By the time Zhaozhao and the Lin father and daughter reached the foot of the back mountain, there were already five or six villagers there.
However, they did not see the person who stole the child, nor did they find the place where the fire had been set. At this moment, they were all frowning and wondering if someone was playing a prank.
After the Lin father and daughter arrived, just as they were about to step forward, Zhaozhao pointed in a direction and said, “Over there.”
Without another word, Father Lin rushed out. After running more than thirty meters, he dragged two figures out from the grass.
The sky was dim, and the villagers could not see clearly. Seeing that someone had been caught and dragged out, they assumed they were the ones who stole the child and immediately rushed forward, shouting about beating and killing them, “Good heavens, there really are thieves. They really don’t value their lives. They actually dared to come to our Shangliu Village to set fires and steal children. Everyone, break their legs!”
As the villagers rushed over, the people being held quickly shouted, “Who’s the thief, who are you calling a thief? Lao Da[1]老大 (lǎo dà) – literally “the eldest,” a term used to address or refer to the eldest among siblings or people in a group. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3335924_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3335924_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, look carefully. I’m your father, and he’s your Second Brother. Aren’t you going to let us go?”
Hearing the familiar voice, the villagers were all stunned and hesitantly spoke, “Old Man Lin?”
“It’s me.”
“What are you two doing hiding in the grass?”
Old Man Lin shoved Father Lin’s hand away, straightened his clothes, and snorted coldly, “What do you mean hiding? We also came running out after hearing the gong. We just got tired from standing and squatted over there for a bit. Who knew our Lao Da was so blind that he would actually mistake his father for a thief?”
Of course, they were not tired from standing. When they reached the back mountain, they discovered that someone was coming this way.
Old Man Lin hurriedly headed in another direction, but who knew that people were also running over from that side. The two of them still had a child in their hands, and with no time to think, they lowered themselves and hid in the grass.
After hearing them say that they had come to look for the child, they quickly put the child in their hands on the ground. Then the two quietly moved, planning to move somewhere farther away before coming out, pretending that nothing had happened.
Who knew that they had barely moved very far before Father Lin directly dragged them out.
Old Man Lin did manage to come up with an excuse in a moment of desperation, but this excuse clearly could not hold up.
Someone suspiciously spoke up, “At your age, after hearing the gong, you came running out. Could you really have been the first to reach the back mountain ahead of all of us?”
Old Man Lin, “…”
Lin Lan did not want to listen to Old Man Lin make excuses and anxiously stepped forward, “Where’s my little sister?”
“What do you mean, your little sister? Isn’t your little sister fine at home?” Old Man Lin was guilty and could not help raising his voice.
Father Lin clenched his fist and suddenly swung it toward Second Uncle Lin, “Where is our Mei girl?”
“Ah…” Second Uncle Lin cried out in pain, “Eldest Brother, are you crazy? How would I know?”
He did not know, but Zhaozhao knew.
After hearing the system, she identified the direction and pointed at another patch of grass, “Over there. They hid Little Sister there.”
Lin Lan hurried over and sure enough saw a swaddled baby in the grass. She hurriedly picked up the child, her fingers trembling slightly as she placed them beneath the baby’s nose to check.
After feeling the faint breath, she let out a huge sigh of relief.
Thank goodness, little sister was fine.
Moreover, Old Man Lin was afraid that Mei girl would get so cold on the way that she would cry out, so before leaving, he covered her with his own padded jacket. As a result, she did not suffer from the cold.
Seeing the child being carried out, the way everyone looked at Old Man Lin and Second Uncle Lin immediately changed.
Everyone was not stupid. Putting together the cause and effect, they naturally understood what had happened. However, this was the Lin family’s affair, so they did not feel it was appropriate to say anything.
Just then, the village chief of Shangliu Village also hurried over. Seeing the situation, he asked, “What happened?”
The others looked at one another. Old Man Lin had just wanted to pretend that nothing had happened, but Father Lin had already stepped forward.
“Village Chief, my father and Second Brother wanted to throw my youngest daughter into the mountains and leave her to fend for herself. I’m afraid that if we continue living together, our entire family might not even keep our lives. So after daybreak, I want to ask you to be a witness. I want to separate from the family.”
As soon as Old Man Lin heard this, he immediately bristled with anger, “What did you say? Separate from the family? Separate what family? What do you mean, we were going to throw your youngest daughter into the mountains? Have some conscience when you speak. I just brought Mei girl out for a walk. Is even that not allowed?”
Father Lin sneered, “You came out for a walk in the dead of night. Father, do you think everyone is a fool? Besides, didn’t you just say that our Mei girl was perfectly fine at home?”
“I…”
The village chief was not stupid, so he glanced at Old Man Lin, “The weather is cold. We’ll talk about this after we go back. If you want to separate from the family, it can’t just be something you say. We still need to discuss the procedure.”
This really was not a place to talk, so Father Lin agreed. After all this commotion, it was almost daybreak. He still had to go back and properly talk things over with the mother of his children. He did not know how anxious she was by now.
“Then let’s go back first.”
Seeing this, the villagers all wanted to follow them to the Lin family. In any case, they would not be able to sleep after going back, and they had more or less been involved in this matter, so it was not unreasonable for them to see the final result, right?
The group headed toward the village. Just as they reached the entrance of the Lin family, quite a few more villagers came running over one after another. Among them were Hu Laifu and Madam Zheng, who had followed the sound of the bronze gong to the back mountain and then followed the crowd to the Lin family.
As soon as Madam Zheng arrived, she saw Zhaozhao and the gong in her hands. She immediately lunged at her viciously to beat her, “Well, you little wretch! So it turns out we have a little thief in the family like you. Who told you to take the gong from our house? And you even dared to run out in the middle of the night. I’ll beat you to death.”
Before she could reach her, Father Lin blocked her.
He looked at Hu Laifu, “Laifu, what happened today isn’t Zhaozhao’s fault. Don’t lay a hand on her. Let’s talk things out properly.”
The villagers had all been absorbed in the Lin family’s gossip just now. Hearing Madam Zheng’s words, they suddenly realized—right ah, they had come running out after hearing the gong. So it was Zhaozhao who had been beating it?
The villagers’ expressions changed. Those who thought Zhaozhao was a jinx looked at her with disgust, “She’s so young, yet she’s already not learning anything good. She actually lied and said someone had set a fire and stolen a child, waking everyone up in the middle of the night. This little girl really won’t do unless she is properly disciplined ah.”
Zhaozhao shrank back. Now that Little Sister had been saved, she belatedly began to feel frightened, especially when facing the malicious looks of so many villagers and the clawing, flailing Madam Zheng.
She felt that she might be beaten to death today.
Zhaozhao called out to the system in her mind, 【A-Shan, A, A-Shan, what should I do…】
The system did not respond, making Zhaozhao even more uncertain.
Just then, Lin Lan picked up Zhaozhao in her arms and said to everyone, “Zhaozhao didn’t lie. Wasn’t my little sister really stolen? If it weren’t for Zhaozhao, my little sister would have lost her life. She is our family’s benefactor.”
“What benefactor?” Madam Zheng did not care at all. “She stole the gong from our house. As her parents, we’re taking her back to discipline her. Why are you stopping us? Give this stinking girl to me. I’m going to skin her alive today.”
She lunged forward, and Lin Lan dodged while holding Zhaozhao.
Father Lin was still holding his youngest daughter, so he could not free his hands to block her. Moreover, Old Man Lin and Lin Second Uncle were also helping Madam Zheng.
Old Man Lin was furious. He had been just a little bit away from getting things done.
Now, not only had all his efforts gone to waste, his son was also making a fuss about separating from the family. At this moment, he hated Zhaozhao to the bone. Helping Madam Zheng, he came over to grab Zhaozhao, “Lin Lan, give this girl back to the Hu family. Her family wants to discipline their child. What does it look like for you to stop them?”
Several people became entangled in a tussle. How could Lin Lan possibly be their match? Moreover, she was afraid of hurting Zhaozhao and did not dare use too much force. Even after Father Lin handed the child to someone else and stepped forward to help, he was still no match for several people. Seeing that Zhaozhao was about to be snatched away, a villager could not bear to watch any longer and was just about to step forward and say a few words.
Who knew that suddenly, a burst of golden light flashed before their eyes, making everyone squint from the glare.
At the same time, the system’s voice rang out in Zhaozhao’s mind, 【The energy accumulation is complete. Zhaozhao, don’t be afraid. I’ll do something big for you.】
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