Chapter 21 The Lazy Man
Chapter 21 The Lazy Man
At first, these people were still looking at the river and chatting. When Xue Baoping walked back and forth twice at the door of the wing room, they turned their eyes and stared at Li Wuxiang.
A skinny woman stared at Li Wuxiang's face, as if she wanted to peel off his skin. Li Wuxiang smiled at her, and the woman immediately curled her lips, turned her head, and said to the people around her while looking at him with squinted eyes: "Look, the little mute has found a son-in-law for himself this time. He has no parents, knows nothing, and has no shame. He was just dragged up yesterday, and today the two of them are fighting each other. Tsk tsk, it's shameful to watch."
Next to her was an old man with missing teeth, who was drinking water slowly from a wooden bowl he had found, and ignored her. After she muttered a few more words, he hummed and said, "The house is pretty clean."
"Clean? It is." The woman turned her eyes to look inside the wing room again - the stove was re-arranged, the floor was swept clean, there was no dust in the door sills and cracks, let alone weeds and moss. "It's a pity that this house is clean. It was renovated when her parents were still alive, so it can be considered as one of our town's. If she had known better, she should have married someone from the town. How could she bring a wild boy home? I think she fell in love with his face. Don't you think it's shameful?"
Li Wuxiang didn't care much about the looks of these people, because in a place like this, it's unlikely that anyone would think that "staring at others all the time" is rude. He also didn't care much about what the woman said - even though they were only four or five steps away from him.
What he cared about more was the woman's status among the group of people. As far as he could see, the group of people called the woman "Sister Chen". When she was picking up things just now, she was walking with two other taciturn women around her, which meant that she was not a lazy person, but an "old and weak" person. Her clothes were old but neat, which meant that she had a normal family and many relatives and friends in the town.
So she is not the target I am looking for.
At this time, another person stared at Xue Baoping who was busy in the wing room, and took over the conversation: "Don't worry about it. She is a woman, her surname is Xue, the Xue family is an outsider, and the person she picked up is from the town above. The two of them can't stay in Jinshui - Hey, what's your name? Where are you from?"
He spat at Li Wuxiang, and the spit fell at his feet. Li Wuxiang looked at him and said nothing.
This man should be considered a "lazy guy". He is not thin and is taller than the Wang family. He has a long face, light eyebrows, and his hair is hastily tied into a bun. His clothes are dirty but not torn. He picks up things alone and occasionally robs others. Most of the people who are robbed will mutter a few words and walk away. He probably has no relatives or friends in the town. He is called "Chen Sanyao".
Li Wuxiang felt that he was more suitable, but he had to wait.
Chen San bit his eye and glared, then spat: "Are you also a little mute?"
There was a low laugh in the crowd, but Sister Chen didn't seem very happy that everyone's attention was diverted to others. She rolled her eyes at Chen Sanyao and said, "Sanyao, if you count five generations back, I am still your aunt. Look at the Xue family, and then look at your family. Don't you want to find a daughter-in-law? If others can't find one, you might as well find the little mute in the Xue family. I saw her parents teaching her to read when she was a child. Ping'er, Ping'er, come on, come out, let your sister have something to say to you."
Xue Baoping walked to the door and glared at them. She had wanted to close the door just now, but because of Li Wuxiang's instructions, she just used a ladle to stir the millet in the pot vigorously, telling herself not to hear so clearly. Now when she walked to the door, she felt that those eyes were focused on her like knives. The crowd became less noisy, the voices became lower, and a few "tsk tsk" sounds were heard.
After that night with Wang Wen, she knew what this sound meant. Her face turned red, but Li Wuxiang was sitting in front of her, so she gritted her teeth and just stared at them.
Sister Chen looked at her for a few times and clicked her tongue. "Look, I haven't seen this girl for a few years. Sanyao, I think she's fine. Didn't the Wang family leave? They didn't say they would take her away. She's a good match for you. No one should look down on anyone. Ping'er, ask sister to come to your house. Hey, have some water. I heard that the little mute you picked up also brought some silver. You kid, when your parents were renovating the house, everyone came to help, but you didn't even bother to scoop some water for me to drink. "
Xue Baoping shook his head, but Sister Chen ignored him. However, as soon as she took two steps, Li Wuxiang picked up a lump of mud from the ground and threw it in front of her feet: "She said no, I'm not dumb. If you want to drink water, there's plenty in the river." Sister Chen quickly retracted her feet and glared: "Where did you come from, wild man? Why are you acting wild here? Why don't you ask what Jinshui's last name is? Did your parents teach you? Oh, your parents are still soaking in the water!"
But Li Wuxiang didn't look at him, but stared at Chen Sanyao. Chen Sanyao was annoyed by his look, and stood up and shook his arms: "What are you looking at? If you want to stay in Jinshui, you have to ask us Chens for permission. Don't you have some silver? Take it out and send it to the town master, maybe he can give you a nest of grass. Where are you from? When the flood came, so many things were washed down, and the bridge on the west side was almost broken by your broken bricks and tiles. Will you pay for it? I think this will fall on you, don't you think?"
The crowd cheered, as if it was not just because of what he said, but because they had found a legitimate and appropriate reason. Several lazy men who were squatting under the tree stood up, and some old people quickly stepped back. Chen Sanya sneered and strode towards Li Wuxiang: "Come, I'll help you guys look for that... where is that dirty silver? If you don't have it on you, go to her house and look for it--"
Now is the time. So Li Wuxiang reached under the bench and pulled out the half-broken brick left over from cleaning the stove.
When he stood up, Chen Sanyao was walking in front of him. He seemed to think that he stood up because of panic and the calm expression on his face was probably due to confusion, so he reached out and grabbed his collar.
Li Wuxiang raised his hand quickly, and half of the broken brick hit him on the head, making a thud sound.
Chen Sanyao stood there in a daze, looking a little dazed, and the people who were about to come over behind him were also dazed. When the blood started to flow out of his hair, he finally reacted, touched it with his hand, looked at it again, and was about to speak when Li Wuxiang grabbed his collar and hit him on the head again.
Based on his memories from his previous life, he knew what angle he should use to create a larger opening on the top of his head, making the scene tragic without actually hurting the things inside his head. So the effect was quite good - blood immediately covered the half of Chen San's face that was bitten. The lazy man was so frightened by the blood that his legs softened and he fell to the ground.
Li Wuxiang put him down, leaned over and grabbed his collar, but looked up at the stunned people a few steps away and hit him on the head with a broken brick for the third time. These people were still shocked and dazed, motionless, like a group of frightened sheep. So he stared at them expressionlessly and hit him for the fourth time. Chen Sanyao only let out a scream at this time. This scream and Li Wuxiang's expression made them react at once, and they retreated in panic, and several of them fell down.
Li Wuxiang then let go of Chen San's collar and walked to Sister Chen. The thin woman opened her mouth and her lips trembled. Li Wuxiang stared at her for a moment, then let go of his hand, letting the blood-stained brick fall at her feet. Sister Chen sat down on the muddy ground, and he turned around and walked to the door and sat back on the bench.
"My name is Li Wuxiang." He tilted his head and looked at Sister Chen. "This sister is right. My parents and relatives are all gone. So you should think about this. What is the most fearful thing for a person without any ties?"
No one answered him. Those who were behind the willow trees and closer to the river sneaked down the river bank and quickly slipped away.
Li Wuxiang smiled and said, "The answer is I'm not afraid of anything. Seeing blood today is a good start, so I wish you a prosperous life. Who said they wanted some water just now?"
The two lazy men huddled together, stretched out their hands, bit Chen San and dragged him back. In just a short while, everyone under the willow tree had left, not a single person was left.
(End of this chapter)