“If you make another sound, get the hell out.”
As the Lizheng spoke, Wang Tianbao didn’t dare to continue his tantrum and obediently stood up from the ground.
Though he was young, he knew it was still pouring outside. If he went out now, he would surely fall ill.
Once Wang Tianbao stopped his fuss, everyone felt their ears were much more at peace.
The Lizheng stood with his hands behind his back and unleashed a torrent of scolding at Wang Lishi.
“Xiucai Gan was kind enough to notify us to leave, yet you insisted on slandering him. Now that he’s been kind enough to take us in, you’re still thinking about that mouthful of food.”
“Do you have no shame at all?”
“Are you so gluttonous that you absolutely had to have that soup?”
Wang Lishi acted imperiously toward others, but she couldn’t maintain that bravado before the Lizheng. She lowered her head and listened to the lecture submissively.
However, her gaze would occasionally drift toward Gan Fanren, filled with resentment.
It was all because this Gan boy didn’t know how to act. If he had been willing to bring out the soup, how could it have spilled?
Now look what happened; no one had any soup to drink.
What a wasteful wretch. If he were her son, she would have beaten him to death.
And that Hui Niang—she had the nerve to drink restorative soup after giving birth to a money-losing commodity?
She didn’t even deserve to drink porridge!
If she were in the Wang household, she would have been out of bed serving her mother-in-law by now. How dare she lie there resting on a quilt?
Wang Lishi didn’t even have a quilt to cover herself with.
Though her mind was racing with these thoughts, she didn’t dare let a hint of it show on her face.
“Hurry up and pay them twenty wen. Apologize to Xiucai Gan.”
This made Wang Lishi lose her cool: “Pay money? Why should I pay money?”
“Because you spilled their pork trotter soup! That was for his wife to nourish her body. If Hui Niang’s health isn’t restored, how will the baby have milk? If Hui Niang doesn’t have milk, it wouldn’t matter if you paid twenty wen or your old life; you’d have to take the consequences!”
The Lizheng’s eyes were wide with anger, staring like copper bells.
Intimidated, the old hag didn’t dare resist and obediently fished out twenty wen.
The old hag was not one to suffer a loss. Once she paid the money, she picked up the pork trotter from the ground.
“I’ve paid the money, so this pork trotter belongs to me.”
Fearing someone would snatch it from her, she licked the pork trotter all over as soon as it was in her hand. Then, with a face full of smiles, she reached out toward her precious grandson.
“Tianbao, come quickly. Look at the pork trotter Grandma bought for you.”
“Oh, this pork trotter smells so good.”
Wang Tianbao didn’t find it disgusting at all and began eating the pork trotter with gusto.
Wang Lishi’s daughter-in-law looked at the pork trotter and couldn’t help but swallow her saliva, only to be met with a glare from Wang Lishi.
“You jinx. When the two of us, grandmother and grandson, were being bullied just now, you didn’t know how to help. Now that there’s something good to eat, you come crawling over at the first scent.”
“You lazy wretch, get lost.”
Wang Lishi’s daughter-in-law, Yun Niang, didn’t dare say a word. She hid in a corner and continued to swallow her saliva.
Everyone had left in a hurry, so they didn’t have much food with them.
The heavy rain wouldn’t stop, and they couldn’t return home to retrieve anything. They could only stare longingly at the Gan family’s bundles.
“Xiucai Gan, we all left in a rush and don’t have much food on us. Do you have any more? We’ll use money to buy it from you.”
Gan Fanren had already done his duty by warning them yesterday; he had no desire to deal with them today.
However, the Gan family had arrived late and their numbers were few. Two fists were no match for four hands; it wasn’t wise to enter into conflict with them.
【Sigh, this rain is going to last for five days, and today is only the first day.】
【It’s fine today, but if there’s still nothing to eat in the coming days while our family has so much grain, they will definitely resort to stealing and looting. I’m afraid my family will see our ancestors before my scheduled time of death.】
Gan Fanren’s eyes flickered, and Hui Niang’s eyes also turned fearful. However, she quickly composed herself and said softly.
“To be honest with everyone, although our family brought grain, we only brought three days’ worth of rations. If we share it with everyone, we won’t have any left.”
“Since our family came to Wangjiacun, we have received much care from our fellow villagers. Today, I will distribute this grain to everyone as a form of repayment.”
“Our family has many children, and my health is still poor. If there is still nothing to eat in the next few days, I hope everyone will look after us.”
Hui Niang was beautiful. Although she was a bit pale due to a lack of blood after childbirth, her voice was gentle and soft, completely different from the village women.
The village men felt half their bodies go numb listening to her; it was as if their souls were being drawn away.
“Of course, of course.”
Gan Fanren frowned.
Five days wouldn’t be enough for people to starve to death, but it was enough to cause chaos.
Hui Niang was physically weak, and the children were small. He was the only adult male. Staying here was likely no longer safe.
He was a cautious man. To prepare for emergencies, he had divided their grain into several portions back at home and had even hidden a few portions along the way.
He took out two bags and distributed them to everyone in front of their eyes.
Then he showed the empty bags to everyone, his face full of regret.
“I had planned to add more water after Hui Niang finished her soup to boil it again and share it with everyone. Now that it’s gone, I can only trouble everyone to eat some brown rice.”
Hearing that Gan Fanren had originally intended to share the soup with them, the villagers immediately turned their dissatisfied gazes toward Wang Lishi.
If not for that old thing, they would have had soup.
“Wang Lishi’s family is simply black-hearted. First, they sold us inferior wine, and then they stole things. Today they stole from Xiucai Gan; tomorrow it might be us. I say we should kick Wang Lishi’s family out.”
“That’s right, kick Wang Lishi’s family out!”
“I don’t want to be with a thief, otherwise I won’t even know when I’ve been robbed.”
When Wang Lishi stole Xiucai Gan’s pork trotter, they were only interested in watching the spectacle. But once they heard Xiucai Gan say the pork trotter soup was originally meant to be shared with them, they became furious.
Wang Lishi hadn’t just stolen Xiucai Gan’s pork trotter; she had stolen from everyone.
If they had known, they would have beaten her harder yesterday.
The crowd was indignant, demanding that Wang Lishi’s family be expelled.
Thinking of Wang Lishi’s family’s recent behavior, the Lizheng gave his tacit approval for everyone to drive them away.
“We’ll leave then! It’s just a broken cave, isn’t it? We’ll find a bigger and more comfortable one.”
Wang Lishi gave everyone a fierce glare and left grandly with her entire family.
Seeing her father shift everyone’s attention away from her mother and even get rid of Wang Lishi’s family with just a few sentences, Gan Tian couldn’t help but cheer for him in her mind.
【My dad is so amazing.】
【Supposedly, the rain will stop for a while today. It would be great if we could leave then.】
Hearing his daughter’s inner voice, the frown on Gan Fanren’s face loosened slightly.
Since this place was no longer safe, they would change locations.
The mountain peak was barren, with nothing but caves and stones—not even a blade of grass. Ordinary people wouldn’t go to the peak to look for food, making it perfect for them.
It could both cover up the secrets regarding his daughter and keep them away from the crowd.
As soon as the rain stopped, everyone hurried back home to see if they could retrieve anything.
Gan Fanren carried their belongings and led his family away in plain sight.