Chapter 56: Regret Caused by a Chicken

Chapter 56: Regret Over a Chicken

While Fu Dajun and his wife were discussing Su He, the other Fu brothers and their wives were also talking about her.

"In the future, you should get along well with Su He. You also need to pay more attention to her durian tree. I think she’s quite knowledgeable and might make something of herself someday," Fu Guoqing said to Zhang Xiaohua.

"How am I not paying attention? I’ve always said Su He is a good person, but you kept saying she wasn’t good enough for your brother," Zhang Xiaohua shot back with an eye roll.

Fu Guoqing fell silent.

"Did I really say that?" Fu Guoqing questioned himself.

"You said it more than once, almost right in front of her face," Zhang Xiaohua complained.

Fu Guoqing fell silent again.

Thankfully, he hadn’t said it in front of Su He. She had beaten the Wang brothers—taking him down would’ve been effortless.

Being beaten by a woman—just thinking about it was embarrassing.

"Let’s not bring this up again. Honestly, I think she’s a good match for my brother. Except for their body types," Fu Guoqing added.

His brother was seriously handsome—it seemed like a waste to pair him with Su He.

Zhang Xiaohua had nothing to say. As a daughter-in-law of the Fu family, she had never dared to gossip about her own family.

Fu Ziyao of the second branch and Fu Derong of the third branch also reminded their wives to treat Su He as family from now on.

If Su He ever faced difficulties in the village, they should step in to help.

The Fu family was known for sticking together in the village, and their daughters-in-law were all level-headed.

Countless families envied the Fu sons for their good taste in wives.

Meanwhile, the Wang family, who had just ended their battle with Su He, had a night of no sleep.

Today, almost everyone in their family had gotten banged up a little. There was no major damage, but those who had tried to attack her had either been kicked or knocked to the ground, leaving them with scrapes and bruises.

The most severely injured was the youngest son of old lady Wang, who had tried to hit Su He with a rock.

"Ouch—it hurts so much! Shouldn’t we go to the hospital?" Wang Jie winced.

"No need. Getting it reset will do. The hospital would just do the same thing and waste your money," said Doctor Huang, the herbal doctor whom the village head had called.

Just as Wang Jie was about to say something else, there was a loud *crack*, and he let out a howl.

"There, the bone’s set. I’ll give you some herbs to reduce the swelling. You’ll be fine in two days," Doctor Huang said before opening his medicine box and handing over the herbs. "Steep this in hot water and apply it to the wound. That should do it. I’ll head home now."

"Thanks, doc," old lady Wang said, seeing him out and watching him leave before closing the door.

Wang Jun, the eldest son of the Wang family, looked at his younger brother with frustration. "Mom’s always been bossy, and you all just blindly followed her instead of being sensible."

"A minor scuffle between kids ended up like this. We made fools of ourselves in front of the whole village."

The younger brothers, scolded by their eldest brother Wang Jun, looked down, ashamed, not daring to speak.

Their wives kept quiet as well, since they'd helped stir up trouble too.

"Mom, you've been babying your grandsons way too much. If he's lying today about other kids pushing him, tomorrow he might do something worse. Sure, there are many of us Wang brothers, but if everyone at home keeps acting like this, who in the village would still want to deal with us?" Wang Jun said earnestly to old lady Wang.

Old lady Wang's husband had passed away a few years ago, and without him around, the family had been extra considerate toward her, trying to accommodate her as much as possible.

But lately, she'd been getting more and more out of line—was she really trying to bully the whole village?

"Now... now you're turning on me too! I'm already fed up today. It’s all because of that Su He! I say we should just call the police and see whether they arrest her or us!" In her own home, old lady Wang got all fired up again, since no outsiders could hear her.

Seeing his mother dig in her heels, Wang Jun continued, "Mom, do you know how Bully Zhang from the neighboring village died?"

Old lady Wang had no idea why her son brought up Bully Zhang—what's that got to do with me?

"Wasn’t he executed for shaking down and stealing from his fellow villagers?" old lady Wang replied.

"Exactly. Do you want our Wang family to be reported by the villagers for doing the same?" Wang Jun pushed back.

"How... how have we shaken anyone down... our family has always followed the rules..."

Before old lady Wang could finish, Wang Jun cut her off.

"Followed the rules? Using our numbers to push people around openly and secretly. Mom, and the rest of you at home—you all need to cool it for a while. Don’t give the villagers any more reasons to set the whole village against us." Wang Jun said wearily.

Earlier, the village chief had privately told him to knock it off.

Normally, when his mother or brothers pushed people around, folks kept their mouths shut out of fear, given how united the Wang family was.

But today, what started as a minor scuffle between kids turned into a total flip—it was the Wang family’s fault, and so many villagers saw them piling onto a mother and her two children. It nearly set the whole village against them.

The chief warned them to keep a low profile and stop throwing their weight around, or else they’d face total rejection from the village and wouldn't be able to stay much longer.

Hearing how serious it was, Wang Jun felt a deep unease—yet his mother still didn’t take it seriously.

"Then... then tomorrow I’ll take some things and bring Mutou to Su He’s house to apologize," Wang Mutou’s mother said.

Wang Jun looked at his sister-in-law with approval. "Go ahead, take one of the plump chickens."

"No! That chicken lays eggs—how can we just give it away?" old lady Wang said, heartbroken.

"Mom! Don’t you get it? The whole village is furious with us over this. If we don’t mend our relationships now, we might not even have a place here anymore," Wang Jun said exhaustedly.

"What’s the big deal! It was just a kids’ fight—why’s it blown up like this? My chicken!"

Old lady Wang was now sick with regret. Why had they provoked Su He?

City folk are tough customers.

This whole mess was like trying to skin a sheep and getting sheared instead.

They’d thought Su He, being from the city, would roll over about some cash and surely compensate them a few yuan.

But who knew she’d be so tough, standing up to their whole clan?

In the end, not only were they all injured, but their name was mud in the village.

Worst of all, they had to give Su He a chicken.

For old-timers like her, whose minds were still set in their ways, an egg-laying chicken was more valuable than money.

No wonder old lady Wang was hung up on the chicken they had to give away.