Ms. Zheng paused for a moment, confirming that the village rules indeed stated that.
Seeing Ms. Zheng showing signs of backing down, Qian Li'er cursed in her heart for Ms. Zheng being unreliable, and said to Gu Jinli, "Cousin Xiao Yu, don't make it difficult for Fourth Aunt. It was Grandma and Grandpa who sent Fourth Aunt over here to fetch things. Grandpa said, since the family has not been divided, whatever you find belongs to the family."
When Ms. Zheng heard this, she immediately became confident and righteous: "Right, your grandpa said that since we have not divided the household, you must hand over whatever you find. Bring over the river grass."
Ms. Zheng rushed to snatch the river grass, but Gu Jinli quickly dodged, leading to Ms. Zheng, unable to stop herself, falling to the ground.
Qian Li'er rushed to help Ms. Zheng up: "Fourth Aunt, are you okay?"
She then turned to scold Gu Jinli, "Cousin Xiao Yu, how could you push Fourth Aunt over? Do you have any respect for Fourth Aunt as your elder?"
Ms. Zheng had fallen without even scraping her skin, but upon hearing Qian Li'er's words, she immediately started to howl loudly, "Ouch, everyone come look! This little shrew Gu Xiaoyu has pushed me over, my knee hurts so much I can't stand up. I am her Fourth Aunt, she's being violent towards an elder!"
The Gu Family Village people around heard the noise but didn't even bother to look. Sixth Uncle Gu's household caused trouble every day, and they were all tired of it. They couldn't care less and couldn't manage it either.
Sixth Aunt Gu was ruthless and cunning, enjoying hassling Gu Dashan's family, and even the younger ones below felt it enjoyable to bother Gu Dashan's family.
Gu Chengzhi, Ms. Zheng's five-year-old son, was playing nearby. Hearing Ms. Zheng's voice, he ran over and saw Ms. Zheng sitting on the ground howling. Furious, his little face turned red. Spotting Gu Jincheng beside the mat, he charged at Gu Jincheng. With a thud, he knocked Gu Jincheng down, straddled him, and with clenched fists, began to furiously beat Gu Jincheng.
"I'll teach you to bully my mom, I'll beat you to death!"
Gu Jincheng was being hit, cried out loud, and tried to fight back, but not yet four years old and weakened from hunger, he was no match for the well-fed five-year-old Gu Chengzhi, who quickly bruised his face.
Seeing Brother Cheng being beaten, Gu Jinli and Gu Jinxiu dropped what they were holding and rushed over.
Gu Jinli grabbed Gu Chengzhi's hands to stop him from hitting Brother Cheng, and said to Gu Jinxiu, "Sis, quickly carry Brother Cheng away."
"Okay." Gu Jinxiu complied, and while Gu Jinli was pulling Gu Chengzhi away, she grabbed Brother Cheng and retreated, keeping a good distance from Gu Chengzhi.
Gu Chengzhi, grabbed by Gu Xiaoyu, kicked wildly, cursing, "You lowlife girl, let go of me, otherwise I'll have Grandma sell you all!"
Gu Jinli kicked Gu Chengzhi and dragged him backward.
Seeing Gu Chengzhi caught by Gu Jinli, Ms. Zheng immediately rushed over, her hands clawing towards Gu Jinli's face: "Gu Xiaoyu, let go of Brother Zhi right now!"
Gu Jinli tilted her head to dodge Ms. Zheng's hands, pulled Gu Chengzhi in front of her, and with a cold glare warned, "Try moving again?"
Gu Jinli did not say what she would do to Gu Chengzhi, but her current demeanor was so frightening that Ms. Zheng was startled and dared not move.
"What do you want to do?" Ms. Zheng's voice trembled a little.
Gu Jinli said, "I don't want to do anything, just fight a bandit."
"Mom, don't waste your words with that lowlife girl. Beat her, beat her to death. Grandma said she should never have survived," Gu Chengzhi, spoiled into a little tyrant from a young age, always felt superior. He saw Gu Dashan's family as low and worthless, as their servants, to be hit and scolded at his whim.
Hearing Gu Chengzhi's insulting words, Gu Jinli sneered, pressed a spot on his left shoulder, and Gu Chengzhi immediately cried out in pain.
While the commotion was in full swing, Qian Li'er picked up the river grass and bamboo tube from the ground and walked towards Old Gu Family's area.
Gu Jinli narrowed her eyes when she saw this, flung Gu Chengzhi away, sending him tumbling, and chased after Qian Li'er, snatching back all the river grass and bamboo tubes she was holding: "Hand them over."
Qian Li'er, not expecting Gu Jinli to catch up, her face darkened when she was robbed: "Cousin Xiao Yu, Grandma asked for these wild vegetables. If you don't hand them over, think about the consequences."
Gu Jinli was unfazed by her threat, holding the items, and walked away.
Qian Li'er felt utterly ignored by Gu Jinli and burst with anger. With a cold snort, she disregarded Ms. Zheng and Gu Chengzhi, rushing off to find Granny Gu and exaggeratedly relayed all of Gu Jinli's actions.
Gu Jinli strapped the river grass and the bamboo tube to herself and ran back to her own resting area. She immediately rolled up the grass mat and said to Gu Jinxiu, "Sister, carry Brother Cheng up. Third Grandma wants us to spend the night at her place."
After this uproar, Granny Gu definitely wouldn't let things slide. It would be better for their family to stay away tonight to avoid Granny Gu going mad and hitting someone.
Gu Jinxiu was also scared of Granny Gu hitting people, she quickly nodded, carrying Brother Cheng and left behind Gu Jinli.
Gu Chengzhi saw Gu Jinli and the others leaving. Covering his sore hand, he cried and kicked Ms. Zheng, "Hit them, Mother, go hit them quickly, beat them to death!"
Ms. Zheng had suffered setbacks today and was so angry that she slapped Gu Chengzhi's back, "Beat what? Come with Mother to find your Grandma."
Gu Jinli was leading Gu Jinxiu and Brother Cheng towards Third Grandma's resting place.
On the way, they encountered Gu Dashan and Gu Jin'an coming back with foraged food, but they had little to show for it, holding only a bag of leaves, a basket of grass roots, and three dead mountain rats.
Gu Jinli told them what happened, and then said, "Father, Big Brother, Third Grandma has something for you and wants you to go to her place after you're done foraging."
Gu Jin'an, seeing Brother Cheng's bruised and swollen face, was furious. He took Brother Cheng from Gu Jinxiu's arms and asked, "Brother Cheng, does it hurt?"
Brother Cheng shook his head, "It doesn't hurt anymore, Big Brother, don't be angry."
Gu Jin'an felt even more distressed hearing these words. Brother Cheng used to be lively, and now he was becoming quieter and quieter. He was really afraid that Brother Cheng would become like his eldest sister.
Gu Jinli patted Brother Cheng's head and said, "Brother Cheng, don't worry, Second Sister has already avenged you."
The way she pressed on Gu Chengzhi's arm would cause him pain for half a month. In short, as long as Brother Cheng's wounds still hurt, Gu Chengzhi's arm would remain painful.
Gu Dashan looked at Gu Jincheng, his head bowed and silent.
Gu Jinli knew he was feeling bad, but she hoped he would stand up for himself, so she intentionally said, "Father, since Mother isn't with us, with what just happened, if she comes back, Grandma will definitely take her anger out on her."
Gu Dashan was startled by the thought of Granny Gu's fierce beating, and hastily said, "You go find Third Grandma first, Father will go look for your Mother."
Gu Dashan hurriedly left with his things, and Gu Jin'an led Gu Jinli and the others to Third Grandma's resting place.
Third Grandma's resting place was under a withered tree. The Luo Family was also spending the night here. Without the Luos, Third Grandma and Third Grandpa alone couldn't have secured such a good spot.
When they arrived, there were already quite a few people gathered under the tree, including Third Grandma's Family, the Luo Family, Tian Family, and also Brother Dalin and Brother Damu from the Gu Family.
At the moment, the families were sitting under the withered tree discussing the matter of the water source. Seeing Gu Jinli and the others arriving, they stopped talking.
Third Grandma waved to Gu Jinli and said, "Xiao Yu, come over quickly, your Third Grandpa and the others have something to ask you."
Gu Jinli knew they wanted to ask about the underground water trail, she hurried over and greeted everyone.
Third Grandpa was already over sixty, with a dark, weathered face showing signs of fatigue, but his eyes were bright. He said to Gu Jinli, "Xiao Yu, tell us about how you found that patch of river grass."
Gu Jinli recounted in detail how she had found the river grass.
"With snail shells and river grass, and digging one foot into the ground beneath the river grass turns the soil from moist to muddy... these are indeed signs of underground water," Third Grandpa confirmed after listening to Gu Jinli's discovery.
He looked at the families present and said, "But this water is not easy to extract; we need to dig. With some luck, we could hit water at three to five meters; with bad luck, even ten meters might yield nothing. Are you willing to do this work? If we find water, we share it equally, but if no water comes out, you can't blame Xiao Yu."
Third Grandpa looked at Gu Jinli and said, "The child is finding a way to live for us, she's done nothing wrong."
Gu Damu hesitated somewhat. They had traveled the whole day and were exhausted. To go dig for water now, they'd be okay if they found water, but if not, it would be labor in vain, and they would still need to continue the journey tomorrow...
Seeing Gu Damu hesitate, Brother Dalin persuaded him, "Big Brother, our family doesn't have a single drop of water left. If we don't do this, and if we can't find water tomorrow, the children won't be able to hold on."