60 Trouble
Little Ah Yu went back to look for Grandma and hugged her arms full of flowers.
When Old Madam Wang saw this, her eyebrows twitched.
“Ah Yu, you can’t pick other people’s flowers.”
“Ah Yu didn’t pick the flowers.” Little Ah Yu shook her head. “It was given to me by Little Brother. Little Brother likes me very much! I like Little Brother too!”
Zhang Zhan saw the flowers in Little Ah Yu’s arms from afar. He did not care much at first, but when he saw the color clearly, he gasped.
Wasn’t that the purple peonies that the butler had specially bought?
It had only been planted yesterday.
There were only a few flowers in total. How many were there here?
Old Madam Wang was already holding Little Ah Yu’s hand and walking towards Zhang Zhan with a smile. “Looks like Lord Zhang’s distant cousin has a good relationship with our Ah Yu. They’ve only just met, but he’s already given us so many flowers. These flowers are quite beautiful. They look bigger than the wildflowers on the mountain.”
“Is that so? Hahahaha…” Zhang Zhan did not know what to say.
Even an entire mountain of wildflowers could not compare to this.
No one bought wildflowers.
However, they could not possibly let that brat compensate them for picking the flowers, right?
“Lord Zhang, it’s all settled. I still have to go with the villagers to collect the food, so I won’t delay anymore,” Old Madam Wang said.
Zhang Zhan thought about what Old Madam Wang had asked him to do and directly offset Little Ah Yu’s kindness, but he did not feel that he had suffered a loss.
With this interruption, he did not think about the flowers anymore.
“Don’t worry, I, Zhang Zhan, will definitely do what I promised.”
Just as Old Madam Wang was about to leave, she suddenly remembered that there was still something in her pocket. She took out two jade pendant fragments and handed them over. “This was broken by that young master. Please return it to him. Although it’s already broken, you can find a jade craftsman to exchange it for small pieces. It’s still usable.”
“Alright.” Zhang Zhan took it casually.
Old Madam Wang held Ah Yu’s hand and walked out of the county office. She asked her, “Did you have fun with that little brother?”
Actually, Old Madam Wang and Zhang Zhan had only chatted for half an hour. If the children were playing, this time was not enough.
“I’m so happy! Little Brother picked flowers for me. Grandma, let’s come here to play next time. I want to give new flowers to Little Brother.”
Little Ah Yu liked that big brother very much.
Although she felt that Little Brother did not like her that much.
But Grandma did not know. If she did not tell Grandma, Grandma would bring her here to play next time!
When they entered, they used the main entrance. When they came out, they used the side door. It was the same door that the gatekeeper had stopped them previously.
When the two of them walked out, the servant in charge of sending them off behind said, “Take care.”
Seeing that the servant’s attitude was more respectful, the gatekeeper looked terrified. When they were a little further away, he hurriedly asked, “Who are these two?”
“I don’t know either, but I think Lord Zhang treats them quite well.” Actually, this already showed that they were a little special.
Ever since the Imperial Envoy came here to carry out his duties, his attitude had been very serious. He had even assigned a few people to help.
The official register was directly removed from his official position.
The gatekeeper broke out in cold sweat. “That’s bad. I must have offended them!”
The servant asked, “What did you do?”
“Previously, when they wanted to see Lord Zhang, I stopped them and even said something inappropriate.” At this point, the gatekeeper broke out in cold sweat. Could he have offended Lord Zhang’s relatives?
It was not easy for him to get a position as a gatekeeper. Now, he would probably lose his job!
“Then you’re on your own,” the servant said sympathetically.
On the way to meet the villagers, Little Ah Yu asked curiously, “Grandma, why did you look at that uncle just now?”
Little Ah Yu noticed that when they met that uncle previously, he was very fierce.
But when they came out, Grandma walked to the uncle’s side and deliberately glanced at him. She saw him tremble.
Why?
Was Uncle very cold?
“He probably has a guilty conscience.” Old Madam Wang smiled and did not say anything.
As for how much the gatekeeper would be taught a lesson, that would depend on how much he could imagine.
Usually, the more guilty one was, the more they would think.
Village Chief Hu had already brought the villagers to line up. Moreover, during this period of time, they had also asked the people from the other villages and roughly understood the extent of the disaster.
As expected, there were also some villages that were in a situation where they were eating their children. With disaster looming over them and despair, there were not many people who could protect their morals.
There were also many villages that had collapsed from the snow. Other than their village and Shanyang Village, more than ten other villages had suffered disasters. There was one village that was buried like them.
“I heard that the avalanche caused the rocks to fall. They haven’t dug anyone out yet and the entire village hasn’t been saved. How tragic!” The villager who mentioned this sighed.
In the face of a natural disaster, life and death were unpredictable.
Little Ah Yu did not understand those topics and simply did not listen.
She was placed on a cart with a small flower basket in her arms. She looked around like a treasure.
She looked like a jade statue to begin with. With the flowers in her arms, she looked even cuter.
The villagers lining up had never seen such a good-looking child before. They could not help but look over.
“Big Sister, you raised this child so well. You must have taken good care of her, right?” An old woman in her sixties squeezed over. Her white hair was tied up in a bun, revealing her shrewdness.
Old Madam Wang did not want to talk about it and only nodded.
“She’s so beautiful! I’ve been to so many places and can be considered to have seen many young girls. Your family’s child is the most beautiful. She’s like a little fairy in a new year painting!”
Grandma Zhou did not seem to notice Old Madam Wang’s coldness at all. She leaned closer and wanted to reach out to touch Little Ah Yu’s face.
She smiled and said, “Big Sister, don’t mind me. This is an old habit of mine. I can’t help but look at good-looking girls. I’m a special matchmaker. I think your girl is very good-looking. If she were to be a child bride, there would at least be this-Ah!”
Before she could finish speaking, a bag of wildflowers was thrown over her head.
Old Madam Wang grabbed the wild flowers that Little Ah Yu had placed aside and threw them at her face.
Although the flowers were tender, they still hurt when they hit her face.
“What are you doing!” Grandma Zhou screamed. “You damn old woman, how dare you hit me!”
“I’m beating up an old thing like you! Big Sister? Look at your old face. Even if I say you’re 80 years old, the heavens won’t agree to it. How dare you call me Big Sister!” Old Madam Wang said sternly, “If you know that you’re sick, don’t come out and wander around. Be careful not to have too many problems one day. The King of Hell will call you to the netherworld to get the prescription!”
Grandma Zhou’s face turned green and white as she said hatefully, “I see that you’re all here to collect your food. One look and I can tell that you’re a poor peasant from the countryside. I was kind enough to give you a way out, but you actually don’t know how to appreciate kindness. You even dare to hit me! If I don’t teach you a lesson today, you won’t know who you’ve offended! -What are you waiting for!”
As soon as she finished speaking, three burly men suddenly rushed out of the crowd, all holding thick wooden sticks.
They walked towards Old Madam Wang with unfriendly expressions.
However, they stopped after taking two steps.
Because more people walked out.
Village Chief Hu swung the shoulder pole in his hand from his left hand to his right hand. He twisted his neck and said, “Come, let’s spar today. When we’re done at the county office, we’ll go to the prison to chat.”
The men from Hu Family Village protected Old Madam Wang behind them.
There was no reason for the people of their village to be bullied by others.
At this moment, County Lieutenant Cao walked out. His gaze turned cold as he looked at Grandma Zhou and the others. “Looks like you’re very full. You don’t need this food anymore. Take away their portion.”
Only then did those people realize that they were causing trouble.
On the other side, Qin Huai sat by the desk with his eyes lowered.
Chi Jia stood behind him and said, “Young Master, that grandfather and granddaughter are only ordinary people. There’s nothing unusual about them. They encountered a small problem, and I’ve already asked County Lieutenant Cao to deal with it.”
Qin Huai pretended not to hear and looked down at the broken jade pendant on the desk.
It was unknown what he was thinking.