Zhang Erzhu was famous in the village for his bad temper. No matter how hard Zhang Xiaochun tried to hide, he couldn't escape his father and was dragged off the kang without any face.
Zhang Erzhu was dragged to the door and threw him forward, "She's here. Talk to the village chief if you have anything to say." After saying that, he turned around and went back to the house as if to say, "Don't ask me anything." He didn't care at all why the village chief was looking for Zhang Xiaochun.
The village chief glared at her angrily. Zhang Xiaochun didn't dare to look him in the eye. She lowered her head guiltily and pinched her fingers.
"Xiaochun, I want to ask you, did you let Zhou Xiaoniang's pig run away?"
Zhang Xiaochun raised his head abruptly, his face innocent, his hands and head shaking from side to side: "I didn't, I didn't."
The village chief spat, "Everyone has seen it, and you still refuse to admit it! Hurry and find the pig for them! If it's not you, then think of it as helping Zhou Xiaoniang's family find it."
Zhang Xiaochun shouted reluctantly, "Why?! I didn't do it!" Seeing Xu Xingchen standing by, she pointed at him and shouted, "Widow Xu is so kind, let Widow Xu find it!"
The village chief stomped his cane in anger and said, "Just because you released someone else's pig!"
Zhang Xiaochun still had a stern face and refused to admit it. "I didn't do that! I didn't even know Zhou Xiaoniang's pig ran away. She's slandering me!"
"My son Shuanzi fell down while looking for pigs, and his injury relapsed. It's all your fault!" Zhou Xiaoniang was furious when she saw that Zhang Xiaochun refused to admit it even though he was in such a state. She was very angry when she thought of Shuanzi who was unable to get out of bed.
Zhang Xiaochun burst into tears immediately, with big tears sliding down her highland red cheeks, and her throat choked with sobs, "I didn't do it, you wronged me!"
"You, what evidence do you have that I let him escape?"
Zhou Xiaoniang argued forcefully: "I saw you hanging around my door while I was feeding the pigs last night!"
"What's wrong with me passing by your house? Did you see with your own eyes that it was your pigs that were released?" Zhang Xiaochun was not to be outdone.
Xu Xingchen's eyes flickered. Well, witnesses are useless; the other party needs physical evidence. She thought about it and decided to just repay Zhou Xiaoniang for speaking up for her. She quietly left the scene of the quarrel and walked towards Zhou Xiaoniang.
When passing by his own yard, Munduner was sticking his butt out and making a snowman in the yard.
"Dun'er!"
When Munduner heard the shouting, he moved his short legs, turned around, and looked at the person who called him with his eyes flashing.
Xu Xingchen leaned against the fence and waved at him with a smile: "Come, son, mommy will take you to play."
Munduner looked doubtful, but the other party was his biological mother, and a good boy should listen to his mother, so he slowly moved in front of Xu Xingchen.
Xu Xingchen clapped his hands and opened them. Munduner pouted, used his hind legs to jump lightly, and grabbed her neck. Xu Xingchen took the opportunity to hug his son.
Bringing Munduner to Zhou Xiaoniang's house, she did not go into the house but went directly to the pigpen in the backyard.
The stone enclosure had been torn down, leaving a mess. The stench from the pigpen was unbearable. Mundun wrinkled his nose and snorted, "Stinky! Stinky!..."
Xu Xingchen rubbed his little head and carried him into the pigsty despite his objection. She looked around.
The hay mixed with feces on the ground of the pigpen was soft and made a "squeaking" sound when stepped on. Xu Xingchen shuddered in discomfort and suppressed the dampness in his throat.
She looked around the pigpen, but there were many footprints around and she couldn't identify people by the footprints, so she left the pigpen.
Standing outside the pigpen, she asked Munduner, "My lovely Munduner, use your big eyes to help Mommy see if there is anything here that doesn't belong to this home."
Mundun'er covered his mouth and nose tightly with his two little hands and his eyes rolled around.
The big and the small just stared at each other, and finally Menduner gave in. He loosened his hands from his mouth and nose, pointed at the collapsed direction of the fence and said hurriedly: "There! There's something!" After that, he immediately covered his mouth and nose.
The little guy pointed so quickly that Xu Xingchen didn't even see what he was pointing at. When he asked Mundun again, he refused to let go. Helplessly, Xu Xingchen had to follow the direction to look for it.
She tiptoed across the stones and came to the fence. There was a big hole at the bottom of the fence.
A piece of green floral clothing was fluttering on the broken edge of the fence. Xu Xingchen's face lit up with joy. She reached out to take the piece of cloth and looked at it. She frowned and couldn't remember who in the village had given her the green clothing with red floral patterns.
She was still searching in her mind for the owner of the rag when the noisy sounds got closer and closer, so she quickly stood up to take a look.
Zhou Xiaoniang and Zhang Xiaochun came over here with disheveled hair, and the village chief followed behind with a fierce look on his face, limping. After Xu Xingchen thought for a moment, he asked Mundun'er to hide his figure and went to meet them.
She presented the rag to the village chief, "Village chief, this is a piece of clothing I found on the fence next to the pigpen. I'm not sure if it is..." a piece of clothing from Zhang Xiaochun.
Xu Xingchen was interrupted by her when he was halfway through his words, because Zhang Xiaochun was wearing a green and red floral jacket!
The village chief took the rag, looked at it, and then looked at Zhang Xiaochun, "Zhang Xiaochun, didn't you say you were just passing by Zhou Xiaoniang's house? How come there are pieces of your clothes on her fence?"
Zhang Xiaochun's face turned pale when he saw the cloth, but he still stubbornly retorted: "Village chief, why do you think it's me just because of a piece of rag? Who in the village knows who uses the same cloth as me to make a jacket?"
While Zhang Xiaochun and Zhou Xiaoniang were arguing, Xu Xingchen quietly went behind Zhang Xiaochun. There was a patch of the same pattern on Zhang Xiaochun's shoulder. Although it was not visible from a distance, it was obvious when viewed up close. The edges of the floral pattern did not even match.
"Village Chief, the patch on Zhang Xiaochun's shoulder is about the size of a rag."
Xu Xingchen made a just report.
Zhang Xiaochun immediately turned around and covered his shoulder. "Widow Xu, what nonsense are you talking about? Who doesn't have a patch on their clothes?"
Xu Xingchen spread his hands, and the rags in his hands swayed in the wind.
When Zhou Xiaoniang heard this, she stepped forward and grabbed Zhang Xiaochun's collar. She was half a head shorter than Zhang Xiaochun, and Zhang Xiaochun struggled so hard that he couldn't see anything during the tug.
Zhang Xiaochun screamed and shook off Zhou Xiaoniang, then picked up the collar of his clothes in public. The village chief originally wanted to go forward to see the patch that Xu Xingchen mentioned, but Zhang Xiaochun's action scared him so much that he turned around immediately.
"Ouch, ouch! Zhang Xiaochun, what are you doing?! This is immoral! You have no shame!"
Zhang Xiaochun took off his jacket and threw it to the ground. He stomped on it, kicked it, and crushed it like crazy, cursing viciously: "Look, look, look, I told you to look! I told you to look! I have no shame, so I don't want it anymore!"
Zhang Xiaochun's sudden crazy behavior shocked everyone. Then she finished her throwing a tantrum, covered her face and ran away crying, leaving several people stunned.
The village chief looked at the direction Zhang Xiaochun ran and shook his head and sighed.
Zhou Xiaoniang murmured, "Village Chief, she admitted that she released my pig, didn't she?"
Xu Xingchen was silent, then became angry out of shame.
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