"Lord Land Officer, please, give us a chance to make amends!"
"You can’t just throw us out there to die..."
Ms. Hua Junior and her children threw themselves at Land Officer Yang, begging and weeping, and it made his decision all the more difficult. Sending them away would not bode well for a widow and her orphaned children in the outside world, but keeping them in the village would make it hard to explain things to the other villagers.
In the end, Land Officer Yang turned his gaze toward Ye Zi’an. However, Zi’an never met his gaze. He sighed despondently, faced the crowd, "So, what do you all think? Should we give Ms. Hua Junior and her children a chance to reform?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Chuxia scoffed, "A leopard cannot change its spots, our Yang Family’s Third Branch firmly disagrees with letting them stay. If anything goes missing in our house in the future, we’ll hold them accountable!"
Ms. Hua Junior’s true colours are known to all; she is not one to change her ways. Moreover, her sons are like parasites. This incident has probably already planted a seed of hatred for the villagers in their hearts. If we do not manage to chase them out successfully this time, they might cause even greater troubles in the future.
But this is just his opinion, not the sentiment of the simple villagers. Although they are rather superstitious, they are ultimately good-hearted people. Seeing the pitiful wails of the mother and children, they softened. After a shared look among them, Uncle Old Gen stepped up as their representative, "While what Ms. Hua Junior says is true, her family will indeed be pitiful if they are forced to leave the village without any support. By staying here, at least they can make a living. As long as they don’t engage in thievery anymore, we are okay with it, otherwise none of us would agree with keeping them around."
At this, Yang Chuxia scoffed in amusement, "Uncle Old Gen, you must be joking! What’s pitiful about them? Aren’t they grown men, perfectly capable? If you’re talking about pity, wasn’t Brother An who was chased out of the village by this Ms. Hua Junior and the villagers when he was only ten even more pitiable? What was Brother An’s fault back then, that he had to be driven out of the village? Now, we are tolerating these thieves? Or do we wait until they’ve robbed our whole village?"
Uncle Old Gen was taken aback, his face turning red with embarrassment.
Auntie Li piped up, "That’s not right, wasn’t Brother An a curse back then?"
"Did he curse you, Auntie Li? You’re still standing here, right? No missing legs or arms, right? Don’t forget, although Brother An lived far away, he still belonged to this village."
"You..." Auntie Li, at a loss for words, finally managed to sputter, "We were talking about their crimes. Why are you bringing up the distant past? This is Brother An’s business, what’s it got to do with a greenhorn like you?"
"Hmph, I didn’t want to interfere, but I can’t stand people being misguidedly kind. They even want to aid these poisonous snakes! Wait until one of you gets bitten, then I’ll enjoy the show," Yang ChuXia sneered.
"You..." Auntie Li choked on her words, trying to retort, but was cut off by Land Officer Yang’s stern voice.
"Enough is enough, everyone just calm down, can’t you be a little more forgiving, young lady?" Land Officer Yang glared at Yang Chuxia then continued, "As I said, this is Brother An’s issue. It should be Brother An who decides what’s to be done."
Seeing Land Officer Yang once again passing the decision to him, Ye Zi’an gratefully glanced at Yang Chuxia, thought for a moment, then finally shook his head, "Grandpa Land Officer, I do not agree to let them stay."