The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 172: Trial_1

When Li Qing got home, it was already past eleven at night.

But he wasn’t very tired; a lot had happened today, leaving his mind in disarray.

He picked up a small stool and sat in the courtyard, carefully reflecting on everything that had happened that day.

From Lü Zong’s arrangements to the unexpected encounter with Yu Baishuo.

He didn’t think much about the incident with Yu Baishuo.

What truly puzzled and unsettled Li Qing was still Lü Zong’s arrangements.

After much thought, he suddenly realized that Lü Zong might have been trying to win people’s hearts, just like he did with others like Gao Li.

It’s just that Li Qing never felt he was worth such efforts from Lü Zong.

Suddenly, a series of urgent phone rings sliced through the deep silence of the night.

Who would be calling at this hour?

Li Qing was startled and took out his phone.

It turned out to be a call from Yu Lan.

"Lan Jie, what’s up?" Li Qing asked curiously.

"Haven’t you gone to bed yet?" Yu Lan’s voice sounded tired.

"Not yet, I just got home. Is something the matter?" Li Qing’s voice was tinged with concern.

If it wasn’t something urgent, Yu Lan wouldn’t likely call this late.

"It’s nothing, I couldn’t sleep and wanted to see if you were asleep yet," Yu Lan said indifferently, "Hu Youyu has a court hearing tomorrow, and Xiao Wei said that after seeing Hu Youyu, he plans to go look for a job. He wants me to go with him, but I don’t want to."

Li Qing didn’t even know that Hu Youyu’s trial was happening tomorrow.

However, there really wasn’t much for him to do about it now.

After the police station completed its investigation, the case would be brought to trial.

Unless there were any special materials that needed to be added, they wouldn’t contact Li Qing again.

With this in mind, Li Qing said, "If you really don’t want to go, then don’t go."

"I don’t want to go, but if I don’t, the Hu family relatives might make life difficult for me," Yu Lan said quietly.

Li Qing almost forgot about this aspect.

After Hu Youyu was arrested, Yu Lan became a target of blame in the eyes of the villagers.

The relatives from the Hu family also wouldn’t show a kind face to Yu Lan, the young, second wife.

"I’ll go with you," Li Qing said solemnly.

"... Okay," Yu Lan responded softly, "From now on, I might really have to rely on you, Qingzi."

"I will take care of you, even though I can’t do it openly, I will never let anyone bully you," Li Qing said,

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the phone.

After a while, there came gentle sobbing.

Li Qing’s heart ached suddenly, "Should I come over to keep you company?"

"No, Xiao Wei is at home. If he sees us, it would be hard to explain," Yu Lan said hastily, "I’m just moved, wondering why I didn’t meet you sooner. Maybe then I wouldn’t have suffered so much and could have offered you an untarnished self."

Li Qing gave a bitter smile; there were no such ifs.

"Lan Jie, now that Hu Youyu is locked up, your good days are coming."

Li Qing really didn’t know what else to say, so he offered these words of comfort instead.

There were no ifs, and all they had before them was the hard reality they had to face.

Yu Lan talked on and on.

About the injustice of a male-dominated society from her youth, and about all the misfortunes that marriage had brought her.

Li Qing suddenly realized that behind Yu Lan’s serene and gentle demeanor hid countless sorrows.

And he, a man of improper status, unexpectedly became one of the few bright spots in Yu Lan’s life.

It was not until that moment that Li Qing knew.

Yu Lan’s initial straightforwardness and particularly honest advance were her way of taking revenge against this unfair life.

She wanted to resist in this manner.

But when she stood naked before Li Qing, she became afraid.

That’s why there was the later half-concealed, half-revealed refusal.

Only after Li Qing stumbled upon her secret and their random union did she let her guard down.

Li Qing’s gentle consolation, as well as his ramblings about the events he experienced while growing up, went on.

It was not until after two in the morning that the two finally ended their lengthy phone call.

Despite being utterly exhausted, Li Qing now fully understood Yu Lan and had entered her heart.

The next day, Li Qing successfully overslept.

Gao Li banged on the door outside, finally waking up the still dreaming Li Qing.

"What’s up today? Rarely do I have to call you like this."

After entering, Gao Li glanced at Li Qing’s bed-head hairstyle and teased him with a smile.

Li Qing casually ran his fingers through his hair and said, "I was too tired last night and accidentally slept in. Give me a moment to wash my face, and we’ll head out."

"No worries, take your time," Gao Li said as he sat on the stone steps, crossing his legs nonchalantly.

Under the drive of high wages, Gao Li recently showed an increasingly diligent trend.

Li Qing was quite relieved by this outcome.

After quickly freshening up, Li Qing poured himself a cup of hot water and grabbed two pancakes before heading out with Gao Li.

Returning from the mountains with goods, they arrived back around nine o’clock as usual.

Li Qing didn’t have to go down to the countryside with Liang Zhongliang today.

He had an appointment with Gong Brother at two in the afternoon in town to deal with the Wenguan Leaves collected from the villages.

Compared to the rush of the previous day, he had a bit more time, but it was still tense.

He also needed to make it to the trial of Hu Youyu before ten.

After returning to the village, Li Qing filled his cup with water and then hurried off to the county without stopping.

His arm had completely healed, and the wound on his waist had also healed; he could have the stitches removed in the next few days.

He had no problem driving himself, so he allowed Gao Li to help in the village without asking for another ride.

When departing, Li Qing called Yu Lan.

He had planned to bring both Yu Lan and Hu Wei along, but to his surprise, they had already arrived.

Probably Hu Wei was worried about Hu Youyu and wanted to see him early.

When Li Qing arrived outside the courthouse, there were hardly a few people around.

Upon asking a guard outside, he found the place without a hitch.

In the empty courtroom, there were only seven or eight people seated.

Apart from Yu Lan and Hu Wei, there were another five or six men and women. Li Qing saw Hu Youqing among them.

The others looked somewhat familiar; they were probably relatives of the Hu Family.

Noticing Li Qing’s entry, Hu Youqing and those few people all turned and glared at him angrily.

Li Qing scoffed and calmly took a seat in the back.

Although he was now basically uninvolved, attending the trial as a victim was entirely reasonable and appropriate.

In this place, if those relatives of the Hu Family dared to do something, they would probably end up staying a few days inside immediately.