"Child, your grandmother is fine." Madam Li knew that crying at this moment would only make her a laughingstock, so before her grandson could say more, she tilted her head up and swallowed her tears.
"Grandmother." Meng Yu was still very worried about his grandmother. He knew that although these people were all from the Meng family, only his grandmother truly cared about him.
As for his own mother and his cousin who was also his sister-in-law, they were truly a pair of aunt and niece. His mother didn't have him in her eyes, and his cousin didn't have Bao'er in hers.
"Tang'er, remember this. Your parents offended too many people, and your mother is also unrestrained in her speech. Grandmother is afraid that these clansmen will target you first after arriving in Liaodong."
Upon hearing his grandmother's words, Meng Yutang's face turned instantly pale. Trembling, he asked his grandmother with a tearful voice, "Grandmother, what should we do?"
"Tang'er, if you want to survive, you must find your second granduncle. Only their family can save you."
Thinking of her great-grandson, Madam Li reminded her grandson again, "Grandmother is old and cannot protect you anymore. Tang'er, you must take care of yourself and also take care of Bao'er. Besides Grandmother, he is the person closest to you. As for your mother, you can consider her a distant relative."
"Grandmother." Meng Yutang still felt uneasy when his grandmother mentioned Mei Shi.
"Tang'er, Grandmother knows you don't like to hear this, but a woman who has no regard for her husband or children does not deserve to be called human."
"Grandmother, I didn't mean it that way."
"Grandmother understands." Madam Li carefully pointed in the direction of the temple gate and said to her grandson, "Tang'er, while it's chaotic now, your second granduncle and granddaughter are outside. Hurry and beg him to take you in."
"Grandmother..." Meng Yutang had no interaction with his second granduncle. He had never even spoken a word to him. He was truly afraid that his second granduncle would simply ignore him.
"Tang'er, if you want to live a dignified life, you must gain the protection of your second granduncle's family. Otherwise, you have no way to survive." Madam Li did not say that *they* had no way to survive.
"I..." Meng Yutang was now quite afraid of dealing with the Meng clansmen. Just like on this journey, he had been bullied by many Meng clansmen. There were those older than him and those around his age. Those people would either shamelessly steal his food or pick a fight and beat him up.
Among those people, there were clearly many who had once fawned over him for favors. But now, those people acted as if they didn't know him at all, bullying him even more fiercely than others.
He had even personally seen an adult instigating children his age to fight him. When he couldn't fight back, those people would laugh at him, calling him useless and saying he only deserved to work in a male brothel.
He knew what a male brothel was, and when he thought of what his grandmother had just said, he was so scared that he jumped up from the ground with a whoosh. He didn't want to be a male prostitute.
"What are you trying to do, kid? If you don't give me a reasonable excuse today, I'll beat you black and blue." Nian Zi, seeing Meng Yutang jump up, immediately picked up the large club in his hand and pointed it at him, shouting loudly.
"Officer, I... I need to relieve myself."
"Relieve yourself? Just say you need to poop. Calling it 'relieving yourself'? You think you're going to the palace? Dream on."
"Officer, if he goes to the palace now, he can only be castrated and become a eunuch. Not to mention, he looks like a coward, quite like a eunuch, hahahaha." Among the collateral branches of the Meng family, a man in his twenties, thin as a bamboo pole, laughed loudly with ill intentions.
"Shut your mouth. Don't butt in everywhere. A grown man acting like a nagging woman."
"Uh." The man was choked by Nian Zi and dared not retort. He glared fiercely at Meng Yutang, as if to say: You wait for me. I'll deal with you when I have time.
Seeing that several Meng clansmen were eyeing him menacingly, Meng Yutang pretended not to notice, his eyes constantly looking pleasurably at Nian Zi.
Nian Zi glanced at his pathetic appearance and snorted, "Hurry up and come back. Don't let the wolves come and drag you away while you're gone for too long. We won't save you then."
"Thank you, officer. I'll be back soon." Meng Yutang said, then shot out like lightning. His speed made Nian Zi doubt himself. He also followed with a "whoosh" and darted out.
Qi He was scratching his head, at a loss for what to do as he surrounded Jiang Tou'er and the others. Seeing two figures flashing before him, his eyes lit up, and he followed them out.
Ha, Meng Yutang flew out of the broken temple and landed directly beside Meng Qingping and his granddaughter.
The grandfather and granddaughter were chatting happily and, without paying attention, a person appeared beside them.
Fu Xinci: Who is this? Upon closer inspection, she recognized him. Wasn't this the chubby guy who was often beaten in the original host's memories?
However, his posture now didn't seem related to being chubby at all.
Immediately after, two more people popped out behind them with "whooshes."
Fu Xinci looked at the three people before her and asked curiously, "Are you three competing to see who can jump the highest, or who can fly the lowest?"
Qi He hadn't quite understood what his sister Fu meant when he spoke first, explaining the previous events to her: "I saw those two running so fast, one after the other, like they were catching a thief, so I ran out with them. It was too boring inside, and they didn't include me."
"With so many grown men spread out, who would include a little kid like you?"
"Brother Nian Zi, I don't like what you said. My grandma always said, 'If you have an ox, use an ox; if you don't have an ox, use a calf.' I'm stronger than a calf, aren't I?"
"Pfft." Fu Xinci had never met anyone so silly before. He was as silly as her second brother. He actually compared himself to a calf. He was truly something.
"Sister Fu, were you laughing at me just now?"
"No, I was laughing at my second brother."
"Second brother?"
"Yes, second brother."
"Second brother?" Qi He scratched his head, still not getting it. He looked around. Besides them, there was no one else here. Where was the second brother?
Nian Zi couldn't hold back anymore. Covering his mouth, he turned and ran back into the temple. He was afraid that if he stayed any longer, he would laugh so hard that he would double over and squat on the ground unable to get up.
As Nian Zi ran, he muttered, "Normally, this kid's brain works quite well. Why is it rusty today?"
Qi He: ...
Meng Yutang also realized that his little cousin was teasing Qi He, but he didn't dare to laugh.
Now that Nian Zi had run off, he could talk to his second granduncle.
Fu Xinci glanced over and saw the boy slowly approaching her grandfather. She guessed that he was like the others who had come before.
Meng Yutang mustered up his courage, walked step by step to Meng Qingping's side, bit his lip, and then, with great courage, greeted Meng Qingping, "Second Granduncle."
Meng Qingping: ...
Seeing that his second granduncle did not respond, Meng Yutang directly knelt with a thud at Meng Qingping's feet.