Watching the back of the figure who swaggered away after stirring up a muddy pond, Tian Yongren angrily slapped the woodshed.
Ah…
Under the terrified gazes of three women, the decades-old woodshed slowly and leisurely collapsed.
Old Mrs. Tian, inside the woodshed, wet herself in fright.
Fortunately, the firewood pile was high, and the roof did not crush her.
After Tian Yongren dug out Old Mrs. Tian, he placed her and Tian Ping on the same kang.
He instructed his two granddaughters to change their clothes and to take care of them from then on.
Ding Aihua anxiously asked, "Aren't we sending them to..."
"Do you have money?" Tian Yongren interrupted his wife. "Maojin and Maoyin caused this trouble, and we don't even know how much they'll have to pay."
Looking at the two unconscious people on the kang, Ding Aihua silently withdrew from the room.
The two girls looked at the two people on the kang, as if seeing their bleak future.
Jing Tang Gu was right, if people don't look out for themselves, heaven and earth will destroy them.
...
Tian Jing walked out of Zhangshan Village with light steps. At the fork in the road, she saw her own car.
Li Zhengguo, leaning against the car window, stood up straight when he saw her emerge and asked if she was alright.
Tian Jing raised her hand and tapped his face. "Why haven't you aged in these years?"
Li Zhengguo grabbed her fingers. "Wife, I'm fifty-two, am I not old?"
Tian Jing tapped his stomach with her other hand. "When other men reach your age, they're all pot-bellied and full of greasy intestines."
"Your physique is still like a young person's. Are you planning to attract unwanted attention?"
"Yes!" Li Zhengguo grabbed her other hand. "I plan to provoke you. Who knew you'd be so eager and tease me now. Alright, let's learn the car-sex techniques of young people."
Saying that, Li Zhengguo grabbed her two hands with one large hand and used the other to open the car door.
Tian Jing broke free from his grasp and chided, "Aren't you, Mayor Li, afraid of losing your position due to a bad reputation?"
Li Zhengguo said lewdly with a serious face, "No, I just want to ride a horse."
Tian Jing raised her hand and slapped his shoulder. "You've really learned bad habits."
This time, Li Zhengguo grabbed her hand and pushed her into the car. "I'll take you back. I still have to rush back to the town to deal with matters. We'll discuss the horse riding tonight."
Starting the car, Li Zhengguo asked, "What did Tian Ping say? That you find my physique too well-maintained?"
"Heh heh." Tian Jing sneered. "She's delusional, thinking you belong to her..."
Li Zhengguo looked like he was constipated. "You're disgusting me."
"You disgust me too." Tian Jing curled her lips. "How dare she covet my man? I'll scare her into wetting herself..."
"I suspect Tian Yongren would be glad if she couldn't move, so she wouldn't paint her face and go out to attract attention."
"And Old Mrs. Tian was also stimulated. Two patients will cost a lot of money."
"Tian Yongren might not be willing to spend this money. Have someone keep an eye on them. Don't let them die and then blame me."
"Okay!" Li Zhengguo nodded. "I'll assign this to the Women's Federation."
"I need your help with the Treading Well incident in Zhonghe Village."
Tian Jing turned to look at him. "You plan to clear out the well?"
"No." Li Zhengguo shook his head. "That spring is definitely no good."
"I want to trace back from the spring to find another one, or dig another artificial spring, as long as it's the same water source."
"Then I'll call Zeng Jingrong." Tian Jing took out her phone. "He's a special ability user with water powers."
Her phone rang at that moment, precisely Zeng Jingrong's number. After answering, Tian Jing even laughed about their telepathy.
Zeng Jingrong's tone was serious. "Jingchu has been missing for over a year."
"Missing?" Tian Jing sat up straight. "When?"
"Around New Year's last year."
Zeng Jingrong's words made Tian Jing think of Chen Fu's extra son, Chen Jixiang.
She wondered what kind of woman Zeng Jingchu had provoked.
Now that Zeng Jingchu was missing, she could only tell Zeng Jingrong about Chen Jixiang:
"Around New Year's last year, he came to Kushan Mountain with a bundle..."
Zeng Jingrong was no longer in a hurry. "As soon as I realized I couldn't contact him, I went to our secret contact point, but there was no news."
"Moreover, none of the Zeng family's companies have had any problems."
"Now, based on your information, with that guy's temperament, he's either voluntarily missing or has been forced into a safe place."
"Never mind him. What did you want to see me about?"
Tian Jing said with a smile, "To act as an underground water detector..."
After listening, Zeng Jingrong sighed. "Barbarians are truly terrifying. I'll go see Li Zhengguo tomorrow."
Dropping Tian Jing at the bridgehead, Li Zhengguo turned back to the town.
Zhou Chengbinn was still waiting at the bridgehead and asked Tian Jing how things were at the Tian family's side.
Tian Jing waved her hand at him. "Don't worry, both villages have set up literacy classes and law classes. They know not to cause casualties."
Zhou Chengbinn's mouth twitched. "Zhangshan Village has a law class, yet it produced villagers like Tian Maojin and Tian Maoyin?"
Tian Jing shook her head. "Your perception is mistaken. No matter how good the teacher is, they're not as influential as the parents."
"Parents are the first and lifelong teachers who impart knowledge and morals to their children."
"The Tian family's traditions haven't changed in over twenty years. Under the patriarchal upbringing, Tian Maojin and Tian Maoyin believe they are gods. Even if they cause trouble, the Tian family will cover for them."
"The law class only taught them not to injure or kill people, and not to poison. Their knowledge isn't broad enough to tell them not to throw cow dung."
Indeed, Tian Jing understood the Tian family's thinking. Tian Maojin and Tian Maoyin insisted that the law class teacher was at fault.
They only taught them not to commit major offenses, the kind of major offenses that even a fool knows not to commit, and which would lead to prison if committed.
Why didn't they teach them about the common minor offenses in rural areas?
The police officer lightly slapped the table. "This is a matter of values. What does it have to do with the law class teacher? Can the well water still be drunk after throwing cow dung into it?"
Tian Maojin looked at the policeman in surprise. "How did you become a police officer? Our intention was to make the well water unusable!"
Police officer: "You are guilty of the crime of damaging public property and serious environmental pollution. You will be sentenced to three to seven years and fined. Arguing stubbornly is useless."
Tian Maojin and Tian Maoyin didn't believe him. "It's just a broken well. We'll pay to dig a new one for them."
Police officer: "It's useless. Zhonghe Village insists on suing you. Because the damage you caused to their public property exceeds three hundred thousand yuan."
"Impossible! Impossible!" Tian Maojin didn't believe it. "How much does it cost to dig a well?"
Police officer: "Zhonghe Village's reason for suing is that the incident has spread, their wine has been questioned, and some consumers are demanding refunds. They will be affected by this matter next year and for many years to come. The value definitely exceeds three hundred thousand yuan. You two are destined for jail."
"Impossible, impossible..."
Tian Maojin and his brother stopped being agitated and bowed their heads, stooped over.
The police officer shook his head and sighed. Ignorance of the law is terrifying, especially for those who think they know the law after studying it for a few days.
Li Zhengguo also discovered problems with Tian Maojin and his brother, as well as Lin Wan.
He requested that the five villages dismantle their law classes and strengthen their literacy classes.
He requested that each village set up law propaganda boards on both sides of the village roads, using pictures, stories, and legal knowledge to create posters and display them on the boards.
Each villager was to view them of their own accord.
The village would no longer offer free law classes, because whether something is legal or illegal cannot truly be controlled by simply learning the law.
Quality is related to cultural level, and even more so to family education.
If children are not managed well, it is the parents' fault. The consequences of committing crimes and going to jail are borne by the parents themselves, and the village will no longer concern itself with it.