The kang (heated brick bed) for left-behind women

As usual, Lin Dachun went to inspect the sea buckthorn field, still thinking about how to apply some fertilizer to the best-growing rows.

But as soon as he reached the edge of the field, he suddenly stopped and his brows furrowed.

Several rows of sea buckthorn seedlings near the edge of the eastern hillside showed obvious signs of being eaten!

The tender green branches and leaves were cleanly bitten off, leaving only bare stubble. Some seedlings were even uprooted and lay flat on the soil.

Look at those teeth and hoof prints, they're clearly from a sheep!

And there was more than one.

"Who? Whose sheep is this??"

Lin Dachun gasped for breath, heartbroken. He had poured so much effort into these seedlings!

He immediately looked down the hillside and saw Sun Taohua's mother, Wu Xin, waving a tree branch and slowly herding a small flock of sheep toward the village.

Anger surged to the top of his head in an instant.

Without saying a word, Lin Dachun strode down the hillside and blocked Wu Xin and the sheep in a few quick steps.

"Sister-in-law Wu!" Lin Dachun's voice was somber as he pointed towards his slope. "Were the sea buckthorn seedlings in my field eaten by your sheep?"

Wu Xin stopped, raised her face, which had become harsh from long-term resentment, glanced at Lin Dachun sideways, and instead of feeling guilty, snorted a cold laugh: "It was my sheep that gnawed on it, so what?"

This self-righteous attitude further enraged Lin Dachun: "What's wrong? Your sheep ate my seedlings, so what? I worked so hard to plant them! You owe me an explanation!"

"statement?"

Wu Xin's voice suddenly rose, sharp and piercing, as her long-suppressed resentment poured out like a flood.

"Lin Dachun! You want an explanation from me? I haven't even asked you for one yet! My beautiful daughter, Taohua, has been ruined by that beast Lin Liang! Her life is over!"

"If you hadn't stopped him that day, that beast would have been burned to ashes! Who knows if you took bribes from Lin Yali and deliberately helped that beast escape?!"

Wu Xin took a step forward, her finger almost poking Lin Dachun's nose:

"You still have the nerve to argue with me about a few lousy seedlings? Let me tell you, eating a few of your seedlings is the least of my worries! I'm being lenient by not burning down your dilapidated cave dwelling! By speaking up for Lin Liang, you're going against the Sun family! You're the enemy who ruined my daughter! What's wrong with eating a few of your seedlings?"

She became increasingly agitated, spitting as she spoke: "You really think you're something special? Planting a few thorny bushes and raising a few sheep, and you think you're all that? Bah!"

"That old hag with the shady dealings with Widow Lin, does he dare to reason with me? So what if he ate my sheep? What can you do to me? Go ahead and sue me if you dare! Let's see if the villagers believe you or me, the aggrieved party!"

Vicious words, like poisoned whips, lashed out at me.

Lin Dachun's face gradually turned from anger to a grimace.

He realized that this was not a simple case of livestock eating seedlings. It was Wu Xin taking the opportunity to vent her deep resentment towards him for obstructing her private punishment, and even twisting the responsibility for her daughter's tragedy onto him.

"Fine, fine, Wu Xin, you're trying to pin your mess with Lin Liang's family on me. Do you think I, Lin Dachun, am easy to bully? Those sea buckthorns are my life. Your sheep can't eat them, so don't come back until you give me an explanation."

Lin Dachun wasn't one to be bullied so easily, so he immediately blocked their path, preventing the sheep and people from leaving.

"Fine, I won't go back then. I'll fight you to the end." Wu Xin's sister-in-law is quite a formidable character, very feisty.

Lin Dachun looked at Wu Xin's face, twisted with hatred, and then at the destroyed sea buckthorn seedlings on the slope, his chest heaving violently.

Lin Dachun clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging on the back of his hands, but he forcibly suppressed the urge to argue.

The two men stood facing each other like that.

After a while, some villagers must have realized that a conflict had broken out, because they immediately went to call the old village chief, Wu Xin's husband Sun Jun, and Lin Yali also came.

Li Ruoxue watched the sheep from above while also keeping an eye on the situation here.