mtl008 Chapter 240 Then who cares about our lives?
Chapter 240 Then who cares about our lives?
The entire Gu Family Village was plunged into famine due to an incessant snowfall. The village chief looked at the swirling snowflakes outside with a face full of worry.
"Father, the magistrate of Longxing County has already fled."
"He ran away, so what? What does it have to do with me?"
"Without officials above, there is no discipline below; without those above, there is no authority below."
"What do you mean by that?"
After hearing his son's words, the village chief narrowed his eyes. Gu Wen looked at his old father and said, "During famine years, even officials are too busy to take care of themselves, let alone you, who are not an official."
Upon hearing this, the village chief was slightly taken aback. He understood what his son meant, but he dared not think about it.
He is, after all, the village chief, and this is his home. If he just abandons the village like this, what will happen to the villagers?
Gu Wen knew the village chief was still hesitant, so he continued, "If you care about their lives, then who will care about ours?"
Upon hearing this, the village chief was shocked and stared wide-eyed at his son. He had never imagined that he would hear such words from his son.
The Gu family, especially the eldest branch, had run out of food. Li Guixiang had been starving for two days, and whenever she felt hungry, she would drink water to stave off hunger.
There was food on the table, but Li Guixiang didn't dare to eat it at all, because it was the only food left in the house.
That little bit of food belonged to Gu Jinniu, and she dared not eat it. Even when she was dizzy from hunger, she never even considered it.
So for the past two days, Li Guixiang's stomach has been full of water.
Compared to the first wife, the second wife was not so bad off, because she had Zhao Laidi, who always had a habit of storing grain.
No one knew about this habit except for Zhao Laidi's older sister from her maternal family.
She was so afraid of going hungry when she was at her parents' home that she would eat half of whatever food she saw and leave the other half.
Previously, when eating at the table in the main room, she would feel embarrassed and leave half of what she ate. So, whenever Zhao Laidi saw food, she would save it if it could be preserved.
For this reason, the second wife's family still has some food, so the whole family doesn't have to go hungry.
Gu Xuewen was so hungry that he went to the kitchen to find something to eat and saw that there was still half a steamed bun in a bowl on the stove.
He didn't care who ate the other half; he grabbed it, stuffed it into his mouth, wiped his mouth after eating, and went straight back to his room.
But a short while later, he heard crying and shouting outside.
The cries were mixed with curses.
"You wretched wretch, are you a reincarnated starving ghost?"
"I only left half of it there, and you ate it all! How the hell can you even digest it?"
"I didn't, I didn't, it wasn't me, I didn't eat it, I really didn't eat it..."
Li Guixiang knelt on the ground, begging for mercy and repeatedly saying that she didn't eat it, but the man who beat her didn't believe her at all.
"If you didn't steal it, then who did? I covered the bowl so tightly when I left, did that half-eaten bun have some errand boy who flew away on its own?"
As Gu Jinniu spoke, he kicked her again, sending Li Guixiang rolling around in the yard, but she ignored the pain.
She got up and kept saying to Gu Jinniu, "I don't know, I don't know, I really don't know..."
"I didn't eat that steamed bun, I really didn't eat it, I didn't eat it, I really didn't eat it..."
Li Guixiang kept saying no, but Gu Jinniu narrowed his eyes dangerously. Given Li Guixiang's current abilities, she really couldn't possibly be stealing food.
If it wasn't Li Guixiang, then who could it be? He glanced at the second son's house, but quickly looked away.
The second brother's words were already quite clear. Besides, the second brother's family had been sitting inside the house for so many days and hadn't come out much, so how could they have known there was still food in the kitchen?
If it's neither Li Guixiang nor the second son, then there are only two people left. Gu Jinniu simply ignored Gu Jiao'er.
That girl is a smart girl; she wouldn't do something so foolish. Besides, she doesn't lack food at all, so she wouldn't even look at that half-eaten steamed bun.
Now that everyone else has been eliminated, only one remains.
Gu Jinniu turned and headed straight for Gu Xuewen's door. Li Guixiang, who was still begging for mercy, saw this scene.
Suddenly remembering something, she immediately rushed over and hugged the man's leg, saying, "It was me, it was me, it was me, I was wrong."
"It was because I was greedy, because I couldn't stand being hungry, because I ate the half-eaten steamed bun. It was me who ate it, it was all my food, and it has nothing to do with anyone else."
Li Guixiang clung to Gu Jinniu's leg and wouldn't let go, repeatedly saying that it was Gu Jinniu who had stolen the food and that it was her fault.
After hearing what Li Guixiang said, Gu Jinniu became even more certain that it was who had eaten it.
He stared at Li Guixiang on the ground with a dark expression: "Aren't you afraid I'll beat you to death if you say that?"
"It's my fault, it's all my fault. I was greedy and I stole food. If you beat me to death, I deserve it. I can't blame anyone else."
Hearing the sounds outside, Gu Xuewen, who was inside the room, slowly relaxed.
Then he heard the man outside ask, "You were able to resist being hungry yesterday, why can't you resist today?"
"Are you deliberately lying to me, saying that this person is someone else, and that the person isn't you?"
Upon hearing this, Gu Xuewen, who had just relaxed a little, tensed up again the next second. He had already figured things out during his time at home.
My father is no longer the same father he used to be; he has completely lost his honest and kind nature.
The man they were talking about was a complete stranger to them, and his methods were so ruthless that even they dared not provoke him.
No sooner had the man finished speaking than Li Guixiang's voice rang out again.
"No, no, I didn't lie to you. That person was me. I was the one who cheated."
She had barely finished speaking when the man lowered his head and moved closer to her.
"Since you stole it, you have to pay the price..."
Immediately afterwards, a cry of pain rang out from outside, followed by the sound of a door slamming shut.
Despite the loud noise outside, and with the entire Gu family present, not a single person came out to check on the situation or offer any advice.
Once the courtyard was quiet, the entire Gu family home seemed to have had a silence button pressed, a quiet that was somewhat unsettling.
On the other side, when Lin Cai returned home, Er Shi was rolling snowballs with his younger siblings in the yard.
The snow in the yard wasn't very thick, not enough to build a snowman, so Gu Ershi rolled a lot of snowballs for the children to play with.
Don't be fooled by the sheer number of snowballs; this is snow from all over the Gu family's area. Xiao Chunhua was having so much fun when she heard the sound and immediately ran over.