Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Shen Yuan first set those two aside for the moment, cupping Nannan's face and saying with heartache, "Auntie Ping said you stubbornly held onto that table and wouldn't let them take it. You can't do that next time, alright? What's a table compared to you? You're far more important than any table."

Hearing his big brother's gentle voice, Shen Nan, holding Shen Bei, snuggled closer into his brother's embrace, his bruised and swollen face full of affection.

Shen Nan, who rarely spoke, whispered softly at this moment, "It was bought with big brother's hard work. It's ours. We can't let them take it."

He had finally started to have a proper home again; he didn't want those people to ruin it.

Shen Yuan sighed helplessly. His usually silent, taciturn, and shy fourth brother turned out to have such strong territorial instincts.

He gently stroked the child's face. "Sweetheart, but you got hurt. Big brother's heart aches for you. Next time, don't do this, okay? Protect yourself, don't get hurt, so big brother can rest easy, alright?"

Shen Nan blushed faintly and nodded ever so slightly. "Okay."

Though unsure if he would truly follow through, at least he agreed verbally. Shen Yuan then held Shen Bei and comforted her for a while. The little one, thoroughly frightened, cried for another stretch before falling into a deep sleep in her big brother's warm embrace.

Shen Nan took his little sister and lay down with her to rest.

Shen Yuan now had to deal with the issue of Shen Dong and Shen Xi.

"Speak up. How did you two get the injuries on your faces?"

Auntie Ping had only mentioned that Nannan was beaten by the low-ranking officer. Dongdong and Xixi came back later, meaning their injuries must have come from somewhere else.

Shen Xi shuffled his feet, quite spinelessly trying to hide behind his second brother.

Shen Dong's little face was serious, his attitude of admitting fault very earnest. "Big brother, Third Brother and I got into a fight outside. Fighting is wrong. Big brother, punish me."

Shen Xi, clutching the back of Shen Dong's clothes, sobbed loudly.

The sound of his wailing was like the roar of a train engine.

Shen Xi blinked his teary, wide eyes and nodded vigorously. "I'll thay, I'll thay, I won't cwy no more..."

The matter wasn't too complicated either.

It started with the village bully, Shen Liushu, who had ordered all the children in the village not to play with Shen Dong and his siblings.

However, Niu Dan had recently started getting close to Shen Dong and the others. Shen Xi, who loved excitement and playing with others, was happy about Niu Dan's approach and considered him a good friend.

When he had something tasty, he naturally wanted to share it with his good friend.

Last night, Shen Xi had secretly saved a small piece of the rice cake Shen Yuan brought back. Today, while digging for wild vegetables and seeing Niu Dan, he stuffed it into his hand.

Niu Dan, who cared deeply for his younger siblings, thought of them when he had something good. He broke that small piece into several even smaller portions, sharing a bite each with his brothers and sisters.

As luck would have it, some other children saw this.

The rice cake was sweet, fragrant, soft, and sticky. Before the children could even swallow it, the smell was noticed.

Kids, after all, couldn't resist such a sweet aroma and asked Niu Dan where they got it.

Niu Dan covered his mouth, not daring to tell, so they surrounded him, forcing him to say.

Shen Xi, watching his friend being bullied from afar, grabbed the small stick he used for digging wild vegetables and ran over. Shen Dong, worried Shen Xi would get bullied, quickly followed.

Over there, Shen Liushu, seeing Shen Dong and Shen Xi causing trouble on his turf, spat out the grass root in his mouth and led a group of kids to surround them.

"Brother Liushu! Niu Dan isn't listening to you! He's playing with Shen Xi and them! Shen Xi even gave him good food, and he didn't give us a single bite!"

The children who had been surrounding Niu Dan tattled to Shen Liushu. Not getting to eat the tasty treat had truly infuriated them.

Shen Liushu was eleven years old. Though skinny, he was taller than all the other kids in the village.

He glared at Shen Dong and Shen Xi, his expression fierce, and said to Niu Dan, "Didn't I say you're not allowed to play with them? If you don't come over here right now, I'll hit you."

Niu Dan was both scared and stubborn. Hunched over, he tugged at Shen Xi's clothes and cried, "Wahhh... even if you beat me to death, I still want to play with Shen Xi... wahhh... I'm so scared... wahhh..."

His crying made Shen Xi angry. Shen Xi put his hands on his hips and challenged Shen Liushu, "What right do you have to stop Niu Dan from playing with us! We *will* play together! If you hit me, I'll tell my big brother! My big brother won't let you bully me!"

Hearing this, Shen Liushu's face turned livid with anger. He directly charged forward with his gang and started punching Shen Xi.

Seeing Shen Xi getting beaten, how could Shen Dong just stand there? Without a word, he rushed at Shen Liushu and started fighting.

The two brothers, having been well-fed by Shen Yuan for a while, eating their fill and occasionally having meat, had little fists that were rock-hard and powerful.

Two against many, they weren't exactly at a disadvantage.

Later, when their stamina finally gave out, Shen Xi grabbed Shen Dong and ran towards home.

Shen Dong, sporting injuries on his face, said, "Second Brother, let me go. I want to fight Shen Liushu."

Shen Xi refused to let go, pulling him as they kept running. "Second Brother, are you stupid? They have more people. If we're in the village and Brother Liushu really decides to beat us up badly, we can still run to the village chief's house or Auntie Ping's house."

"Winning is winning, losing is losing. I don't want to run," Shen Dong insisted.

Shen Xi played his trump card. "Then stay and get beaten up. It's not me who'll make big brother worry anyway."

Shen Dong fell silent.

"Ahhhh! Second Brother, slow down! You're going to drag me flying!" Shen Xi yelled as he was being pulled along behind.

Shen Liushu and his gang of kids were also chasing after them, shouting, "Don't run if you have any guts!"

Shen Xi paused for a breath. "Don't chase if you have any guts!"

"Don't run if you have guts!"

"Don't chase if you have guts!"

The group went back and forth like this, tirelessly shouting the whole way.

It wasn't until Shen Dong and Shen Xi were almost home that they noticed something was wrong—there were people at their house.

When the two brothers arrived home, they saw four knife-wielding officers with broad knives hanging from their waists trying to move the newly made table from their house, with one more standing to the side watching.

Shen Nan was desperately clinging to a table leg, beaten until his head was bleeding, but he still wouldn't let go. When they pried his hands off, he bit down with his teeth.

Terrified, Shen Dong and Shen Xi rushed into the house. The officers, already angry, saw two more kids arriving and moved to push them away.

Unexpectedly, a whole group of kids was following behind.

Seeing the officers, Shen Liushu also knew something was happening in the village. He didn't lead his gang away. Instead, he shouted, "Anyone with guts, follow me up there!"

A group of children let out a yell and rushed into the Shen family's fenced-in yard, shielding Shen Dong and the others behind them.

The two sides stood facing each other. The tax collectors looked at the crowd of kids; they couldn't exactly go drawing their swords and slaughtering a bunch of children.

Auntie Ping and Village Head Liu arrived just then.

They brought copper coins to pay the tax for Shen Yuan's family, securing the table. The younger Shen children were not injured further.

The four men who had been trying to take the table from Shen Nan still wanted to punish the kids—how dare these little brats defy them! An official watching from the side said something, and the four seemed to think better of it. They took the money, cursing and grumbling as they left. Shen Liushu also led the group of children away.

Seeing the children frightened and the yard in disarray, Auntie Ping stayed behind to look after them and tidy up, waiting for Shen Yuan to return. Village Head Liu, since he had work in the fields, told his fourth daughter-in-law to come over and lend a hand.

Shen Dong and Shen Xi took turns explaining, picking up where the other left off, finally piecing together the whole story.

After finishing, Shen Dong hung his head and said, "Big Brother, I was wrong. I shouldn't have gotten into a fight and gotten hurt."

Shen Xi chimed in right after, "I shouldn't have fought either. Big Brother, I was wrong."

"What's wrong with protecting a friend and your little brother?" Shen Yuan hugged his two younger brothers, ruffling their hair. "But fighting really isn't good; it's easy to get hurt. From now on, I'll make time every day to teach you a few moves. If you do get in a fight, make sure you don't get hurt."

Shen Dong and Shen Xi were dumbfounded.

What did Big Brother mean? Not only was he not blaming them for fighting, but he was also going to teach them how to fight?

Shen Yuan pinched the soft cheeks of the two little ones. "But you must remember, skills like that are for protecting yourselves and those you want to protect. Don't hurt anyone unless you absolutely have to, understand?"

Shen Dong nodded seriously. "I understand, Big Brother."

Shen Xi was still a bit dazed but nodded along. He cared more that Big Brother wasn't angry with him and still loved him. The kid, soaking up the affection, wrapped his arms around Shen Yuan's neck and said sweetly, "I understand too, Big Brother~"

The chicken soup was heated up, its fresh, savory aroma making even Auntie Ping and Fourth Sister-in-law Liu's mouths water.

Wang Sanhu had been outside helping Shen Yuan chop firewood. When he smelled the chicken soup drifting from the kitchen, his stomach let out a loud growl.

After comforting his younger siblings, Shen Yuan brought the children out.

He called out to Auntie Ping and Fourth Sister-in-law Liu, who were trying to leave in a hurry, worried he'd offer them soup. "Auntie, Sister-in-law, if you two leave now, I'll just have to come find you later."

He gave Auntie Ping a bigger portion. "Auntie, Brother Sanhu is going to help me with something tomorrow. On the way back, I already told him I'd give him some chicken soup so he can keep his strength up tomorrow."

The details weren't set yet, and afraid Auntie Ping would worry about her son's task and lose sleep, Shen Yuan didn't elaborate.

Wang Sanhu was of the same mind; they had agreed on this during their journey back.

The chicken soup was a golden color, rich and fragrant, with plump, delicious pieces of meat.

Auntie Ping held the large bowl, unable to resist swallowing. She said disapprovingly, "You really are something, child. If you need his help, just ask. Why give away such a precious thing?"

Families like theirs might go years without a taste of chicken soup.

Shen Yuan said, "When Brother Sanhu makes money in the future, I'm going to pester him to buy me delicious things. Auntie, if you say that, how am I supposed to ask Brother Sanhu for anything later?"

Auntie Ping had to laugh at his childish logic. She knew Shen Yuan had a good heart and always remembered them when he had something good.

She accepted his kindness, thinking she must definitely do even more for the Shen family in the future.

"Even if you didn't give him this, Sanhu would buy you treats once he earns money. Alright, Auntie and Sanhu will head back first, so we won't keep you."

Fourth Sister-in-law Liu didn't feel the slightest resentment that her bowl was smaller than Auntie Ping's.

She was so happy she didn't know what to do, yet also ashamed that she, a grown woman, was accepting food from a child like Shen Yuan.

But chicken soup was highly nourishing; even a few sips would be good for her little Hua Hua.

"Xiao Yuan, Sister-in-law really thanks you. From now on, if there's anything you need, just come find me or your Fourth Brother—actually, you can find anyone in the Liu family. Please don't be polite with us, alright?"

Fourth Sister-in-law Liu had nothing valuable to offer as thanks, so she could only sincerely ask Shen Yuan not to be afraid of troubling them. Everyone in her family felt the same way.

Shen Yuan understood her sentiment and nodded. "Fourth Sister-in-law, I'm planning to rebuild our house. Could you please tell Uncle Liu when you go back and ask him to help me hire people? We can discuss the details tomorrow when I return."

Hearing that Shen Yuan wanted to build a house, Fourth Sister-in-law Liu was first stunned, then her eyes lit up with joy. "Oh my, that's wonderful! I'll tell him as soon as I get back. Congratulations in advance, Xiao Yuan!"

Holding her bowl of chicken soup, she practically flew home with light steps.

Due to the sudden additional tax levy, the Liu family had been in low spirits.

The summer tax was already a headache; where were they going to get an extra five hundred wen?

Village Head Liu was considering that if there was no other way, he'd organize a team to go hunting in the mountains. It was dangerous, but it was a way to earn money. It could give the villagers of Dashu Village a glimmer of hope.

Fourth Sister-in-law Liu walked quickly, but not a drop of the soup spilled. The rich aroma reached the noses of the entire Liu family.

Eldest Sister-in-law Liu was in the yard soothing Hua Hua. "Fourth Sister-in-law, what are you carrying there?"

"It's chicken soup from Xiao Yuan!" Fourth Sister-in-law Liu said with a smile, her voice full of energy.

Eldest Sister-in-law Liu couldn't help exclaiming, "Goodness, that Xiao Yuan is really generous. To give away such a rare thing just like that!"

"There's even better news," Fourth Sister-in-law Liu said as she took the soup to the kitchen.

The Liu family members looked at each other. What could be better than that?

Fourth Sister-in-law Liu quickly came back out and said to Village Head Liu, "Dad, Xiao Yuan says he wants to build a new house. He wants you to help oversee the hiring!"