Traveling through ancient times to survive

"Is this true?" The villagers were skeptical.

"It's absolutely true! Not only that rebellious son, my relationship with the old man has been bad for a long time. When you were practicing martial arts enthusiastically, I didn't know how envious I was, but the old man insisted on stopping me and wouldn't let me go, saying that he was embarrassing the rebellious son! How could I be embarrassing for others when I was learning skills uprightly? But the old man was stubborn and blocked my way to progress. From then on, I was dispensable to this family."

Zhao Chengshan smiled bitterly and described himself as a poor guy who was disliked by his parents and son, intending to distance himself from them.

"Now that I remember, Zhao Chengshan did follow us to learn for a few days at the beginning, but later he stopped coming. I thought he was unwilling to practice because it was too hard, but it turns out his father didn't allow him to."

"Yes, I saw that, too. And afterwards I saw him several times sneaking around us."

Some people did remember what happened in the past, and with the confirmation from others, everyone's expressions looked much better.

"We do believe that you didn't know anything about it, but he is your son. If your son made a mistake, you, as his father, cannot escape blame."

"Yes, our clan's reputation cannot be ruined by your family. Go and join your son, and don't return to the village with your family."

Isn't this just driving me out of the village? Absolutely not! That rebellious son is totally unreliable. There are so many evildoers out there now, it's very dangerous. If he leaves the village, where can he find such a safe place to retire?

"No! I am willing to accept any punishment from you, as long as you don't kick me out. If you are worried, I will sever ties with that rebellious son and never have any contact with him again!"

Everyone was stunned. They didn't expect that Zhao Chengshan's relationship with his family had become so bad that he would rather sever ties than go to live with his son.

Everyone was still unaware of the dangers in the outside world and thought that everywhere was as peaceful as here. How could they have guessed that Zhao Chengshan was unwilling to leave because of the strong sense of security in the village?

Zhao Chengshan refused to leave, and no one could prove that he knew about the situation in advance, so the situation came to a standstill.

The villagers who rushed to Zhao Chenghe's house looked at the couple with pale faces and disbelief, and the little girl who was crying out of fear, as if they were bullies bullying innocent people.

"Your son followed him to the county town, not to mention that you had no idea about it." The questioning voice was much lower.

The two men regretted deeply. They never expected that Zhao Decheng was so wicked that he packed up his belongings and ran away without caring about their lives. He also refused to warn them in advance. Now everyone had blocked the door.

"Fellow villagers, we really didn't know. Zhao Decheng only told us that he was appreciated by the county magistrate. We still forced our son into the county. We thought he was going to enjoy a good life in the county. We, the third branch, have been paying for him, but he didn't take us with him to enjoy the good life. So we were so angry that we threatened them to take my son to the county to find a job as an accountant. Zhao Decheng must hate us for this."

Zhao Chenghe did not dare to hide anything and did not care about other people's strange looks. He exposed all the little thoughts of his family. In order to gain people's trust, they also took out the letter of guarantee signed by Zhao Decheng.

After seeing the letter of guarantee, everyone had to believe it. Looking at the words signed three years ago, everyone sighed that the village chief's two brothers were not easy to deal with. No wonder the village chief's family was bullied so badly in the past.

Finally, the village chief and clan elders held a meeting to discuss and decided to keep these people for the time being. However, Zhao Decheng, who had already moved into the county town, must not stay any longer. Including the old man, their names were crossed out in the family tree.

Because of Zhao Chenghe's pleading, the clan agreed to let the two of them go to the county to pick up their son and then return to the village to accept punishment.

The two men rushed to the courtyard where Zhao Decheng lived in the county with panic on their faces. The old man was sitting in the yard leisurely enjoying the bright sunshine. Zhao Dezhu came over to open the door.

"Dad, Mom, why are you here?" Zhao Dezhu shouted in surprise.

"Zhu Zi, pack up your things, we'll go back now."

Zhao Dezhu was happy at first. The county was not good at all. His aunt was always throwing things at him and being sarcastic. He was so worried that he dared not rest for a moment. He took on almost all the housework. He dared not eat too much for fear of being scolded. After only a few days, he was so hungry that he lost several pounds.

But looking at his parents' anxious eyes, he didn't want to show his happiness too obviously. Before Zhao Dezhu could continue asking, the old man in the yard became unhappy.

"Third brother, you can't even call your parents after coming here?"

"Dad, Mom, it's my fault." Zhao Chenghe forced a smile.

Mrs. Zhao San directly urged Zhao Dezhu to pack his luggage. Although Zhao Dezhu didn't understand why, he still went obediently.

"Third brother, you even threatened me a few days ago, and now you regret it? If you take the pillar back this time, it will be impossible for us to take it next time."

The old man was very puzzled. What was wrong with the third brother? He was willing to send the pillar over at the risk of offending Cheng Ge'er, but now he changed his mind after just a few days?

Zhao Chenghe opened and closed his lips several times, but still didn't dare to tell the truth. However, his face was so pale that anyone could tell that something was wrong.

The old man immediately stood up with a serious face and asked, "Old Third, what happened? What happened in the village?"

Zhao Chenghe cried out, "Dad, you..."

Zhao Chenghe hesitated and still didn't dare to tell the old man the bad news, fearing that the old man would not be able to accept it.

Mrs. Zhao San had no such concerns. She was already furious because Zhao Decheng's unethical actions had implicated her family. The old man might be an insider, so she couldn't feel sorry for him.

"Oh, your great grandson's story has been exposed! Our family of four is so unlucky to have such a relative. We don't get any benefits at all, but all the bad things have come to us!"

The old man didn't care about the impoliteness in his daughter-in-law's words: "What happened?"

"Why are you pretending? Your good grandson donated the village's grain to the county magistrate in his own name in exchange for an official position. Now the villagers have found out. If the village chief hadn't stopped him, everyone would have come to the county to report him! Your good grandson would have been in jail by now!"

"Impossible!" The old man's pupils trembled and his face turned pale.

"What's impossible? I was wondering how Zhao Decheng, who is so half-baked, could be appreciated by the county magistrate. Others are not blind. Sure enough, he used some dirty tricks that are not visible to the public."

Mrs. Zhao San spoke bluntly, wishing she could vent all the anger in her heart.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! Third brother, what kind of wife did you marry! Let her talk nonsense here!" the old man roared.

"What's impossible? You and your wonderful grandson have been expelled from the clan!" Mrs. Zhao said loudly, with a hint of satisfaction in her words.