Wu Dashan and Wu Xiaoshan, having each been beaten with ten heavy blows, received absolutely no medical treatment in jail for the past few days. Consequently, their wounds become somewhat gangrenous. With no money to see a doctor, Aunt Liu Hua in desperation could only kneel before the doctor, begging for mercy to treat her two sons first and promising that her family would definitely repay the debt in the future.
The doctor agreed to provide treatment, while Madam Liuhua’s house also accrued a significant amount of external debt, leading to a particularly desolate home situation.
Yet, the villagers of Jiuping Village felt no sympathy for Madam Liuhua’s family, regarding their plight as deserved.
If only they had agreed to pay the money in the beginning as compensation, wouldn’t that have been better? Now, they had not only paid the money but had also suffered a beating, and on top of that, incurred heavy debts.
Even though Aunt Liu Hua had a good reputation, because she owed money to most of the villagers, her family’s status within the village plummeted dreadfully low.
The news of An Fu’s action of reporting to the government spread to the surrounding villages, and within ten miles, no villager had ever dared to involve the authorities. An Fu was the first to boldly take such a step, surprising everyone since he was always considered easy to bully.
From that moment on, nobody dared to look down on An Fu again.
And as An Fu was from An Village, the emergence of such a resilient figure meant that no one dared to underestimate An Village any longer, discarding the notion that its people were easy to bully.
When An Fu received the three taels of silver from the Government Official, he cried. He hadn’t cried when he had injured his leg, but this time, An Fu wept.
Shi Xiaolan and Yun Dame also cried.
An Hegui’s eyes turned red as if he were about to cry. It was money that Shi Dashan and the others had paid as compensation. It was the first time they had stood up so firmly.
An Fu had sustained a head injury, and the doctor advised that he should not exert himself for some time. Therefore, An Hegui and the others dared not let An Fu continue making tofu. As for the tofu-making, An Hegui called on his two younger brothers’ families to help with the work.
On this day, Shi Xiaolan came again to deliver tofu to An Jing, but this time, she was not accompanied by An Fu, but by An Yijin and An Eryin.
After delivering the tofu, An Yijin and An Eryin left immediately, while Shi Xiaolan stayed in the thatched cottage to talk with An Jing.
An Jing hesitated for a moment, but still asked, "Xiao Lan, do you hold any resentment against us? If we hadn’t involved your family in making tofu, Brother An Fu wouldn’t have encountered this misfortune." An Fu was still recuperating.
Shi Xiaolan became immediately agitated, "An Jing, why would you say something like that? You had good intentions in suggesting we make tofu. We are so grateful to you that we could never blame you. Please never speak of such things again. We are not ungrateful people. Besides, we truly should thank you. Thank you for encouraging us to take legal action. Do you know, the way those who once bullied us look at us has completely changed now? They no longer dare to bully us as they did before. All thanks to you."
In this place, "without the people’s complaint, the government will not investigate," but as long as one dares to report to the authorities, they are sure to investigate thoroughly.
It’s just that everyone has always been somewhat fearful of the government, considering it high and mighty, and nobody dared to report.
Seeing that Shi Xiaolan truly bore no grudge against them, An Jing smiled and said, "It’s good that you don’t blame us. As for reporting to the authorities, I merely made a suggestion. It was your own decision to take action. Don’t credit all this to me; I dare not accept such responsibility."
"An Jing, you’ve become so capable. The way you are now, it’s wonderful," Shi Xiaolan suddenly expressed her admiration, giving a thumbs-up to An Jing.