Chapter 35 - Little Games
She pointed at Yao Kang, her eyes blazing with anger, "Uncle! Xiao Bao has called you uncle all these years, you give it a thought! He's just a servant; how dare he rise up and hit his master? Who gave him the audacity?’
"I didn't hit him!" Yao Kang glared back at her, not backing down at all, "He bit me first!"
More and more people were gathering around, and Meng Fengchun was getting a headache: "Speak properly, don't curse!"
At this busy time, you have to stir up trouble like this, "Also, big sister, long-term workers are not called servants, and he is not from your family, so he cannot call you masters."
"How can it not count! Not even a fart can be heard at the door of the upper class, they are just the lower class!"
"Alright, alright, alright! Let's not talk about that, I'll start from the beginning." Meng Fengchun turned to Meng Xiaobao, who was huddled in the corner, "Xiaobao, Why did you bite someone from Xiaoxi's family?
"Hmph!" Meng Xiaobao turned his head, "Who told this filthy beggar to stop me from leaving!"
Yao Kangmu ignored him with a sullen face, squeezed through the crowd to the side of the melon field, pointed into the field, and said, "Look!"
Everyone then noticed that the melon vines had been turned over, and the large, round, bright green watermelons were all lying belly-up. At first glance, it looked quite pleasing, but upon closer inspection, almost every one of them had been punctured, with juice oozing out.
Everyone gasped; every piece of watermelon was ruined.
Meng Xiaoxi and Shen Qingzhou were even more heartbroken upon seeing it. In this era, fruits were scarce, and all these watermelons were painstakingly grown. They had not missed a single step—pulling weeds, catching pests, watering—everything was done meticulously. Just as they were about to ripen and be served at the table, one moment of carelessness had ruined them all.
The two turned around and glared at Meng Xiaobao, their eyes filled with such hatred that they looked ready to chop off his claws.
The villagers began to criticize him, each adding their own comments. People in the countryside know well that farming is not easy, and they despise those who waste food the most.
"Too ignorant of the world! If it were my child, I would definitely let him go hungry for three days!”
"Indeed! If it were my kid, not only would I stop him from leaving, but I'd even hang him up on a tree and beat him myself!”
Meng Xiaobao was so scared that he didn't dare to say a word.
The Meng Fengpo family was also left speechless upon seeing it, unable to utter a single word.
Xu Laicui still wanted to struggle and asked her son, "Did you really do this? Xiao Bao, it's not someone else trying to frame you, is it?”
Saying this, he shot a glance at Yao Kang, who was standing next to him.
Surrounded by a group of people accusing him, Meng Xiaobao trembled in fear, clearly not understanding his mother's intentions, and stammered, “I-I was- I was afraid of picking the wrong one! So I tried opening each one… I just wanted to play under the tree! You insisted on making me pick this stupid watermelon! In the end, I didn’t even get to eat it! Its’s all your fault, waaahhh–”
Saying this, he started to cry loudly.
"So it was the adults who told him to pick it! No wonder.”
"Instead of teaching good things, they are teaching the child to become a thief! These parents are really something else!”
Having incurred the wrath of the crowd, Meng Fengpo and his wife had alternating shades of blue and white on their faces, while their two daughters huddled in a corner, not daring to speak, trying hard to minimize their presence.
Xu Laicui's anger flared up. She stepped forward and grabbed Meng Xiaobao's ear, not daring to pull too hard, while scolding, "You little brat! It's so hot today, I was worried you'd get thirsty, so I let you pick one to taste. It's not from someone else's place, why did you poke so many holes? I'll deal with you properly when we get back!"
Meng Xiaobao was sobbing and being dragged home by his mother by his ear.
"Wait a minute!"
Meng Xiaoxi's voice was usually warm and soft, but at this moment, it was exceptionally clear and cold.
He turned to that family, his eyes filled with frost. "Auntie, you don't really think this will just be settled like this, do you?"
"What else do you want?!"
Xu Laicui knew he was always a pushover, so she wasn't afraid at all, "Your brother was stopped and beaten too, not just him! Our whole family suffered! Your big guy hit us so hard—”
Saying this, she fearfully glanced back at Shen Qingzhou, who was behind her. Even though she had been hit, she didn't dare to directly accuse him, only daring to vent her anger on others, showing her cowardly and cunning nature to the fullest.
"I..." Meng Xiaoxi was taken aback by her shout, almost forgetting what he was about to say.
Shen Qingzhou walked up to him, stood shoulder to shoulder with him, and reached out to pinch his fingers.
Meng Xiaoxi suddenly calmed down, and a few things in his mind gradually became clear and organized.
He glanced at Meng Fengchun and listed them one by one. "With Second Uncle and all the uncles and aunts as witnesses, let me state the solution. First, all the watermelons that Meng Xiaobao damaged will be picked and weighed, regardless of whether they have big or small holes or dents. Compensation will be based on the market price. If they were to be sold, they could have grown a bit bigger. I'll take this loss myself and won't hold it against you.”
"You..."
Xu Laicui was so furious that she nearly fell over backward; they were using her own words against her.
"Yeah, it should be like this." Meng Fengchun nodded.
The villagers nearby also chimed in, saying, "When you think about it, we did lose a bit. We could have sold a bit more. Xiaoxi is still so kind-hearted."
That family hadn't even responded yet, and Meng Xiaoxi brought up the second point, "Second, more than one person saw it. Your family members ganged up on him. Since Yao Kang is our long-term worker and got injured while protecting our property, I can't just ignore it. After he goes to the clinic for treatment, you will compensate us for the total cost of the medical expenses. Also, the delay in work will be charged—"
Shen Qingzhou added, "Compensation for lost work."
"Right! Lost wages, they need to be compensated too! Even if he compensated the money, he still suffered, so in the end, he still lost out.”
The villagers nodded again; after all, there's money to be made, and no one wants to take a beating. Besides, this young laborer is still just a half-grown child, quite pitiful.
“Do we have to keep losing money?”
That family looked at him in disbelief, and Meng Fengpo's fingers trembled: "Xiaoxi!"
"You actually plotted against your uncle for an unruly wild brat?"
"How can this be called a scheme? Uncle! All these years, our two families have been getting along well. Today, it was your family who brought up the issue first!”
Meng Xiaoxi gave a self-deprecating smile, "You all know, I'm usually easy to talk to."
He laid out the final point, his tone very firm. "Third, given the current unpleasant situation, you won't get those twenty acres of land either."
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