Chapter 20
Confrontation
Seeing Zhang Zhan’s disbelief, Old Madam w.a.n.g pulled Hu Xiaotong over and asked, “Xiaotong, tell me, is it as I said?” Hu Xiaotong exclaimed and nodded in a daze. “Yes, yes.”
He actually did not really believe it either.
That was a python that weighed more than 3,000 catties!
Even he, who knew a little about arithmetic, found it unbelievable.
How big would that be!
But everyone said so.
When the others heard this topic, they immediately joined in and spoke enthusiastically.
“Isn’t that so! It was really obtained by the w.a.n.g Family’s Ah Yu.”
“My husband said that the python’s head was bleeding. It was Ah Yu who smashed it to death.”
“Speaking of which, I don’t know if it’s because the python is unlucky or if the w.a.n.g Family is too lucky. Out of nowhere, everyone got to eat some python meat. Isn’t that alone enough to let the entire village pa.s.s the winter?”
“If not for the fact that we ate the python meat and our bodies are resistant to the cold, countless people would have frozen to death!”
“Young man, not to mention a python, even you were saved by the little kid from the w.a.n.g Family. The snow was falling heavily and the sky was so dark. Who would have known you had fallen into that crack? If not for her staying with you and spotting you, I’m afraid we would only be able to find you next spring when your corpse starts stinking!”
…
At the thought of freezing to death and rotting into a pile of stinking flesh, even someone as bold as Zhang Zhan was shocked by this imagination.
When he looked at the little kid again, his eyes were filled with tenderness.
From her appearance, she looked like a kind-hearted child. However, for some reason, even though she was already four years old, she looked like a two-year-old.
In the end, she could not be considered to be a healthy person.
Was she really treated well by her family?
“Thank you.” Zhang Zhan first bowed to Little Ah Yu before bowing to the surrounding villagers. “I will never forget your kindness today.”
Old Madam w.a.n.g pulled Ah Yu and nodded. “Yes, you should thank her.”
Little Ah Yu grinned.
Since Zhang Zhan was fine, everyone was relieved. Just as they were about to go about their own business, they heard noise outside.
Zhang Zhan asked, “What’s the dispute outside?”
Someone said angrily, “It must be those people from Shanyang Village!”
The villagers were simple and did not think that there was anything to hide. They told him about the doctor and the extortion from Shanyang Village.
Zhang Zhan thought for a moment and asked, “Was the disaster outside really so serious?”
“Of course! It’s already been snowing heavily for more than a month, and every family doesn’t have any food left. They said that the neighboring villages have become so hungry that they’ve started to eat people! Moreover, we encountered such a huge avalanche and our entire village was buried by the snow. The other villages probably haven’t had a good time either. They haven’t even had a good time on New Year’s Eve.” At this point, the villagers sighed. The people of Shanyang Village had also been forced into a corner.
Who would want to live like a bandit?
However, since the disaster had come knocking on their front door, they naturally could not let them commit crimes as they wished.
Zhang Zhan said, “Everyone, calm down. I’ll go take a look.”
“Uncle.” Zhang Zhan suddenly felt something in his hand.
Little Ah Yu took out half a brown rice cake from her pocket and stuffed it into Zhang Zhan’s hands. She whispered, “Uncle, eat. You haven’t eaten in a long time.”
Little Ah Yu also looked at Zhang Zhan’s pants. They were just two thin patched pants. The st.i.tches were not very thin and could vaguely allow wind in.
It was definitely not warm.
“It’s fine. Uncle will be back in a while.” Zhang Zhan was used to being rough. His heart warmed when he was suddenly cared for. He reached out to touch the small buns on her head and turned to leave.
His sword was gone, so he looked around and found a branch. He took it and went outside.
After sending the biscuits, Little Ah Yu went to help the villagers.
She was very small and shuttled around everyone like a little loach. One moment, she was helping to carry some things, and the next moment, she was helping to clean up the mess.
When she met a few old people who were tired, she stretched out her small hand and helped to ma.s.sage their backs.
Those who were helped would stop and say with a smile, “It’s Ah Yu? Thank you.”
Little Ah Yu was very embarra.s.sed. With a red face, she went to help the others.
When everyone saw this little kid, they felt that their lives were not so tough anymore.
Seeing that their sister was busy, the w.a.n.g Family boys wanted to replace her, but Little Ah Yu said, “Big Brothers, I’m not tired.”
She had drunk the most Myriad Spirit Water and was in good health and spirit.
Usually, at this time, she had to wash her and her mother’s clothes, wash the toilet, and sweep the floor.
She also had to tend to the vegetables in the courtyard…
As Ah Yu thought about it, she became a little confused. Mother didn’t seem to be sick anymore.
There also didn’t seem to be any vegetables in the courtyard.
[You remembered wrongly. It should be a dream.] Seeing that the child was recalling the past, Meatball quickly interrupted.
Little Ah Yu understood. “Oh.”
No wonder she felt that something was wrong. So it was only a dream.
Seeing that their sister was unwilling to rest and they were worried that they would be scolded by their Grandma, the w.a.n.g Family’s boys simply followed her to help.
When the other playful children saw this, they followed suit and helped the villagers.
When Old Master Hu and the other elders saw this, they stroked their beards and said with a smile, “The w.a.n.g Family really chose the right kid to raise.”
“I’ve never seen those brats do anything before. Somehow, I finally managed to see this sight today.”
“She’s a good child. Let Old w.a.n.g’s family take good care of her. Our village will also help take care of her.”
“This kid looks like a blessed child. She has a kind aura.”
“Isn’t that right? Perhaps, our village might be saved this time from this act of compa.s.sion.” Old Master Hu sighed.
Halfway through Hu Family Village, there was a mud dam. Usually, the villagers liked to go there to dry their food and chat.
When the avalanche crashed down, this area was not affected much. Everyone shoveled the snow away and it became a confrontation zone with Shanyang Village.
Shanyang Village was larger than Hu Family Village and had a population of more than a thousand. This time, many people should have been buried in the snow. Now, only 70 to 80 young men had come.
Village Chief Hu brought more than a hundred people and stood opposite them. The two sides had been in a deadlock for a long time.
The people from Shanyang Village were really impatient. They only said, “Are you going to give us food or not? If not, we’ll take it ourselves! Don’t even think about taking Doctor Hu back!”
Village Chief Hu said coldly, “I said that I would give you 100 catties of food, but you refused. Now that you want more, you naturally won’t have any!”
“What can a hundred catties do? It won’t even last us a day. There are so many people in our village. Are they all going to starve to death?” The other party was fierce.
“There’s not enough food all around. Why are you asking our village for food when there’s still the governor, the county magistrate, and the state officials? Our village is the poorest village in the entire town. You—”
Before he could finish speaking, the other party became impatient. A hot-tempered person threw a scythe over.
“F*cking h.e.l.l, you’re not giving it to us, right? Then, that’s condemning us to death! In that case, everyone can forget about living!”
The scythe quickly smashed over. Everyone was terrified when they saw it. It was so close, and everyone was standing close together. Someone was going to be injured!
At that moment, something suddenly flew over from the side. The scythe turned around and smashed into the snow piled up at the side.
With a puff, it disappeared into the snow.
“Are you trying to become bandits and commit murder on the spot? Count how many laws you’ve violated in the Great Chang Kingdom!” Zhang Zhan supported a weak middle-aged man and walked in step by step. His emotionless eyes were even colder than ice.
These villagers really thought that the Emperor was far away and so had no regard for the laws!
When the people from Hu Village saw the middle-aged man, they immediately exclaimed, “Doctor Hu!”
Everyone stepped forward and supported Doctor Hu.