Chapter 31.

Chapter 31.

Wang's mother fell face-first to the ground without a sound.

"My wife! My wife!" Wang's father quickly rushed to check on her.

Xiao Yu, focused on Danzi, pulled the little boy into his arms, checking him over, "Danzi, are you hurt? Does anything hurt?"

Danzi shook his head, "No."

Mrs. Ma let out a long sigh of relief.

Minghe also gathered around to check.

Wang Daji stood in shock, staring incredulously at the iron shovel in his hand. He had intended to hit the two children, but how did it suddenly, as if possessed, strike his own mother's face?

Wang's father's cry of alarm echoed, "My wife!"

Wang Daji came to his senses, dropped the shovel, and knelt beside his mother. Seeing her face distorted, blood flowing from her mouth, and two yellow teeth spat out, he gasped in horror, "Mother, mother."

Wang's mother was speaking unclearly.

Due to his parents, Wang Daji had never been one to reflect on himself. Whatever happened, he always blamed others. He immediately stood up, pointed at Xiao Yu, and accused, "It's you, you caused this to my mother!"

"Nonsense, it was clearly you who hit her!" Xiao Ma's voice sounded.

Wang Daji turned and saw not only Xiao Ma at the door but other neighbors too. He exclaimed in surprise, "You, you all—"

Xiao Ma swaggered in, saying, "We came in just in time to see you hit your mother with that shovel. Wang Daji, what a 'filial son' you are! Hitting your own mother with a shovel, that’s not something just anyone would do!"

"It was Xiao Yu’s trick!" Wang Daji pointed at Xiao Yu.

"Stop talking nonsense!" Xiao Ma raised his voice, pointing at Wang Daji's nose and cursing, "You were beating my sister tonight, her cries heard throughout the neighborhood. Boss Xiao came to stop the fight, and you still have the nerve to blame him!"

Wang Daji stepped back in fear.

Xiao Ma loudly asked, "Uncle, Auntie, who was it that hit Wang Daji's mother?!"

"Wang Daji!" the neighbors called out in unison.

"Did you hear that?" Xiao Ma angrily looked at Wang Daji.

Wang Daji, unable to blame Xiao Yu, pointed at Mrs. Ma, "It's her, she and Xiao—"

Not allowing Wang Daji the chance to slander, Xiao Ma punched him in the face, continuing to pummel him, "That's for spreading lies! That's what you get for your damn lies!"

"Fourth brother, stop!" Worried about the situation escalating, Mrs. Ma quickly stepped forward to pull Xiao Ma away.

Xiao Ma, out of respect for Mrs. Ma, stopped hitting Wang Daji, but his anger remained. He pointed at Wang Daji and scolded, "Years ago, your family begged our family to marry my second sister to you. We believed your sweet words and married her off. She has slaved away for your family, cooking, cleaning, and helping with the business, treated no better than an animal. You not only fail to appreciate her, but you abuse her daily. We all know it. We've been tolerating it, thinking about family harmony."

Mrs. Ma, initially crying from being beaten, was now crying because her brother understood her plight, feeling more wronged as she wept louder.

"Ungrateful wretch! Not only do you beat her, but you also falsely accuse her and tarnish her reputation," Xiao Ma, infuriated, kicked Wang Daji in the stomach, "Worse than a beast."

Wang Daji fell hard on the ground, clutching his stomach and groaning in pain.

Mrs. Ma, crying, stopped Xiao Ma, "Fourth brother, don’t hit him anymore. If you hurt him badly, the authorities will come after you." She wasn’t concerned about Wang Daji but worried about her brother getting into trouble.

"Divorce, she must divorce him!" Xiao Ma declared loudly.

The neighbors, aware of the vile, stingy, and greedy nature of Wang Daji and his parents, had long disapproved of how they mistreated the gentle and respectful Mrs. Ma. They had always been frustrated but couldn't intervene in family matters. Now, seeing Xiao Ma demand a divorce, they felt vindicated.

Xiao Yu believed a divorce would be good; Mrs. Ma could then choose to remarry or stay single. In the Kingdom of Dajing, women were encouraged to remarry.

Minghe and Danzi, not fully understanding these matters, clung tightly to their Uncle Xiao’s clothes, concerned about Mrs. Ma’s situation.

Mrs. Ma had long been unable to bear the behavior of Wang Daji and his family. She had thought of divorce more than once but hesitated for fear of hurting her parents. Now, seeing her marriage reach this point, she refused to suffer in silence any longer, nodding firmly, "Yes!"

Xiao Ma, thinking his cousin conservative and compliant, was sure she wouldn't agree, but to his disbelief, she did. He asked in shock, "You agree?"

"Yes, I agree," Mrs. Ma nodded again.

While Xiao Ma was overjoyed, he also felt pained that his cousin must have endured much suffering in silence before deciding to divorce.

Wang Daji couldn't believe the usually submissive Mrs. Ma would agree to a divorce.

Wang's father immediately objected, "Xiao Ma, it's better to demolish ten temples than to destroy a marriage. What you are doing—"

Xiao Ma interrupted fiercely, "Stop deceiving me with these outdated sayings! I don’t buy it. I’m here to save someone, and I’d demolish a hundred temples if needed!"

"Right! Buddha is very magnanimous, he won’t blame you!" Minghe interjected.

Danzi added, "Yeah, Buddha also saves people!"

The neighbors chuckled behind their hands, hearing the children's words.

"Listen to that, listen! Even three-year-olds have more sense than you!" Xiao Ma scoffed.

Wang's mother, unwilling to accept this, started rambling, but having lost two teeth and with blood in her mouth, her speech was unintelligible, nothing but muffled sounds.

Xiao Ma, ignoring them, turned to Xiao Yu, "Boss Xiao, let’s go."

Xiao Yu had come to rescue Mrs. Ma, and now that she was safe, he saw no reason to stay. Taking Minghe and Danzi by the hand, he said, "Let's go."

"Uncle Xiao, we forgot the lantern," Minghe pointed out.

"And the bowl," Danzi added.

"Take them with you," Xiao Yu instructed.

The two children quickly grabbed their things, then, holding their Uncle Xiao's hand, walked outside.

"You can't leave! You can't leave, Mrs. Ma!" Wang Daji and his parents protested together.

"Get lost!" Xiao Ma, supporting Mrs. Ma and walking behind, turned and shouted, "Tomorrow, I'll settle the score with you properly. If I don't strip a layer off your hides, I haven't earned my place in the escort agency!"

Wang Daji and his family, realizing the Ma family was serious, turned pale with fear.

Once outside Wang Daji's house, the neighbors quickly inquired about Mrs. Ma's condition.

Mrs. Ma, tidying her clothes and hair, couldn't conceal the injuries on her face, but she no longer wanted to hide them. Resolved not to return to the Wang family, she felt an unprecedented relief and sincerely answered the neighbors' questions.

Xiao Ma earnestly thanked Xiao Yu, "Boss Xiao, thank you for your righteous intervention."

"And us too," Minghe and Danzi chimed in.

Xiao Ma laughed, "You two are very brave!"

Minghe and Danzi beamed with joy.

Xiao Yu said, "It's nothing. Any person with a sense of justice wouldn’t stand by and watch someone being bullied."

Xiao Ma's interactions with Xiao Yu were limited, mostly just morning greetings at Xiaohezi Breakfast Shop. As a resident of Shuiqing Lane, he often heard neighbors praise Xiao Yu and the nephews for their kindness and excellence, but he had just listened without much thought.

Even today, seeing the esteem Song Sanwu and Yuan Lao Ye had for Xiao Yu, he hadn't felt anything special.

But Xiao Yu, despite his past issues with the Wang family and indirectly with Mrs. Ma, didn’t ignore her plight due to these past grievances. Unlike others who might dismiss domestic abuse as a family matter, he stepped forward to rescue Mrs. Ma.

He suddenly understood why everyone liked Xiao Yu and his nephews so much – their sense of justice, kindness, bravery, and principles.

Who wouldn’t like that?

He found himself admiring them, almost involuntarily, and said with appreciation, "Boss Xiao, you really are extraordinary."

"Not at all, your sister might have been injured, you should take her to see a doctor right away," Xiao Yu modestly replied, having done what he could to help.

"Sure, we’ll definitely thank you properly another day."

"No need for thanks."

Mrs. Ma also expressed her gratitude to Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu accepted the thanks, then took Minghe and Danzi back home.

After washing up, he raised the wick of the lamp and thoroughly checked the two children to ensure they weren't injured, finally feeling relieved.

Wang Daji was like a madman, wielding an iron shovel at people... Luckily, for some reason, he ended up hitting his own mother. But Xiao Yu learned a lesson – to ensure the children's safety first in any future rescue. If Danzi had been hit with the shovel, he would have been overwhelmed with guilt.

Wondering if the children had been traumatized by the incident, he got into bed, hugging them close, and directly asked if they were scared.

"Uncle Xiao, I'm not scared!" Minghe confidently said.

"Why?" Xiao Yu asked.

"As long as Uncle Xiao is here, I'm not scared of anything!" Minghe declared.

"Uncle Xiao, me too, me too," Danzi added.

Indeed!

With adults around, children fear nothing!

Xiao Yu, as a child with his grandmother, also felt there was nothing in the world to be afraid of. He smiled, kissed each of the children's soft little faces, and then told them a bedtime story.

The next day, as usual, he prepared breakfast and sold it at the shop.

Seeing Daji's Breakfast Shop's closed doors, Zhang Wu curiously asked, "Isn’t Wang Daji doing business today?"

Xiao Yu then recounted the events of the previous night to Zhang Wu.

Zhang Wu was shocked, "You all are okay, right?"

"We’re fine."

"That’s good, that’s good."

They didn't have time to talk further as the shop was overrun with customers. They, along with the two children, were busy until all the breakfast items were sold out.

Many customers didn't manage to buy anything and left disappointed.

Zhang Wu regretted, "If only we had prepared more."

Xiao Yu responded, "We’ll make more tomorrow."

As the four were about to clean up the shop, they heard a commotion coming from across the street. Curiously looking over, they saw the Ma family confronting Wang Daji's family.

"What’s happening over there?" Yuan Lao Ye arrived at that moment.

Xiao Yu asked, "Yuan Lao Ye, why are you here at this time?" Usually, Yuan Lao Ye came for breakfast.

"I came to check on you," mainly worried that Xiao Yu and his nephews might be bullied.

Xiao Yu felt a warm appreciation and couldn’t help but smile.

"What's going on over there?" Yuan Lao Ye inquired.

Xiao Yu recounted the events of the previous night again.

"Let's go see too," Yuan Lao Ye suggested, seeing many neighbors heading over to watch the commotion.

Xiao Yu was also curious about how the divorce matter would be resolved.

The group squeezed into the crowd, watching the Ma family argue with the Wang family.

Minghe, Danzi, Jin Da Bao, and Tian Liu, though small in stature, were unafraid, pushing through the legs of adults to get a better view.

As they pushed, they ended up pushing into each other.

"Da Bao, you're pushing me!" Minghe complained.

"You're the one pushing me!" Jin Da Bao retorted.

"You're pushing me."

Jin Da Bao frowned, "Minghe, you've gotten fatter!"

"You keep talking like that, and I'll start disliking you!" Minghe responded huffily.

"Brother looks good being chubby!" Danzi defended Minghe.

Minghe nodded, "Danzi is right!"

"I look good too," Jin Da Bao asserted.

"You're not as good-looking as my brother!" Danzi stated bluntly.

Jin Da Bao confidently replied, "Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No, you're not!"

Xiao Yu, observing the situation in Wang Daji's yard, was tapped on the shoulder by a neighbor. He turned curiously and asked, "What's up?"

"Your kids have started fighting," the neighbor informed.

Xiao Yu looked down and saw Minghe, Danzi, Tian Liu, and Jin Da Bao, all entangled and wrestling on the ground.

He quickly called Zhang Wu, Yuan Lao Ye, and Xiao Fang to help carry the four children back home.

"Tell me, what happened?" Xiao Yu asked.