"Speak!"
Li Lanzhen's roar startled everyone around her.
One of the gaunt old men jumped out, pointing at Li Lanzhen, "You're the one who told us to go into the shed to take shelter from the rain. This forest isn't yours, so why can't we go in to take shelter from the rain?"
"Ah. This forest does not belong to my family, but we, several families, worked hard and used our own tools to build this shed. So now, the ownership of this shed belongs to our families."
"Why should I?" a woman standing next to him shouted.
"It's because we got here first, first come, first served. If you're not happy about it, then keep it to yourself!"
In fact, after the people of Hanjiacun reached the top of the mountain, they also followed Li Lanzhen's example and quickly set up sheds to settle their children and elderly relatives inside to avoid the rain.
Even if it's small and simple, as long as my family can find shelter from the rain, that's fine.
Who knew there would be a few such extreme individuals who always try to take advantage of others?
Seeing that Li Lanzhen and her group's shed could still accommodate a few people, they started causing trouble.
“This is from our Hanjia Village. You are from Hanjia Village, so you can move in. But why are your two in-laws and your parents moving into our Hanjia Village’s shed?”
"That's right, let them come out."
"Let's see who dares to come in! The sheds in Hanjia Village, haha, you've got some nerve! With such a big face, why don't you go and stop the flood?" Li Lanzhen retorted domineeringly.
“This shed was built by my two in-law families and my maternal family together. Han Family Village? When you fled famine, why didn’t you say you would take your old mother with you? You abandoned us, a widow and her children, and you still have the nerve to call it Han Family Village.”
Li Lanzhen caught a glimpse of the village chief standing a little distance away, watching them without coming over, and she already had her own ideas.
"I can tell you, you are indeed from Han Family Village, but I can leave Han Family Village. Along the way, how many things have my two in-laws done? Are you blind? My in-law Xue's prey was hunted by you dogs, and you didn't even get to eat it. If my in-law Zhang hadn't discovered that the stream was muddy and the water level was rising, you would have survived."
A bunch of bastards, standing here talking about Han Family Village to me. Pah! Utterly shameless. Get the hell out of here. If you mess with me again, I'll teach you a lesson you won't forget.
Turning his head, he looked at Han Mingjiang, Li Guangyang, and Da Niu standing behind him and ordered, "Second brother, keep an eye on things. If anyone dares to force their way in, beat them up, beat them hard. If you kill one, throw them into the flood."
After Li Lanzhen finished speaking, she went inside to prepare the betrothal gifts.
This matter is urgent. Otherwise, when my youngest son studies and takes the imperial examinations in the future, people will bring it up and ruin his future.
Once inside the shed, the families consciously divided themselves into several sections, each with their own territory, so no one bothered anyone else, yet they could still look after each other.
She rummaged through her basket, which was actually just a cover for herself. She took out half a pound of dark flour, half a pound of cornmeal, two pounds of dark flour bran, one pound of soybeans, a handful of brown sugar, and a piece of floral cotton cloth.
The village chief and Aunt Huaihua had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son was Han Shunde, and Han Shulan was his youngest daughter.
The second son, Han Shunkui, encountered his father-in-law's village on his way to escape famine. They were heading to the capital, but their direction was different from the village chief's, so they parted ways.
The daughter is Han Yanyan.
Knowing that the village chief's family had already divided their property, Li Lanzhen decided to go directly to Han Shunde's house.
Prepare your things, put them in the basket, sling it on, and go out to call Han Minghai.
"Eldest son, you and your mother are going to your uncle's house in Shunde to present the betrothal gifts. Oh, we need to find a matchmaker first. Who should we choose?"
Li Lanzhen looked at her eldest son with a bit of a loss.
Han Minghai smiled and said, "Just find Aunt Zheng from Uncle Dazhong's family. When Dad was alive, he had a good relationship with Uncle Dazhong, so it would be best to go to her."
"Oh, okay, wait a minute, let me prepare something for the matchmaker. She can't go empty-handed." Li Lanzhen went inside and looked around. There was an extra bag in her basket. Inside were a handful of brown sugar wrapped in paper, two catties of black wheat bran, and a catty of millet. Han Dazhong's daughter-in-law was also heavily pregnant, so it was good to give her some nourishment.
The mother and daughter went out with oilcloths on their heads.
First, they went to Han Dazhong's house. He had gone up to the top of the mountain with Li Lanzhen and the others, and a shed had been set up next to them.
Is Sister Zheng here?
"Yes, come in," Zheng Dani replied in a loud voice.
Li Lanzhen knew she was a straightforward person and didn't beat around the bush, directly stating her thoughts.
"Sister-in-law, I'd like to ask you to be our matchmaker and come with us to Han Deshun's house to propose marriage."
He then placed the cloth bag on a wooden stump.
Zheng Dani readily agreed, "Okay. The fact that you want me to be your matchmaker means you think highly of me, so why not? Let's go now."
Zheng Dani did not refuse what Li Lanzhen had put down. It was a custom, and it would be bad to refuse. She thought to herself that it probably wasn't anything valuable. What could one have on a journey of fleeing famine?
They followed Li Lanzhen there, but unexpectedly, as soon as they reached the village chief's thatched shed, they heard adults crying and children shouting inside, making a commotion.
"Dad, you still want us to help Yanyan's family? What are you afraid of? Have you forgotten that it was that bastard Gu Yuli who pushed my daughter into the flood? She's not human!"
This is Liu Daidi, Han Deshun's wife, crying out.
Then the village chief angrily shouted, "Yan Yan is still your sister-in-law, if you don't take care of her, who will?"
"Father, we've separated our households!"
"So what if they've separated? Blood is still blood. We have to help!"
Li Lanzhen was a little surprised, because the village chief had proposed the division of the family property.
What's the situation now?
He didn't stop them from causing trouble outside Li Lanzhen's shed. He was envious of that shed, so he just let them make a scene.
However, he heard Li Lanzhen's words clearly and understood them; he also knew that those words were meant for him.
But what could he do? He thought it over and over, and realized that this family absolutely could not be separated.
If they separated, Li Lanzhen would never have helped her daughter Yanyan on the road to escape famine. But she loves her own daughter, so she is now forcing her eldest son to continue taking care of her.
At the edge of the flood, Li Lanzhen shouted loudly, telling her youngest son to take good care of his granddaughter, saying that her eldest granddaughter was his daughter-in-law. At that moment, the village chief regretted it immensely. He should have known better than to bring up the division of the family. On the way to escape famine, the two families became related by marriage. Wouldn't he take care of his daughter, Yan Yan, and her family of three?
So now he's forcibly putting his eldest son in charge, but he didn't expect his eldest daughter-in-law's attitude to be so tough. He knows she's his granddaughter, and he's furious that she pushed his granddaughter and great-granddaughter into the river. But what can he do?
Li Lanzhen didn't know what she was thinking, and even if she did, it would be the same. What kind of person was the one who killed her youngest son? Regardless of whether they were related by marriage or not, it would be good enough if she didn't beat them with a stick.
At this moment, Han Yanyan was heard loudly reprimanding Gu Yuli.
"Yuli, quickly kneel down and beg your aunt and uncle to help us get out of this famine. If we split up the family, no one will take care of us. We're doomed! Sister-in-law, please have mercy! You can't separate us from the family! You can't just stand by and watch us die!"
Liu Daidi laughed in anger, "Yanyan, do you have any conscience at all? What do you mean by 'watching someone die'? If I don't help you, that's watching someone die. But your own daughter pushed my daughter and my granddaughter into the flood. What is that? That's murder! If we weren't fleeing famine, it wouldn't be too much for her to be taken to the county government and given 30 lashes."
"Dad, let me make this clear: we've already separated the family. If you and Mom want to take care of those three, then go ahead. We're moving out; we'll be responsible for our own survival, eating scraps and barely scraping by."
The village chief turned around angrily and asked Han Shunde, "Boss, is that what you mean too?"
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