The old man didn't dare to say a word when the fat woman scolded him, standing blankly in the field.

It wasn't until the fat woman paused to catch her breath that he said weakly, "This ox was originally for my use..."

But the fat woman was so angered by this that she jumped up and down. "Good, you old thing, you dare to talk back!"

She pointed at the middle-aged man and said, "Isn't he your son?"

Then she pointed at the young man and said, "Isn't he your grandson?"

"Since you're all family, what's wrong with us using the ox that was allocated to you? Huh?"

"I'm telling you, don't even live in that thatched hut anymore, get out of here for me!"

The fat woman cursed, seemingly still not appeased, and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it at the old man.

The middle-aged man behind her also said at this time, "Dad, I already told you, let me farm your land from now on. I'm your son, would I let you starve?"

The old man heard this, wanting to say something but stopping himself, and finally didn't open his mouth.

The young man also said, "You're so old, how much land can you plow in a day? Hurry up and give us the ox, and I'll give you half a bag of coarse rice when I get back!"

Jiang Chen, who was listening from the side, roughly understood the ins and outs of the matter.

This old man was one of the weak and elderly in the village, and his children were obviously not supporting him.

Otherwise, the communal ox wouldn't have been allocated to him.

And this couple, seeing that the elder was allocated the ox, wanted to misappropriate it.

Jiang Chen frowned.

He just came to inspect casually and encountered this kind of phenomenon.

Looking at the entire Great Wei, this was by no means a rare occurrence.

Jiang Chen whispered an order to Jing Yue.

Jing Yue nodded and quickly left.

At this time, the family of three also noticed that Jiang Chen and his party were staring at them.

The fat woman raised her eyebrows and shouted, "What are you looking at? This is my family affair, what's so interesting to see?"

"Impudent!"

Xu Changqing shouted angrily, "Do you know who we are?"

Jiang Chen raised his hand at this time, stopping Xu Changqing from saying more, and smiled faintly.

"We are just passers-by, just passing by."

Originally, the family of three was frightened by Xu Changqing's sudden burst of aura, but upon hearing Jiang Chen's words, their momentum rose again.

The fat woman said, "Then leave quickly, what are you doing here? Watching my family's joke?"

Jiang Chen smiled and said, "So-called seeing injustice on the road, drawing your sword to help. I think your behavior seems wrong."

"What's wrong?"

The fat woman put her hands on her hips and glared at Jiang Chen. "Tell me what I did wrong? This old thing doesn't think about his son and grandson, only about his own little plot of land, shouldn't he be scolded?"

The old man couldn't help but say when he saw Jiang Chen speaking up for him, "If I don't farm this little plot of land, what will I eat?"

The middle-aged man said unhappily, "You're my father, would I let you starve?"

The old man saw this and said sadly, "You won't let me starve, but two meals of clear soup porridge a day, I'm hungry."

The young man heard this and said angrily, "You don't work, what's wrong with being a little hungry?"

The old man said aggrievedly, "It's because you嫌 (xián - dislike) me for not doing well, so I have to farm my own land."

The fat woman said sharply, "You took the ox to use, what will we use?"

"This was originally given to me by the village chief..." the old man said.

"What's given to you, don't you know to favor your son?" the fat woman said again.

Amidst the吵吵闹闹 (chao chao nao nao - clamorous) commotion, Jing Yue quickly walked back.

"Did you tell the village chief about the matter here?" Jiang Chen asked.

Jing Yue nodded and said, "I already told him."

"Then let's see how he handles it," Jiang Chen said.

Before long, an old man with a bit of presence, leading several strong men, rushed over.

From afar, the village chief shouted, "Miao Dazhuang, don't control your wife!"

The middle-aged man named Miao Dazhuang saw the village chief coming and his expression couldn't help but change. He quickly tugged at the fat woman.

The fat woman saw the village chief coming and unwillingly closed her mouth.

The village chief quickly came closer with his men and shouted, "I said it very clearly at the beginning, this communal ox is to be given priority to the old and weak, your family is very strong, what are you making a fuss about here?"

The fat woman was very unconvinced and shouted, "This old thing is Dazhuang's father, we are a family, he can use it, why can't we use it?"

"A family?"

The village chief sneered, "Then he is also your father-in-law, is there anyone who calls their father-in-law an old thing?"

"I'm telling you, if you make any more trouble, Miao Laohan won't have an ox to use in the future either!"

The village chief's last words startled the family of three, and they quickly said, "Okay, we won't make trouble, we'll leave now."

Not being able to use the ox only meant they didn't enjoy the benefits, but if Miao Laohan also didn't have an ox to use, then they would have to bear the extra burden of Miao Laohan's life.

They wouldn't do that!

After saying that, the three reluctantly left.

After scolding away the family of three, the village chief turned his head and saw Jing Yue, and then walked over with a smile.

"Thank you,姑娘 (gū niáng - young lady), for informing me, otherwise Miao Laohan would probably be bullied again."

Jing Yue nodded without speaking.

The village chief saw Jiang Chen and realized that Jiang Chen was the leader of the three, so he said, "Thank you,公子 (gōng zǐ - young master)."

Then he invited, "It's almost noon now,公子 (gōng zǐ - young master), if you don't mind, please stay for lunch."

Jiang Chen nodded, "Then I will accept your kind offer."

Following the village chief into the village, Jiang Chen looked at the houses scattered throughout the village.

The better ones were mud houses with青砖瓦片 (qīng zhuān wǎ piàn - blue bricks and tiles) on top.

The slightly worse ones were mud houses with茅草 (máo cǎo - thatch) on top.

The worst ones were purely thatched huts.

Just by looking at the houses, one could see the poverty and wealth of these people.

After sitting down, the village chief poured a bowl of tea for Jiang Chen and said, "May I ask公子 (gōng zǐ - young master)'s name? Where are you from?"

Jiang Chen pointed in the direction of the capital and said, "My surname is Jiang."

The village chief then said, "So it's公子 (gōng zǐ - young master) Jiang, my surname is Miao, and I am the village chief of Miao Family Village."

Jiang Chen took a sip of tea and put it down, then said, "Village Chief Miao, the situation just now seems to be not uncommon?"

Village Chief Miao sighed, "Every family has its own problems, this situation is indeed common."

Jiang Chen frowned. If this situation was very common, then the communal oxen and communal farm tools he had arranged would not achieve their original purpose at all.

On the contrary, it was very likely that the old and weak would be bullied.

If, like today, it was eventually stopped by the village chief, that would be considered lucky.

No one could really say what the final result would be in places where no one saw.

Xu Changqing also realized this and said, "Isn't there any solution?"

The village chief shook his head and said, "It's not easy to handle."

Xu Changqing thought for a while and said, "Can't you send someone to follow along? That way, you can prevent someone from making trouble."

The village chief looked at Xu Changqing and said with a smile, "This公子 (gōng zǐ - young master) must have come from a wealthy family, right?"

Xu Changqing was a little puzzled. "How did you know?"

The village chief said, "公子 (gōng zǐ - young master), for us villagers living in the countryside, every family needs to seize the time during the busy farming season. Where do they have time to pay attention to others?"