sbdcsierra Chapter 1730 I'll light the fire, you go get it! (Thanks to the guild leader "That Year, T
Chapter 1730 I'll light the fire, you go get it! (Thanks to the guild leader "That Year, T
Chapter 1730 I'll light the fire, you go get it! (Thanks to the guild leader "That Year, That Time" for the extra chapter 15)
In the evening, Li Dayong, Li Dazhi, Lin Xue, and Lin Xiangshun returned home after a day's work at the forest farm.
They got off the commuter bus and walked into the village toward the Zhao family compound. They came from the east and were almost at the gate when they heard the dogs barking. Then they saw Li Ruhai running quickly from the west.
"What are you doing, Ruhai?" Li Dayong asked. Li Ruhai replied quickly, "Something terrible has happened, Dad!"
After saying that, Li Ruhai plunged into the courtyard, leaving the four people bursting with curiosity behind.
Li Ruhai ran into the house. Steam filled the room outside. Everyone looked at Li Ruhai, who was panting as he called out to Zhao Jun, "Brother, brother! Something terrible has happened!"
"What's wrong, Ruhai?" Zhao Jun asked as he came over. Li Ruhai bent down, took Zhao Jun's arm, and said, "Brother, I heard from Zhao Jinshan that Zhang Laibao went to the garrison to answer a phone call this afternoon, and almost got arrested by Uncle Guofeng for being a spy."
"A spy?" Zhao Jun frowned upon hearing this, while Xie Chen laughed from the side, "How could someone who can only walk two steps be a spy? We could catch him in no time!"
“We can’t be sure!” Li Baoyu said with a serious expression, “Aren’t all spies sneaky, eloquent, and full of tricks?”
Upon hearing Li Baoyu's words, Li Ruhai subconsciously glanced at Li Baoyu. He felt strangely uncomfortable after hearing Li Baoyu's words.
But at this moment, Li Ruhai had no time to argue with Li Baoyu. He only said to Zhao Jun, "Brother, according to reliable information I've gathered, when Zhang Laibao answered the phone, he called out 'Mr. Ishii'."
"Damn it!" Logically, with so many elders and children in the room, Zhao Jun should have been careful with his words. But after hearing Li Ruhai's words, he couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath, "Are these little devils never going to stop?"
“They’re targeting us!” Wang Meilan said as she picked up large steamed buns from the pot. “Just like my son said, this isn’t over yet.”
Li Tongyun, who was helping to put the table down, chimed in, "Night owls don't come here unless they have a reason!"
"Brother," Zhang Yuanmin said to Zhao Jun after thinking for a while, "What do you think, brother? I didn't give anything away that day!"
"Ru Hai." At this moment, Li Dazhi asked Li Ru Hai, "Did you say what happened to Zhang Laibao afterward?"
Li Ruhai straightened his face and said, "There was no evidence. Uncle Guofeng questioned him a bit and then released him."
Hearing Li Ruhai say this, Li Baoyu slapped his thigh and said, "What are you talking about? He should be shot!"
"Alright, Baoyu," Zhao Jun interrupted, saying, "Let's not worry about it anymore. We'll live our own lives, let them do whatever they want."
After saying this, Zhao Jun sneered and said, "If they really want to keep up this act, we'll deal with them!"
“That’s right!” Zhao Jinhui chimed in, “I’ve disliked them for a long time!”
"Alright, everyone get to the table and pour the drinks." Zhao Youcai, who couldn't wait any longer, called Li Dayong and the others to the table to pour the drinks, and everyone put the irrelevant people behind them and took their seats.
The Zhao family had a lavish dinner tonight, with a large, sticky, bright red braised bear paw in the center of the plate.
Other dishes include braised bear leg meat cooked first and then stir-fried with scallions, milky white fish soup made from small river fish, chicken-scrambled tofu, stir-fried shredded potatoes, and fried peanuts.
There weren't many dishes, but the portions were large. The sounds of chewing, clinking glasses, chopsticks hitting bowls, and laughter mingled together in the outer room.
……
The sun rose as usual the next day, and the Zhao family's life continued in the same orderly manner as every day.
The elderly couple got up early to cook breakfast, while the young couple went out to feed the dogs. After breakfast, Zhao Youcai and Xing San smoked and drank tea, Zhao Jun went back to his room to lie down, Ma Ling washed the dishes, and Wang Meilan looked after the two young maids.
“You can’t show off at school, and you can’t bully your classmates.” Wang Meilan braided Zhao Hong’s hair while instructing her second daughter, “Especially Sun Ruihai. You always beat people up, and now I’m too embarrassed to talk to his mother.”
Zhao Hong is a completely different person at school and at home. At home, she is especially well-behaved in front of Wang Meilan.
At this moment, the dogs in the backyard started barking.
Judging from the sparse barking of the dogs, the people coming should be our own.
Wang Meilan looked up at Ma Ling, who was closest to the front window, and said, "My dear girl, see if Lingdang is coming?"
Holding the plate in both hands, Ma Ling looked out the window and said, "No, Mom, it's Ru Hai."
After saying that, Ma Ling added with a laugh, "This guy ran so fast that his hat flew off."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Na excitedly ran to the window and saw Li Ruhai bending down to pick up his hat.
Zhao Hong, who was standing in front of Wang Meilan, suddenly smiled and said, "You have to call out to my brother Ru Hai when he enters the room."
"Huh?" Wang Meilan was taken aback and asked, "What are you shouting about?"
Zhao Hong mimicked Li Ruhai's tone and whispered, "Big brother, big brother, something terrible has happened!"
"Hahaha..." Wang Meilan and Ma Ling were both amused by Zhao Hong. At this moment, the door was pulled open from the outside, and Li Ruhai entered the room panting. Upon seeing Ma Ling, he asked, "Sister-in-law, where is my older brother?"
“He’s inside. If you need anything, go find him,” Ma Ling said. Wang Meilan glanced at Zhao Hong, as if to say, “You must be mistaken.”
But as soon as Li Ruhai stepped into the west corridor, he shouted, "Brother, come out quickly! Something terrible has happened!"
"Hahaha..." Wang Meilan, Ma Ling, and Zhao Hong laughed so hard they almost fell over.
"You brat!" Xing San, who was drinking tea and fiddling with the baby lynx in the west room, yelled at Li Ruhai, who appeared at the door, "Why are you always so boisterous?"
“Exactly!” Zhao Youcai curled his lip and said, “Every day there’s something big happening, something big happening, what big thing could possibly happen in this wretched village!”
After saying this, Zhao Youcai picked up the cigarette case, took out two Shilin cigarettes, and handed them to Xing San, saying, "Brother, have a smoke."
"This is really serious, sir!" Li Ruhai said, "If this isn't settled, you won't be able to smoke Shilin cigarettes anymore!"
"Huh?" Zhao Youcai's small eyes widened. He was used to smoking Shilin cigarettes, and he wouldn't even smoke Yingchun cigarettes now.
"What are you doing, Ruhai? I was just dozing off, and you're already making a racket." Zhao Jun came out of the west room. He had just finished heating the kang (a heated brick bed) that morning and was feeling quite comfortable lying down on it. Zhao Jun, who had just finished eating, was dozing off on the kang when Li Ruhai woke him up.
"Brother, how can you still be thinking about sleeping?" Li Ruhai stepped forward, took Zhao Jun's arm, and helped him sit down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).
"What's wrong? Tell me." Zhao Jun gestured with his chin towards Li Ruhai, who replied, "Brother, Zhang Laibao's family is cleaning up their house..."
"He's getting married? I haven't heard anything about it." Zhao Jun interrupted before Li Ruhai could finish speaking.
"What marriage?!" Li Ruhai exclaimed. "He said he'd renovate the house and start a business?"
"Doing business?" Zhao Jun frowned, only to see Li Ruhai nod emphatically, saying, "Yes! He wants to buy mountain goods; he's going against us!"
"What?" Zhao Jun didn't believe it at first, but then he suddenly remembered the phone call Zhang Laibao received yesterday.
"Damn it, he's gone too far!" Xing San slammed his hand on the kang table and shouted, "Isn't this cutting off our livelihood? How can anyone in this village do this?"
In those days, there was an unwritten rule in villages and hamlets that only one business could operate at the same time.
Shops like tofu shops, large pancake stalls, convenience stores, and tailor shops were typically limited to one per village. This avoided competition and prevented any disruption to the harmony between old neighbors.
"Damn it!" Zhao Youcai cursed, then turned to get off the bed, saying, "I'm going to find him!"
"Dad, let me get dressed, I'll go too." Zhao Jun said as he got up and walked towards the bedroom, but Zhao Youcai, who had gotten out of bed, stopped Xing San and said, "Brother, you stay home, we'll go over and take a look. Once we've said what we need to say, we'll leave."
Those rules are unwritten and not illegal. If someone does break them, you can't just call for violence; the people in the village will simply spontaneously resist the one who doesn't follow the rules.
The Zhao family had to step forward immediately and address the Zhang family directly, in front of the entire village.
"Grandpa," Li Ruhai called out to Zhao Youcai, "I'll go ahead first. I'll make a splash in the village!"
After saying that, Li Ruhai turned and ran away.
Li Ruhai's words reached the ears of Wang Meilan and Ma Ling, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law hurried over.
“Dad, I’m going with you too.” These were the words of Wang Meilan, and as soon as she finished speaking, Ma Ling said, “Dad, I’m going too!”
"Go get dressed, let's go!" As soon as Zhao Youcai said this, Wang Meilan and Ma Ling hurriedly went back to their rooms to get their coats.
"You're all going, so you're just going to leave me here?" Xing San said, getting up and turning to Zhao Youcai. "Second brother, I'll go with you too. I won't lift a finger there, right?"
“Brother, you can go if you want. But let me tell you, whatever you do, whatever you do, don’t make a move!” Zhao Youcai warned Xing San, “We’re in the right, but if we start fighting, it’ll look like we’re bullying someone!”
"Oh, I understand!" Xing San glanced at Zhao Youcai with a hint of annoyance. This old man wasn't a savage; he had lived in the village before. Before coming down the mountain to seek refuge with the Zhao family, Xing San wasn't ignorant of human relationships; he just didn't want to deal with them.
Zhao Jun and Ma Ling came out dressed neatly, while Wang Meilan stretched out her sleeves as she walked from the east corridor to the outer room.
At this time, Zhao Hong and Zhao Na had not yet gone to school. Wang Meilan called to them, "You two go to Lingdang's house and look for Lingdang."
And so, the Zhao family of six, along with Xing San, stormed out.
Once outside the gate, Zhao Hong quickly pulled a larch stick, about a meter long, from the woodpile.
Startled, Ma Ling quickly asked, "Xiao Hong, what are you doing?"
Zhao Hong's face tightened, and she said angrily, "Sister-in-law, I'm going to beat up the Zhang family!"
"Who the hell are you going to slap?" Wang Meilan snatched the stick from Zhao Hong's hand, threw it onto the woodpile, turned around and raised her hand at Zhao Hong, who hurriedly hid behind Xing San in fright.
"If you keep acting cocky, I'll beat you up first!" Wang Meilan was already in a bad mood, and her second daughter was even making a scene with knives and guns. How could she not be angry?
"Sister-in-law, don't be angry." Xing San quickly protected Zhao Hong and said to Wang Meilan, "Let's go quickly."
Wang Meilan glared at Zhao Hong, who was stealing glances at her, and then walked ahead with Zhao Youcai.
Zhao Jun, Ma Ling, and Xing San followed Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan, while Zhao Hong and Zhao Na brought up the rear.
The group hadn't walked far when they ran into the Li family of four and Zhao Jinhui. Li Dayong and Li Baoyu had grim faces. When they saw the family, Zhao Youcai said, "Dayong, you should go to work. It's not a big deal."
"Then I'm off, big brother." Li Dayong replied, then turned around and pointed at Li Baoyu, saying, "Listen to your father, don't do anything reckless!"
After saying that, Li Dayong turned and ran out of the village. By then, the horn of the commuter bus was already sounding outside the village, and he had to hurry to work.
"Baoyu!" Seeing this, Zhao Jun quickly called Li Baoyu to his side. Zhao Jun knew without asking that Li Baoyu, with his fiery temper, would definitely lose his temper after hearing about this. Li Dayong followed along, worried that Li Baoyu might impulsively start a fight.
In two days it will be Li Baoyu's big day, so we can't afford to fight with anyone now.
Zhao Jun didn't say anything, but Li Baoyu said, "Brother, we can't just let this go! We've already given him so much face!"
“Baoyu!” Zhao Jun said, “There’s nothing we can do. Zhang Zhanshan is gone, leaving only an orphan and a widow. Zhang Laifa is so young, he’s already dropped out of school and is working in the threshing ground. Zhang Laibao is still in the same health; if you hit him, how can you save face? What will the villagers say about you?”
There's a line in Huang Hong's skit that goes: "Isn't the point of living to save face?"
That's just how it is in the countryside these days; people can't live without the collective. And when a village or hamlet is all about who's right and wrong, and who's behind whose back, you can really be squeezed out and driven crazy.
"We can't keep putting up with this humiliation!" Li Baoyu said angrily, then glanced at Zhao Youcai and said, "Wasn't my uncle's nickname 'Bull-Slaughtering Cannon' given to him by Zhang Laibao?"
Zhao Youcai: "..."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Jun quickly nudged Li Baoyu with his elbow, while Jin Xiaomei glared fiercely at Li Baoyu.
Li Baoyu realized he had said the wrong thing and quickly glanced at Zhao Youcai's face. He then heard Zhao Youcai say, "I have a grudge against Zhang Zhanshan, a grudge that has lasted for many years. It's good that Zhang Zhanshan is alive, but he kicked the bucket. If I were to mess with Zhang Laibao, the villagers would say I was retaliating without even asking why."
After saying this, Zhao Youcai glanced at Zhao Jun and said, "I'm so old, I don't care, but you young people are no good."
Before Zhao Youcai could finish speaking, someone called out to him and Wang Meilan.
"Sister! Brother-in-law!" Wang Qiang and his wife, along with Xie Chen, arrived. The three of them joined the group without saying much and followed along.
But Zhao Jun glanced at Xie Chen and asked, "Where's my aunt?"
“She’s at the back,” Jie Chen said. Zhao Jun glanced into the distance and said, “How could you let her walk by herself?”
Jie Sunshi was a ruthless and unruly woman, even more so than Xing Sandu. Just look at the two battles she fought when she first arrived in Yong'an, and you can see that for sure.
"It's nothing, Brother Jun," Jie Chen said casually. "My sister-in-law is with her."
Upon hearing from Xie Chen that Liu Lanying was with Xie Sunshi, Zhao Jun felt relieved.
And Xie Chen was right, Xie Sunshi was indeed with her eldest daughter-in-law, except that Li Tongyun was also there with her.
Today, Li Tongyun wore jeans, a thin red cotton jacket, and thick-soled buffalo leather shoes. This outfit, combined with her fair and beautiful face, made her a striking sight in Yong'an Village.
But this stunningly beautiful Li Tongyun, once she opened her mouth, said: "What a jerk! He's got some nerve, daring to steal business from my Zhao Family Chamber of Commerce! He's got a death wish! Aunt Sun, when we get there, I'll light the fuse, and you'd better get to work!"
Upon hearing Li Tongyun's words, Xie Sunshi immediately retorted, "You brat, what are you doing lighting the firecracker? I'll light it!"
(End of this chapter)