Qi Zhenzhen knew Yun Shi's character very well. She was a woman who valued rules above all else. How could she possibly have an unclear or ambiguous relationship with anyone?
Yet, the more this was the case, the more the men privately spoke of her. Her reputation among the village women deteriorated further.
It was clearly the men who couldn't control their mouths and had dirty minds. Instead of finding fault with their own husbands, the women blamed everything on Yun Shi.
It was truly disgusting.
"Er Hei's mother, is that how you speak?" Zhang Xiaoniu pushed through the crowd and rushed over. "You look like a decent person, but you don't speak like one."
Er Hei was beaten by him. He had intervened because he saw Er Hei bullying someone. He had just happened to be passing by, and even if Er Hei had been bullying someone else, he wouldn't have stood idly by.
It was clearly Er Hei's fault, but now it was becoming Zhenzhen's fault through Er Hei's mother's words.
He wished Zhenzhen would flirt with him, but the girl was so proper, not showing the slightest hint of it.
Er Hei's mother knew that her son had been beaten by Zhang Xiaoniu. Her son had told her as much when he returned home. However, the four Zhang brothers were as sturdy as iron towers; how could she possibly deal with them? Moreover, Zhang Er Niu had been to the battlefield and killed people. If she truly angered him, she might get beaten herself. But it was difficult to suppress the anger in her heart, so she came to the Qi family in a huff. A widow with a daughter and a son seemed easy to bully.
Bullying the weak and fearing the strong – this described Er Hei's mother perfectly.
But was Qi Zhenzhen a pushover?
"Village Head Grandpa, I was the one who beat Er Hei. When I was passing by earlier, Er Hei and a few other boys were blocking Qi Zhenzhen, saying vulgar and unspeakable things. Qi Zhenzhen was forced to retreat. My second brother taught me to be upright and kind, and not to stand by when witnessing injustice. Our Xinghua Village has always had a simple and honest folk, and we neighbors live in harmony. We can't let one bad apple spoil the whole barrel. That's why I took action to teach Er Hei a lesson. I've always been strong since I was young, and I didn't think I was using too much force, but I didn't expect to beat him into such a sorry state..." Zhang Er Niu said, scratching the back of his head with a look of embarrassment.
This was an explanation of the situation at the time.
The Village Head looked at Er Hei and Er Hei's mother with eyes full of disgust. The guilty party was accusing the innocent, the wicked were the first to cry foul.
"If Village Head Grandpa is worried that what I'm saying is inaccurate, I can call over the boys who were there at the time," Zhang Er Niu added.
His words were well-reasoned, and how could the Village Head not believe him? Comparing the two, Er Niu was truly someone to be looked down upon.
Er Hei's mother's heart was pounding. If this matter ended here today, wouldn't all the blame fall on her Er Hei? Why should he be beaten and still be blamed? This was too much of a bullying.
"Village Head, our Er Hei is still a child. Children play around. Does this Zhang family boy need to be so heavy-handed?" Er Hei's mother complained loudly. "If our Er Hei is seriously injured, who will be responsible?"
Children playing around?
Qi Zhenzhen had seen many news reports about "bear children" in her previous life. A bear child pushed a pregnant woman, causing a miscarriage, and the bear child's parents would say, "He's just a child."
A bear child caused permanent injury to someone, and the bear child's parents would say, "He's just a child."
A bear child committed murder, and it was still, "He's just a child."
Er Hei's mother was now adopting that same attitude. Indeed, the formation of a bear child couldn't be entirely attributed to the child's nature. Tracing the root cause, it might be due to having bear parents.
"When I hit him, I only struck him in places that hurt but wouldn't cause serious injury. I didn't injure Er Hei. I just wanted to make him remember and not bully people casually," Zhang Xiaoniu mumbled. "Er Hei's mother, it's clearly your Er Hei's fault, so why are you so righteous? If I hadn't passed by, and your Er Hei had committed a grave mistake, it wouldn't have been so easily dismissed with just a beating. I helped Er Hei, and instead of being grateful, you're biting the hand that fed you..."
He was beaten and expected to be grateful?
Qi Zhenzhen struggled to suppress her laughter. She hadn't interacted with Zhang Xiaoniu before, and she hadn't expected him to be so eloquent and amusing.
"Village Head Grandpa, I was coming out of Doctor Mo's house. Auntie Mo gave me two pumpkins, but Er Hei falsely accused me of stealing them," Qi Zhenzhen said in a soft voice. "Our Great Feng has strict laws. Slander without evidence is a violation of the law. Secondly, Er Hei also uttered obscenities and attempted to commit indecent acts. The law clearly states that for this offense, thirty strokes of the cane. Am I correct? Furthermore, Er Hei's mother forcibly entered a private residence and damaged my front door. The law also stipulates that offenders shall be caned ten times and pay tenfold compensation for the damaged property."
The Village Head was stunned. As the Village Head, he was required to memorize the laws.
Although what Qi's family's girl said was not verbatim the law, the meaning was exactly the same.
A girl who was well-versed in the law – what did this represent? It represented that this girl's background was not ordinary.
For a farm girl, it was rare to be literate, let alone well-versed in the law?
"Ding Cheng's wife, do you know you were wrong?" The Village Head suppressed his surprise and sternly questioned Er Hei's mother.
Er Hei's mother was somewhat bewildered. What had her son done, and what had she done, to violate the law and be subject to caning?
What did that little girl from the Qi family know? Was everything she said to be taken as fact?
"Village Head, you can't be this biased. Our Er Hei was beaten, and now he's going to be punished too?" Er Hei's mother wailed.
Upon hearing that the law had been violated, those who were watching the commotion retreated. This matter had nothing to do with them. They had only come to watch the spectacle after hearing what Er Hei's mother was going to do. There was no law stipulating that watching a commotion would also result in caning, right?
The Village Head snorted, "Foolish woman, Er Hei was beaten because he brought it upon himself. I can't manage this matter myself. The caning is not something I, as a Village Head, can decide. I will immediately go to the county office and report the entire incident to the County Magistrate, who will decide right from wrong."
Qi Zhenzhen curtsied lightly, "I will listen to Village Head Grandpa."
The Village Head found Qi Zhenzhen even more extraordinary. If a girl from an ordinary family heard that the matter was going to the county office, wouldn't she be trembling with fear? Just like Er Hei's mother and Er Hei. But this girl was calm and composed, showing no fear at all. What did this indicate? It indicated that she was worldly. She also knew that if this matter were escalated to the county office, only Er Hei and his mother would be at a disadvantage.
"Village Head, you can't do this! If I am sent to the county office, my husband Ding Cheng will divorce me!" Er Hei's mother finally felt fear. A woman who had been through the court – wouldn't her reputation be ruined? The Ding family, for the sake of their reputation, would they still want her? Er Hei was still so young, and if he had a record from the county office, how would he live his life in the future?