"That's outrageous!"
Wan Shu didn't consider himself a chivalrous person, but upon hearing this, his anger surged.
"The families who went up the mountain to dig potatoes yesterday were all among the poorest families in the village. They had finally found some hope, and Li Dagen was clearly trying to drive them to their deaths!"
The five kids were furious.
"The village head is really going too far! These are potatoes we worked so hard to dig up, why should we share them with others!"
"It's not right for him to accept money from others, so he's trying to use everyone's things to make up for it!"
"He's not even human!"
Er Ya asked worriedly, "Mother, what should we do with the potatoes at home? Should we hide them on the mountain first?"
Dazhu immediately chimed in, "I know a hidden cave on the mountain! Let's carry him up there quickly, maybe we can escape this disaster!"
San Shun shook his head from the side: "As long as Li Dagen is here, even if we manage to get through today, we can't get through tomorrow. We can't let the potatoes rot in the cave."
“San Shun is right. Li Dagen has become so arrogant. We can’t just sit here and wait to die, or we’ll be at his mercy!” A cold glint flashed in Wan Shu’s eyes as he asked Wan Feng, “Where is Uncle Wang?”
Wan Feng sighed, "I don't know where Uncle Wang went. He left early this morning. Otherwise, with Uncle Wang around, Li Dagen wouldn't be so arrogant!"
With the clan chief absent, things will be a bit more complicated to handle, but it's not impossible to handle.
"Although Chief Wang is not here, Aunt Wang, the other members of the Wang family, and the villagers whose potatoes were stolen are all here. There is strength in numbers. As long as we unite, it will not be a problem to fight against Li Dagen!"
Wan Shu gave the order: "Let's go find Aunt Wang and the others first!"
Wan Feng hurriedly said, "Knowing that I was coming to warn them, my father, mother, brother, and sister-in-law all went up the mountain to hide potatoes. I'll call them back now to help!"
Seeing that he was limping, Wan Shu was worried that he would fall on the mountain road, so he let the strongest man, Da Zhu, go with him, so that the Wan family could return faster.
She led Er Ya, San Shun, Si Ya, and Wu Ping alone, heading towards the Wang family's house.
The Wang family also lived at the entrance of the village.
As Wan Shu was approaching the Wang family's residence, he suddenly saw a horse-drawn carriage drive into Qingshui Village.
Chief Wang, looking nervous, led a portly middle-aged man and a middle-aged man with a goatee out of the car.
Both the royal clan leader and the middle-aged man with a goatee were carefully serving the pot-bellied fat man in the middle.
Seeing this, Wan Shu laughed: "It seems we don't need to confront Li Dagen today!"
The four children looked puzzled.
“Look who’s there.” Wan Shu led them over and quietly pointed to the middle-aged man with a goatee.
The four children's eyes widened instantly.
"This...isn't this the clerk from the county government office?!"
"Yes, this is the clerk in the county government office. I saw him there last time when we severed ties with a family!"
They burst into laughter.
"The clerk is a favorite of the county magistrate! With him around, Li Dagen definitely won't dare to be arrogant today!"
“That’s not all.” Wan Shu pointed to the pot-bellied middle-aged man in the middle and said, “Take a closer look. Isn’t the advisor carefully serving that man the whole time?”
"Take a guess, who could be the person that the advisor treats with such deference?"
In the county government, the position of the clerk was second only to that of the county magistrate.
After a moment's thought, the four men all showed expressions of horror: "This fat man is the county magistrate!"
Wan Shu nodded: "That's right. With the county magistrate arriving at this crucial moment, and such an ugly incident occurring, Li Dagen's good days are over."
With that, Wan Shu turned and walked towards Aunt Wu's house.
"Mother, the village head is at Aunt Wu's house right now, and the county magistrate is there too. What would we do if we went there now?"
Wan Shu forced a bright smile: "Of course, I'll go and add fuel to the fire for Li Dagen!"
——
The villagers were unwilling to hand over their potatoes, so Li Dagen had no choice but to steal them.
Apart from Aunt Wu, the other villagers all have able-bodied men in their families, making it difficult to steal from them.
In order to set a good example and deter the villagers, Li Dagen decided to target the Wu family as his first target.
At the Wu family home, Liang Youqian and Li Chuanzong each carried a basket of potatoes as they walked out.
Aunt Wu followed behind, sobbing uncontrollably: "Oh my god, you heartless bastards! This is all the stuff my grandson and I worked so hard to dig down from the mountain, why should it be confiscated! Why should it be given to other people!"
Li Dagen stood at the front, hands on his hips, looking arrogant: "Just because I'm the village head, I'm the highest-ranking person in the village, and I have the power to distribute the village's grain!"
Some people who knew Aunt Wu spoke up for her.
“This was dug up by Aunt Wu and her grandson on the mountain. It’s clearly their private grain! Besides, potatoes aren’t taxed, so you have no right to distribute them!”
"That's right! You're clearly just after money, plundering the wealth of us villagers!"
Li Dagen was used to being shameless, and when his true colors were exposed, he simply stopped pretending.
With her hands on her hips, she declared defiantly, "Yes, I am indeed exploiting the people, so what?! What can you do to me? Come and hit me if you dare!"
They were all honest and law-abiding farmers; how could they dare to beat Li Dagen?
After all, Li Dagen was both the village head of Qingshui Village and the patriarch of the Li family.
There are so many families with the surname Li in the village, and Li Dagen is in charge of the village's household registration and taxes. If you offend him, you will easily suffer a great loss in the future, whether it is dividing the family property, getting married, or paying taxes.
When everyone thought of this, they all became a little scared and dared not say anything more, leaving only the sobbing of Aunt Wu and her two grandsons.
Li Dagen smiled smugly and waved his hand, intending to have his two sons carry the potatoes away, when a pleasant yet cold female voice suddenly appeared.
"We can't do anything to you! But the county magistrate can!"
Li Dagen turned his head and found that the person speaking was Wan Shu.
The moment he saw Wan Shu, a surge of anger rose within him.
If Wan Shu hadn't found the potatoes, he wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble to steal the villagers' potatoes! He could have just been making money while lying down!
He glared fiercely at Wan Shu: "Who do you think you are, daring to mention the county magistrate? Besides, even if he were the county magistrate, I wouldn't be afraid of him in the slightest!"
"You're just talking the talk." Wan Shu said with a mocking smile as he saw that most of the people had arrived. "If the county magistrate really came, you'd probably be so scared you'd wet yourself!"
Wan Shu's mocking smile deeply wounded Li Dagen's pride, and he immediately flew into a rage: "You're talking nonsense! Even if the county magistrate really came, it would be the county magistrate who would be scared to death by me! He wouldn't be Li..."
"Smack—"
"Clap clap clap clap!"
Before Li Dagen could finish speaking, the clerk rushed up and started slapping Li Dagen's face from both sides, giving him five or six big slaps in one go.
"Who do you think you are to dare insult the county magistrate behind his back!"
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