Chapter 36: Send Off

Seeing this, Madam Li hurriedly went to Li Mei’s house and shouted from outside, “Sister Li Mei, something happened to Xiaoyu’s house. Come out quickly.”

Li Mei’s family hurriedly ran out. The family was so frightened that they panicked. Li Mei’s face was pale. “Sister, what happened to Xiaoyu? I saw Ah Qing going to school this morning.”

Madam Li pulled Li Mei away. “Hurry up. Xiaoyu caught two thieves last night. Zhang Defa sent them to capture Xiaoyu and her brother. They wanted to…”

Madam Li spoke as they walked. Li Mei’s family was furious when they heard the rest of the story. They followed Madam Li anxiously towards Li Yu’s house.

Li Yu and her brother brought the village chief and the others home. They opened the door and Li Yu brought the village chief to a room. She dragged out a tall man covered in blood.

Ruyi listened to the villagers’ discussion in the crowd. The Zhang family had sent two men to the Li’s residence with bad intentions. Fortunately, Miss Li was a strong woman! The Zhang family was repaying their kindness with hatred!

Ruyi asked a woman who liked to talk the most, “Sister, why are they doing this?”

“Why? You’re from another village! You don’t know that the Zhang family… has lost their conscience!” The woman told them about the Li and Zhang families. Many villagers echoed her words. Ruyi was also furious.

The Xu brothers had been tied up for the night with their injuries. They were in pain and looked hungry. Li Yu pointed at Zhang Decai and sneered. “You didn’t expect this, did you?”

Li Qing looked at Zhang Decai angrily. Zhang Decai lowered his head and did not speak. Li Yu kicked the Xu brothers and shouted, “Tell me what you two said last night.”

The Xu brothers trembled in fear. “We’re from Green Mountain City. Zhang Defa found us two days ago…” Xu Lei repeated what he had said last night and pointed at Zhang Decai. “We’ve been at his house since dusk yesterday. We came here at midnight.”

Zhang Decai looked at the Xu brothers and roared, “This has nothing to do with my brother. I asked him to help me hire you. Because I was beaten up by that bitch last time, I couldn’t take it lying down and wanted to take revenge on them.”

Xu Zhong was worried that Li Yu would think that they were lying. He was so frightened that he roared, “Zhang Defa was the one who lied to us and said that the girl from this family was despicable and shameless. He said she used underhanded methods to extort money from his family before we agreed to come.”

“You beast, my family used despicable methods? My family is lowly? It was clearly Zhang Defa who caused us to lose our father at a young age, and then did something unforgivable to us.” Li Qing pointed at Zhang Decai and roared, “Zhang Decai, aren’t you afraid of being struck by lightning for distorting the truth?”

Li Yu pulled Li Qing back and said to the village chief and the others, “Grandpa, it was clearly the Zhang family who was ungrateful, but they still did such a vicious thing. We’re going to report this to the officials.”

Li Mei’s family arrived. Liu Changmin and Li Mei pounced on Zhang Defa and beat him up. “You’re worse than pigs and dogs. You’re heartless. Send him to the government office.”

“My poor niece! Your father saved an evil ghost.” Li Mei cried as she pounced on Li Yu and his sister and pulled them to check.

“Aunt, we’re fine,” Li Qing comforted Li Mei.

Zhaodi and Laidi surrounded Li Yu and her brother and looked at them worriedly. Li Yu comforted them. “Aunt, Cousin, we’re fine. Don’t worry.”

Li Yu turned to look at the village chief and said, “Grandpa Village Chief, the Zhang family actually dared to do such a vicious thing. Let me ask you, which village has such a vicious family? Everyone in the village knows the situation of my family and his family. They even dared to be so vicious to their benefactor’s child. I was only spared because I was born with great strength and had the bow and arrow left behind by my father. If the other villagers offend his family in the future, who can escape?”

Everyone discussed. “That’s right! We don’t have bows and arrows, nor are we as strong as Xiaoyu. Who knows when a villager will offend him?”

“If we had a conflict, we would either spit at each other or go all out. We wouldn’t do such a heartless thing!”

After hearing this, the village chief also felt that the Zhang family was too vicious. What they had done could not be dealt with according to how the villagers usually dealt with disputes and fights.

“Send them to the officials!” The village chief drove the ox cart to the door and got Chen Yaohui and his brother to drag Zhang Decai and the Xu brothers onto the ox cart. He said to Li Yu and her brother, “You guys are the victims. Come with us!”

Li Yu was about to get into the car. “Sister, don’t go. I’ll go.” Li Yu was stopped by Li Mei and Li Qing. Li Mei looked at the village chief. “Uncle Village Chief, my Yu’er can’t go. Ah Qing and I will go to the government office with you.”

The village chief looked at Li Yu. If she went, she wouldn’t be able to get married. He sighed and nodded. “Alright! You can go with Ah Qing.”

Li Yu looked at Li Mei in confusion. “Aunt, why?” Li Mei looked at Li Yu. “Yu’er, listen to me. You can’t go.”

Liu Changmin pulled the sisters into the car and said to Li Yu, “Xiaoyu, don’t worry. Uncle will accompany them. Zhaodi and Laidi will go back to repair the house.”

Madam Li also stopped Li Yu. “Xiaoyu, listen to your aunt and let them go.” Chen Yaohui drove the ox cart away, and the villagers dispersed.

Madam Li brought Li Yu back to the courtyard and said to her, “Yu’er, you’re already a big girl. In the future, you may have trouble with your in-laws.”

Li Yu finally understood. They were afraid that she would be despised in the future. She smiled bitterly and said, “Auntie Li, I understand. It’s just that if I find a husband in the future and hel despises me for these things. I would rather be a spinster for the rest of my life.”

Madam Li smiled and patted Li Yu’s hand. “Sigh! Child, the world is not as simple as you make it out to be.”

“Auntie Li, I know you’re doing this for my own good, but I can lead a good life by myself. Why do I have to find someone to despise me?” As Li Yu spoke, she remembered the cloth she had bought and prepared to give to the Li family. “Auntie Li, wait for me.”

Li Yu ran into the house and walked out with a stack of cloth. She smiled and stuffed it into Madam Li’s arms. “Auntie Li, take these pieces of cloth back to make clothes.”

Madam Li looked at the cloth in her arms and sighed. “Child, it’s not like your uncle and I have helped you much. When we don’t want you to give us prey, you bought us cloth. What can I say?”

Li Yu smiled. “It’s just a few pieces of cloth. It’s not worth anything. Since you and Uncle are so concerned about us, can’t you let us repay you a little?”

“Alright, Auntie will accept it. Now, Chuanzhou and Chuanguo will be happy to have new clothes to wear.”

Madam Li sat at Li Yu’s house for a while and looked at Li Yu’s bean paste in the courtyard before returning with the cloth.

Li Yu waited for Xiao An to return with the cows and grass on his back before asking him to take care of the delivery.

Ruyi returned to the Zhou family and reported what she had seen and heard to Zhou Jia. “Young Master, the Zhang family is really despicable. Listen, they are too vicious.”

Zhou Jia thought for a moment. “Ji Xiang, get the clerk to check if the shops in the city are supplying goods to the Zhang family. If they are, make sure they do not supply goods to the Zhang family’s grocery store in the future.”

“Yes, Young Master,” Ji Xiang replied and headed for town.