Li Lanzhen looked up and saw the hemp rope hanging down from above, still about a meter above her.
He casually pulled out a cabinet that was as tall as a person.
This cabinet must have been placed into the space inside the Ankang City government office.
She turned to Han Mingjiang and said, "Second brother, hurry up and tie the rope. I don't know what's going on up there. Could it be that the soldiers have broken in?"
Li Lanzhen's words put Xue Laohu and Han Mingjiang on edge.
Xue Laohu leaped onto the cabinet, holding a hemp rope in his hand. He grabbed the top half and tied a tight knot.
He looked down at them and said, "You two stay down here, I'll go up and take a look first."
With that, he grabbed the rope with both hands, hooked his feet around it, and quickly swung up.
At this moment, people around the cave were pulling and comforting each other.
After Xue Laohu went up, he pushed through the crowd and saw that it was his own daughter riding on Zhou Shi's lap slapping her hard across the face.
At this moment, Zhou's mouth was bleeding, and one of his eyes had turned into a black panda eye.
The two little grandsons raised their fists and kept shouting, "Mom, beat her up! Beat her up!"
Meanwhile, his son Xue Bao crossed his arms and stared intently at Zhou Laonian and his sons.
His wife, standing beside their son, was also glaring menacingly at the people of Zhoujia Village.
Han Minghai and his brother-in-law and father-in-law stood in a circle, including Da Niu, Er Niu, and San Niu, blocking the people from Zhoujia Village.
When he turned his head, he saw that Han Yinan, Gou Dan, and Su Chen, the three boys, had also formed a circle.
When the old village chief saw him coming up, he quickly called out, "Hey, Hunter Xue, you've finally made it up!!"
Xue Laohu nodded and shouted, "Girl, let go! Stand up!"
When Xue Nizi heard her father's voice, her body trembled. This was a stress reaction from being naughty and mischievous since childhood and being afraid of being beaten by her father.
As soon as Han Yisong saw his grandfather return, he exclaimed "Wow!" and ran over to hug his leg, starting to complain.
"Grandpa, boohoo, she's mean! She insulted Grandma! She said Grandma fell into a hole in the ground and was eaten by wild animals. She said she was carried away by wolves! Boohoo, Grandpa, Grandma wasn't carried away by wolves! I want Grandma back!"
Xue Laohu bent down and picked up Han Yisong and Han Yibo, who rushed over.
She said gently, "Sweetheart! Don't cry. Your grandma is doing well. She even found you a treasure."
Then, turning to Xue Nizi, who was straddling Zhou Shi, he said, "Nizi, get up! Hitting someone like that would only dirty your hands!"
Then he turned to the old village chief and said, "Old village chief, my in-law fell into a cave. Inside, she found a skeleton and a lot of grain."
After Han Mingjiang and I went down, we put the bones in the coffin.
There's plenty of grain, so we need a few able-bodied men to go down into the underground caves and carry it up.
The previously noisy surroundings immediately quieted down upon hearing the sound of grain being harvested.
Zhou stopped shouting, sat up, and glared fiercely at Han Yinan and the other children.
Upon hearing this, Han Shunde quickly organized several able-bodied young men to prepare to go down.
Upon arriving at the cave entrance, they saw Li Lanzhen already peeking out.
When Han Minghai saw Li Lanzhen, his eyes were filled with tears. He quickly reached out his hand and shouted, "Mother! Mother! Hold my hand, and your son will pull you up."
Li Lanzhen looked up and saw her eldest son's red eyes and worried expression. She smiled gently and felt relieved. It shouldn't be soldiers chasing after them.
She stretched out a hand and called out, "Eldest son, Mom is fine. Don't worry!"
Han Minghai wiped his eyes, grabbed Li Lanzhen's hand tightly, and lifted her up, causing Li Lanzhen to jump outside the cave.
She glanced around and knew it was an internal conflict.
Looking at his second daughter-in-law again, her hair was disheveled, and there were bloody scratch marks on her cheeks.
Frowning, he said sternly, "Who is it? Who hit my second daughter-in-law? Step forward!"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it intimidated those around her.
When Linglong and Miaomiao saw Li Lianzhen, they immediately rushed over, hugged her legs tightly, and started crying.
"Grandma! Grandma, we were so worried about you. We were playing in the river when we heard a splash and you disappeared."
Linglong pointed at Zhou Shi, who was sitting on the ground, and said, "Grandma, it's her! She said bad things about you, that you fell into a hole, were carried away by wolves, and drowned in the flood. You deserved it! Waaah!"
Miao Miao continued to complain, "Grandma, Linglong and I argued with her, and then she chased after me trying to hit me. When my second aunt came, we fought with her."
The two little people quickly explained the situation to Li Lanzhen.
Li Lanzhen glanced at Granny Zhou's disheveled appearance, then turned to the village chief and said, "Village chief, the grain I found in the underground cave should not be given to the Zhou family."
Zhou jumped up like a madwoman, pointing at Li Lanzhen and shouting, "Why! You awful old woman, why won't you give our family any grain?"
Li Lanzhen stood still, looking at her coldly, and said, word by word, "Just because I found the grain, I can give it to whomever I want."
Originally, the food I found could have been shared with no one but my in-laws and my parents.
However, I am thinking of my fellow villagers and how difficult it was for them to escape famine, so I want to allocate some to Han Family Village.
When we encountered difficulties, Dongjiazhuang helped us wholeheartedly, so I should also share the grain I found with Dongjiazhuang.
I was thinking that, aside from you, grain should be distributed to other families in Zhoujia Village. But since you've said this, I might not distribute any to Zhoujia Village.
The people of Zhoujia Village were unhappy to hear this.
Village Chief Zhou stepped forward and said, "Old Zhou, you better keep your wife in check. She's been causing trouble all the way out of the village. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have run into the soldiers. The people of Dongjia Village scattered and fled, falling apart."
"You're still causing trouble here. If that's the case, you should all leave the village."
Li Lanzhen disdained to concern herself with their infighting and simply told the village chief, "My only request is that the land not be given to the Zhou family."
He cursed at me, beat my child, and still wanted to eat the food I found. How could he be so shameless? If everyone disagrees, I'll take my in-laws and my parents and find another way to leave on my own.
How could the old village chief, the people of Hanjiacun, and the people of Dongjiazhuang be separated from Li Lanzhen?
They all nodded in agreement.
The old village chief shouted, "Let's establish a rule today: from now on, those who don't promote unity, who split up, and who speak ill of the villagers—we'll expel them and let them go on their own. We also won't share any of the food and water we find with them!"
Li Lanzhen nodded in agreement with the old village chief's statement; this rule should have been established long ago.
Han Shunde called to Han Zhaoxiong and a few other young men to go down and carry grain. Han Minghai was also about to go down, but Han Shunde stopped him.
"Help your mother go inside and rest for a while."
Li Lanzhen was indeed quite tired from living in fear.
He then took Linglong and Miaomiao's little hands and walked towards his own thatched shed.
Xue Nizi followed behind, glancing at her mother-in-law's expression every now and then.
Li Lanzhen found it amusing and said, "Why are you looking at me? You did the right thing. From now on, if anyone bullies our family, we'll rush up and beat them up without hesitation. Of course, we'll only do it if we're confident we can win. If we can't, we'd better run home and come find me!"
Xue Nizi was overjoyed, proudly raising her face and chuckling, "Mom, no one can beat me!"
Ms. Wu slapped her on the shoulder from the side.
This girl has been like a tomboy since she was little, fearless and daring.
As dusk approached, Han Mingjiang and Han Minghai returned, each carrying a basket on their backs.
Han Mingjiang said, "Mom, this is the grain that our family was allocated."
Han Minghai put down his basket and said with a smile, "Mother, dark flour, wheat bran, and all sorts of beans."
Han Yinan clenched her fist and said, "Grandma, let me tell you, that old woman Zhou was jumping up and down saying that Uncle Xue Bao's family, my maternal grandmother's family, and my great-grandmother's family are not from Han Family Village, so they shouldn't be given any land."
"And the result?" Li Lanzhen asked.
"As a result, the old village chief scolded me."
Li Lanzhen shook her head and said, "This Zhou family member will get into trouble sooner or later if she stays with us. How did the old village chief end up with such a relative by marriage? Our relatives are much better!"
Xue Nizi and Zhang Yueniang were overjoyed to hear their mother-in-law praise their family.
"Boss, grab a handful of beans and feed some to the big green mule and the donkey."
Seeing her grandsons gathered around her, she instructed them, "From now on, when you see that Granny Zhou, stay far away from her. If she dares to come near you, shout loudly, crying and shouting for Grandma."
Do you understand? Especially you two little girls. Miaomiao and Linglong, did you hear me?
The children all had serious little faces and were nodding their heads vigorously.
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