Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty

Chapter 79: Chapter 78 Threat Chapter 79: Chapter 78 Threat The Black Pine Forest is a large forest on a low hillside. The trees inside are lush, with dense shade covering everything, except for the woodcutters, few people venture in.

As soon as they entered, Zhui Feng let out a howl and took off running, with Chen Afu and the others quickly following.

Chen Afu yelled loudly, “Zhui Feng, slow down! Don’t get lost.”

As soon as he had finished speaking, he heard Chen Dabao’s sobs coming from ahead, “Zhui Feng, Zhui Feng, I see you! Waaa…”

The group ran towards the sound.

A child covered in mud was hugging Zhui Feng’s neck and crying. His body, face, and head were all covered in mud. If it weren’t for the distinctive sound of Dabao’s voice and his affectionate relationship with Zhui Feng, they wouldn’t have recognized him.

Standing nearby were Shitou and Si Xizi, also covered in mud from head to toe, but their condition was still much better than Dabao’s. Also present was a woodcutter carrying a bundle of firewood.

Chen Afu was frightened and yelled as she ran, “Dabao, what happened to you?”

Seeing his mother, Dabao got up and threw himself into Chen Afu’s arms, crying harder, “Mother, they pushed Dabao down the hill and I almost died. If you had lost me, you’d be heartbroken…”

Chen Afu was heartbroken and began to sob, comforting him, “Dabao, be good. Don’t be afraid. You won’t die. Mom will protect you.”

The group listened as Shitou and Si Xizi roughly explained what had happened.

In the late afternoon, Shitou and Si Xizi had come to the Chen’s house to ask Dabao to go and collect firewood with them. In reality, neither of their families needed firewood and it was just an excuse to play with Dabao.

Before they reached the Chen’s house, they saw Dabao running out saying he had seen a beautiful squirrel going to his house. He was about to catch it when the squirrel ran off. He chased after the squirrel but didn’t know where it had gone.

Three boys around eleven or twelve happened to be nearby and said, “There are plenty of squirrels in the Black Pine Forest. Let’s go catch them.”

Dabao shook his head and said, “My mother won’t allow me to go out because she’s afraid of bad people.”

One of the boys said, “What’s there to be scared of? There’s us, Shitou, Si Xizi. We’re many, a bad person can’t beat us.”

Shitou and Si Xizi were also enticed by the idea of catching squirrels, so they persuaded Dabao to come with them. Shitou even earnestly added, “Not only are there squirrels in the Black Pine Forest, there’s also a lot of firewood. Both Si Xizi and I will help you collect it.”

And so, Dabao was fooled into going.

However, once they entered the Black Pine Forest, the older boys turned on him, initially bullying him and then pushing him down a hill. The hill wasn’t steep, but the ground at the bottom was muddy from recent rain and scattered with a few rocks. Dabao fell and was covered in mud, in pain and scared. He sat on the ground and began to cry.

The older boys laughed and ran away.

Though Shitou and Si Xizi were scared, they didn’t abandon Dabao. They carefully slid down the hill, lifted Dabao up and slowly climbed back up. It wasn’t easy as the hill was still slippery from the rain and they had to crawl and roll until they reached the top.

The forest was large and they were deep in it. Not able to tell directions, the children were frightened.

Just then, they met a kind woodcutter who guided them out of the forest and led them to the group that was searching for them.

Wu Changsheng and Mrs. Wang thanked the woodcutter and they all left the Black Pine Forest.

Wu Changsheng, angry, slapped Shitou’s back and scolded, “Seeking death, you daredevils. If you had met slave traders, you all would have been sold.” He also cursed the older boys, planning to have a confrontation with their parents once they returned to the village.

Back in Xiangluo Village, Chen Afu and Mrs. Wang thanked Wu Changsheng, Shitou and Si Xizi and went back to their home.

Chen Afu bathed Dabao and checked him for injuries. Thankfully, except for a scrape on his right cheek and kneecap and a few bruises on his back and arm, he was fine. He was just scared and wouldn’t stop crying and clinging to Chen Afu’s neck.

Chen Ming clenched his teeth and cursed, “This must be the doing of Hu Laowu. He’s threatening us. If we don’t give him Qi Qi and Hui Hui, he’ll start on Dabao.”

Mrs. Wang cried, “Why don’t we just give Qi Qi and Hui Hui to him? If he arranges for someone to hurt Dabao or sell him, what are we going to do?”

Chen Afu adamantly said, “No, we can’t just give him whatever he covets. Not to mention we cherish Qi Qi and Hui Hui too much, even if we didn’t care for something, that doesn’t mean we should give it to him just because he wants it. This could go on endlessly. Whatever underworld connections he may have, the Luo family is definitely not afraid of him. If Junior Manager Luo helps us tomorrow, fine. If not, I’ll go to the county town to find Uncle Yang. Their business is vast, both legitimate and illegitimate, so their strength far outmatches a local thug like Hu Laowu. I’ll offer medical prescriptions in exchange for Uncle Yang’s help, he will definitely agree.”

Chen Afu was livid. She wanted to rush into the kitchen, grab a knife, and confront Hu Laowu. But she knew that such a move would work against a weak person like Er Lazi, but absolutely not against Hu Laowu. Given their current weak condition, they had to rely on Manager Luo or Uncle Yang to deal with him.

As for Chen Ye, if Hu Laowu really respected him, he wouldn’t be so brazen in bullying his family.

But Chen Ming still believed that Chen Ye could help suppress Hu Laowu. After all, Chen Ye was his son-in-law, and he had done so much work for the Hu family; Hu Laowu still had some respect for him on the surface.

Chen Ming also said that they couldn’t cater to Hu Laowu’s bullying; he told Chen Ye to reason with Hu Laowu that night.

In the evening, Mrs. Wang supported Chen Ming to the main room. Chen Ye and Chen Agu had returned from the county town.

Chen Ming angrily said, “Hu Laowu is despicable. He wants our two parrots to make money from selling them. After we refused, he targeted Dabao. Even though Dabao is adopted, we have developed feelings for him. I consider him my own grandchild. If something happens to him, I’ll risk my life to fight Hu Laowu.”

Mrs. Hu immediately said in fright, “Uncle, how can you accuse someone without evidence? It was clearly just a fight between children. Why do you insist that my husband was behind it? Did the children tell you this, or do you have any evidence?”

Chen Ming was taken aback and angrily retorted, “I may not have evidence, but everyone in Xiangluo Village knows what kind of person Hu Laowu is. How could it be a coincidence that right after you told us Hu Laowu wanted to sell our parrots and we refused, something happened to Dabao in the late afternoon?”

Mrs. Hu responded, “So without evidence, you dare to slander others…”

Before she could finish, she was shoved by Chen Ye, who scolded, “We all know what kind of person Hu Laowu is. You filthy woman, if it wasn’t for my sons and our grandchildren and the hard work you do at home, I would have already abandoned you. But there are things that can be done and things that absolutely cannot be done. If you dare to get involved with Hu Laowu’s harmful deeds, I will kill you on the spot.”