To leave a deep impression on these villagers and ensure they don't repeat their mistakes, Qi Yuanshan specifically made them undergo punishment one by one.
The strongest-looking man was made to kneel down. "Give him twenty lashes, hit him hard."
"Yes, let me handle it."
Little Linzi remembered how this old man had kicked him several times to break free from his grasp. He was still in pain from his calf; he snorted, "Now that you're in my hands, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Little Linzi mustered all his strength and brought the bamboo plank down heavily.
"Ah~" A scream echoed. After just one blow, the old bachelor felt like his backside was blooming.
The plank was made of bamboo, which was much more elastic than a wooden one. When it hit his buttocks, it vibrated, causing immense pain.
"Ah~~"
As Little Linzi brought the plank down for the second time, the old bachelor's cries were already trembling.
With the third blow, the old bachelor's voice completely cracked...
Qi He: "No, I have to go and see. Otherwise, I'll be too curious."
"Brother Qi, I'll go with you."
"You're so injured, can you manage?" Qi He didn't want Meng Yutang to follow when he saw him limping.
"Why not? Seeing them beaten bloody and bruised will make me feel better. Perhaps my own injuries won't hurt as much."
"That makes sense." When he was at home, he particularly enjoyed peeking over the wall to watch the neighbor's son being beaten by his father. Every time he saw him crying out in pain, he felt a great sense of relief. "Let's go, we'll go watch together."
"Hey. Brother Qi, walk slower, wait for me."
"Why are you so slow?" Qi He seemed to have forgotten that Meng Yutang was injured.
Fu Xinci: She also wanted to watch, but thinking of those disgusting old bachelors, she decided it was best not to dirty her eyes.
...
Half an hour later, the cries of "Calling for father, crying for mother" finally ceased. Qi Yuanshan ordered several strong villagers to carry away those unsightly individuals.
He then roared, "If I ever find out again who is forcing women, I'll break their dog legs and throw them into the mountains to feed the wolves."
"..."
"Don't pretend to be dead. And those who are blindly cheering, don't think I don't know what you're thinking. Don't blame me for not warning you today; put away your improper thoughts quickly, or these few will be your example."
Hearing Qi Yuanshan's harsh words, several people lowered their heads, their eyes darting around.
Seeing that they had become obedient, Qi Yuanshan let out a cold snort and led the young men back to work.
Little Linzi was beaming, "Brother finally got revenge. That old man's backside won't be able to touch a kang for at least a month."
"Then you'll have to work harder today."
"So be it. Working won't kill me."
"You said it. When we get to the roof later, the mud throwing will be yours."
"It's mine, but we have to agree that one of the chicken legs must be mine."
"Alright. One chicken leg for the squad leader, and the other chicken leg and the chicken butt are yours, so you don't have to keep staring at that old bachelor's backside."
"Who's staring at that old man's backside?"
"You just said it yourself, why did you forget in a blink of an eye?"
Several young men were joking around, oblivious to their surroundings. As they approached, they noticed the girls squatting nearby pulling weeds had turned bright red.
"Uh." It's over. They let these beautiful young girls hear them loudly say those two words; it was too embarrassing.
Seeing them look over, the girls' faces turned even redder, their faces almost buried in the grass.
This was the task Meng Qingping had assigned to the girls earlier, so they would have something to do and wouldn't sit around thinking aimlessly.
Meng Qingping had also told them that this plot of land was to be planted with cabbage and radishes, which were the greens they would eat in winter.
"The larger the area you clear, the larger the area we will plant. If you clear less, we won't have enough to eat in winter."
Hearing their second grand-uncle's words, the girls, under the scorching sun, paid no mind to the sweat dripping down their faces and exerted all their strength to pull weeds.
In a short while, the palms of the girls' hands were reddened and cut by the tough weeds, but they did not cry out in pain nor did they stop.
Meng Qingping looked at them with admiration. It was not in vain that he had helped them.
Liu Shi, Concubine Tao, and Little Li Shi all felt sorry for the children and went to help as well.
Only Li Shi did not move. She was old, and she had fought with those people with all her might just now.
Now that she relaxed, she felt pain all over her body. She was old, and this was the first time in her life she had fought with people. Fortunately, her granddaughters were safe, and she could face her ancestors.
Alas, she really wanted to find a place to lie down. Li Shi thought this, and so she did. She lay down on the soft grass and found it more comfortable than the Luohan bed in her room.
An old woman in ragged clothes lay on the grass with a look of peace on her face. Who would have thought that she was once a Duchess who had enjoyed immense wealth and honor?
Meng Qingping looked at these grand-nephews and grand-nieces with some helplessness. This was the first time he had tried to enlighten people, and they were all younger generations. Alas! He did not regret it; they would have to be self-reliant in the future.
However, he couldn't help but sigh again.
Fortunately, Fang Shi had asked her husband to call Qi Yuanshan and the others for lunch.
Meng Qingping also took the opportunity to let them rest under the large willow tree by the river.
Finally, it was time for a meal. The group of young men put down their work and, laughing, ran to the river to wash their hands.
"The weather is too hot, pants..." Zheng Xiaoqi said, but then stopped himself when he saw the girls sitting silently under the big willow tree.
"Let's walk a bit further to wash our hands over there." Wang Dabao, who was usually quite boisterous, seemed to have come out from under a different sun today, becoming quite refined.
However, it was so hot that they were all sweating profusely, their faces smeared with mud. No one noticed his unusual behavior.
On such a hot day, after training, someone would have led the way and jumped into the river to cool off.
But today, they were all very well-behaved. After washing their hands, they walked back without even taking off their upper garments. Zheng Xiaoqi even put down his rolled-up sleeves.
This scene was witnessed by Liu Shi. Her eyes seemed to be glued to them as she scanned them up and down several times before nodding with satisfaction.
Zheng Xiaoqi: It was already hot on such a hot day, but now he felt even hotter.
Meng Qingping saw that these young men were very good. They were sweating through their armpits and backs, clearly hot.
But seeing that there were women around, they consciously did not take off their upper garments.
This point alone indicated that Qi Yuanshan's leadership was effective.
"Yu'er, set up the food under the trees by the river. It will be cooler there."
"Father, I'll set it up right away."