The 23rd time not entering the city

  ……

  Conquered by you like this.

  Cut off all retreats.

  My mood is solid.

  My decision is muddled.

  A song "Conquer" by Na Ying was sung by San Dan with great emotion.

  Singing is still light, the fire in Ao Wu's heart has not decreased at all, and there is an impulse to kill quickly. But killing someone in front of so many people is not wise.

  A death sentence can be commuted, but a life sentence is hard to escape. These three eggs usually only feared that they hadn't bullied the two old men enough, today they all got their accounts settled together.

  Anyway, Ao Wu didn't want the two old men to continue living in this Sanlitun, so he let them move into the county town to live.

  So, the three eggs, pinched by their fingers, said under the threat of pain which family in Sanlitun was not good to Er Lao and which family bullied Er Lao. Birds of a feather flock together, and it turned out that most of the relatives of these three egg families had bullied Er Lao.

  Relatives came to support San Dan, but were instead betrayed by him and retreated while cursing.

  "Return everything from my house, every single item, or I'll come after each and every one of you to get it back!" Ao Wu glared at them coldly.

  They saw the miserable state of San Dan Kui and the determination emanating from Ao Wu's body, so they were afraid and ran back home to fetch things to return.

  Looking at the people of Sanlitun bringing back the returned items piled up into a small mountain, among them, the most impartial and selfless village head returned the most. Ao Wu smiled, how much bullying these two old men had suffered in their daily lives! "Good, you're great!" he said coldly, gritting his teeth.

  However, the farmers would not admit it even if they were beaten to death: "Wu Ah, I'm Liu San's aunt who saw you grow up. Don't speak without conscience. We borrow things from your family and your family borrows from us. When did we say we wouldn't return them?"

  "Right, Old Ginger said I wouldn't pay back?"

  "Old Ah Hei, don't be too extreme, you still have to live in this Sanlitun!"

  The words behind were more and more like threatening. Ao Wu smiled and responded: "Thank you for the kindness of all the villagers."

  "You should know that we're kind-hearted and let you off with just three eggs," said the fat woman. But her face still bore an expression of reckoning after autumn, without any disguise at all.

  Kao Wu didn't pay attention to them, but instead turned around and said to the two old men: "Father and mother, come with me to live in the county town."

  The two old men looked at each other in dismay, their faces pale with shock.

  "The fields at home are too small." Lao Wengtou gave a reason that Ao Wu found laughable, but Lao Wengpo also thought so.

  "Listen to me," Ao Wu said sternly, "staying here will only get you bullied by them!"

  Two old men stood stiffly there, not knowing how to react. A sound of horseshoes echoed from far to near, attracting their attention, and a white figure riding a black horse appeared before them.

  Kao Wu saw that icy pretty face and realized someone had already gone to the Zhong's house looking for him.

  Behind them, a donkey-faced steward followed, and when he saw a young man kneeling in front of Ao Wu, he was stunned. What's going on?

  Zhong Qing turned her head to look for Lao Kui Po, while the housekeeper came over to ask Ao Wu what was going on.

  Kao Wu simply said a few words, and Da Hu honestly told the whole story. The housekeeper listened and then turned to talk to Xiang Zheng.

  "Liu Xiangzheng, I am the steward of the Zhong family, and my young master is the renowned Dr. Zhong." He introduced himself first. Dr. Zhong was well-respected by the people in Liangfu County, so when Liu heard this, his hostile expression lessened by 70%. "When my brother-in-law came home and saw a young man beating an old woman, it's understandable that he got angry and hit him. But why are all of you villagers coming to gang up on my brother-in-law? My brother-in-law is a scholar, if the county magistrate finds out, there will be trouble..."

  "Yes, yes, the steward has misunderstood. I'm also trying to persuade these people to leave. But they're all fellow villagers, and with Ao Wu having beaten San Dan so badly that he's crying out in pain, and refusing to let him go, they won't leave." The village head pointed at San Dan, who was still wailing in pain, and said.

  "Could it be that the village head still thinks our family's old master was wrong? Even if you feel sorry for your younger grandson, look at him, his hands and feet are fine, and he's making such a fuss about being beaten up. Is he pretending to be pitiful? If our Ah Lang finds out that he deliberately pretended to be pitiful and got the villagers to beat up our old master, then in the future, our Ah Lang won't come to Sanli Village to see a doctor again." The housekeeper spoke with confidence.

  The village head was frightened and promised to release San Dan. The housekeeper walked back and said to Ao Wu, "Master, releasing San Dan will make them dare not to be presumptuous!"

  Kao Wu let him go with a flick of his wrist and turned to say to the old woman, "Mother, come with me into the county town."

  Lao Weng's wife pulled Zhong Qing's hand and said: "I'll listen to Qingniang, let's not enter the county town, it's better to stay here in peace."

  Just now she was still listening to Ao Wu's words, how did Zhong Qing arrive and immediately change her mind? Is it because of her own identity as a son-in-law that her parents dare not follow her into the county town again, or did Zhong Qing refuse her just now?

  At this point, Ao Wu's mood was spoiled, and he asked in a very stiff tone: "What's your idea?"

  "Yes." Zhong Qing said coldly.

  "Are you going to let your parents decide for you?" An angry accusation.

  Zhong Qing's icy demeanor remained unchanged, "The old man likes living here, why must you force him."

  Kao Wu didn't even bother to look at this overbearing woman anymore. It's fine for a woman to want to be strong, but when it comes to filial piety towards parents, being so self-righteous is just not right. He turned his head and said to Old Lady Huang: "Mother, I can let you live in the county town, pack your clothes and leave."

  Zhong Qing was taken aback, and old lady Lao Gong said in opposition: "Wu, there's still land to be tilled at home, you can't leave, listen to your grandfather's words."

  She pulled out Lao Guitou, and Lao Guitou stood there, only saying one sentence: "Don't stay in the county town, we're used to staying in Sanlitun, you don't have to worry about the villagers harming us, they're all old neighbors who have lived here for over 40 years."

  Lao Gengtou is a stubborn person, once he says something, it's final. Ao Wu doesn't have the money to buy them a house in the county town right now, and for the time being, there's no way to force them to move into the county town, so all he can say is: "Okay."

  But that feeling of suffocation has been stuck in my heart.

  "Uncle and auntie are going to live here, in order not to let the relationship with the neighbors deteriorate, I think it's better to lend these things to them first." The housekeeper emphasized the word "lend".

  This means that even if you borrow something and don't return it, you won't be heartbroken either.

  Kao Wu was not a petty person, for the sake of the two elderly people being able to live comfortably, he was willing to give it up. But Old Lady Huang was reluctant: "Many families are unwilling to return what they borrowed, and it's not easy to get them to take it out..."

  "You old hag, just borrow it if you need to, don't take up space at home!" Old Ginger scolded.

  Zhong Qing persuaded: "Mother-in-law, Lang Jun earned money and can buy new ones. Besides, these borrowed things are not returned."

  The two sentences went straight to the heart of Lao Guniang, and she happily agreed, then personally arranged for the items that the fellow villagers had returned to be sent out again.

  These villagers also don't know whether they are capable of being human or have no backbone, and with a smile, they accepted the thing and left.

  "Is Mr. Lang going back with us?" Zhong Qing went into the house and came out again, holding two bowls of water, which she handed to the two elderly people, calling them "Grandfather and Grandmother" in a respectful tone. Then she pulled her black horse over and asked.

  "Not coming back."

  Zhong Qing said to Lao Kui Po: "Auntie, there's still something I need to attend to at home, I'll head back first."

  "Eh, sit tight on the horse!" Old Granny exclaimed with a wave of her hand.

  The surrounding farmers dispersed, and only the Ao Wu family and a big tiger were left at the door. The old lady dragged Ao Wu inside and scolded him loudly as soon as they entered, "You bastard, what's wrong with you coming back and acting crazy? We're living well, why do we need to move? You dare to show off in front of Qingniang, are you tired of living?"

  Ao Wu only wanted to help Xiucai fulfill his filial duties, but he wouldn't pretend to be a good grandson and listen to his strict father's teachings. However, he also wouldn't speak back to him, so after Old Man Gao scolded him, looking at Ao Wu's calm and quiet demeanor, he too fell silent. After a while, Old Man Gao let out a sigh and said: "This family has moved, and outside there will be rumors and gossip. In the future, going out will be embarrassing, and it will also lose face for you and the Zhong family."

  "Yes, we can't let Wu lose face!" Old Granny echoed.

  In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, making the scope of people's social activities very limited. Some people even spent their entire lives without leaving their hometown. This made neighborhood relationships more important, and the opinions of those around them played a significant role in one's life. For example, if someone was caught stealing, everyone in the village would know about it, and whenever they saw him, they would call him a thief. The interpersonal relationship ostracized him, making his life in the village very difficult. Thus, a strong moral code and constraint system took shape.

  Unlike later generations, a big swindler who cheated the whole village of their money and moved to another city was fine, corrupt officials emigrating was also fine.

  If the son gets married, and if we follow him into the city in a grand and open manner, people will look down on us. It would be difficult for us to live in Liangfu County then. At that time, it wouldn't be inviting the elderly parents to enjoy happiness in the city, but rather suffering.

  He doesn't care about so-called morality, but morality directly affects the lives of his parents.

  "Wu, Qiang Niang didn't refuse us, she also let us move into the Zhong family's house, but we refused." Old Granny Wu advised, "Don't misunderstand Qiang Niang."

  It seems that I misunderstood her earlier. Ao Wu stood up and said, "Alright, I'll head back first." Since they can't move, it's good if the two elders can live a more comfortable life from now on.

  Old lady shouted from behind: "Wu, wait a minute, you have this big brother send money every month, we can't spend it all, take it back and save it yourself!"

  All she saw was that she held a black purse in her hand and handed it to Ao Wu. She called Big Brother, referring to the big tiger beside him, who saw that he heard this and his eyes flickered, waiting for a while before asking him again.

  "It doesn't matter about the money, Mother can keep it." He said that and turned around to leave.

  The old lady threw out a string of money that Ao Wu had left behind, "Don't throw it here to obstruct the view, keep it on yourself for use."

  Kao Wu took the string of money and left.

  A neighbor who seemed to be on good terms with the Ao family smiled and called out "Junxiucai" as he walked alongside. The two elderly people stood at the door, gazing after them.

  After walking for a while, Ao Wu patted Da Hu's shoulder and asked: "Do I really make you send money over every month?"

  "Huh, huh, Master Gao, this was sent by your wife and she told me to say it was you who asked me to deliver it!" Honest people are easily bullied.

  ……

  What is recommended as the official way, that is a heart of loyalty to the country and the people, even if there are thousands of years of cold ice, I will break through the ice and move forward, even if there are difficulties and dangers, I will tread on danger as if it were flat ground!