"Who is it, knocking on the door so late at night?"
"Isn't it Widow Zheng again?"
Zhao Zheng blew out the oil lamp on the low table, and the room fell into darkness.
The knocking sound stopped, but a man's voice came from outside, "Lao Zhao, open the door, it's me, Laizi!"
"Father-in-law, don't go." Yang Zhaodi was anxious. This beggar was not a good guy. He was well-known for being idle in the village. He used to drag his father-in-law to drink and gamble every day.
There was a severe drought in Mingzhou and people were short of food. The imperial court issued a strict order prohibiting the brewing of wine. At this critical juncture, if anyone was caught drinking, the punishment would be either a beating at the very least or exile at the worst.
So, this leper is not a good person.
Zhang Xiao'e also pleaded in a low voice: "Father-in-law, he must be looking for you for no good reason."
Zhao Zheng thought about it and decided that since Ma Laizi had come to his door, he wouldn't leave easily. "I'll go see what's going on and then find a random excuse to get rid of him. Don't worry."
Zhao Zheng got off the earthen kang and went out in the dark. Before leaving, he did not forget to ask Xiao E to bolt the door inside.
"Who is it? Are you here to kill me so late at night?" Zhao Zheng said unhappily and opened the gate angrily.
"Lao Zhao, it's me, Lazi." Seeing the courtyard gate open, Ma Lazi grabbed his trouser leg as if he had found it. Why the trouser leg?
Because at this moment Ma Laizi was lying on the ground.
"Oh, it's Laizi. Why are you coming to my place so late at night when you are not at home?" Zhao Zheng withdrew his foot calmly.
These days, after he was injured, all his friends disappeared.
Even when he was blackmailed by the Li family and harassed by the Wang family, no one came forward.
"Old Zhao, I've been stung by a wasp. Please, take me to Sun Daxian. I'm in so much pain!" Ma Laizi's voice was filled with tears. "Please, brother."
"Where did it sting?" Zhao Zheng was also shocked. Wasps are large in size and are also called "killer bees" by the people. A sting from this thing can be fatal. It is very poisonous.
"I don't know, my whole body hurts, I was stung so many times." Ma Laizi's voice became weaker and weaker, "Send me away quickly, beg you..."
Zhao Zheng was really afraid that he would die at his doorstep, so he shouted, "Hurry up, someone, Ma Laizi has been stung by a wasp, please help me!"
He yelled at the top of his lungs.
After a while, quite a few villagers came out in the dark.
"Old Zhao, what happened to the leper?"
Zhao Zhengdao said, "I was sleeping at home when he suddenly came running over and knocked on my door, saying he was stung by a wasp and asked me to take him to Sun Daxian's house. "Everyone, please help me take him to Sun Daxian's house. If anyone is kind enough to go to Ma Laizi's house and tell him about this, please give him a hand."
"I'll go!"
A half-grown child said enthusiastically and ran away.
Although the villagers in the small mountain village had various problems, they were still very loyal at the critical moment when their lives were at stake. They all carried Ma Lazi and walked towards Sun Daxian's house.
With the villagers' testimony, even if Ma Laizi died, it had nothing to do with Zhao Zheng.
Sun Daxian's son opened the door and woke up his mother.
After lighting the oil lamp, everyone gasped when they saw Ma Laizi's swollen body.
"It's a problem." Sun Daxian said, "Everyone, please help me, take off his clothes, and pull out all the poisonous stingers from his body."
Everyone was in a hurry to strip Ma Laizi naked.
At this time, Ma Laizi's family came.
The old lady of the Ma family looked at her son who was unconscious and burst into tears.
The Ma family's wife also slapped her thigh and said, "I told you not to make this money, and now you don't make any money, and you've given yourself away."
Sun Daxian was overwhelmed. "You two, stop howling. If you have time to cry, come and find the poisonous stinger for Ma Laizi. If you don't remove it completely, he will die!"
The Ma family reacted and rushed over to look for it.
"The oil lamp is too dim. It would be better if there were a few more." Zhao Zheng said calmly.
Villagers are sometimes very stingy, so stingy that they will argue until their faces turn red if someone puts a little more water in someone else's field.
Sometimes they are very generous. When everyone is not rich, they will run back home and take out the lamp oil from their homes.
Some people's oil lamps at home have run out of fuel.
That little bit of light is enough to illuminate people's hearts.
Soon, the stinger was removed.
Sun Daxian took out a secret ointment and applied it on the lame man's body.
But Zhao Zheng felt that Ma Laizi was doomed.
Regardless of whether he has an allergic constitution, the poison from so many stings is enough to kill a cow.
Of course, he definitely couldn't say this. He even hoped that Ma Laizi would survive. After all, this grandson still owed him more than ten cents.
"Ballad wife, why would your bald man provoke killer bees for no reason?" someone asked.
The beggar's wife cried and said, "Yes, it's the nobleman in the city who wants to eat wild delicacies. I don't know where I heard that killer bees can be soaked in wine to treat rheumatism, and bee pupae are very nutritious. I said I would buy them and sell them to the nobleman..."
After hearing this, everyone frowned.
"You are so foolish! Are we peasants really capable of marrying to the nobles in the city?"
"If a beggar could really marry a noble man, why would he still be hanging around in a small mountain village?"
The villagers all shook their heads.
The beggar's wife said: "It's not sold directly to the noble master in the city, yes, yes..."
She seemed to have some concerns and couldn't say the rest of the words.
"Speak up, my lecherous wife!"
"I'm so anxious!"
Under the urging of the crowd, the beggar's wife said, "It's sold to Yao Youjiao!"
Everyone was stunned.
The nobles and the others don't know.
But who doesn't know Yao Youjiao from Fugui Township?
Didn't he come to the village two days ago to ask people to go into the mountains to hunt tigers? He hasn't come down the mountain yet.
"What does Yao Youjiao want these for?" Zhao Zheng couldn't help but ask.
"I'll tell you the truth, the tiger hunt in the village is not to get rid of us, but the village lords want to give gifts to the nobles in the city."
"They felt one tiger wasn't enough, so they took people to Zhuzui Mountain to hunt and find wild delicacies..."
Upon hearing this, an old sister-in-law's face changed drastically, "My husband has also gone up the mountain, will he be in danger?"
For a moment, many people looked unhappy.
Zhao Zheng cursed in his heart, he knew there was no such thing as a free lunch.
Three days in the mountains is equivalent to one month of corvee labor?
Can such a good thing happen?
Who doesn't know that the village lord uses public resources for personal gain?
Would they be so kind?
Fortunately, his family was treated preferentially, so he didn't have to worry about corvee labor.
However, those who enter the mountains this time are likely to be in trouble.
Just then, Ma Laizi woke up.
His family members laughed and cried, and kept thanking Master Sun.
Ma Laizi thanked Zhao Zheng, and then kept shouting that he wanted to pee.
After draining the water, he breathed a sigh of relief. "I feel much better now, Lao Zhao. If it weren't for you this time, I would have died outside the house."
Zhao Zheng waved his hands repeatedly and did not take any credit.
He immediately walked out of the room, took out a lighter and checked the urinal, which was bright red.
"Hematuria, there's no hope!"