The carriage drove smoothly on the road.
The driver was driving at the front, and there were four people in the car: Magistrate Shen, Master Yuan, Zhao Lizheng, and Zhao Ergou who was on his way back to the village.
Zhao Ergou went to the slightly more prosperous Hekou Town. He and the shopkeeper of Zuixianlou Jixiang Restaurant were old acquaintances. The family gave away more than a pound and wandered around the town before returning home. On the way, I met the magistrate's carriage and was picked up.
Magistrate Shen's heart was filled with surprise, which had not subsided at all during this journey.
He opened the curtain and saw Dahe Village. After the rice in the fields was harvested, only the rice piles and a shallow layer of water were left.
The land in Dahe Village generally rests in rotation, with paddy fields resting in winter and dry fields resting in spring. The purpose is to keep the land fertile. Generally, only families with little land at home will toss the same piece of land throughout the year.
At this time, the frost has not yet fallen, so the autumn planting can be done slowly.
The carriage drove slowly along the main road towards the village.
Magistrate Shen had been looking at the fields. Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure and shouted: "Stop."
The carriage was not fast, so it stopped instantly. Magistrate Shen held the door and got out.
During this period of time, Magistrate Shen has lost a lot of weight due to his busy work. He used to have a belly, but now it is gone. His cheeks are sunken. He wears a black gauze hat and official uniform, which makes him look somewhat imposing.
He walked on the main road with his hands behind his back and walked toward a few children on the edge of the field.
The person sitting on the ridge of the field was none other than Magistrate Shen’s own son, Shen Zheng.
Magistrate Shen saw the back of his head from a distance and recognized his son.
He just wanted to see what his stupid son was doing in Dahe Village every day. He approached slowly and calmly.
Shen Zheng spent the whole morning reading in the ancestral hall with Cheng Zhao. It was remarkable that he could read alone for most of the day, so he went out for a walk in the afternoon.
He found a piece of clean hay in the field, crossed his legs and chewed the grass roots.
Two little girls of six or seven years old passed by him, and the two little girls were chatting.
"My mother is seriously ill. Grandma said that my mother is going to die. What does death mean? Does it mean that she will be gone in the future?"
"When you die, you turn into a star and go up to the sky. This is what my sister-in-law said."
The little girl's eyes were bright: "Then even if my mother dies, she can still look at me in the sky, right?"
"Bullshit!" Shen Zheng spat out the grass roots in his mouth and snorted, "Dead is dead. When a person dies, he is buried in the ground, eaten clean by insects, and turned into a pile of loess..."
When he was a child, someone also lied to him, saying that after his mother died, she turned into a star in the sky and would come back one day. When he was a child, he didn't understand anything, so he believed it.
He has been growing up in expectation, hoping that his mother will come back, but in fact, her mother is in the cold coffin, turned into a white bone, and he can't even remember what her mother looks like.
Instead of giving this child hope, it is better to cruelly tell her that when a person dies, he is dead, and there is nothing left...
The little girl looked at him with wide eyes, wanting to argue something, but she didn't dare.
The man in front of him is the young master of the county magistrate's family. My parents have said that they are not allowed to provoke Master Shen.
Another little girl opened her mouth and cried loudly: "Master Shen, you are a bad person, I hate you, my mother will not die or be eaten by insects, you are a bad person..."
Shen Zheng was a little panicked. He didn't mean to make the little girl cry.
He was about to say something when he was suddenly grabbed by the collar.
In the entire Dahe Village, no one dared to lift his collar, not even Aunt Zhao.
He turned back angrily, only to meet Magistrate Shen's furious eyes.
"Well done to you Shen Zheng!"
Magistrate Shen was almost furious. When he saw his son talking to two little girls in tattered and dirty clothes, he thought that his son had finally grown up and no longer disliked this and that, and knew how to be considerate of people's sentiments.
But I didn't expect that this kid would bully a six-year-old child, a girl!
"You rely on your status as the son of the county magistrate to show off your prestige in the village. Whenever you deal with a big and rough man, I respect you as a man. You actually caught a little girl and bullied her. Tell me, what on earth did you do?!"
Shen Zheng said angrily: "I didn't do anything, I just told the truth. She wants to cry. What does it have to do with me!"
"How dare you quibble!"
Magistrate Shen raised his hand and was about to slap him across the face.
This slap was very forceful.
In mid-air, he was stopped by Li Zheng: "Mr. County Magistrate, the child is too old to be beaten..."
Li Zheng held Magistrate Shen's hand and quickly let go of it in fear of being punished by Magistrate Shen.
Magistrate Shen had a cold face: "Shen Zheng, kneel down and recite the ancestral precepts of our Shen family!"
"Why! I didn't do anything wrong, why should I kneel down!"
Shen Zhengqi went crazy.
He slapped him in the face and made him kneel down in public. Did he make a huge mistake?
What’s wrong with telling the truth? Even if it’s not appropriate to tell the truth, it’s definitely not a big mistake!
He tossed his head and ran away along the field ridge.
"Treason!"
Magistrate Shen's chest rose and fell violently.
Li Zheng and Master Yuan did not dare to express their anger. Zhao Ergou frowned, silently took two steps back, and quickly called Cheng Wanwan over.
He always felt that Shen Zheng would not be such a bastard and bully a little girl.
He was in no position to speak for Shen Zheng, but his mother certainly could.
Cheng Wanwan was busy cleaning the chicken coops and duck sheds in the yard, and she kept an eye on everyone at work. Some of the hard-working ones were naturally kept, while some of the lazy ones found an excuse to start tomorrow. She stared at them for less than half an hour, and unexpectedly they were all working together. Not a single lazy person was found. It seemed that the people we were looking for were all reliable, and they were all eager to use their full strength.
"Mom, something happened!"
Zhao Ergou rushed in eagerly, grabbed Cheng Wanwan and walked out.
Along the way, the situation was briefly explained.
Cheng Wanwan knew that the county magistrate came here for the purpose of regenerating rice, but happened to encounter Shen Zheng's problem.
She and Shen Zheng have been together day and night for so long, and she knows very well the child's temperament. He is willful and arrogant, does not give in easily, is very smart, and has his own ideas when things happen. Shen Zheng is reluctant to bully the little chicks in the family, so why would he go there? Bullying the little girl in the village.
It seems that Magistrate Shen doesn't know much about his own son.
When she walked to the ridge of the field, she saw Li talking to the county magistrate about regenerated rice, but the magistrate was distracted and his face was ashen.
Seeing Cheng Wanwan coming over, Li Zheng was inexplicably relieved and reported: "Sir, Dashan Niang is here, let her talk to you carefully."
Magistrate Shen's face was still very gloomy, and he was not interested in anything.
When I first came to Dahe Village, I was filled with excitement. After seeing my biological son, I felt as if a basin of water had been poured on my head, and my heart suddenly felt cold.
No matter how good his political performance is, if his son is ineffective, he will also fail as a person.
"Sir, please listen to what the peasant woman has to say." Cheng Wanwan walked over and said slowly, "Master Shen has been living in the civilian woman's home for half a month. Whether Master Shen has used his power to bully others, the civilian woman has the best say in this matter. right."
