Oh no! Seven kids at the start, all yellow and skinny.

Chapter 76 Li Lai

Because of this commotion, all the oxcarts in town were gone, so Yunyi had to walk back. As a result, it was already dark when Yunyi returned to the village.

This is not the busy farming season, so every household eats only two meals a day, and some even only one meal. Therefore, when you enter the village at this time, you can hardly see any smoke from cooking fires or even lights.

If someone can light a lamp, there must be something important going on; otherwise, it's just a waste of candle oil.

However, as you pass by, you might occasionally hear some embarrassing sounds coming from a window of one of the houses.

At times like this, Yunyi felt troubled because her hearing was too good.

Life in ancient times was relatively simple. There were no cell phones or computers, so people would basically go to bed as soon as it got dark. Those without wives had no choice, and those with wives could only play with their wives.

In ancient times, there were no good contraceptive methods, so people had many children. However, due to limited medical conditions and the dangers of childbirth, it was not easy to raise a child even after birth.

In addition to natural disasters and man-made calamities, the population growth rate was not high in ancient times, even without family planning.

"Help!" Just as they reached the vicinity of the gate, they suddenly heard someone let out a shrill scream.

Yunyi was startled and rushed over, only to see a man being beaten by a group of monkeys, while Sixteen... was directing from the sidelines: [Pulling hair, scratching face...]

Nineteen was still perched on Eighteen's head, watching the fun.

[Sixteen, what's going on?] Yunyi walked over quickly.

"Boss, this is the guy you saw acting suspiciously last time. He even tried to climb over the wall today, and I caught him." Sixteen was particularly excited when he saw Yunyi. "My monkey minions took care of him."

At this moment, the family members who heard the commotion opened the door. Jia Liu was the first to come out, holding a fire poker in her hand. Behind her were a string of younger family members, each carrying a handy tool. However, when they saw Yun Yi there, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mother." Little Qibao was the least able to hide her emotions. She threw down her chopsticks and rushed over.

Yunyi quickly picked him up: "Don't fall."

“There’s a bad guy.” Little Qibao pressed her little face against Yunyi’s face.

"Don't be afraid, your mother is here." Yunyi patted his head. "Go back with your older brother and the others, and your mother will deal with the bad guys."

Xiao Qibao nodded, then ran back downstairs.

By this time, the monkeys had scattered and disappeared, leaving only a man lying on the ground, groaning in agony.

"Uncle Xiucai, could you please go and call the village chief and the others?" Yunyi glanced at the man; she really didn't recognize him and he probably wasn't from this village.

He was the only adult man in the house, and since it was nighttime, it was the most suitable person for him to make the trip. He didn't refuse and hurriedly ran off.

The village chief arrived quickly, followed by Jia Xiucai and several other young men.

“Isn’t this Li Lai from Li Family Village?” Xia Tianyou suddenly exclaimed.

Xia Tianyin's eldest daughter, Xia Baolian, married into Lijia Village three years ago. Her son-in-law, Li Kan, owned a brick kiln in the village and lived a fairly comfortable life. Therefore, he had visited his son-in-law's home a few times and had eaten with the villagers twice, so he was naturally familiar with most of the people in the village.

However, Li Lai is related to his son-in-law Li Kan. He came to Xiajiazhuang when the wedding was held, so many people know him.

Li Lai's father died early, and his mother raised him. Li Lai's mother doted on him like the apple of her eye. It is said that he was not weaned until he was three years old, and he still could not dress himself at the age of eight.

As he grew up, Li Lai Niang couldn't bear to let him do anything. Even when someone proposed marriage, she always felt that no woman was good enough for her son and insisted that he marry a rich lady. After one or two times, the matchmakers stopped coming to their door.

Now Li Lai is over twenty years old and has long since developed a habit of being lazy and good-for-nothing. He does nothing all day and relies entirely on his mother to tend a few acres of land to make a living.

But when a man gets older, he definitely wants a wife, but no one is willing to marry him, so he starts to steal chickens and dogs all day long. He kicks down widows' doors, climbs over young wives' walls, and even steals women's underwear.

But every time something happened, Li Lai's mother would cry, make a scene, and threaten suicide. She would say that the young wife was unruly or that some widow was seducing her son. In short, Li Lai was never wrong, and it was always someone else's fault.

We're all from the same village, so we can't really kill him. So, each time we just curse him a few times, give him a few warnings, and hit him a few times, and that's it.

Li Lai was getting bolder and bolder. He would harass any house with a woman in it, but as long as his mother made a fuss, everything would be fine.

I came to Xiajiazhuang this time because I heard that a young widow in Xiajiazhuang built a big brick house. She was not only rich but also good-looking, so I came to check it out a few times.

At first, because I didn't dare to get too close, I wasn't discovered. Later, when I got bolder and went closer to take a look, I happened to run into Yunyi coming back, so I hurriedly ran away.

However, he also saw Yunyi's appearance clearly, and she was really beautiful. He was immediately tempted, so he came back to scout the place again, hoping to find an opportunity to go in and kiss her. But he didn't expect to be beaten up by the monkey.

"Fulai, go drive the oxcart. We need to go to Lijia Village to find out what's going on." The village chief took a deep breath. Luckily, the monkey was there to help guard the house. Otherwise, if that thing had sneaked into the house, things would have been very difficult.

Xia Fulai nodded and turned to go back.

"Yunyi, you should go back first. I'll handle this." The village chief glanced at Yunyi. "Remember to lock the door properly."

Yunyi nodded: "Thank you, Uncle."

Soon, Xia Fulai drove the oxcart over, and someone went over and picked up the unconscious Li Lai and threw him onto the cart.

After the oxcart left, Yunyi led everyone back home.

After everyone had rested, Sixteen jumped up to Yunyi smugly: "Boss, how did I do?"

"That's good." Yunyi nodded. "From now on, the safety of this house is in your hands."

[No problem...wait a minute, boss, do you mean you're not taking me anywhere anymore?]

Why did I bring you along?

No, we're partners.

What kind of partner should we have?

[Partner...] Sixteen was speechless.

[This issue has been discussed countless times; let's stop discussing it. Whether you're a human or a monkey, you have to keep up with the times.] Yunyi patted Sixteen's head. [Do what you're supposed to do. If you're a tiger, guard the mountain; if you're a dog, watch the house; if you're an ox, pull the cart. You can't expect an ox to occupy the mountain while a tiger pulls the cart and plow, can you? Okay, go to sleep. I'll find a chance to properly thank your monkey offspring.]