Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The boy threatened them, waving his clenched right fist.

Shen Wendong's face flushed with anger. "Zhao Jinshun, don't be so shameless! We found the eggs, and Xiao Yue caught the pheasant. They have nothing to do with you!"

Zhao Jinshun lifted his chin, wearing an infuriatingly arrogant expression that begged for a beating. "What I say goes, they're mine! Hurry up, are you going to hand them over, or do I have to beat you up and take them?"

He snorted derisively. "A bunch of bastards who crawled out of who-knows-what corner."

Shen Banyue narrowed her eyes slightly and shoved the pheasant she was holding at Shen Wendong. "Hold this."

Shen Wendong hesitated, staring at the still-struggling live bird, momentarily unsure where to grab it. It was Lin Mian who quickly extended both hands, pinching the pheasant's neck firmly from top and bottom, holding it in front of him as if cradling a bundle of explosives.

Shen Banyue was amused by his serious, battle-ready posture. She simply stuffed the little tear-stained dumpling into Shen Wendong's arms. "Watch her."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she shot out like a leopard.

Shen Wendong only saw a blur before his eyes, then heard a rapid volley of crisp slaps. When he focused his gaze again, that slender, small figure was already behind the group of older boys. With a leap, she delivered a swift, clean kick to Zhao Jinshun's backside, sending him sprawling face-first onto the ground.

Shen Wendong: "..."

He shut his eyes hard, then opened them again. Zhao Jinshun was still lying on the ground.

The ones standing didn't fare much better; each had a small palm print on their face.

Shen Wendong suddenly remembered something his unreliable father once said: boys fighting is nothing unusual. The secrets to fighting are, first, be fast; second, be ruthless; third, don't hit the face—aim for places that won't show marks, so you can turn the tables if there's an argument later.

But this little sister of his... she seemed to do the opposite. When hitting people, she specifically targeted the face.

No, that wasn't the most important point. The most important thing was, she had just beaten up so many people all by herself.

Along with his shock, Shen Wendong felt a twinge of panic.

In his view, this little sister might just be exceptionally agile and had taken advantage of Zhao Jinshun and the others being caught off guard. Once they recovered, how could someone as small and slender as her possibly be a match for them?

At this moment, Shen Wendong deeply regretted not having learned some "fighting skills" from his father.

Gritting his teeth, he put Xiao Dizi down and prepared to charge over. "Little Sister Xiao Yue, I'll help you!"

In reality, how could those boys have been merely caught off guard? Was it just the first one who didn't react? What about the second, third, and fourth? It was Shen Banyue's movements that were too fast; they simply couldn't dodge them.

However, being kids not yet fully grown, their thinking wasn't too complex. Like Shen Wendong, they also believed they had just been momentarily stunned and hadn't had time to fight back.

Now, humiliated and enraged, they no longer cared that the opponent seemed to be a little girl of only six or seven. They swarmed forward, intending to gang up on this reckless brat. The result was each getting a kick in the rear from Shen Banyue, joining Zhao Jinshun in lying neatly sprawled on the ground.

Shen Wendong, who never got a chance to intervene: "..."

Shen Banyue brushed off non-existent dust from her hands, cast a cold glance at the group of sprawled "frogs," and tossed out two words: "Weaklings."

Extremely mocking.

The mockery made Zhao Jinshun, who had been kicked down again, turn green and pale with fury. He scrambled up and roared, "Brothers, rush her together!"

Just as the group of boys got up and were about to charge, a loud shout suddenly came from behind them: "What are you doing, you little brats! Who are you bullying?!"

—

About ten minutes later.

Shen Guoqing stood with his arms crossed, his face clearly saying, "You think I believe that? I'd be an idiot to believe your nonsense." He waved his hand impatiently.

"Alright, enough with the stories. Our Xiao Yue is just a bit more agile and a bit stronger, but with a whole group of you like this, saying she bullied you? Where's your shame? Scram, get out of here now. If I catch you bullying them again, I'll slap the daylights out of you little brats."

They had witnessed with their own eyes, right after coming out of the woods, these little brats trying to gang up on Xiao Yue. And yet, these little hoodlums still wanted to make excuses.

Shen Zhenhua looked at Zhao Jinshun with a half-smile. "Little Shunzi, go home and tell your eldest brother this: if he can't keep his younger brothers in line anymore, don't blame me for finding an opportunity to teach him a lesson."

Zhao Jinshun: "..." He wasn't afraid of his parents, but he was terrified of his eldest brother.

The group of boys, having gained nothing, left dejectedly with drooping heads.

Shen Guoqing looked over each child one by one, pinching Xiao Dizi's chubby little cheek. "Little one, looks like you've been crying? What, did they hit her just now? Who did it? I'll catch him later and give him a good thrashing."

Shen Wendong said dejectedly, "No, it was when they came over earlier to snatch the eggs from us. Little Sister Xiao Dizi got pushed. I... I didn't manage to stop it in time."

Shen Zhenhua patted his son's head. This child was just too soft-natured.

Shen Wendong looked up at his father. "Dad, can... can I learn how to fight from you when we get back?"

Shen Zhenhua's mouth twitched, momentarily caught between laughter and tears. Shen Wenyi, never one to miss a chance to stir the pot, laughed heartily. "Yeah, let your dad teach you. When he was your age, he was undefeated in Little Dun. Really impressive."

Xiao Jie and the other kids exchanged glances and immediately started chattering, saying they wanted to learn how to fight too.

"..."

Shen Zhenhua changed the subject. "Hey, you kids are really something! Not only did you find so many eggs, you even caught a pheasant! Pheasants aren't easy to chase. Xiao Yue, your speed is really something!"

"Not bad," Shen Banyue said, picking up Xiao Dizi with one hand. "Uncle, let's hurry home. It'll be too late to stew the chicken otherwise."

The kids were immediately distracted. "Ahhh, are we going back to stew the chicken?"

"This chicken looks different from regular chickens. It's so fierce, and so plump too, slurp~"

Shen Guoqing laughed. "Right, right, let's hurry down the mountain to stew the chicken. Wendong, call your younger brother over later. We'll all have a good meal together." Shen Zhenhua had two children; below him was the five-year-old Shen Wenkai.

Shen Wenyi couldn't help but tease, "Haven't you been eating well every day lately?"

In these times, food was precious. When there was a feast, each family would send one or two representatives. Shen Wenyi hadn't been chosen as a representative, only hearing others talk about how good the banquet food was. Also, yesterday's family division meal was reportedly quite good too, but unfortunately, he wasn't a village cadre, nor an elder, and hadn't been invited to attend.

Shen Guoqing thought about it and realized it was true; the meals these past few days really had been quite good. He couldn't help but boast, "Well, who asked me to have an older brother who's a worker? You all know my brother—whenever he gets something good, he always remembers the family."

...

Chatting and laughing, the three adults each carried a log, walking ahead, with the children following behind. Occasionally, birds startled on the mountain path would flutter up with a rustle, darting into the azure sky and flying far away.

—

A group carrying logs and shepherding children naturally couldn't match the pace of teenagers. By the time they returned to the Shen family courtyard, a crowd seeking to settle scores had already filled the yard, surrounding Wang Guizhi, who sat there with one leg crossed.

The scene reminded Shen Banyue inexplicably of a martial arts film she'd seen in a previous life—it really had the feel of the Seven Major Sects besieging Bright Peak.

"These were all beaten by Xiao Yue? I have to say, the palm prints on each face are indeed identical. But you're a bunch of big boys, each a head or more taller than her. Do you really expect me to believe that?"

As the group entered, Wang Guizhi was leisurely asking this in response.

Zhao Youliang's wife said indignantly, "What plausible or not? With so many eyes watching, could we all be mistaken? I heard that child is already nine. Girls develop early, and with great strength and agile limbs, it's not impossible. Even if the commune lets her stay, she can't bully our own village's children..."

Shen Banyue, holding Xiao Dizi's hand, walked over. "Develop early? Are you talking about me?" She tilted her head in puzzlement, even comically looking down at her own slender arms and legs.

Zhao Youliang's wife hiccuped in shock.

But wasn't she supposed to be nine? If her birthday was early in the year, she could even be considered ten. She had imagined that whoever beat her son must be quite tall, but the girl looked only six or seven years old?

Shen Banyue let out a soft sigh, her voice a mix of plaintive grievance, forced restraint, and a touch of confusion: "They tried to steal the chicken and eggs, called us fatherless brats, and even tried to hit us. We only fought back in self-defense. I wasn't really paying attention—there were so many of them, and I thought I couldn't possibly win. I just closed my eyes and swung wildly. They stole from us and cursed us, and now they're tattling?"

Seeing that the girl who did the hitting was so small, much of the parents' anger went out with a 'pfft.' Now, hearing her speak so pitifully, they couldn't help but give their own sons a smack: "Exactly! How could you bully such a little girl at your age? And you even have the nerve to complain? Shame on you!"

Really, the difference in size was too obvious. Even if their sons' faces were swollen, it hardly seemed fair to blame the little girl.

How pitiful—nothing but skin and bones.

How heartless, to bully these children who had lost their homes?

The boys were fighting back tears. No, how can she just make up stuff like that? She had clearly struck fast and hard, even mocking them as weaklings.

Zhao Youliang's wife was used to doting on her child. Even though the other side looked thin and small, glancing back at the slap marks on her son's face, she couldn't let it go: "Just because she's small doesn't mean we should let it slide, right? Hitting people is always wrong. They say if you steal a needle as a child, you'll steal gold when you grow up…"

Before she could finish, she was abruptly interrupted: "What do you know, woman? Shut your mouth!"

Unnoticed, a few people had gathered outside the courtyard gate. Accountant Zhao Youliang was among them, his face flushed with anger and shame as he glared fiercely at his wife.