Dog's mother was seething with anger. She threw the firewood down beside the stove, cursing under her breath, "A twelve-year-old boy, all he does is fish and catch birds all day, just like your deadbeat father. I have to boil water for you to bathe in this freezing weather. Did you chop the firewood? Did you fetch the water? I did all of this..."
The whole family, young and old, does nothing of substance, stealing and cheating, relying solely on this woman to make a living. The family is getting worse day by day.
Wang Dahu came out of the house wearing a coat, his hair disheveled. "Alright, that's enough."
The more Gouzi's mother scolded, the angrier she became. "If you want me to say less, you should do more work. This thirty-year-old man has been sleeping until now, and it's almost dinnertime! I've been married to you for thirteen years, and you say that I, the woman, have done all the work, fetching water and chopping wood. I'm not a widow who lost her husband."
Wang Dahu got annoyed by the nagging, grabbed some firewood and started hitting his wife with it. "You old hag, you live in my house and you dare to curse me to die? I'm the pillar of this family. If I die, you and the two kids will starve."
The mother screamed and ran away, clutching her head. The dog stared intently at the farce, then turned and went into the yard. He scooped water from the water vat and poured it over his head. Soaked, he went back into the house, climbed onto the bed, covered his head with the blanket, and covered his ears with his hands. His five-year-old sister timidly hid behind the kitchen door.
In the middle of the night, there was a knocking on the Lu family's front door. Zhao Fang jumped, put on her cotton coat, and carried a candle to listen carefully. There really was someone knocking, urgently and anxiously. Could it be Wang Li Shi coming back to pick up Daya? But it was so late; if she wanted to pick up the child, she should wait until dawn.
Zhao Fang rushed out, but hesitated to open the door abruptly. "Who is it?"
Wang Dahu pounded on the door, yelling, "Hey, you surnamed Lu, get out here! My son's sick!"
Zhao Fang stopped in the courtyard, while Lu Yunfeng stood on the steps of the inner courtyard. "Wait a moment, I'll ask Doctor Li to come."
"Whoever wants a doctor, I'll come to you! You brought my son back soaking wet today, and it was your family that made him sick. If my son dies, you'll have to pay for it!"
Wang Dahu gave Gouzi's mother a good beating. Women only obey when they are beaten. Look, even after being beaten, she still has to obediently cook and serve him. Gouzi was whimpering in the middle of the night, which annoyed him. He got up to beat his son, only to find that his son was burning red all over and delirious.
He immediately thought of going to the Lu family.
The Lu family is rich; it would be foolish not to take advantage of the situation! Wang Dahu had a well-thought-out plan. As long as he could get three or five taels of silver, it would be enough for his family's expenses for more than half a year. If a little money slipped through their fingers, everyone would be fine. He could stay at home and rest for half a year; working at the docks was truly exhausting.
Zhao Fang spat, "Your son is sick and you, as his father, don't go to see a doctor, but instead come to my house to extort money. You don't care about your own flesh and blood. Even the wild wolves and tigers in the Western Mountains aren't as heartless as you."
Wang Dahu was determined to get some money from the Lu family. He cursed at the door, "As expected, the families that can get rich are all black-hearted. They are not willing to give a single penny."
Qin Xiaozhou was woken up by the noise but couldn't get out of bed, so she could only call for help from the bed. Lu Yan quickly ran in and told her the whole story. Qin Xiaozhou rolled her eyes. She thought the Lu family was being taken advantage of. "Go find the village chief and explain the situation clearly. Then ask Doctor Li to take a look. Remember, don't give Wang Dahu's parents a single penny. We'll pay for the doctor's medicine. Pay for each dose of medicine you take."
Lu Yan immediately understood, "Don't worry, sister-in-law. My eldest brother and I will go find the village chief. Mother will stay here to take care of my younger brother and sister, and my second brother and uncle will guard the yard."
This year, the Li family spent the Lu family's New Year at the Lu family's house. They were worried about wild animals attacking again before the snow melted, so they didn't go back home.
The Lu family gate opened, and Lu Yan stood in the shadows. "Let's go see the village chief. Uncle Da Hu can say whatever he wants in front of the village chief."
Wang Dahu's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't expected the Lu family to be so calm. He had only dared to come and cause trouble because he had heard that Qin Xiaozhou and Wang Lan had both injured their legs and that the Lu family was frequently attacked by wild boars and was in a mess.
Lu Yunfeng knocked on the village chief's door, and Wang Li quickly got up to uphold justice. Lu Yan recounted the whole story and then suggested that her family pay for the medicine if the doctor was asked. Of course, Wang Dahu disagreed, saying that if he only paid for the medical expenses, he would have gotten nothing from all this commotion.
Lu Yan wasn't in a hurry. She said slowly, "You're not even going to call a doctor for the medicine now. If your son's brain gets damaged, we won't take care of him anymore. Today's incident was just your son being naughty and getting water in my pond. We'll accept this bad luck for now, but we won't take responsibility if he's really hurt."
Wang Li couldn't help but look at the young girl from the Lu family. The word "drenched in water" was used brilliantly. He hadn't expected that in less than a year, a little girl could speak so clearly and logically. It seemed that it really did matter if the family was wealthy and the girl had more exposure to the world.
Wang Dahu jumped up and down, "It was clearly your family that made him sick! The stream behind your house is only used by your family, and it's water that flows from the side of your orchard. You even built a pond with stones. It was your family's water that harmed my son."
"Who knows? Who knows if you instigated your child to come to my house and deliberately fall into the water? Who knows if your child caught a cold after taking a bath back home?"
"You, you..." Wang Dahu paced around, looking for something to hit him, but Lu Yunfeng sat watching from the side. He was afraid of this man, who was tall and strong, and had learned some archery and hunting from his father and grandfather.
Lu Yan had originally intended to pay for the medical expenses, but now she didn't want to pay anything at all. "Your son has a fever, but you're trying to extort money from him. I suspect that you deliberately made your son sick. Do you still want the money for the medicine? If so, go and ask my uncle's master. Once it's light, we won't take care of your son anymore. If anything happens to him, I'll go to the yamen and sue you for murdering your own child. Uncle Wang Li can testify that he was the one who stopped us from going to get a doctor for Gouzi."
This chapter is not finished, please click the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
