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“Third Auntie, your Fourth Uncle is calling you. Are you going over there?”
Wang Qing glanced in the direction of Wang Changyou and asked.
Truthfully, he didn’t want to go with so many people either.
The more people, the more trouble.
If someone accidentally bumped into another, it could easily escalate into a quarrel.
Wang Man shook her head.
“No, let’s head up the mountain.”
She had had her eyes on several large dead trees for a while now, and no matter what, she was determined to chop them down today—this was the perfect opportunity.
Wang Changyou saw that Wang Man was about to leave and called out again,
“Manya, come here quickly!”
He meant to say that since Wang Man was small and lacked strength, if she went with him, he could give her some firewood.
That way, it wouldn’t be so hard on her.
Speaking of Wang Changyou, he was also someone with a rough fate.
Now twenty-nine, he was still a bachelor.
Not because he couldn’t find a wife, but because he didn’t want one.
He had married young like most people his age.
Back then, Wang Changyou was quite good-looking and strong, so many came to inquire about marriage.
Eventually, Old Madam Wang selected a woman named Fang Qunxian from the neighboring village.
At first, the couple was affectionate, but later, during a trip up the mountain with some companions, Wang Changyou broke his leg.
Fang Qunxian cried and caused a scene demanding a divorce.
Not only did she ignore him daily, but she also hurled vicious insults.
In the end, she simply moved back to her maiden home and never returned.
Hot-blooded and youthful, Wang Changyou personally wrote the divorce letter, and that was the end of it.
After recovering from his leg injury, he remarried a woman named Shan Mei’er, who had been cast out by her own husband.
Unexpectedly, this woman was even more ruthless.
She took advantage of Wang Changyou leaving to work and ran off with everything he owned.
Since then, Wang Changyou had never remarried.
All matchmakers who came to him were rejected.
More than ten years had passed, and he was still living alone.
He spent most of his time working outside and was rarely home.
Idle villagers often speculated about how much silver he had saved up.
Some widows and abandoned women even tried to marry him, but he turned them all down.
It looked like he intended to remain a bachelor for life.
Wang Chang’an had followed him to work outside, and they managed to save quite a bit of silver each year.
Wang Man didn’t know much about this opportunistic Fourth Uncle.
If he truly cared about her and her Brother, why didn’t he speak up when they were sold off?
But then again, he was the one who had helped them the most among the Wang family.
It just didn’t make sense—such a contradiction!
In truth, Wang Man didn’t know that when her Big Brother Wang Xuezhi was sold, Wang Changyou wasn’t even home.
When he found out later, he beat Wang Chang’an severely.
He said that if there was no silver, he could’ve just borrowed from him.
How could real Brothers not help each other?
He had no idea that it wasn’t just about money.
That man cared more about his Wife’s opinion.
To live harmoniously and peacefully, one had to listen to their Wife.
After Wang Xuezhi was sold, Wang Changyou even secretly searched for him twice.
It was only when the human traffickers demanded compensation that he finally gave up.
When it came to her own sale, Wang Changyou knew about it but didn’t intervene.
Although Wang San was a known troublemaker, he was still far more humane than Wang Chang’an and Hua Qiao’er.
Being sold to him wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Besides, with Wang Yida and his Brothers looking out for her, life wouldn’t be too unbearable no matter what.
Sure enough, her assumptions had proven right.
Wang Man thought for a moment and still walked over to Wang Changyou.
“Fourth Uncle, when did you return?
Did my Father come back with you?”
Wang Changyou glanced around. Seeing no one paying attention, he reached out and gave Wang Man a little tug.
Immediately, she felt something in her palm.
Just as she was about to look at it, Wang Changyou stopped her.
“Your Father? Yes, he came back too.
Manya, are you alright? Did Wang San bully you?”
Wang Man almost laughed.
Her opportunistic Fourth Uncle probably didn’t know about her “battle record,” huh?
If he did, would he be shocked?
“Don’t worry, Fourth Uncle. Do I look like someone who’s been bullied? If anything, I’m the one doing the bullying.”
Wang Changyou glanced over at Wang San, who was sitting sloppily on the grass, and shook his head silently.
“You just chop wood here. Later, help bring those two bundles over there home—that’s the batch I chopped earlier.”
“No need. We already have a good stockpile at home. You can use those for your own firewood.
I’m heading up to chop those few large dead trees. I won’t disturb you any further.”
Their relationship wasn’t that close—there wasn’t much to talk about.
Wang Changyou didn’t insist.
“Alright, be careful. If anything happens, just shout—I’ll be nearby.”
Wang Man nodded and walked off.
Seeing Wang San still unwilling to move, she kicked him.
“Is your butt glued to the ground? Can’t bear to get up?”
Earlier, she had already checked—her opportunistic Fourth Uncle had slipped her two taels of silver.
Most likely for her to buy food.
Everyone knew how poor Wang San’s household was—so poor even mice didn’t bother to visit.
They had no idea Wang Man had over a hundred taels of silver in her possession.
Once they arrived at the site, they didn’t waste time.
Each picked a dead tree and began chopping.
Last time, Wang Man had only found a few dead trees.
This time, there were several more.
Perfect—there was still enough for everyone to have one, with extras to spare.
Wang Man chose the largest camphor tree she could find—its trunk was even thicker than Wang San’s waist.
Its branches were still intact, and it was dotted with shriveled, dry little fruits.
Wang Qing also picked a camphor tree, though much smaller.
Wang San, as usual, didn’t do well—his tree was even smaller than the one chosen by Wang Tietou.
Tietou was Shitou’s younger Brother and only eleven this year.
Due to poor family conditions and limited aptitude, he had only studied for two years before dropping out.
Now he stayed home helping with chores.
Despite his age, he could already do a lot.
Compared to lazy Wang San, he was leagues better.
Once everyone had chosen their trees, they worked quietly without disturbing one another.
A few days ago, Wang Man had sent Wang San to town to buy woodcutting knives.
Wang Yi stopped him and helped him choose wisely.
They spent one tael of silver on two high-quality steel knives—perfect for both her and Wang San.
While everyone was immersed in chopping wood, a sudden commotion erupted from the foot of the mountain.
Wang Man ignored it, thinking it was just some people arguing.
Wang Tietou, who loved watching excitement, ran to the edge and took a look.
He shouted in alarm,
“B-b-big snake! A huge snake!”
The moment they heard the word “snake,” no one continued chopping.
Everyone stood on the mountainside and looked down.
Chaos had broken out at the foot of the mountain—people were screaming, shouting, scrambling to find their companions, and running away in panic.
Just moments ago, there hadn’t been that many people.
But the moment the giant snake appeared, suddenly the whole place seemed crowded.
The snake seemed to be toying with the people on purpose—slithering left and right, never hurting anyone.
But just because it didn’t attack didn’t mean people weren’t scared!
One brave man picked up a long pole used to carry firewood and tried to drive it away,
thinking it would be enough to scare the creature off.
Unexpectedly, this provoked the snake.
It twisted its body and charged straight at him.
Its mouth gaped wide—its fangs clearly visible.
The man’s Wife stood trembling beside him.
In panic, she shoved the man forward.
Whether it was intentional or not, the man was pushed straight toward the snake’s gaping jaws.
Everyone gasped in horror.
Were they really about to witness the snake swallowing a man alive?