The stench was as though every foul odor in the world had been concentrated into one place. It was like the breath of a demon from the depths of hell, enough to make anyone who smelled it feel nauseous and dizzy.
“Ah!”
A shriek of utter agony burst from Wang Daqiang’s mouth. The sound was like a thunderclap tearing across the night sky, deafening and reverberating through the heavens.
Even Grandma Wang, who was standing in the courtyard, was badly startled by the sudden scream and involuntarily shuddered.
After steadying herself, Grandma Wang carefully listened to determine where the sound was coming from. Before long, she realized that it seemed to have come from the latrine. Without daring to delay, she hurried over, taking three steps at a time.
There she saw Wang Daqiang in the latrine, tied up with a rope. Fortunately, the rope was sturdy enough; otherwise, he would probably have already fallen completely into the filthy pit.
If that had happened, he would surely have drowned in there!
Seeing this, Grandma Wang was frantic with worry. She immediately grabbed the rope that was keeping Wang Daqiang alive and tried to pull him out of the latrine.
However, age had taken its toll. Grandma Wang was already elderly and had very little strength. Even though she exerted all the strength she could muster, she still couldn’t move Wang Daqiang at all, let alone pull him out of that foul-smelling latrine.
As for Wang Daqiang, the indescribably awful and pungent stench was tormenting him so badly that he felt as though he were dying. His stomach churned violently, and he couldn’t help dry-heaving again and again.
Seeing that this couldn’t go on, Grandma Wang became extremely anxious and decided to go out and find someone to help rescue Wang Daqiang.
Grandma Wang went to a neighbor’s house, but everyone there had gone out to work. Just then, she spotted Su Muyang approaching from a distance and hurriedly shouted, “Hey, you there! Young man! Come quickly and help us!”
Su Muyang had deliberately come this way. He had already calculated that Grandma Wang would discover what had happened and that she wouldn’t be able to get Wang Daqiang out by herself. So he had intentionally wandered around nearby. As soon as Grandma Wang came outside, she would see someone walking along the road.
What kind of revenge would it be if Wang Daqiang merely fell into a latrine?
The real point was to let more people witness Wang Daqiang’s humiliating predicament and make him the subject of everyone’s gossip.
Since the Wang family loved talking about other people so much, they might as well have a taste of what it was like to be talked about themselves!
Su Muyang hurried toward Grandma Wang, moving as fast as the wind. Before long, he was standing in front of her.
When he saw that it was Grandma Wang who had called him, Su Muyang immediately put on an expression of feigned displeasure and asked, “Oh, it’s Grandma Wang! May I ask why you wanted me? To be honest, I’m in a hurry to go to the fields to find my dad. If it’s nothing urgent, you should call someone else to help you!”
Grandma Wang had already been secretly groaning when she saw Su Muyang.
Oh dear, how did I have to run into this boy at a time like this? What am I supposed to do now?
Then, hearing that Su Muyang was about to leave, she panicked. Without caring about anything else, she hurriedly grabbed his arm and said anxiously, “Young man from the Su family, Grandma really has an urgent matter and needs you to lend a hand! It’s a matter of life and death!”
As she spoke, she firmly pulled Su Muyang toward her home without giving him a chance to refuse.
After hurrying along for a while, the two soon arrived at the Wang family’s latrine.
As soon as Su Muyang stopped and looked into the latrine, he immediately burst into loud laughter. Only after laughing his fill did he ask, “Hahahahaha… What on earth happened here? Wang Daqiang, what’s wrong with you? Did you lose your mind and jump into the latrine?”
The moment Wang Daqiang saw Su Muyang, his entire body stiffened. Fear and resistance appeared on his face.
He immediately shouted anxiously at his grandmother, “Grandma, make him leave! Hurry up and make him leave! Don’t let him rescue me! Our families have a grudge against each other! Grandma, please! Hurry up and drive him away!”
Hearing her grandson’s words, Grandma Wang felt helpless and bitter.
She gently patted her grandson’s shoulder and softly comforted him, “Daqiang, do you think Grandma wants that Su boy to see you in such a miserable state? But right now, there really isn’t anyone else who can help.
Everyone in the village has gone out to work. Where are we supposed to find anyone else? The people who stayed behind are either elderly and frail like Grandma, with little strength and poor mobility, or they’re young children who don’t know any better. Who could possibly pull you out of there?
Good boy, stop making a fuss. The most important thing right now is to get you out of there. It’s freezing cold, and if you stay there too long and something happens to you from the cold, how could Grandma possibly go on living?”
After Grandma Wang finished earnestly pleading with Wang Daqiang, she completely ignored his continued protests.
She turned to Su Muyang and said apologetically, “Young man from the Su family, I’m really sorry to trouble you, but could you please lend us a hand and help pull our Daqiang out of there?”
Su Muyang pretended to strain himself as he pulled on the rope several times, but it didn’t budge at all, as though something had it firmly clamped in place.
He helplessly shook his head and called out to the anxious Grandma Wang, “Grandma Wang, I really can’t do it! I can’t pull him up by myself. His clothes are completely soaked and heavy as lead. I think we’d better find a few more people to come and help!”
The moment Grandma Wang heard this, she became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. She kept muttering, “Where are we supposed to find people? At this time of day, there’s hardly anyone in the village! Oh dear, what are we going to do?”
As she spoke, she slapped her thighs repeatedly, her face filled with worry.
At this point, Su Muyang quickly reminded her, “Grandma Wang, don’t panic! Everyone should be working in the fields right now. If we run over there and call them, it won’t take long to bring back everyone in the village who can help!”
Grandma Wang’s eyes immediately lit up, and she nodded repeatedly.
“That’s right, that’s right! You really are quick-witted! Then I’ll have to trouble you to make the trip and call some more people over for us. You’re young and quick on your feet, so you’ll surely be able to find them quickly.”
However, just as Su Muyang was about to set off, Wang Daqiang, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke up, his voice exceptionally loud.
With a hint of anger and determination, he shouted, “Grandma, absolutely do not call anyone! If people see me in this miserable state, how am I ever supposed to show my face in public again?”
Grandma Wang was already frantic with worry, and hearing her grandson say this made her both angry and anxious.
She glared at Wang Daqiang and demanded loudly, “Then what do you say we should do? I’m an old woman with one foot in the grave—I simply don’t have the strength to pull you out of this latrine! Are you planning to stay in there forever?”
Wang Daqiang fell silent after hearing his grandmother’s question.
Su Muyang frowned and asked with a worried expression, “Do you really want me to go call people? What if I exhaust myself bringing people over to rescue him, and then he doesn’t appreciate it and ends up blaming me? What if he takes revenge on me afterward? Then I’d be going to all that trouble for nothing. I’m not doing something that stupid!”
Grandma Wang, standing nearby, immediately reached out and patted Su Muyang on the shoulder. She said earnestly, “Young man from the Su family, listen to Grandma and hurry up and call someone!
If Daqiang dares to come after you afterward despite your helping him, Grandma will be the first one to deal with him! I’ll beat his legs until they’re broken! Our Wang family isn’t the kind of family that repays kindness with ingratitude. You can rest assured about that!”
Hearing this, Su Muyang inwardly sneered.
Who in the village didn’t know what the old Wang family was like?
But that was precisely what he wanted to hear, so he nodded and turned around, sprinting toward the fields.
Su Muyang moved with incredible speed. Before long, he was almost at the fields. As he drew closer to his destination, he threw his head back and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Help! Someone help! Come save someone!”
The people working in the fields suddenly heard Su Muyang’s desperate cries for help. One after another, they stopped what they were doing, straightened up, and looked toward the direction of the voice.
They shouted together, “What happened, Muyang? What’s going on?”
Panting heavily, Su Muyang shouted back, “Something terrible happened! Wang Daqiang fell into a latrine! Grandma Wang sent me to call everyone for help, but I can’t pull him out by myself! Everyone, hurry up and come help rescue him!”
As soon as the villagers heard this, an uproar immediately broke out. Shock appeared on everyone’s faces, followed by a commotion.
Then, no one even knew who started it, but suddenly all the villagers took off running toward the Wang family’s house.
The leaders of the various work teams shouted at the tops of their lungs, “Hey! Everyone, stop! There’s no need for all of you to go! Just send a few people over to help! Why are you all rushing over there together? Come back! Did you hear me? If you don’t come back right now, I’ll deduct your work points!”
The villagers completely ignored the team leaders’ shouts.
After all, how could they possibly miss such a rare spectacle?
Besides, everyone knew that work points weren’t something that could simply be deducted on a whim. If the team leaders really dared to deduct everyone’s hard-earned work points over something like this, the villagers certainly wouldn’t accept it.
Therefore, nobody took the team leaders’ warnings seriously. They simply treated the shouting as empty threats.
Although something interesting happened in the village almost every day, nothing could compare with the explosive spectacle unfolding today.
The villagers had long since grown tired of the usual scenes—mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law arguing, disputes between neighbors, children getting into fights, and the like.
But someone falling into a latrine?
That was a first!
Who wouldn’t want to see it with their own eyes?
Only after personally witnessing such a rare spectacle would they have enough juicy material to brag about and gossip over when chatting with others later.
And so, whether they were village aunties and older women or big, burly men, everyone took off toward the Wang family’s house as though the wind were beneath their feet, running even faster than rabbits.
Of course, Su Muyang merely smiled to himself.
He had done his part and kept his contribution hidden.
To maintain his image, he deliberately ran at the very front and was the first to arrive at the Wang family’s house. He then led everyone to the Wang family’s latrine and shouted, “Everyone, hurry up and help!”
Grandma Wang and Wang Daqiang watched helplessly as the crowd suddenly poured in like a tide.
Wang Daqiang’s already gloomy expression became even darker, while Grandma Wang’s face also turned unpleasant as she watched the villagers stream into the courtyard one after another.
Wang Daqiang widened his eyes and angrily roared at his grandmother, “Grandma, I told you not to let him call anyone! Su Muyang definitely did this on purpose! He deliberately called the entire village over here. He obviously wants to humiliate me in front of everyone and make our Wang family lose face!”
Grandma Wang’s face was a mixture of shock and anger. Her cloudy eyes fixed tightly on Su Muyang, and her lips trembled as she said, “This… this… Muyang! How come you brought so many people over all at once?”
Su Muyang was also wearing an expression of anger and hurt. He hurriedly defended himself, “I really didn’t call this many people! At the time, I was only thinking of finding a few strong villagers to lend a hand. After calling for help, I was so anxious that I ran straight back here. I had no idea everyone else would follow me!”
As he finished speaking, he looked at Grandma Wang and Wang Daqiang with an utterly innocent expression, as though he had been completely wronged.
The villagers standing behind him immediately spoke up in Su Muyang’s defense.
“Oh, come on, Auntie! You and Daqiang really misunderstood Muyang this time! He didn’t call all of us here at all! We were worried about Daqiang, so we all came over of our own accord to lend a hand. If you think you don’t need all of us to help, that’s fine—we’ll leave right away!”
After saying this, the villager even turned around and pretended to call out to everyone behind him, “All right, since Auntie Wang says she doesn’t need our help, let’s all head back!”
However, despite how firmly he said it, nobody moved an inch. Not a single person showed the slightest intention of leaving.
Su Muyang looked at them and the corner of his mouth twitched.
These people couldn’t even pretend properly! Seriously!
He was almost embarrassed for them.
Grandma Wang plastered a smile onto her face as she looked at Su Muyang’s angry expression and the villagers who had claimed they were leaving.
She hurriedly said, “Please, everyone, don’t leave! Don’t take our Daqiang’s words to heart. He’s young and doesn’t know any better! Everyone, please lend us a hand. It’s freezing cold out here, and if this goes on any longer, he’s bound to get seriously ill from the cold!”
Hearing this, everyone turned their eyes toward the place Grandma Wang was pointing at.