Chapter 344 - 180: Embraced

Chapter 344: Chapter 180: Embraced

Old Man Hua completely understood that Gouwa must have done something reckless, leading to people disabling him. Yet, now the village chief wants the people to compensate, but these people aren’t easy to deal with, so how could they possibly pay?

Gouwa’s condition is entirely self-inflicted, but the village chief only has Gouwa as a son, and cherishes him greatly. With such a matter, the chief naturally wants justice for his son.

But seeking justice doesn’t mean reporting to the government; instead, he’s asking for one thousand taels of silver? However, upon reflection, even Old Man Hua feels the chief is correct in doing so.

Ah! Poverty stifles ambition! Gouwa became incapacitated, but won’t he still need to live on? Certainly, getting silver is better, but isn’t a thousand taels too much?

A hundred taels should do; as long as it’s not squandered, some land could be bought, and life could improve.

The chief’s family wasn’t silverless initially, but usually, the chief’s silver was squandered by Gouwa, probably on the village widow a lot. And what kind of person is that widow? Any man would want her, as long as there’s silver to offer.

The village originally intended to deal with such immoral people, but upon his son’s pleadings, the chief let it go.

Old Man Hua thinks the chief will ultimately be ruined by Gouwa, as every time there’s an issue with Gouwa, the chief chooses the wrong path. However, today, the chief and Gouwa have hit a hard obstacle.

Despite thinking Gouwa deserved it, that was the chief, so he stood silently to the side.

Mrs. Tian also stood silently beside him. Her father-in-law might seem like a good person on the surface, but inside, he harbors many schemes! She better not intervene and create trouble.

Gu Chengyu also grew impatient with the hassle. To him, the chief is no good either. Are you not aware of your son’s character?

If it were a normal person, could they do such stealing or crawling through dog holes? Haven’t you ever considered how you allowed him to trouble the village? Do you really think being a chief means you can cover everything?

He’s certain Gouwa is no good from usual behavior. Since entering the yard, Gouwa blatantly stared at young girls. Even being reprimanded by his father didn’t make him restrain himself, showing this has become a habit.

"If you want to report to officials, go ahead. We need to get going; don’t want to waste time with you. You know fully well why Gouwa and his spouse came to the yard. If you keep pestering us, I won’t mind disabling another."

Seeing Yao Mengxian and others already leaving the house, Gu Chengyu turned and left. Entangling with someone like the chief would only delay their timing.

As Mrs. Gao was helping Yao Mengxian onto the carriage outside the courtyard, the chief suddenly charged and hugged the carriage, shouting, "If you don’t pay one thousand taels, don’t ever think of leaving!"

The chief also realized that reporting to officials wouldn’t bring any advantage, so he reconciled with the idea of shamelessly demanding silver.

Old Man Hua was also shocked by the chief’s brazen behavior. Is this really the chief he knows?

Yao Mengxian and her entourage were startled, retreating several steps.

Gu Chengyu regretted, thinking he should’ve killed Gouwa, tossed him into the space, and buried him randomly after leaving the village.

However, within a few breaths, he shook his head in disapproval. With river bandits, he could act, but against villagers, even if they were bad people, he had always only disciplined. Does he want to become someone who kills over slightest disagreements?

This isn’t the apocalypse; if he keeps acting without restraint, killing willy-nilly, eventually he would go on an uncontrollable killing spree.

Gu Chengyu let out a cold chuckle, "Ming Mo, take care of it."

Ming Mo stepped forward and unsheathed the short sword with a "swoosh." The sword glowed in brilliant white, radiating a cold gleam.

"Want to try my sword?" Ming Mo thought such people would only continue pestering if tossed aside; better to intimidate thoroughly.

Ordinary folk fear swords; he didn’t believe the chief didn’t fear dying.

Sure enough, upon seeing the sword, the chief reflexively jumped away from the carriage, running a meter away, never having witnessed such a scene.

Ming Mo sneered slightly, "Miss Yao, get on the carriage!"

The chief watched as Gu Chengyu and his group steadily boarded the carriage, feeling a bit hesitant to act, but Old Man Hua pulled him back.

Only when the carriage drove out of the courtyard towards the village entrance did Old Man Hua release the chief.

"Uncle Hua, why did you pull me back?" The chief instantly regretted it as the carriage left, realizing he missed a great chance.

"Chief! Look at what kind of people they are? Certainly, they’re not ordinary. Why make enemies with them? I see Mr. Gu resembles a wealthy household’s member. Don’t offend people and bring greater troubles! I’m mad about Gouwa’s situation too, but we can’t fight them, just swallow the loss."

Thinking it over, the chief found Old Man Hua’s reasoning sound. He already suspected these people weren’t ordinary merchants, so he had no choice but to let go.

Reflecting on the failed extortion and the need to spend silver on Gouwa’s injuries, he grew agitated. Holding only two taels, he couldn’t be sure it was sufficient for medical expenses!

Old Man Hua hastily bid farewell, fearing the chief might blame him for bringing them last night, even though the followers had given him two taels for lodging.

The chief too had bad luck, but someone with a son like his?

The chief hadn’t contemplated this yet; presently he felt dizzy as he hadn’t had a sip of water since last night till now.

He steadied himself at the courtyard gate, feeling unsteady.

Seeing this, Mrs. Tian immediately stepped forward to assist, "Father, are you okay?"

She leaned the chief against herself as she supported his waist while leading him indoors.

Old Man Hua intended to say goodbye but noticed the chief seemed unwell and thought to help. Just then, he saw Mrs. Tian stepping ahead to support.

Usually, the son-in-law assisting should seem improper since he was there. Wasn’t she asking him for help?

Upon seeing Mrs. Tian’s action, he found it astonishing. Why did she hug him? Seeing her embrace the chief, even the chief hadn’t refused, and placed his hand on Mrs. Tian’s shoulder.

Suddenly thinking about the now incapacitated Gouwa, he shivered, his entire body hair standing on end.

Gosh! What immense discovery had he stumbled upon? Swiftly, he retreated home.

Gu Chengyu and his group rode the carriage toward the village entrance, where Sun Xian and the others waited. They exchanged a few words before setting off.

Sun Xian and his group knew nothing of these events, only hearing the chief’s son was injured, unaware it was Gu Chengyu who caused it, sparing him explanations.

As for what happened after their departure, how the village’s young women and housewives cheered over Gouwa’s incapacitation, they knew nothing about that.