Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 1081 - 346: Falling into the Ice Cave, Striking underhand_2

Chapter 1081: Chapter 346: Falling into the Ice Cave, Striking underhand_2

The waters of the Xiaoqing River were deep and shallow, with the deepest parts capable of submerging a bamboo pole ten Zhang long, while the shallows barely covered the ankles. In winter, the water level dropped, and the slow-moving river froze easily, especially with the extremely low temperatures of recent days. The ice that formed the day before couldn’t melt the next day. After a few days of accumulation, the entire riverbed was solidly frozen, making it appear to be a great place for ice skating.

However, the deeper areas didn’t freeze solid, and if one carelessly slid there, the ice could break and it would be easy to fall in. At that time, even those who could swim would be trapped under the ice, unable to climb out.

Therefore, every winter, no matter how thick the ice on the Xiaoqing River was, adults strictly forbade children from playing on the river, fearing that they might succumb to temptation and fall into an ice hole.

The loud shouts of Mo Zhen and Yun Zhao reminded many children who were tempted, making them suddenly recall the adults’ words. One by one, their voices died down as they dared not speak of going to the Xiaoqing River to skate.

Seeing this, Wang Cai felt a surge of resentment and couldn’t help but mock, "Look at you lot, a bunch of pussies without balls! I’m this heavy and I skate on the Xiaoqing River every day without falling in. You little brats hardly weigh anything, do you really think you could break the ice more easily than me?"

Several of the older kids had already been filled with longing to skate on the Xiaoqing River. They also felt that they were now men and shouldn’t be timid in their actions. If it weren’t for the repeated strict orders at home, and the fear of getting caught and beaten for sneaking out to play, they would have gone skating long ago.

Provoked by Wang Cai’s taunt, they immediately got angry and retorted, "You’re the pussy! Your whole family are pussies! Who says we’re afraid?"

Wang Cai pointed at those kids and sneered, "If you dare, why don’t you go with me?"

Unable to bear his pointing, several kids felt even more humiliated, and one with a flushed face jumped out and said, "Let’s go, who’s afraid of who!"

Wang Cai wasn’t satisfied, continuing to goad them, "Just going is useless, you have to get on the ice and skate, or else you’re just a bunch of nutless wimps!"

"If skating is what it takes, then skate we will! Anyone who doesn’t skate is a mama’s boy, a wimp!" The kids were completely infuriated and immediately agreed to it.

Mo Zhen hadn’t expected things to escalate so quickly. Seeing those kids really about to follow Wang Cai to skate on the Xiaoqing River, he quickly intervened, "Don’t go, it’s too dangerous."

However, the kids were determined to go, and with Wang Cai fanning the flames, none of them would listen to his warnings. And so, they carried their ice sleds, ignoring their friends’ attempts to stop them, and followed Wang Cai to the Xiaoqing River.

As they walked past Mo Zhen, Wang Cai turned his head, gave Mo Zhen a disdainful look, and mimed the words "coward" before walking off with a smug expression.

The kids led away by Wang Cai were usually the ringleaders of the children, often taking others to catch birds in the mountains or fish in the rivers when not in school. The rest of the kids, harboring the thought of just watching the fun without getting on the river, all followed along, leaving only Mo Zhen, Yun Zhao, Danzi, and the kid Wang Cai had knocked over behind.

"Elder brother Zhao, what do we do now?" Mo Zhen was worried and wanted to follow to see what would happen, but he also felt that if something really went wrong, he wouldn’t be able to help at all and was somewhat indecisive.

After thinking for a moment, Yun Zhao said, "Let’s go back to the village and tell their parents about this so they can come and take them back."

Mo Zhen’s eyes lit up, about to agree, when Danzi interrupted, "Let’s not call the adults, they might blame us afterwards."

"Yeah, if it weren’t for the beating by Wang Cai, I’d want to try skating too. If someone snitched to my parents, I’d hate them forever. Besides, just because you go play doesn’t mean something bad will definitely happen. Yesterday, I saw a few adults walking from one side of the ice to the other," another child added, rubbing his bottom.

Upon hearing this, Mo Zhen and Yun Zhao were torn.

Danzi’s eyes rolled with a new idea, "Why don’t we also go and just remind them not to go too deep?"

Mo Zhen and Yun Zhao didn’t want to incur resentment and felt Danzi’s suggestion sounded reasonable. After hesitating for a moment, they agreed to go.

By the time the four of them hurried to the Xiaoqing River, several bold children were already playing on the ice, while the timid ones stood on the shore looking eagerto try, their youthful faces full of anticipation.

"Mo Zhen, come on down and play, it’s so much fun here!" exclaimed one overjoyed kid skating on the ice upon seeing the four arrive, his voice carrying far across the empty riverbank.

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