Shuilian left, they had so much food that they couldn't even last until the New Year even if they saved it, so they had no choice but to borrow.
Fortunately, Uncle Yang Ming was a good person and hardworking, so those who sympathized with them were willing to lend them some money.
But if they do this, they will have to pay back the new grain as soon as it arrives.
While paying back the money, he had to leave a little for himself and mix it with grains, vegetables and wild vegetables. He lived frugally and saved up bit by bit. Not to mention meat, he was reluctant to eat even an egg. It took him four years of hard work to pay back all the borrowed food.
But after that, life was still very difficult. How could one live a good life with such a small amount of land? It was just a struggle, with only a few meals to eat.
It was not until Xu Zhichun started hiring them to work that the father and son were able to eat their fill and buy new coarse cloth clothes. Only then did they feel that their lives had seen light and had a purpose.
But even this is unbearable to watch.
The malicious dirty water was thrown innocently, and just for the momentary pleasure of the mouth, it would completely destroy them.
Happy New Year, my dears! Happy New Year! May everything go well and may you be prosperous in the new year!
(End of this chapter)
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