Li Lanzhen noticed that when the water buffalo's mother heard that voice, she visibly flinched.
Both Buffalo and his sister-in-law's expressions changed.
Bao Ya quickly took the candy from her mother's hand, then ran to take all the candy from her grandmother and uncle's hands, put it in the small bowl, and ran to the next room with the bowl in her arms.
At the same time, a short, dark-skinned, and thin old man stepped into the main room.
She didn't go inside the house, but stood at the door with her hands clasped together on her stomach.
A pair of gloomy eyes swept over everyone in the house, finally settling on Li Lanzhen.
Li Lanzhen instantly felt a chill run down her spine, as if she were being targeted by that giant snake.
The water buffalo stepped forward and said, "The village chief is here. Please have a seat."
The village chief ignored what the water buffalo said and just stared at Li Lanzhen.
"Who are you? Where are you from? Why did you come to our village? I heard you are related to the Buffalo family, but I didn't know you were a relative of the Buffalo family."
"If you're here to freeload, trying to steal from the water buffalo's family, or trying to take advantage of our village, I advise you to give up now! Otherwise, I'll make sure you don't leave Shanghe Village alive!"
Li Lanzhen was amused by his domineering attitude. She didn't stand up, but met the old man's gaze and stared at him intently. Her ambiguous smile made the old man uncomfortable, so he looked away.
He snorted and went over to sit down in the chair next to the table.
This chair is generally the seat for the head of the household.
When he spoke again, he stretched out his dark, withered, and thin hand, slammed it on the table, and said sternly.
"Water Buffalo's mother, you need to be clear-headed. You absolutely must not provoke people from outside the village to come to our village."
"How did the buffalo's father die? Don't you know?"
His words immediately enraged the water buffalo's mother.
The woman, who was originally timid and cowardly, burst into tears in front of him.
"Oh dear, water buffalo's father... you died so pitifully..."
If you hadn't insisted on saving the villagers that day, and hadn't gone back to call for them, you wouldn't have been swept away by the flood.
"Oh God! Open your eyes! Look at these ungrateful bastards! How they're bullying us, a widow and her orphan!"
The old woman slapped her thigh and burst into loud sobs.
The village chief probably didn't expect that Buffalo's mother would shout and yell so shamelessly in front of outsiders.
He paused for a moment, then coughed awkwardly twice.
His tone softened, "Water Buffalo's mother, alright, alright. Everyone in our village remembers how good Water Buffalo's father was. I'm just reminding you not to mess with people from outside the village."
Looking at the village chief, who seemed unreasonable and domineering, Li Lanzhen felt uneasy.
She thought that it would be very troublesome to send the vegetables to Youzhou City through Shanghe Village.
She wanted to test the waters and see how the village chief would react to this matter.
However, she did not intend to reveal that they were sending vegetables to Youzhou City.
In the dead of winter, vegetables are so tempting!
Having made up her mind, she said with a smile.
"Village chief, it's like this, I am indeed a relative of the Ox family, but a distant relative."
My village came here as refugees, and I met the water buffalo once; I am the water buffalo's distant cousin.
We came to find them today because we fled famine and arrived here. The Youzhou Prefecture government said that the imperial court will arrange household registration and assign villages to us who fled famine and arrived here next spring.
So now we live in the mountains. In the autumn, the villagers harvest mountain products and want to take them to Youzhou City to sell. It takes two or three days to get to Youzhou City from the mountain road.
We planned to transport the goods to your village by water, and then from there to Youzhou City.
Before she could finish speaking, the village chief waved his hand, interrupting Li Lanzhen.
He frowned impatiently. "I don't care what you want to send into Youzhou City, but you have to pay a fee if it passes through our village."
Then he proudly raised his chin.
“Look at Xiahe Village, they live on the other side of the river. To get to Youzhou City, they have to pass through our village.”
So every time they came to our village, they had to hand over silver or grain to our village, depending on how much stuff they brought and how many people came.
"It's the same if you want to pass through our village."
Li Lanzhen wanted to spit on him in her heart; he was truly insatiable!
Luckily, I didn't mention that I wanted to transport vegetables, otherwise he would have become envious and I'm afraid I would have spoiled him!
It seems that passing through here to reach Youzhou City is not feasible; we need to find another way!
Li Lanzhen chuckled and said, "Village chief, it's like this: we fled here from famine. There are only about 30 people in the village now. In the autumn, we rushed up the mountain and managed to harvest some mushrooms, wood ear fungus, and wild vegetables."
Most of them kept the food at home, but a small portion wanted to take it to Youzhou City to exchange for some silver to buy food for their children.
How could I possibly refuse to pay you, Village Chief, a toll?
The village chief snorted coldly, "I don't care about that. Anyway, as long as you pass through our village, you must hand over grain or silver, or don't blame our village for being impolite!"
Liu Lanzhen really wanted to pick him up and throw him outside.
Seeing Han Mingjiang sitting next to him with his fists clenched and glaring angrily.
Fearing he might cause trouble, I gave him a look, telling him to calm down.
Han Mingjiang relaxed and sat quietly without making a sound.
The water buffalo stepped forward and began to plead for Li Lanzhen.
“Village chief, look, my aunt and her family have come all the way from their hometown to escape famine. They live in the mountains, but they have nowhere to live and no food to eat. They want to exchange the mountain produce they find for some silver to buy some food for their children.”
"How about we waive their toll fees this winter?"
Before he could finish speaking, a sharp-tongued young woman outside the door said something sarcastic.
"Water buffalo, why are you siding with outsiders?"
We don't care if you're some kind of cousin or a refugee; anyone passing through the village must pay grain and silver!
Otherwise, what will we eat?
She rolled her eyes as she finished speaking, then muttered something under her breath.
"You traitor!"
The water buffalo woman was also unwilling and glared at her, saying...
“Hey, village chief’s youngest daughter-in-law, who do you think is betraying their own family? Who do you think is siding with outsiders?”
Are you talking about yourself? You've taken a lot of things from the village chief's house and taken them to your mother's house. Aren't you an ingrate? Aren't you a traitor? Aren't you turning your back on your own family?
"If my water buffalo's father hadn't gone to call for your family, would he have been swept away by the flood?"
As she spoke, she started wailing and crying again.
The village chief stood up and went outside as soon as he saw this.
"Alright, stop howling!"
I'm making this clear: anyone passing through our village must leave behind either silver or grain!
After saying that, he turned around and led a group of people out again.
Seeing that they had all left, the water buffalo woman immediately fell silent and wiped away imaginary tears from her face.
Smiling, he said to Li Lanzhen, "Don't worry, sister. If you don't have much, just have Shui Niu and his brother help you sell it in Youzhou City."
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