The old and young, big and small, in the Chu family, everyone in the village had to contribute ten catties of bamboo shoots. They brought forty to fifty catties to the Chu family, and Hu Zi also dug up some himself, totaling over eighty catties. With so much food, the two of them could eat for more than two months. So how could Old Lady Chu accept the food being stolen by Guihua Village? Therefore, she was the first to stand up and express her opinion.
Aunt Wang, having experienced the pain of having her food stolen, was the second to speak: "Da Shan's mother has a very good idea. Our family will send Mud Loach's father."
"And our family too, the child's father is tall and strong. The people from Guihua Village definitely won't dare to steal food."
"Our family has many people, we can send two to stand guard!"
One by one, the people with different surnames spoke up, and Zhang Wulai's face turned pale. These good-for-nothings were all clinging to the Zhao family's rotten leg; they deserved to be eliminated from this village.
He said nothing more, flicked his sleeves, and left.
Li Zheng called for everyone to be quiet and told Tie Zhu to write down the names of those who signed up.
Tie Zhu was probably the most literate person in the village. He hadn't learned to read but had worked in a tavern in town for a year with the shopkeeper, and through daily exposure, he had picked up a few characters.
He spread out a piece of straw paper, held a brush in his hand, and wrote names on the paper.
"Wang Yongcheng signs up."
"Zhao Dashan signs up."
When Cheng Loanloan signed up, she saw the words Tie Zhu wrote on the paper, and the corners of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
The handwriting was uglier than a dog crawling, leaning left and right, each stroke like dividing a house, the two characters for Dashan written in a crooked mess.
The important thing was that the villagers were still praising him: "Tie Zhu writes beautifully, truly unique in Daha Village."
"Li Zheng's family has a scholar now!"
"Speaking of scholars, the Cheng family is still impressive; the eldest son of the Cheng family passed the xiucai examination."
"What is a xiucai?"
"Not sure, but it's very impressive."
Soon, many people around looked at Cheng Loanloan.
Cheng Loanloan had the surname Cheng but had a family dispute, so they didn't ask any further questions.
Tie Zhu still didn't know how to write many characters. For the characters he didn't know, he drew a circle. After the whole village had signed up, the straw paper was full of large and small circles.
Cheng Loanloan turned her head away. Fortunately, she wasn't a teacher, otherwise, she definitely wouldn't be able to resist stepping up to correct him.
As she turned to leave, she saw a child standing not far away.
It was Zhang Dagang, the one who had competed with Si Dan for a rabbit last time. He was Zhang Wulai's son. He stood there alone, his face hidden in the shadows, no emotions discernible.
He stood there for a while, then turned and left.
Cheng Loanloan returned home. She went straight into her room and then clicked on the marketplace.
The people from Guihua Village didn't know when they would return, so she needed to buy something for self-defense.
She looked through various options and chose a short knife.
The design of this knife was excellent; it could be folded and hidden in a sleeve, making it the best self-defense weapon. She swung the knife across the corner of the table, and it actually cut through. No wonder it cost five hundred wen; it was truly worth it.
"Mother..." Zhao Sanniu pushed the door open, intending to say something. Seeing the small knife in her hand, his eyes lit up, and he forgot what he wanted to say. "Where did this knife come from, Mother? It looks very sharp!"
Cheng Luanluan didn't try to hide when she was seen. With a calm expression, she said, "Last time I went back to town, Mother picked it up in an alley. It's very sharp."
Zhao Sanniu couldn't control his fondness for the knife. His eyes stared at it, and he continuously rubbed his hands together.
Cheng Luanluan supported her forehead. "It's for you."
"Thank you, Mother!"
Zhao Sanniu left after taking the knife.
Cheng Luanluan finally bought herself a stun ring. One discharge could stun an adult, and it cost one tael of silver.
She insisted on buying it, then tied it with a string and wore it around her neck for self-defense.