Chapter 233

When the news spread that the group who had gone out was returning to the village, everyone except Zhang Tuzi’s family was excited!

The news traveled quickly from those in the front to those in the back, and soon the entire village knew.

Everyone dropped their tasks and rushed to the village entrance.

Although Qin Yilin’s family didn’t have anyone in the group, Aunt Hu’s family did, especially since Wenhua was among them. She was originally planning to go home but changed her direction towards the village entrance.

“Hey, who is that lying on the cart?”

“Why are they being pulled back?”

“Did something happen?”

Everyone’s hearts tightened as those in the back pushed forward, causing the scene to become chaotic.

The children with good eyesight, standing on the sandbag barrier, shouted to the people below, “Don’t worry, there are only two people being pulled on the cart! Everyone else is fine.”

The people below breathed a sigh of relief and started to discuss, “There must have been some trouble on the way. No wonder Mr. Bai was willing to pay one hundred wen a day; it’s dangerous out there.”

“Of course, my husband was wise not to go for that risky money!” Aunt Zhang said proudly, straightening her back.

The people around her moved away to keep their distance.

“With seventy or eighty men, only two got injured. Luckily, Mr. Bai hired many people. It would be more dangerous with fewer.”

Aunt Zhang chimed in again, “Maybe others are also hurt but not severely enough to stop them from walking, so we couldn’t tell.”

In her opinion, how could only two people get injured if there was trouble? The others must be lightly injured and gritting their teeth to walk.

Grandma Xu scolded her harshly, “If you can’t say anything nice, then don’t say anything at all! No one will think you’re mute.”

Aunt Zhang pursed her lips. These people must be regretting it deeply.

Serves them right for falling into the trap of money and going for that job. If they had been like her husband, they would be poor but at least uninjured.

Moreover, getting injured not only causes pain but also costs money to treat, making the hard-earned money go to waste.

Some villagers ran ahead to greet them, while most waited at the village entrance.

The village chief, hearing the news, came out with his cane and looked up at the boy on the barrier, “Can you see which families have the injured?”

The boy, Goudan, shook his head, “Can’t see clearly. They’re lying on the cart, but I saw Uncle Wu and Uncle Qiang. They are at the front, so don’t worry, village chief.”

Hearing this, the others became anxious. If those two were fine, it increased the chances of the injured being from their own families.

“Goudan, can you see if my family is walking?”

“And check mine too.”

Sun Jinhua stood on the outermost side, not worried at all. With seventy or eighty people, only two were injured. There was nothing to be anxious about.

She thought that if someone got hurt while others didn’t, it was just bad luck and couldn’t blame anyone else.

“Mom and Dad, our brothers are in the group. Shouldn’t we go and check?” Fan Sizhu whispered.

Fan Qian, not concerned, replied in a low voice, “No need. I told your brothers before they left: if there’s danger, run first. Don’t confront it directly. Let others fight. As long as they are safe, that’s all that matters.”

So he wasn’t worried at all. When Sanzhu and Sizhu wanted to go to the front, he held them back, not even thinking about squeezing to the front.

As long as his family was safe, the fate of others didn’t concern him.

Fan Sizhu was surprised by this approach.

Fan Sanzhu’s eyes lit up and he gave his father a thumbs-up, “Dad, you’re really thoughtful!”

Other villagers taught their children to charge ahead, but his dad knew better!

Under these circumstances, his brothers would definitely be fine.

As the returning group approached, everyone ran up to check if their family members were injured.

Fan Qian’s family remained calm, neither hurried nor worried.

The village chief, with his limited mobility, also stood at the entrance, looking anxious.

No matter whose family members were injured, it was not good news.

The returning villagers were all smiling and none of them looked upset. The village chief, with his aged eyes full of confusion, wondered: whose family members were injured? Or had their family not yet arrived?

When Sun Jinhua saw the person lying on the flatbed truck clearly, she was stunned for a moment, then rushed forward crying out, “Damn it, how could he go out well and come back lying like this~”

Fan Qian’s three and four stood still in place.

How come both of them are from their family?

Are they being targeted?

Could it be that the men in the village didn’t help their eldest and second brothers? Otherwise, why are only they injured when others are fine?

Fan Qian’s face darkened as he confronted the whole outgoing team, demanding, “What’s going on? They went out perfectly fine, how come only they are injured?

You’re all from the same village, grew up together, and you only care about yourselves?”

Sun Jinhua, crying on the ground, was reminded and wiped her tears and snot, cursing, “You’re not human! You only care about yourselves and not my son. Poor my son’s fate~”

Fan Dazhu and Fan Erzhu lying on the flatbed turned red-faced, stuttering, “Mom, don’t cry, it’s not their fault.”

“It’s our own fault.”

Fan Qian interrupted, “You have to give an explanation, or we won’t let this go!”

Seven or eight dozen people, and only two are injured, both from his family, how could people not suspect more!

The old village chief looked at his second son and asked, “What’s going on, you go first.”

Li Wu looked at Fan Dazhu and Fan Erzhu on the flatbed, and both of them looked back at him, begging him not to speak. Then he looked at the furious Fan Qian family demanding an explanation, and blurted out, “No matter what, this thing can’t be blamed on us!”

Fan Qian and Sun Jinhua were suddenly furious, about to cause a scene, when the old village chief stopped them with a look.

The scene quieted down, everyone waiting for what would happen next.

“We sent potatoes back, just entered a small forested hill, when a group of refugees armed with knives and axes came out!

They mistook us for delivery men, thinking we had money on us from the delivery, so they ambushed us and waited there.”

Sun Jinhua’s eyes filled with blood, gritted her teeth, and thought, even said not to blame them, it must be that they abandoned her son and ran away alone, causing her son to suffer such pain!

“We carried dozens of large knives, everyone knows that. Immediately, we pulled out the large knives from the cart frame. When those people saw that we were strong and had big knives, they ran halfway and scattered.”

Someone in the crowd immediately asked, “Didn’t you fight back?”

“No! Otherwise, how could none of us have any injuries if we fought?”

“That makes sense. But what about Dazhu and Erzhu? They couldn’t have been injured for no reason.”

“Those people ran away, how could Dazhu and Erzhu still be injured?”

Xu Laosan took over, “After those people ran away, we didn’t chase them. We just wanted to hurry back!”

“Then, when we counted the numbers, we found that Dazhu and Erzhu were missing. Everyone panicked and went to look for them separately.”