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The black pine forest was a large forest on a low hillside. The trees grew densely, casting deep shadows, and aside from woodcutters, few people ventured inside.
Soon after they entered, Zhui Feng began to howl and dashed forward, prompting Chen Feng and the others to quicken their pace.
Chen Feng shouted, “Zhui Feng, slow down and don’t get separated!”
As they advanced, they heard Dabao crying out ahead, “Zhui Feng, Zhui Feng, I can see you, sob…”
The group followed the sound and found a mud-covered child holding onto Zhui Feng, his body, face, and head all covered in mud. If not for recognizing Dabao’s voice and his close bond with Zhui Feng, it would have been hard to recognize the mud-covered child as Dabao.
Standing nearby were Shitou and Sixizi, both covered in mud, with their faces also smeared with dirt, though not as badly as Dabao. There was also a woodcutter carrying a bundle of firewood.
Chen Feng was alarmed, shouting as she ran, “Dabao, what happened to you?”
Seeing his mother, Dabao stood up and rushed to her, crying.
Chen Feng lifted the mud-covered Dabao and comforted him, “Good boy, don’t be afraid. You won’t die, I’ll protect you.”
The children explained the incident to them.
The next afternoon, Shitou and Sixizi had accompanied Dabao to gather firewood. In reality, neither of their families needed them to collect firewood, but they used this excuse to play with Dabao.
Before reaching Chen’s home, Dabao ran out, claiming he had seen a lovely squirrel running toward his house. He had tried to catch it, but the squirrel had escaped. He had chased after it and didn’t know where it had gone.
There were three boys around eleven or twelve years old nearby who suggested, “The black pine forest has the most squirrels. Let’s go catch them there.”
Dabao shook his head, saying, “My mom doesn’t allow me to go out. She’s afraid of bad people.”
One of the boys responded, “What’s there to be afraid of? With us, and with Shitou and Sixizi, we’re a big group. Even if there are bad people, they can’t beat us.”
Shitou and Sixizi also wanted to go catch squirrels and persuaded Dabao to join them. Shitou even kindly said, “In the black pine forest, there are not only squirrels but also plenty of firewood. We’ll help you collect more.”
Dabao was thus persuaded to go.
However, after entering the black pine forest, the older boys turned hostile. They began to tease Dabao and eventually pushed him down a slope. Though not very steep, the slope was slippery due to rainwater, and there were scattered stones. Dabao fell, getting covered in mud, and in pain and fear, he sat there crying.
The older boys laughed and ran away.
Although Shitou and Sixizi were also afraid, they didn’t abandon Dabao. They slowly descended the slope, helped Dabao up, and, due to the recent rain making the slope slippery, they all struggled to climb back up.
Lost in the vast forest, the children were all frightened.
Luckily, they encountered a kind woodcutter who led them out of the forest and met with the adults who were searching for them.
Wu Chanshen and Mrs. Wang thanked the woodcutter, and they all left the black pine forest. Wu Chanshen was furious and scolded Shitou, “You’re looking for trouble. You’re too bold. If you had encountered traffickers, all of you would have been sold.” He also cursed the older boys and vowed to seek retribution from their families when they returned to the village.
Upon returning to Xiangluo Village, Chen Feng and Mrs. Wang thanked Wu Chanshen, Shitou, and Sixizi before returning home.
Chen Feng bathed Dabao and checked his injuries. Thankfully, he wasn’t seriously hurt, just a scrape on his right cheek and knee, and a few bruises on his back and arms. Dabao was terrified, crying non-stop, clinging to Chen Feng’s neck.
Chen Ming gritted his teeth, cursing, “It must be Hu Laowu’s doing. He’s threatening us. If we don’t give him Qiqi and Gray, he’ll harm Dabao.”
Mrs. Wang cried, “Then should we just give Qiqi and Gray to him? What if he has Dabao hurt or sold, what can we do?”
Chen Feng said angrily, “No, we can’t give in to whatever he wants. Even if we don’t care about something, it’s not his to take. If we keep this up, it’ll never end. If Luo Xiao helps tomorrow, good. If not, I’ll go to the county town and find Master Yang. With their business so big, they must have connections, both legal and otherwise. I’ll use connections to get his help, and he will.”
Chen Feng was furious, wanting to storm into the kitchen and confront Hu Laowu. But she knew that tactic might work against a small fry, but not Hu Laowu. Being weak and sickly, they had to rely on Luo’s family or Master Yang to deal with him.
As for Chen Ye, if Hu Laowu really respected him, he wouldn’t have dared to bully them so openly.
But Chen Ming still believed Chen Ye could help suppress Hu Laowu. After all, they were relatives, and Chen Ye had done a lot for the Hu family, so Hu Laowu appeared to respect him.
Chen Ming also said they shouldn’t indulge Hu Laowu, they should let Chen Ye talk to him at night.
In the evening, Mrs. Wang supported Chen Ming to the main branch. Chen Ye and Chen Gui had already returned from the county town.
Chen Ming fumed, “Hu Laowu is too unscrupulous. He wants to take our two parrots to sell. First, he had my sister-in-law relay the message, and when we refused, he targeted Dabao. Although Dabao was a stray we took in, we’ve grown attached to him. I already consider him my own grandson. If anything happens to him, I’d risk my life to confront Hu Laowu.”
Mrs. Hu, standing nearby, immediately interjected, “Second brother-in-law, how can you blatantly speak nonsense? It’s clearly just a fight between some kids. What right do you have to say it’s orchestrated by our Laowu? Is it what those kids said, or do you have any evidence?”
Chen Ming choked up, angrily saying, “I don’t have evidence, but everyone in Xiangluo Village knows Hu Laowu’s true nature. How could it be such a coincidence that just after you mentioned Hu Laowu wanting to sell our parrots, Dabao met with an accident the next day?”
Mrs. Hu retorted, “You dare to make baseless accusations…”
Before she could finish, Chen Ye interrupted her, scolding, “I know exactly what kind of person Hu Laowu is. You, a foolish woman with shallow insight, I’ll let it go for the sake of my son and grandson, and for your hard work at home. But some things can be done, while others absolutely cannot. If you dare to get involve in Hu Laowu’s harmful activities, I’ll immediately deal with you.”