Chapter 211:
Thinking of this, Fan Fuzi also blushed, fortunately his skin was not as delicate and smooth as that of young people, so it wasn’t noticeable…
Luo Zhi’er had seen with her own eyes him going to those kinds of places, and she had even been threatened; Fan Fuzi couldn’t be lying.
Zhou Shi still wanted to curse at Fan Fuzi; even if Li Gui ran out, it was this teacher’s responsibility!
Pulling at him to give him a show of strength, Luo Zhi’er saw through her scheme and quickly gave Li Sanmao a look.
Li Sanmao understood, stepped forward to block Zhou Shi, and said, “Mom, what good does it do Fan Teacher to frame Fifth Brother? Why not call him out and ask him personally before deciding!”
Old Li Tou remembered what happened before and was so angry his head felt like it wanted to bury into his crotch…
Grasping at straw like a lifeline, he said unwillingly,
“This, Fan Fuzi, isn’t there some misunderstanding? Gui’er has always been obedient…”
He would never believe that this was done by his proud youngest son Li Gui; that time he must have been seeing things!
“Misunderstanding? This teacher thought it was a misunderstanding too, but with his own eyes he saw him stark naked running out from under someone’s quilt, and so many of us witnessed it together…”
Fan Fuzi said indifferently.
It even got him criticized and lectured by the dean!
Old Li Tou turned and went to the window to pull out that leather whip, his weapon, then stormed to the doorway and shouted into the room: “Li Gui, get out here for me!”
The person inside heard it and shrank his neck, his heart in turmoil; what to do?
He knew his father would be angry; he had originally wanted to slip away like Second Brother, but he had no silver on him and no survival skills.
Moreover, ever since the incident, Fan Fuzi had sent people to watch him, so he had no chance to run.
Therefore, just now he had found an excuse beforehand to run into the room to evade!
Outside the window, the coarse cursing continued,
“Did you hear that? Li Gui, if you had the guts to do it, then have the guts to own up! Get out here obediently for me, or else from now on get out of this house and never come back!”
Fan Fuzi frowned at Old Li Tou’s vulgar cursing… but he could understand his anger!
In less than half a moment, the door suddenly creaked open.
Li Gui, with a dejected head, eyes evading, didn’t dare look at his father, and timidly called out “Dad!”
Old Li Tou grabbed the whip and lashed at him, “I’ll teach you not to behave, I’ll teach you not to keep your pants on, skipping studies to go to the brothel for women!”
A head-to-toe barrage of random lashes; this was also the first time beating Li Gui,
“I’ll teach you to chase women; the whole family at home tightens their belts for you, busy with this and that, even giving the few-year-old children priority for you—what the hell is in that head of yours?”
Li Gui, beaten and holding his head, scurried around the yard, “Mom, save me! Dad’s gonna beat me to death!”
“Old man, stop it!”
Seeing stripes from the leather whip instantly appear on Li Gui’s tender face, Zhou Shi was heartbroken and anxious in the yard!
Li Sanmao wanted to pull him away, but Luo Zhi’er held him back, “Wife…”
Luo Zhi’er shook her head at him; that’s right, she held grudges!
She clearly remembered that day when Old Li Tou whipped him, how Li Gui had added fuel to the fire and gloated…
Li Daqiang was also pacing uneasily, and was pinched hard by Xiao Zhou Shi; she wished he would beat him to death—that was the fruit of their many years of hard labor all going to the dog’s belly for him to enjoy!
For him, even her Muqing and Yunliang couldn’t go to school; beating him to death wouldn’t be enough to vent her hate!
Old Li Tou whipped one after another, one lash hitting his leg at the knee, and Li Gui held his leg and wailed loudly on the ground!
Last time in the prison cell he had already been beaten and injured, the wound hadn’t healed, and now Old Li Tou beat him again!
“You old fart, you’ve gone and hurt my Gui Wa!”
Zhou Shi wailed!
“Shut your mouth! It’s because of a mother like you that this rebellious son was spoiled! Get the hell to the side for me!”
“Hmph! I’ll settle accounts with you later!”
Zhou Shi shut her mouth and didn’t dare make trouble again! This time the old man was really furious.
“Kneel down!”
Li Gui scrambled up at once, not daring to hope for anything from his mother anymore, and tumbled to his knees on the ground.
“Li Gui, I’ll ask you: have you lived up to us old couple’s many years of toil for you, to our hopes for you?”
Seeing Old Li Tou raise the whip, Li Gui burst into loud sobs, tears and snot streaming, hugging Old Li Tou’s leg…
“Dad, please have mercy, don’t hit me anymore!”
Luo Zhi’er shook her head repeatedly, full of contempt and spitting disdain at Li Gui.
Old Li Tou’s investment had failed!
“Dad, it, it’s their scheme! I was framed!”
“Framed? How exactly were you framed?”
Old Li Tou narrowed his eyes, hesitating. Could there really be some inside story?
“Li Gui, although it was that Wen Xu who has a grudge against you who reported it, if you hadn’t gone to provoke, would you have been caught by the patrolling teacher along with me?”
“If you hadn’t competed at school, would you have made an enemy of Wen Xu?”
Fan Fuzi was imposing without anger.
Old Li Tou angrily raised the whip again, “I gave you silver to pay tuition and study, who allowed you to show off?”
“Dad, I was wrong; son won’t dare again, please don’t hit me anymore! Don’t chase me out!”
Thinking of how that day Li Sanmao hadn’t even grunted, and he was supposed to be a scholar—didn’t he know that a real man doesn’t shed tears lightly, and there’s gold under a man’s knees?
Either making excuses or shirking responsibility, he was just a coward, scum!
Luo Zhi’er contemplated, then said, “Fifth Brother, since you’ve already been expelled from the academy, shouldn’t the silver you took to school be refunded?”
Li Gui glared at her; which pot not to mention: “Third Sister-in-law, what’s it to you? It’s just two taels of silver; you’d better not meddle!”
Ha!
“Fifth Brother, how is it meddling? Your Third Brother went hunting in the mountains countless times for your studies; now that you didn’t go to school, how are you going to compensate us for that silver?”
“Also, the silver you took this time was earned by me, your Third Sister-in-law, through hard toil; two taels isn’t a small amount—you know how many mountains I climbed? Don’t I even have the right to ask?”
Luo Zhi’er said expressionlessly.
Xiao Zhou Shi quickly chimed in: “Exactly, our Daqiang has worked the fields endlessly for you all these years, and you still look down on us peasants, always thinking you’re above us—without us peasants, what book would you read? So how are you going to compensate?”
She deeply remembered how Li Gui had humiliated her in prison last time!
Li Gui of course knew the importance at this moment of begging forgiveness from his parents; in this family now, only they could keep him safe!
Nervously glancing at his father, then at Zhou Shi, he sobbed softly: “Dad, I’ve already spent the silver!”
“Speak up quick, spent it where?”
Old Li Tou gnashed his teeth in frustration at the iron not becoming steel and said; two taels of silver, gone in just two days, when their whole family couldn’t earn that in a month of toil.
“I, I gave it to the academy teacher as tuition!”
Fan Fuzi slammed his big palm on the table, stood up, and said with furrowed brows: “Li Gui, you’d better explain clearly: exactly which teacher did you give it to as tuition?”
He hadn’t received a single copper in tuition silver.
He couldn’t let this one mouse dropping ruin his reputation built over many years.
“Student, student…”
Li Gui swallowed saliva, inwardly cursing this Fan Fuzi for insisting on coming back with him, or else he could have muddled through…
“Right, right, Gui’er, did you really spend all the silver…?” Zhou Shi asked tremulously.
