Chapter 104:
“Dad, let me help you to the bed to lie down!”
Li Daqiang figured his father must have gotten tired out on the slope today; doing that kind of physical labor, he couldn’t handle it for a whole day, let alone his father at his age!
“Hey!”
Old Li Tou tried to stand up, but his legs went soft and he nearly fell to the ground!
“Dad, what’s really going on with you? Where exactly are you uncomfortable? I’ll go right now to see if Doctor Li has returned from Er Gouzi’s house!”
Li Daqiang said anxiously.
Old Li Tou was scared and hesitated to speak, his legs between trembling nonstop. Seeing Zhou Shi nearby, he tugged at his mouth but couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Dad… Dad’s fine!”
“Dad, did you get involved with that tea-selling woman somehow?”
Li Sanmao looked at him with vigilant eyes. After hunting for so many years, he could tell his father was trembling in fear, not illness!
“Third Brother, what are you talking about?”
Li Zhenzhu had also run out just now, thinking Li Sanmao was crazy. Her dad was at that age—why would he hook up with some tea-selling woman?
Wasn’t this clearly just deliberately upsetting her mom?
Old Li Tou paused, “No, cough… no! Stop asking! I don’t have time for that…”
Li Sanmao suspiciously observed his odd behavior!
At this point, something flashed through Zhou Shi’s mind—right!
It was that tea set she had seen at the head of Li Ergou’s bed today. She suddenly jumped up, hands on hips, and started scolding,
“Hah! Li Depei! You old lecher, you still dare to lie?”
Li Zhenzhu looked baffled at her, “Mom, are you sick too?”
“Wha… what old lecher? Aren’t you afraid the kids will hear and laugh?”
Old Li Tou’s face paled as he hung his head and grumbled.
Zhou Shi began to wail,
“Zhenzhu ah, you don’t know what kind of person your dad is!”
“Shut up! What kind of person? You old woman, stop talking nonsense in front of the kids! Damaging my reputation!”
“You still have the nerve to mention reputation? Do you still have any shame? At your age with hardly any teeth left, harboring filthy thoughts—what else do you want to do!”
“My face is burning with shame!”
Zhou Shi slapped her face loudly!
“I’ve been saying he’s been giving me the cold shoulder these days, nose not nose, eyes not eyes, nitpicking this and that.”
“Look at that—nothing’s to your liking. So that’s what it was! How long have you been hooking up with her?”
“Zhenzhu! Mom’s wronged! Mom’s taken so much of his cold stares for nothing, eating bitterness every day—Mom can’t figure it out!” Zhou Shi collapsed to the ground in a heap, wailing and unable to get up…
Li Daqiang stared wide-eyed at his father, “Dad, is what Mom said true?”
“You… this isn’t right… No wonder Mom’s crying! I can’t help you this time—you explain to Mom and beg forgiveness yourself!”
Li Zhenzhu also accused Old Li Tou, “Dad, how could you be that kind of person? Don’t you see how old you are—why crave a young woman?”
Xiao Zhou Shi pursed her lips, her expression tinged with contempt…
Luo Zhi’er was expressionless!
Li Sanmao also had a disapproving look!
“Ouch! No, I just… talked to her!”
Old Li Tou saw his whole family looking at him with eyes full of doubt and reproach—he wished he could bury his face in his crotch!
“Look at him still not confessing honestly! Just talked? Fooling who? What else did you do? Just talking and you’re all distracted—where did that broken tea set come from?”
“And where did the tea leaves come from?”
Saliva sprayed onto his face. Old Li Tou dug at his nearly deafened ear, “Quiet down your yelling! Aren’t you afraid the neighbors will hear?”
He glanced at Village Chief Li Zheng Sen’s house next door, hoping his second brother and sister-in-law hadn’t heard…
“You still know about shame? Come on, confess honestly—where did the tea set and tea leaves come from?”
“What do you mean where? I bought the tea leaves and she gave them to me!”
At this, Old Li Tou still felt it must be a misunderstanding of that woman—her kind and gentle appearance didn’t seem like it!
“San Mao, we must have misunderstood her!”
“Dad, Village Chief Uncle wouldn’t talk nonsense—he must have inquired clearly at Er Gouzi’s house before calling the village meeting!”
Zhou Shi’s eyes reddened with anger, seeing a trace of happy smile still on his lips, and said to Li Daqiang and the others:
“It’s over! Your dad’s soul has been hooked by a thousand-year fox spirit!”
“When he got home, he kept fondling that broken tea set all day, unable to put it down!”
Suddenly remembering something, she yelped and jumped up, rushing into the house to fetch the tea set and bring it out.
Old Li Tou looked panicked, “Old woman, you, what are you doing?”
“You, you calm down… don’t touch it! Put it down quick!”
Zhou Shi grinned ferociously,
“I’ll make you treat it like a treasure!”
She raised it and smashed it down hard. With a “crack!”, the whole porcelain tea set instantly became a pile of shards on the ground!
Zhou Shi wasn’t satisfied; she leaped up onto it and stomped wildly in circles, jumping, cursing, and wailing all the while!
Venting her anger with curses:
“I’ll make you treat this old thing like a treasure! Make you glare at me nose and eyes! Stomp you dead, you shameless stinker!”
If it were Old Li Tou on the ground, she’d stomp him to death!
Her comical and ugly antics looked just like jumping the god.
Shattered along with it was Old Li Tou’s broken heart!
What evil had he done in this lifetime to be slandered like this?
“Mom, calm down first—this matter isn’t about these things!”
Li Sanmao stopped Zhou Shi and turned to ask Old Li Tou: “Dad, answer me honestly. This isn’t just about your life and safety—it’s about our whole family’s, and the village folks’ too!”
Zhou Shi shuddered at his words, thinking of Li Ergou’s miserable state, and regained some reason!
Old Li Tou deflated like a punctured ball, head drooping, “Ask away!”
“How did that happen?”
Old Li Tou had no choice but to recount in detail how that woman called him oldest brother that morning and lured him into buying tea…
Zhou Shi wailed a few times, “This improper old thing!”
“I was just kind-hearted, wanting to help her!”
“Pah! Serves you right—why didn’t she call some other oldest brother to help? Even if she did, why did you fall for it?”
Li Depei felt indignant, neck stiff, thinking: “Didn’t Er Gouzi fall for it too?”
But he didn’t dare say it. Er Gouzi was that kind of person—stealing and trickery, molesting women—what could he, Li Depei, compare to him?
“Did you tell her who you are? Our family’s address and such?”
Old Li Tou’s face flushed pale then green, embarrassed, and he nodded!
“What? You old lecher! Old rogue! You’ve harmed us deeply! For your filthy thoughts, you’ve doomed the whole family!”
Zhou Shi howled!
Old Li Tou felt miserable and stifled at her constant “old lecher,” his legs trembling even harder!
Soon, it seemed Li Zheng Sen’s house heard the commotion, and second brother Li Zheng Sen ran over!
With disbelief on his face, he asked him, “Big Brother, is this true?”
“You got hit too?”
Old Li Tou didn’t know how to respond to him—all because of that woman Zhou Shi yelling so loud, as if afraid others wouldn’t know!
How was he supposed to get by in the village from now on?
“Second Brother, cough… Big Brother just chatted with her a bit, did nothing—this, don’t tell your wife!”
Li Zheng Sen nodded awkwardly. His wife had sent him, afraid Old Li Tou would implicate their family—how was he supposed to report back?
Li Sanmao thought for a moment and said, “Dad, later I’ll go talk to Village Chief Uncle…”
“What? Ouch, how could we impose on Village Chief’s house? San Mao, don’t go. It was nothing to begin with—maybe those people won’t come after me!”
He didn’t even believe his own words!
