The people who gathered around included teachers from the academy and some farmers from nearby areas.
Upon hearing that a child had been abducted, they quickly gathered around. These days, every family has a few naughty kids.
As more and more people gathered around, the Liu family members became uneasy, since they had indeed intended to snatch the child.
But then I thought, this child is my own, so how can there be any talk of snatching a child?
Seeing the crowd gathered around, the elderly Mrs. Liu quickly explained, "Everyone, please don't misunderstand, this is my child, I am her biological grandmother."
Two of them knew the children of the Su family, but the person who claimed to be the children's biological mother didn't even know her.
He quickly shouted to the crowd, "Don't believe this old woman Qian. I know these children; they are from my daughter's village. I also know their grandmother; she is not this old woman at all."
Upon hearing this, everyone was certain that these three were human traffickers.
The village chief immediately summoned his son and ordered, "Tie them up and take them to the county government. Does anyone know anyone in this child's family? Go and let them know."
It was originally a village on both sides, and the people who had been there soon came to Old Su's house to explain the situation.
When Old Man Su heard that his precious granddaughter had almost been kidnapped, he immediately took his third son and headed to the next village.
The distance wasn't far to begin with, and the two of them ran this way with almost all their might.
When Su Laosan broke through the crowd, he saw his son and daughter surrounded by people, as well as the sons of his eldest and second eldest brothers.
Seeing that everyone was there, I finally felt relieved.
He rushed over, pulled his daughter into his arms, and shouted angrily, "Who is the shameless one who tried to kidnap my child?"
I had barely finished speaking when I saw the family that had come to my house to ask for my child before.
It's obvious they didn't get it before, so now they're trying to steal it by force.
Before Su Laosan could say anything, an old man next to him tapped his cigarette ash.
Pointing to the Liu family members, he said to his village chief, "I know them. They are from Liu Family Village, which is next to Taoliu Village."
"What? You're from Liu Family Village? Liu Family Village really is a den of kidnappers!"
Some villagers nearby, also puzzled, inquired about the matter.
"You wouldn't believe it, but last time, Liu Ergou's wife from Liujia Village stole a child. When she was about to be caught, she actually threw the child into the river."
The woman who had been asking questions nearby slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Oh my goodness! How can a child survive after being thrown into the river and rescued? It's so cold outside, is this something a human would do?"
"Of course, the child thrown into the river was pulled out immediately, but he was already lifeless when they pulled him out."
"Yes, yes, I heard about it too. The child was dead when it was pulled out of the water. The mother went crazy. The old couple had wanted a child for so many years, and only had this one child when they were so old. They never expected that someone would ruin it like this."
"What a terrible thing to do."
The crowd chattered about the matter, and finally someone asked the right question.
"And what happened in the end? Was Liu Ergou's wife ultimately sentenced?"
"Oh my, how could they not sentence him? I heard he was sentenced to exile, and he'll never be able to come back in this lifetime."
"That's her own fault."
After this incident, the villagers looked at the Liu family with even colder expressions.
These days, which family doesn't have a few children? If they can steal from someone else, they'll steal from their own. We should beat that person to death no matter what.
The woman who spoke first looked at her village chief and said, "Village chief, can we take action against this child trafficker? This is no small matter."
"Yes, yes, village chief. People like that shouldn't live; they should be killed on the spot."
When the villagers heard that they were all talking about how they were going to be punished, how could the members of the Liu family agree to it?
“You can report us to the authorities and have us arrested, so that the upright official can see if I am a human trafficker.”
“This baby originally belonged to our family. After the people from Taoliu Village took her away, they refused to return her. When I went to ask for her back, I was beaten. I had no choice but to come here to talk to the child and see if she would be willing to come home with us.”
Su Laosan ignored their explanations, stuffed rags into the mouths of the three members of the Liu family, and dragged them away.
This large group of people went to the town to find the village head.
Anri is currently troubled about how to collect the remaining taxes.
Just as he was getting annoyed, a large group of people arrived and started a child abduction case. When he asked, it turned out they were from Liujia Village.
"Damn it, go and call the village chief of Liujia Village over here. Who are these people? Can't we even manage them?"
Anli wanted to see if the village chief of Liujia Village could still hold his position.
If it doesn't work out, then step down and let someone more capable take over. What kind of people are these who are making such a mess in the village?
So not only did the village chief of Liujia Village come, but even the old lady Liu's husband, the head of the Liu family, came along.
As soon as Mrs. Liu saw her husband arrive, she cried out, "Oh dear, my arm and my leg! Husband, come and save me! I feel like my arm is about to break!"
Old Liu looked unwell and bowed deeply to An Lizheng, apologizing profusely. "It must be a misunderstanding by the Su family. My wife is so old; she's stayed in the village all her life and never went anywhere else. How could she possibly be thinking of stealing a child? There must be some misunderstanding."
Su Laosan retorted angrily, "What misunderstanding? She clearly wanted to steal my daughter. Otherwise, why would she be bothering my daughter and trying to take her away? Do I need to explain what she meant?"
Old Su, standing nearby, tapped his cigarette butt.
“Yes, my child is well-behaved and sensible and never lies. Your old woman came up and tried to take my granddaughter away. Isn’t that child abduction? People who abduct others’ children will never admit that they are child abductors.”
The villagers nearby were also talking about it. What kind of kidnapper would tell others that their family members are child abductors?
As the people around her talked amongst themselves, it seemed as if they were about to conclude that she was a child abductor.
Her face flushed with anger, she said, "I'll say it again, this child is ours. We didn't kidnap him. He was abandoned on that mountain and picked up by your Su Laosan. We came to your door to ask for him back, but you wouldn't give him to us."
As soon as he said this, the village chief of Liu Village rolled his eyes. As long as it wasn't child abduction, the reputation of Liu Village could still be salvaged.
Village Chief Liu stepped forward and explained to the village head, "Village head, look, that child might really be from our Liu family village. I heard before that the Su family took in their child on the same day that the Liu family's third son lost his child."
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