Panic
The question came so suddenly that Old Zhou's head couldn't control his facial expression for a moment. It twitched slightly, and he remained silent.
Before long, sobs could be heard nearby.
Old Zhou's head stiffly turned to look, only to see his old wife crying and covering her face. He finally came to his senses and lowered his head to wipe his tears, but his hands were trembling slightly.
Qian Shi raised her hand to hit him, leaning on him and saying, "It's all because of you, you useless person. Otherwise, my nephew wouldn't have had to sell himself." Why did you have so many children if you couldn't support them? How am I supposed to face my in-laws now?
Qian Shi became angrier as she spoke, using more force, and Old Zhou's head didn't resist. He crouched on the ground, holding his head, allowing her to hit him.
"Before my mother-in-law left, she repeatedly instructed me to take good care of my nephew."
Zhou Da Lang and others cried with them.
Mǎn Bǎo, who was unaware of the situation, was shocked. She quickly stepped in to stop her mother and help her father fend off some of the attacks. "Mother, please don't hit father..."
But for the first time, Mǎn Bǎo couldn't stop Qian Shi. Qian Shi, who had been bedridden for a long time, suddenly gained strength and pushed Mǎn Bǎo aside. She slapped Old Zhou's head fiercely, leaving clear red marks on his cheek.
But the three people questioning them remained indifferent, frowning.
One of them couldn't help but shout, "Stop, we are asking you a question." Where did your brother Zhou Yin go?
The village head regained his composure and hastily said, "Sir, I am aware of Zhou Yin." He was sold as a slave when he was fourteen years old. It has been many years, and I don't know where he ended up. By suddenly bringing this up, aren't you stabbing me in the heart?
His gaze settled on the village head's face, his expression solemn as he asked, "Is that so?"
"Yes, yes, everyone in the village knows about this." "There's no need to hide the fact that he was sold as a slave," the village head said. "In the Great Virtue Year of seventeen, this area suffered from a prolonged drought that lasted from early spring to early autumn." The fields yielded no harvest, and everyone was left with no means of survival. As you can see, Jin Shu's family was large, and they were desperate at that time. Zhou Yin saw that his family couldn't survive, so he sold himself in exchange for a bag of grain to bring home.
Mǎn Bǎo was surprised to learn that she had an uncle and that he was in such a pitiful situation.
Selling oneself as a slave, her uncle was still suffering somewhere now. No wonder her mother was so heartbroken, and her father didn't even try to avoid it.
Upon witnessing the three individuals persisting in their aggressive interrogation, Mǎn Bǎo felt displeased. She stood in front of the village head with her head held high and asked, "Weren't you here to count the number of people for relief?" "Why are you asking so many irrelevant questions?"
Deep down, Mǎn Bǎo felt that something was amiss and wondered to herself, "Are they truly government officials?"
After pondering for a moment, she finally understood. Her eyes widened, and she was about to say something when she remembered what Bai Lǎoyé had taught her before. The words on the tip of her tongue transformed into, "Are you swindlers? Why aren't you assessing the disaster situation in the fields but only visiting homes?"
In fact, even without Mǎn Bǎo's outburst, the villagers had already realized that they were likely being deceived upon hearing the mention of Zhou Yin. These individuals were not government officials, nor were they there to assess the disaster situation.
They didn't understand the true intentions behind the guest's visit. All they knew was that their motives were impure, causing their expressions to change, and they all looked at the three individuals warily.
At the same time, the news quickly spread, and the villagers who were originally waiting for the officials to arrive at their homes or had already been assessed and returned home for dinner dropped what they were doing and hurried their women and children back home. The able-bodied men grabbed their hoes and headed towards Zhou's house.
Even the typically unfriendly Big Donkey, upon hearing the news, grabbed a hoe and headed to Zhou's house.
The atmosphere became tense, and both sides fell silent for a moment.
Text: ### Master Zhuāng pushed through the crowd to the front, furrowing his brows as he asked, "You claim to have been sent by the court to assess the disaster situation, but do you have any official documents?" "Who appointed you?" ###
"Who are you?" Do we need to discuss this with you?
"I am just a mere commoner, but I happened to have studied at a government school." "Perhaps I may know the person you are referring to."
Upon arrival, the three individuals immediately recognized Master Zhuāng, as they had checked on him before coming. However, that didn't mean they would answer his questions.
Seeing that they were unresponsive to Master Zhuāng, Zhou Dàzhù stepped forward, took a more assertive stance, and said, "Could it be that you are actually con artists?"
"It seems like they are indeed swindlers." How can such a good thing happen, where everyone, even the children, can receive aid? "Obviously, it's a scam."
"We are already in such dire straits, and yet you come here to deceive people." "That's utterly disgraceful."
"Exactly, seize them and bring them to the county yamen!"
The three individuals, seeing the situation spiraling out of control, immediately drew their swords in front of them and asked, "What do you intend to do?" Let us inform you that we are officials appointed by the court. If you dare to harm us, the court will send troops to subdue you.
"Who are you trying to deceive?" You claim to be officials appointed by the court. Then, tell Master Zhuāng here about your official status, show him the documents, and reveal who assigned you!" Zhou Sìláng wanted to escalate the situation. Remembering Master Zhuāng's earlier words, he echoed them and incited the crowd, "Folks, let's apprehend them first." Perhaps the county yamen has even issued a wanted notice for them. If we capture them and hand them over, we might even receive a reward.
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the crowd changed from anger to excitement upon learning about the reward.
The three individuals were taken aback by this development and tried to push through the crowd to escape. However, they were quickly stopped, and the situation rapidly became chaotic.
Qian Shi finally stopped crying and hugged Mǎn Bǎo, protecting her as they moved away from the commotion. Seeing White Shàn Bǎo standing dumbfounded nearby, she pulled him over, and the Qian family members immediately ushered their children back into the house.
Liú Shì, caught off guard by how quickly things had escalated, hurried to find her grandson, only to see Qian Shi pulling Mǎn Bǎo and White Shàn Bǎo into the house.
She sighed in relief, held the nanny's hand tightly, and whispered, "Let's move further away from here and give them space."
Meanwhile, Old Zhou firmly gripped Zhou Dàzhù's hand, gritting his teeth in determination, "We can't let them leave." We must keep them here.
Zhou Dàzhù's hands trembled. "But what will happen if we keep them here?"
"For now, let's not worry about that." "We must keep them here no matter what."