Yun Que'er's eyes widened as she listened. Was he kidding? Yun Yi had just kicked a small pebble out. Even if it had accidentally hit him, there was no way it could have damaged his shoe, right?
It was clearly because he had worn the shoes for too long. How could he blame it on Yun Yi?
Seeing that the situation was turning bad, Yun Fujin stepped forward.
"Uncle Liu, one has to be reasonable. If the shoe was damaged by a kick, the damage would be on the outside. Yours is clearly damaged from the inside. How can you blame it on my third sister?"
"I say she damaged it, so she did!" Liu Kui was being unreasonable and insisted on pinning the blame on Yun Yi. "Let me tell you, today you either buy me a new pair of shoes or hand that girl over to me!"
Yun Que'er had never heard such nonsense in her life. How much did a pair of shoes cost? Everyone in the village knew that the Yun family was extremely poor.
Buying him a pair of shoes would mean the family would have to live on bark for three months!
How could anyone demand money like this? And asking for a person? It was simply impossible!
Yun Que'er quickly hugged Yun Fujin tightly and pretended to be pitiful.
"Big brother, I don't want to go with him..."
She let out a couple of sobs and even her eyes turned red. Then she turned to Liu Kui and accused him.
"I'll call the police on you!"
"What are you talking about, you little girl?" Liu Kui was furious. "It would be your good fortune if I took you in. Stop putting on airs. Do you really think you're worth anything?"
"Big brother, look!" Yun Que'er exploded and two tears rolled down her cheeks. "He said I'm worthless. Waaaa..."
Yun Fujin let out a cold snort. "Uncle Liu, we're all from the same village, and we've already paid you back all the money. If this matter ends here, we can still greet each other in the future. But if you keep being so unreasonable, we have no choice. We can go to the village head and let him judge. Uncle Liu, you decide for yourself."
Yun Fujin was a bit timid, but it didn't mean he was afraid of everything. As the eldest brother, it was his responsibility to protect the children in the family.
As long as he was around, no one could take Yun Que'er away.
"I think you've lost your mind, boy!" Liu Kui was so angry that he raised his fist as if he was going to hit someone.
Yun Que'er seized the opportunity and let out a loud wail.
"Help! The butcher Liu is going to hit someone! He even wants to kidnap me. Where is the justice in this?"
This part of the back mountain wasn't far from the village, and a loud voice could carry for miles. It was extremely resonant.
Yun Que'er cried at the top of her lungs, which really scared Liu Kui.
Originally, he wanted to take advantage of the situation and teach them a lesson. But if the other villagers found out about this, he would be in the wrong. It would seem like a forty - something man was bullying a little girl. So he immediately backed down.
"You win!" Liu Kui angrily waved his hand. "Fine, keep her. She'll cause trouble sooner or later!"
Yun Que'er wiped her face and let out a snort. "If you swear again, I'll go to the village head!"
"Go ahead and find him!" Liu Kui roared. "No one knows where he's been taken by some monster. If you have the guts, go find him!"
Liu Kui turned around and walked away angrily, still muttering under his breath.
"You little girl, you win!"
Yun Yi nervously patted her chest. Then, after thinking for a moment, she caught the hint in Liu Kui's words and suddenly shivered.
"Th - there are monsters in the village?"
"Don't listen to his nonsense. Can't you tell he's just scaring you?" Yun Jianzhou tugged at Yun Yi's pigtail.
But at this moment, a thunderclap roared in the sky. Just a moment ago, it had been swelteringly hot, but now the sky suddenly darkened, indicating that a heavy rain was about to come.
Yun Yi was a bit scared. "Let's go. What are we doing on this mountain? It's about to rain."
Yun Fujin looked up. "It really is going to rain. Let's go back."
The four siblings started their journey back. Yun Que'er had been lying on Yun Fujin's shoulder, seemingly deep in thought.
Yun Fujin noticed her strange behavior and whispered.
"What's wrong? Does your stomach hurt?"
"No." Yun Que'er shook her little head.
She was wondering what the butcher Liu was doing here. He had said there were monsters on the mountain and that the village head had been taken away by a monster?
The more she thought about it, the more something seemed off...
"Big brother, which way did that pig - butcher come from?" Yun Que'er suddenly asked.
"Of course it's the same way we came. There's only one road from the village to the back mountain."
That made the matter even more puzzling. Hardly anyone came to the back mountain. Liu Kui just happened to come here, and it seemed from his words that he was going to go further. But because he met their family, he turned back.
If he had something to do, he should have continued going forward instead of turning back, right?
"Wait." Yun Que'er suddenly grabbed Yun Fujin's clothes. "Big brother, I think the village head is not far ahead."
Yun Fujin was surprised. "How do you know?"
"I... I guessed."
Yun Que'er couldn't tell Yun Fujin what she was thinking. After all, how could a seven - year - old child have so many thoughts?
"Big brother, let's go and take a look."
"But it's about to rain. You'll catch a cold if you get wet."
Yun Que'er was persistent and hugged Yun Fujin tightly, trying her best to act cute.
"Big brother, just take a look. If it's really not okay, we'll hurry back. We won't get wet."
Yun Fujin really couldn't resist Yun Que'er's cute attack and reluctantly agreed.
"Alright, alright, little imp." Yun Fujin tapped Yun Que'er's nose and then turned back with her.
Yun Jianzhou walked for a while and noticed that there was no movement. Seeing the two of them going in the opposite direction, he chased after them.
"Where are you going?"
Yun Yi was left standing there awkwardly, not knowing which way to go.
She was afraid that there really were monsters on the mountain, and she didn't dare to go home alone. So she had no choice but to follow them back with a brave face.
The four of them walked and looked along the way, but they just couldn't find the village head.
The further they went, the more nervous Yun Yi became. She couldn't help but tightly grasp Yun Jianzhou's clothes.
"Yun Que'er, stop talking nonsense, okay? We've been looking for so long and still haven't found him. You must have guessed wrong."
But Yun Que'er didn't think so. Maybe they were already near.
Just as she was thinking, Yun Que'er suddenly noticed something moving in the grass out of the corner of her eye.
"Is it over there?" Yun Que'er said.
The thing moving in the grass seemed to be scared. With a thud, it fell down and let out a wail.
"It really is a person!"
Yun Jianzhou exclaimed and quickly ran over. Below was a big stinky ditch. Because there were a lot of tall weeds growing on the edge, it was really hard to notice the ditch.
And who else could it be but the village head who had just fallen down?
"It really is you." Yun Jianzhou couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Isn't this our great village head? Why did you fall into the ditch?"