The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 802 - 780 Lai Tou

Chapter 802: Chapter 780 Lai Tou

Ms.Qian pondered for a moment before shaking her head, "First, call Lai Tou over because we have approached the village chief many times about this matter."

Interpersonal relationships become thinner the more they are used, so it’s best not to use them when not necessary.

Zhou Dalang responded and headed out with Zhou Erlang, groping their way in the dark to Lai Tou’s house.

At Lai Tou’s family, they had just finished dinner. Even during the New Year period, when they were not very busy, their meals were late because Lai Tou’s parents would take their grandson up the mountain to fetch firewood. Exchanging a load of firewood for some money at the county town meant they returned late and ate late.

Lai Tou dropped his chopsticks and bowl as soon as he was full and turned to head inside, but Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang didn’t need to knock on the door because their house had no main door; they walked straight into the yard towards Lai Tou, who was about to enter his house, "Lai Zi, come out for a moment."

Seeing people from the Zhou Family, Lai Tou looked somewhat intimidated and sat down on a chair, asking nervously, "What, what’s it?"

Lai Tou’s father hurriedly stood up, "Dalang and Erlang are here, do you want to invite them in for something to eat?"

Zhou Dalang, though of the same generation, was younger than him; he quickly smiled, "No need, big brother, keep eating. We’ve already eaten at home. I have something to ask Lai Tou."

"What’s the matter, did this kid cause trouble at your place? I’ll beat him up in a minute."

"It’s nothing like that," said Zhou Dalang, feeling somewhat embarrassed; Zhou Erlang took over, "It’s something our mother asked us to inquire about. Lai Tou, do you want to clear the land at the entrance of the village to plant ginger? If you want to plant, we’ll keep some ginger pieces for you afterward."

Lai Tou’s mother immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, that would be great, albeit a bit troublesome for Aunt, but we appreciate her thinking of us."

Zhou Dalang smiled, "It’s fine."

"Just like sister-in-law knows, my mother loves to nag. The village chief also mentioned recently that Lai Tou constantly spending money on gambling isn’t right, so my mother went to talk to Lai Tou."

Lai Tou’s parents didn’t doubt this as the village chief had often approached Lai Tou to discuss his gambling, and Ms.Qian was indeed known in the village for being warm-hearted, always ready to help anyone with anything, so they didn’t stop them.

Zhou Dalang and Zhou Erlang then stepped forward, grabbed Lai Tou by his arms, one on each side, "Let’s go, my mother is waiting at home for you."

Lai Tou felt a chill in his heart and struggled not to go with them.

Seeing this, Lai Tou’s parents also helped persuade, "Just go with your two uncles to listen, the elders are only thinking of your best..."

Thus, Lai Tou was pulled to Old Zhou’s home.

At Old Zhou’s home, the five brothers were all present, observing Lai Tou. Old Zhou and Ms.Qian were seated in middle chairs, and Junior Ms. Qian, not being aware of the situation at home as she was doing business in Yizhou City, was absent. Thus, Ms.Feng led the daughters-in-law, sitting far off in the courtyard, guarding the gate.

Lai Tou felt like he had entered a place even more terrifying than the cells at the County Governmental Office, trembling slightly.

Zhou Erlang turned to close the hall door, giving Ms.Feng a signal with his eyes.

Ms.Feng then spoke to a bewildered Ms.Fang and Ms.Lu, "You two go back inside to watch the children. I and your third sister-in-law will do some needlework here."

Ms.Fang glanced at the dim sky and quietly stood up.

Ms.Lu, having entered the door later than Ms.Fang, knew even less about the situation at home. Thus, when returning to the small courtyard, she couldn’t help but pull Ms.Fang aside to ask, "Fourth sister-in-law, what exactly is happening at home?"

Ms.Fang shook her head slightly, "I’m not sure either; I guess it involves some old issues at home. You could ask Four or Five when Old Zhou returns."

Ms.Lu didn’t ask further.

Inside, everyone huddled around Lai Tou. Zhou Erlang slapped Lai Tou’s shoulder, not using much force, but Lai Tou’s legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

Everyone: ...

Zhou Erlang wordlessly reached out to help him up, asking, "Lai Tou, have you done something guilty?"

Lai Tou shook his head repeatedly.

"If you haven’t done anything guilty, what are you afraid of?" Zhou Erlang asked. "You’ve been hanging around the gambling dens, routinely deceiving and exploiting others, so why have you been dodging our family members like a rat dodging a dog these past few days?"

Zhou Dalang couldn’t help but cough and cast Zhou Erlang a sideways glance, saying who’s calling who a dog?

He stepped forward, pulling Lai Tou up to seat him on a chair, and said sternly, "Lai Tou, we already know about the matter. We’re all family here, and there’s no need to hide anything from us. Speak up early so we can think of a way to solve it."

What could possibly solve this?

Lai Tou remained silent, saying nothing.

Ms.Qian had been staring at Lai Tou and seeing his hesitation, spoke, "Lai Tou, to speak frankly, this is something our family should resolve. We couldn’t handle it before, but now that Four is doing business outside and has made some influential acquaintances, if you had spoken to us earlier, we could have thought of a solution instead of waiting for outsiders to come knocking..."

Lai Tou shuddered and quickly said, "Aunt, this matter has nothing to do with me. I only helped carry the coffin when my younger uncle passed away; your family asked us not to speak of it, and that’s why we kept silent."

Ms.Qian straightened her back, asking, "What did you tell the official then?"

"I—I didn’t say anything," Lai Tou said. "Lord Yang even spanked me and clamped my fingers, but I didn’t say anything. That’s a capital offense; how could I dare to speak out?"

Ms.Qian breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Did Lord Yang say where he heard about this matter?"

"I don’t know; I was suddenly taken to the governmental office, and as soon as they started questioning, it was about my younger uncle. How could I dare say anything?"

"How did County Magistrate Yang ask?"

"He asked if my younger uncle had returned. Indeed, County Magistrate Yang also mentioned that someone had seen my younger uncle return and asked how they could be sure that the Zhou Yin who died in Shangzhou was really my younger uncle..."

After pondering for a moment, Ms.Qian understood and asked Lai Tou a few more questions to confirm he really hadn’t disclosed anything, then glanced at Zhou Dalang.

Zhou Dalang immediately turned and handed him a basket of ginger pieces, saying, "These are the ginger pieces buried by our family; since it’s for planting, we chose the best ones, buried well. Once the New Year passes, the weather will warm up slightly, and you can take them home to your mother. Remember to mix the seeds with wood ash and sandy soil before burying and prepare the land at the village entrance for planting."

Lai Tou, still stunned, listened—was all this really about planting ginger?

Ms.Qian looked at him and sighed, "Da Li, your son Da Niu isn’t getting any younger, do you really plan to spend your entire life in the gambling dens? Planting this ginger might not be as profitable as farming land, but at least there’s income. Now that Four has found customers in Yizhou City, even if you can’t sell the ginger in the county town, selling it cheaper to Four to take to Yizhou City would still earn about ten or more wen per jin. The three acres of land at the village entrance, if well-cared for, could in a few years accumulate enough for you to arrange a marriage for Da Niu."

Touched by her words, Lai Tou took the basket and responded. It had been many years since anyone had called him by his name; everyone called him Lai Tou so much that he almost forgot his own name.