Chapter 1239: Chapter 1235: Which Unlucky Wretch (Third Update)

Old Mrs. Mu lifted her head and swaggered toward the Third Branch of the Mu Family.

Not long had passed since lunchtime, so almost everyone from the Third Branch of the Mu Family and Lu Yuanfeng’s group was there!

Only Mu Shuangshuang had gone to town.

For some reason, with Mu Shuangshuang gone, Old Mrs. Mu actually felt as if she could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

She spoke directly to Mu Dashan, "Third, I heard from others that you’re taking those Snails? Buying at one wen a jin?"

Mu Dashan was stunned at first, then he reacted and nodded heavily.

"Mm! We really are buying!"

"Good then! I’m here to tell you, from now on don’t you go calling outsiders to do this. Our Old Mu Family’s own people will go pick them, and after we pick them, we’ll sell them to you!" Old Mrs. Mu used a commanding tone with Mu Dashan.

Although Mu Dashan felt uncomfortable hearing this, the person in front of him was his own mother, so he couldn’t reject her too bluntly!

"Mother, that’s not really appropriate, is it? I promised everyone before that we’d keep buying. If we suddenly say we’re not taking theirs, what will folks think?

If you want Second Brother and them to pick Snails, we’ll buy whatever they bring too!" Mu Dashan said.

"Third, that’s not how you talk. Right now the whole village is working on that stuff. Even if our Old Mu Family has a lot of mouths, we still can’t compare to all the women in the village going out together!"

"Third, I’m your second brother, and the one talking to you now is our mother. Whatever Mother says, as her son, you can’t talk back, can you?"

Mu Dazhong used the pretext of filial piety to press down on Mu Dashan.

Mu Dashan’s face flushed red; he actually didn’t know how to argue back.

"Uncle Mu, we need a lot of Snails, but if it’s just your one family picking, I’m afraid it won’t be nearly enough!" Lu Yuanfeng said.

"And who are you? Since when is it your turn, an outsider, to meddle in our Old Mu Family’s business?" Mu Dazhong barked at Lu Yuanfeng.

"And who are you, to talk to Fengzi like that?" Xing Beichen stepped out to stick up for Lu Yuanfeng.

Lu Yuanfeng waved his hand at him, signaling him not to get involved.

He said to Mu Dazhong, "I’m nobody, but the Snails are going to the restaurant, and I just happen to be the one who decides whose goods we’ll take and whose we won’t!"

Lu Yuanfeng spoke slowly and evenly, making a sharp contrast with the aggressive Mu Dazhong!

"You..."

Mu Dazhong had already heard that half of the restaurant belonged to Lu Yuanfeng.

And after Lu Yuanfeng married that damn girl, the restaurant would directly take the Lu surname!

But having it confirmed in person still left Mu Dazhong somewhat unwilling.

The Old Mu Family’s property, why should it benefit an outsider?

Jinx, is a jinx!

"Mother, how do you say we handle this?" Since he couldn’t get any advantage for himself, he simply pushed Old Mrs. Mu forward.

"Hmph, how else can we handle it? Third, you say!" Old Mrs. Mu demanded!

"Mother, let’s stick to what we said before. We’ll pay Second Brother for however much he picks! As for other families, we’ll take theirs too!" Mu Dashan said.

Old Mrs. Mu was clearly dissatisfied with Mu Dashan’s decision. She shouted loudly, "Ungrateful wolf, I raised you all these years for nothing!"

Although it pained Mu Dashan to hear that, he still refused to give in. After a period of stalemate, Old Mrs. Mu stormed out of the Third Branch of the Mu Family.

Seeing this, Mu Dazhong, that trouble-stirring stick, also didn’t stay at the Third Branch any longer.

When he returned home, Mrs. Lin had already brought Gou Dan back from the school. She had even gone to call Mu Qingqing, but Mu Qingqing wasn’t in the house, so for the moment only three people from the Second Branch went to pick Snails!

The three of them each took a wooden bucket. When they ran into Mrs. Liu from the Fourth Branch, Mrs. Lin said they were going to pick wild fruit, just unwilling to drag the Liu family along to get rich!

When the Third Branch went onto the field ridges, quite a few women were already there picking Snails.

The Snails in the small ditches had all been picked clean; only some small ones were left, which Mu Shuangshuang had said she didn’t want, so the others hadn’t bothered with them.

But Mrs. Lin, the moment she saw those small Snails, scooped them all up without another word.

Looking as if she meant to wipe out the Snails once and for all!

After making one round along the ridges, Mrs. Lin was unwilling to move any farther!

She plopped down on the ridge and said to Mu Dazhong, "Daddy Gou Dan, I can’t do it, I’m finished!"

Mu Dazhong didn’t want to move either!

It sounded like one wen a jin, but for this stuff you had to go down into the fields, down into the ditches. After a few rounds, it could wear a person out!

"I’m done too. That damn girl did this on purpose. Back when there were so many Snails in the ditches, she didn’t say she wanted them. Now that all those ugly women have almost finished picking them, she suddenly says she wants them. Isn’t she just trying to keep us from taking advantage?"

"Exactly, that damn girl deserves to die!"

Mrs. Lin and Mu Dazhong sat on the field ridge cursing non-stop.

They didn’t even notice when their son Gou Dan was no longer trailing behind them!

The couple had been cursing Mu Shuangshuang for about an hour when they suddenly heard a woman on the riverbank not far away shout, "Heavens, a child fell into the water!" 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

At first, Mu Dazhong and Mrs. Lin didn’t hear it, each still swearing their own curses.

Only when several women started shouting together did Mrs. Lin jerk upright.

"Daddy Gou Dan, I think I heard some woman yelling that a child fell into the water!" Mrs. Lin said excitedly.

"You misheard. At a time like this, whose child would be by the water?" Mu Dazhong snapped impatiently.

"No! I definitely didn’t mishear. I’m going to see which short-lived ghost it is!"

With a mentality of going to watch a spectacle, Mrs. Lin hurried forward!

It wasn’t the first or second time a little kid had drowned in the village!

Every time, Mrs. Lin had been one of those just there for the show. And at times like this, if someone died, the village would definitely hold a "rotten-meat banquet." Then she could freeload a meal and have a bit of meat!

"Come quick, someone, a child has fallen into the water..."

The women were shouting even louder now, and Mrs. Lin took off running.

By this time, a man had already rushed into the pond and scooped the child up in one go.

In no time at all, a crowd had formed around the pond.

Before Mrs. Lin could squeeze in, someone grabbed her, "Gou Dan’s mother, it’s your family’s Gou Dan..."

Mrs. Lin went blank in an instant; all the excitement vanished.

What replaced it was a grief-stricken expression. She stared woodenly at the woman tugging her clothes and asked, "Who did you say? Who fell into the water?"

"Gou Dan, it’s your family’s Gou Dan!"

With a boom, Mrs. Lin nearly went mad.

She raised her hand and gave the woman a slap right across the face.

"Whore, how dare you curse my son, I’ll kill you!"

That slap knocked the kind-hearted woman’s mouth crooked, and Mrs. Lin still wanted to lay into her more.

A man couldn’t stand to watch anymore and bellowed at Mrs. Lin, "What are you making a scene for? Look at the one lying on the ground—isn’t that your son?"

By now, the crowd had parted.

Mrs. Lin’s gaze fell directly on the small, dripping-wet figure lying on the ground.

The oily, dirt-stained gray robe on his body—if that wasn’t her son Gou Dan, who else could it be?

At this moment, Gou Dan’s eyes were tightly shut, his face pale, his belly round and distended, clearly full of water.

Mrs. Lin let out a wail, "My Gou Dan... my Gou Dan..."