"You!" The elders and Li Zheng were so angry that they couldn’t speak.
"What kind of words are these, Second Uncle Sang!" Sang Yufei said coldly, "The elders here are not related by blood to us brothers, yet in critical times, they stand up for us and make fair decisions. This is the greatest care! We, the brothers, also genuinely respect the elders. When have they ever taken advantage of us? How come we don’t know about it! Shouldn’t you think about yourself first when you say such things?"
"Ah, Xie Yuan, don’t say that, this is what we should do!" "Yes!" The elders sighed in relief after hearing this.
"You, you dare to talk back to me, you—" Sang Pingliang was furious.
"Enough!" Uncle Liu shouted coldly, "Sang Pingliang! I warn you, do not harass the Sang Hong brothers anymore. If you dare to be so shameless again, don’t blame us for being rude!"
"Not being polite, what do you want to do?" Sang Pingliang sneered, "Want to kill to silence me? Come on, show me what you got! Whoever hides is a coward!"
Sang Pingliang yelled while pointing a finger at his own head.
The crowd saw him acting so rashly and unreasonably, feeling both angry and amused. Sang Hong and Sang Yufei brothers exchanged glances and felt embarrassed: This is their blood-related uncle!
"Killing you is like sullying my own hands!" Uncle Liu contemptuously glanced at him, and said coldly, "Our Sihe Village has simple and upright folk, we cannot tolerate sly, greedy, and cunning people. If you dare to make trouble again, get out of Sihe Village!"
"Exactly! If you have the guts, just try!" The elders were truly angry now, all looking frosty.
The faces of the Sang brothers changed slightly, they did not expect the situation to escalate this far. Sang Pingliang’s pupils suddenly contracted—he was being threatened with expulsion from the village!
This was a severe consequence, meaning he would lose the protection of the village from now on, becoming a rootless drifter. No village would willingly take in someone expelled from another village, as such a person is often a troublemaker, adding only problems if allowed to stay.
He could only take his family to drift to faraway lands, to start anew and assimilate—a process full of hardships. Alternatively, he could move to the city, but once away from the land, even a blade of grass costs money in the city, and surviving there wouldn’t be easy!
"You dare!" Although Sang Pingliang felt fearful inside, he still put on a brave face, sneering, "Fine! You all gang up to bully me, a lone individual! You are shameless! Your consciences have been eaten by dogs! I—I’ll go to the government office to report you!"
"Rebellion! Rebellion!" Uncle Liu and others shouted angrily, "Today we see what it means to disrespect elders, what it means to be disrespectful to an elder! Just based on these few words you spoke, let’s see if the government office will support you or us! You want to go to the government office, do you? Go ahead, just go! No one is stopping you!"
Uncle Liu abruptly turned to Sang Hong and Sang Yufei and commanded sternly: "Don’t bother with him anymore! If you see him, go into the house, close the doors, whoever dares accuse you of being rebellious, just come to me, old man, and I’ll take care of it!"
"Exactly! Just come and find us!" The elders and Li Zheng unanimously agreed without hesitation, their disgusted looks not veiling their eyes as they swept across Sang Pingliang.
"Alright, alright! Us old folks should also be heading back! You two have been tired these days, go back and rest well! Any issues, just come to us for help! We will certainly help if we can! Let’s disperse, disperse now!" Uncle Liu took a deep breath and said with a beaming smile.
The crowd agreed, laughing and bidding each other farewell. Watching everyone go, Mrs. Fang pulled Sang Hong’s arm, gave Sang Yufei a knowing look, the three just ignored Sang Pingliang, turned around, entered the courtyard, and shut the door thoroughly!
In the late autumn afternoon, the sunlight was already feeble, slanting on the ground, rendering it somewhat desolate.
Sang Pingliang’s face alternated between shades of green and white, grinding his teeth in hatred and said, "Bastards, all of you are bastards, just you watch, once I make my fortune, don’t you come begging to me!"
He looked up and fiercely spat towards the front door of Sang Hong’s house, "Envious? People say the higher you climb, the harder you fall, I will watch with wide eyes, and see how you all fall one by one!"
With that, he snorted coldly and turned, striding towards his own house.
In his life, he had never been so humiliated! The more Sang Pingliang thought about it, the angrier he got, the two little scoundrels in the main family, really think they are too high and mighty!