Chapter 26: Take Him Down!-De volta a 82: Não posso perder nenhuma das minhas filhas(O gato malhado observa as flores.)

"Brother Xingde, this house of yours is too dilapidated. The snow piled up on the roof is far too heavy; it is extremely dangerous for you and your children to stay inside!"

Chen Yuan pleaded earnestly, "Trust me, I am Chen Yuan, the township head of Sanchong Township. I..."

"Save it. I don't care if you're the township head or the county magistrate. I know my own house, and I don't need you to worry about it. You all should leave. We are not going anywhere."

Tang Xingde had a missing leg, and his wife had passed away two years prior. He lived alone with his five children, surviving on relief grain just like Tang Sanshui.

"Township Head, if this doesn't work, we should use force."

One of the men who came with Chen Yuan pointed at the roof above and whispered, "Look, snow is already starting to fall through from up there. If we don't hurry and move them out, I'm afraid it will be too late."

Chen Yuan looked up at the roof. Sure enough, he saw several cracks, and at the same time, a slow, creaking sound drifted down, like wood on the verge of snapping.

Chen Yuan's expression shifted, and his tone turned to begging, "Brother Xingde, I'm begging you, please. Even if you don't care about yourself, think of your children! How can you bear to watch them be buried alive by this heavy snow?"

"What kind of nonsense are you spewing! Buried alive? We are perfectly fine. Are you cursing us to die? Get out! Get the hell out of here, all of you! I don't know what kind of lunatics you are, coming here and forcing us to move. Are you going to feed us? Are you going to clothe us?" Tang Xingde cursed.

No matter how Chen Yuan and his team tried to persuade him, he refused to listen.

The two men with Chen Yuan prepared to take firm action and carry Tang Xingde out by force. However, despite appearing frail and missing a leg, the man possessed astonishing strength. The two men couldn't hold him down; instead, with a single roll, he flipped them both onto the floor.

Tang Xingde cursed even more viciously, unleashing a torrent of foul language without repeating a single word.

When Tang Jiancheng arrived, he heard Tang Xingde cursing. He looked at him, remembering that in his past life, this man was one of those who had been crushed to death.

Yet, this man was truly devoted to his children, willing to be crushed to death himself rather than let them suffer the slightest harm.

Tang Jiancheng recalled that in his past life, when the man was dug out from the snow and rubble, he was found kneeling on the bed, his hands braced firmly against the bed frame, while a heavy beam pinned his back!

He had long since stopped breathing, yet he had held on with his bare hands to shield the children huddled in his arms.

At this moment, seeing him act as if he would rather die than leave, Tang Jiancheng couldn't help but wonder if his memory had failed him. Was this man actually not that noble, but a selfish, small-minded person?

However, when Tang Jiancheng looked at the five children, he understood everything instantly.

He wasn't unwilling to leave; he just didn't want his children to suffer from the cold!

The five children were all skin and bones; the oldest was twelve, and the youngest was only four. They were all naked, huddled together under a single thin quilt.

Tang Jiancheng walked over and asked, "Do you have no clothes to wear?"

The children recognized Tang Jiancheng and weren't shy, but they didn't speak, simply nodding.

"Come, put on my clothes. We’ll go out first, and later I’ll take you to eat some meat, how about that?" Tang Jiancheng took off his own coat, which was large enough to wrap around three of the children.

"You aren't lying to us, are you?" The eldest child, clearly aware of the situation at Tang Jiancheng's home, looked at him with suspicion.

Tang Jiancheng laughed, "Why would I lie to you? You must have heard that I found some wild boars a few days ago, right?"

The eldest nodded again.

"Then let's go."

Tang Jiancheng carried three of the children, while the other two wrapped themselves in the quilt and followed him out of the room.

"Jiancheng, what are you doing! Damn it, just because you can't have a son of your own, you want to snatch mine? Let me tell you, even if I die, my sons won't be of any use to you!"

Tang Xingde shouted incoherent insults while hopping after them.

Chen Yuan felt a surge of relief. Tang Jiancheng really had a way with things!

He led the others out of the room, only to see that many villagers had gathered. Among them was Tang Deyi, the Party Secretary of Daping Village.

Seeing Tang Deyi, Chen Yuan could no longer suppress his anger. As Tang Deyi ran over and managed a single "Township Head," Chen Yuan kicked him hard into the snow.

"Township Head, why did you kick me..."

Before Tang Deyi could finish, a loud rumble echoed—Tang Xingde's house had collapsed!

Snow and dust billowed into the air. Everyone was startled. Tang Xingde sat paralyzed on the ground, staring blankly at the ruins in front of him with a look of utter disbelief.

"You see? If our Township Head and Tang Jiancheng hadn't done everything they could to help you, you and your children would have been buried alive!" Jiang Yao said to Tang Xingde, her voice filled with bitterness.

Tang Xingde turned pale, suddenly cursing at the sky, "You ruthless heavens, did you have to be so cruel?"

"Taking my wife was enough, making me disabled was enough, but you even had to collapse my house? Do you want me dead that badly?"

"You cursed heavens, I curse your ancestors!"

As he cursed, tears began to stream down Tang Xingde's face.

Tang Jiancheng couldn't bear to let the children watch their father in such despair and helplessness, so he took them away. However, he didn't take them to his own house, but to his parents' place.

After telling Yuan Yuezhu about what happened at Tang Xingde's, she was deeply moved, her face full of sympathy. Upon learning that Tang Jiancheng had promised the children meat, Yuan Yuezhu immediately went to boil meat soup and found some old clothes for them to wear.

After leaving the five children with Yuan Yuezhu, Tang Jiancheng returned to the scene to find Chen Yuan still scolding Tang Deyi, "And you call yourself the Party Secretary of Daping Village! I told you time and again to keep an eye on the vulnerable households in the village—is this how you do it?"

"Look, it hasn't even been that long, and two houses in your village have already collapsed!"

"If I hadn't happened to run into Tang Jiancheng today and had him bring me to your village, there would have been fatalities today!"

"And not just one, but several!"

Tang Deyi hung his head, unable to respond. He wanted to argue, but the facts were right in front of him; any defense was useless.

The other villagers, hearing this, began to berate Tang Deyi as well. Tang Deyi had never been popular, and now, with everyone turning against him, all the corrupt things he had done in the past were brought to light.

"Township Head, we must remove him, or our village will face another disaster sooner or later!"

"Remove him!"

The villagers shouted in unison.