Chapter 241 - Something Happened
If Ye Lulu was around, her expression would have changed. Indeed, there were people who took the moral high ground!
They would say that since there were people in more difficult circ.u.mstances, why didn"t the Guan family take care of them instead? Or on what basis was the Guan family taking care of only this family in need? What about the other families?
Guan Chixi stopped in his tracks when he heard the villagers. He looked at the people in front of him and opened his mouth. Although he wanted to rebut, he could not say anything.
The villagers had unkind expressions. They all stopped Guan Chixi, seemingly wanting him to give an explanation.
However, they could not force someone to give them an explanation.
After all, this was the Guan family"s business.
They could only stop Guan Chixi for a moment and say something.. Then, everyone looked at him, seemingly wanting him to say something.
Guan Chixi was speechless.
He held it in for a long time and didn"t say anything. He was afraid that he would anger the villagers and affect his image in the village, so he didn"t say anything in the end. He just strode forward and looked like he was about to walk home.
The villagers had no reason to stop him.
They could only watch as Guan Chixi returned to the Guan family without giving a reply.
The villagers were left behind. Their expressions were still ugly as they said nasty words of mockery to the Guan family.
They had taken the moral high ground and mentioned the other elderly people in the village. They didn"t look good, but in fact, they were jealous and unhappy.
Who wouldn"t want to get food for free?
They were jealous that the Guan family was helping Old Aunt Xu"s family while they couldn"t receive the same help.
Hence, they wanted to use the Xu family as a reason to blame the Guan family for helping only certain poor and old people.
There were many villagers who had such thoughts.
Soon, the village was filled with unpleasant discussions, condemnations, and mockery of the Guan family.
Guan Chixi entered the house and heaved a sigh of relief as if he was escaping a disaster. When he saw the wall outside, he had to admit that the house felt safe. It was as if they were isolated from the outside world.
He told the Guan family what the villagers had said.
He even said that he didn"t know how to reply. He was afraid that if he said anything wrong, it would attract more villagers" blame. He was also afraid that the villagers would quarrel with him outside, so he didn"t say anything and rushed back.
When Ye Lulu heard this, she was exasperated at his failure to meet expectations. She immediately educated him, "How can you be so stupid? If you don"t rebut anything, wouldn"t you be letting those people talk about our Guan family? Are you stupid? Don"t you know how to scold them back for saying such overboard words? Let me tell you, you should have said this back then…"
"You also know that we"re the Guan family. Since it"s our family"s business, we can take care of whoever we want. Who are you to arrange for us? What right do you have to influence our family"s matters? You make it sound like it"s so difficult for those families. If you want to help, your family can help them yourselves."
"Our family happened to b.u.mp into Old Aunt Xu who had fainted, so we helped the Xu family. This is fate. However, even the officials don"t have the right to ask our family to take care of anyone. What right do you have to speak?"
"It"s really funny. It"s true that there are older people in the village who suffered worse, but our Guan family isn"t a rich family. We just happened to save Old Aunt Xu, so we should help her if we can. Who said that we should help everyone after helping the Xu family?"
"According to what you said, as the ruler of the people, the emperor did not settle down all the poor families in the Shang dynasty well, right?"
"Who still wants to reason? Help those families you mentioned first before looking for the Guan family."
After Ye Lulu finished teaching on the spot, the entire Guan family in the courtyard clapped in amazement.
It was at the level of a textbook.
Even Father Guan and Eldest Brother Guan were surprised.
Ye Lulu nodded calmly and added, "If you can"t memorize so much, you can just say one sentence."
Everyone craned their necks. What was it?
Ye Lulu replied, "None of your business."
Guan Chixi was speechless. "…" He had learned something. He was too stupid just now and could not say anything.
Ye Lulu taught him patiently, "A person"s skin can"t be too thin because there are always some ignorant people who criticize and comment on you. If you"re too thin-skinned and can"t say anything, or if your mouth isn"t agile enough and you don"t know how to rebut, wouldn"t you be criticized by outsiders?"
"Why did you let those people accuse you unreasonably and let them have their way in the end?"
"If you don"t want to cause trouble and hold your words back, others can splash dirty water on you as much as they want in the end. Wouldn"t your image worsen?"
"No, on the contrary, that unrealistic dirty water causes you to be even more criticized. Therefore, don"t avoid arguing with others for your face and image. You must scold them back. If it"s not your fault, don"t admit it at all. Otherwise, your image will only be smeared even more. Do you understand?"
The Guan family was deep in thought.
Guan Chixi was a little embarra.s.sed to have been taught a lesson by his younger sister-in-law.
However, he scratched his face and asked Ye Lulu, "But I"m a man. Should I have to argue with those village women? I don"t mean that you women are bad. It"s just that it doesn"t seem very good for men to argue with their faces red."
Ye Lulu asked, "Were there men among the villagers who talked nonsense about you?"
Guan Chixi nodded.
Ye Lulu said, "That"s right then. Weren"t those men looking for trouble with you as well? They were the ones who found trouble first. You"re just clarifying things and defending your innocence. Then, do you think men should argue? Just because you"re a man, you should let those village women splash dirty water on you? Just because you"re a man, can you hit women as you wish?"
Under the threat of Ye Lulu"s deathly gaze, Guan Chixi shook his head.
Ye Lulu said, "That"s right. Besides, who asked you to argue with your face flushed? Can"t you calmly and gracefully say each word back?"
"If you were red in the face and scratching your ears and cheeks, everything would look bad. If you were studying, would it be alright for you to study with your face red? That would definitely not look good. Therefore, it"s not a question of reb.u.t.ting others. It"s just that it"s not good to be red in the face. Then, can"t you just calm down and argue back? The other party would be embarra.s.sed after seeing that you look a few times better than him or her."
As Ye Lulu attacked crazily…
Guan Chixi was enlightened and kept nodding.
All the other Guan family members were speechless. They seemed to have unintentionally learned something incredible…
However, that was what Ye Lulu taught. She did not argue with the condemnation of the villagers outside.
She had long expected someone to take the moral high ground and say such words.
Especially in the mountains, the village was only so big. Even those lonely elders might think that way, let alone the villagers who were jealous and wanted to find something to condemn the Guan family to vent their anger.
This kind of moral abduction was too ordinary, but helping people depended on fate. No one had to help others, right?!
The Guan family ignored this and still sent food to Old Aunt Xu and her grandson. They did what they were supposed to do.
Every time, someone in the village would say unpleasant words to the Guan family.
Sometimes, the Guan family would rebut according to Ye Lulu"s instructions. The villagers would often be speechless with ugly expressions. Sometimes, they would just leave without saying a word.
In any case, there were so many men from the Guan family. No matter how angry the villagers were, no family could find trouble with the Guan family.
A few days pa.s.sed.
It was snowing heavily again. Everyone thought that it would be spring soon after the new year and the sky would be warmer.
Unexpectedly, it was still snowing heavily at this time. The snow covered their knees. It was a thick layer that could seal the entire mountain and prevent the people in Yunwu Village from leaving.
The snow was still so heavy today. The entire world seemed to have calmed down.
That night, something happened…
As the wild beasts on the mountain had been hungry for too long and it had been snowing heavily, they could not find any prey to fill their stomachs on the mountain. Before this, they were already hungry due to the winter snow.
Under such circ.u.mstances, they usually stayed in the mountains. As the Dousu Mountain Range stretched endlessly, wild beasts usually entered the deep mountains in winter and never left the mountain.
All these years, the wild beasts on the mountain had never run down the mountain to the village.
However, this year, the wild beasts were so hungry that they had no choice. It was colder and snowing more in the deep mountains, so they could not find any food. Many wild beasts woke up from their hunger. They could not wait and rushed towards the nearest place…
That was right.
That night, a few fierce beasts suddenly rushed down the mountain and into Yunwu Village!
Yunwu Village had been in the mountains for so long, but this was the first time wild beasts had rushed down from the mountains…
A few jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards rushed into the village. The closest to the foot of the mountain was a house in the village. The fierce beasts rushed down and into the courtyards of the families. They found livestock and started eating them.
"Quack—"
"Hehe…"
"Roar!"
It was the panicked and chaotic cries of chickens, ducks, and geese, mixed with the coa.r.s.e roars of unusual fierce beasts. It woke up the villagers nearby.
The villagers sleepily carried the weak oil lamp and pushed open the door to take a look. They saw fierce beasts under the weak moonlight. There was livestock bitten to death everywhere. A fierce beast looked over with a sharp and cold-blooded gaze that carried a hint of viciousness…
"Ah!"
Screams pierced the night. When the villagers saw the beasts eating their livestock, they screamed in fear and turned around to run away.
They shouted loudly, "There are fierce beasts running down from the mountain. Wild beasts have entered the village!"
"It"s a leopard. An adult leopard!"
"There are jackals. There are a few of them. Together with the leopards…" The villager was scared out of his wits.
"There"s… there"s also a tiger!"
"Help!"
The shouts from these families woke up all the villagers in the village. It was a quiet winter night and everyone had slept early. As soon as there was a commotion, they immediately got up.
Before long, the villagers understood what had happened. All of them rushed out and gathered together with torches in their hands.
They looked at the beasts that were faintly discernible in the darkness in front of them!
When the light from the torches spread around, the scene immediately became clear. In the courtyards of the families in front, there were indeed a few strong and fierce beasts!
"It"s indeed a leopard. That"s… that"s a leopard…" The village head, Li Yue, raised his torch and stood in the middle of everyone as he said in shock.
"Three leopards, four jackals, and a tiger…"
A man counted with a trembling voice. A suffocating fear immediately enveloped everyone!
The villagers of Yunwu Village were filled with fear. The women and children were urgently woken up and retreated furthest away from the foot of the mountain just in case. If something happened, they would still have a chance to escape. When most of the women and children learned that there were jackals, tigers, and leopards from the mountain entering the village, they were so frightened that their legs trembled!
The young men gathered in the village, monitoring the movements of the fierce beasts while discussing in fear.
"From their looks, they were hungry during winter. There are no living creatures in their stomachs, so they entered the village. Could it be that… could it be that they"ll return to the mountains after eating their fill?"
A timid man in the village said with a trembling voice.
"How is that possible?" A strong man frowned and reb.u.t.ted, "How much do these wild beasts need to eat to be full? If they return to the mountain after eating our livestock but become hungry and can"t find food again, will they come back down to the village again? Furthermore, if they come to the village to look for food when they"re hungry, wouldn"t live chickens, ducks, pigs, and so on be the same as the children in the village in their eyes? If they can"t eat enough of this livestock, would they bite someone to death?"
The last two sentences made the timid man"s face turn pale. The meat in his nose seemed to have disappeared.
The villagers were also shocked and couldn"t help but take a step back. They looked at the few fierce beasts in front of them in worry.
"We can"t talk about that yet." Li Yue looked ahead with a solemn expression and said, "It"s still a difficult matter to chase these wild beasts away this time… Did they run down to the village to find something to eat and leave, or…?"
The village head"s question was quickly answered…
This was because the few fierce beasts quickly ate up all the livestock that had been bitten to death. However, their stomachs, which had been hungry for the entire winter, were far from full. In their eyes, livestock and humans were no different.
After eating most of the livestock, the wild beasts, which didn"t plan to leave, stared at the villagers with their dark and cruel eyes and slowly turned around.
Compared to animals, living humans seemed to be more enticing in their eyes…
Under the light of the fire, the fierce beasts that had run down the mountain slowly revealed themselves.
Their strong backs revealed smooth curves as they walked silently and dangerously. These should be adult fierce beasts. Their bodies were tall and strong, almost as tall as an adult man"s chest. Their limbs and bodies were filled with strong muscles…
Their bodies contained extremely explosive power. Although they were still exceptionally light and relaxed at this moment, these fierce beasts, that had lived in the deep mountains for a long time and relied on hunting and killing to survive, were already very terrifying.