Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Up ahead, there was a plump little bird. Erdan raised his slingshot, holding his breath and squinting in concentration, not even bothering to wipe the snot dripping from his nose.

If he could knock down this fat little bird, he could give it to his Chaoning Ge!

Chaoning Ge hardly ever got to come out and play, so Erdan wanted to make him happy and get him to come out again next time.

The slingshot was pulled back taut, a stone pinched in his palm, just about to let fly...

"Chaoning Ge!"

A shout suddenly came from behind, startling Erdan so bad his hand twitched.

Because of that twitch, the stone went flying off in the wrong direction, and the little bird, spooked, flapped its wings and took off.

Erdan scowled and whipped around, ready to blow up, but then his eyes went wide in shock.

Chaoning Ge and Xu Fengshou were going at it!

"Hurry, hurry, go break them up!"

The other kids hung back at the edges, but Gu Chaoning was swinging too wild—they were scared of getting caught in the crossfire, so they just kept circling.

Seeing this, Erdan yelled and charged in too.

"Chaoning Ge, stop! You're gonna beat Xu Fengshou to death!"

With Erdan leading the charge, the others piled on behind him and grabbed hold of Gu Chaoning.

The pack of kids wrestled around for a bit longer before they finally managed to pry the two apart.

Erdan was huffing and puffing from the effort, but he still remembered to ask the kids around him what the heck had happened.

The kid next to him was just as clueless: "Beats me!"

Xu Fengshou was beat so bad he couldn't get up, the corners of his eyes all red and swollen, and his lips busted and puffy too.

His face was a mess of tears and snot, and once Gu Chaoning stopped, he started bawling too.

A couple of kids tried to help Xu Fengshou up, but the second their hands touched his arm, he started yelping nonstop.

The two looked at each other and gave up, leaving Xu Fengshou sprawled on the ground.

But since Gu Chaoning had messed Xu Fengshou up that bad, some of the kids got scared and ran off to fetch the adults.

When Erdan asked what happened, someone nearby piped up, all riled up.

"It was Xu Fengshou who was talking trash about Xue Geer!"

"Yeah, I heard it too—Xu Fengshou was badmouthing Xue Geer!"

But as for what exactly he said, they hadn't caught that part.

After all, they'd only overheard Gu Chaoning's two lines about Xu Fengshou cursing Xue Geer.

But judging by how hard Chaoning Ge went at him, it couldn't have been anything nice.

Some kids silently blamed Xu Fengshou—if he usually ran his mouth without a filter, why did he have to do it when Chaoning Ge finally came out to play?

Chaoning Ge was already busy as it was, and now he was this pissed off, so he definitely wouldn't come out to play with them again!

Xu Fengshou wanted to cry out in protest—he hadn't cursed Yin Hongxue at all!

He'd only said a couple of words to Gu Chaoning, and the second the others walked off, Gu Chaoning yelled, "You dare talk trash about Xue Geer?" and started swinging!

Xu Fengshou was already hurting from the beating, and now that everyone was saying it was because he'd badmouthed Yin Hongxue, he felt even more wronged and sobbed harder.

Through his tears, he looked up at everyone, wanting to say he didn't do it.

But the moment he lifted his head, he locked eyes with Gu Chaoning.

Gu Chaoning's brows were dark and cold, and the look he shot him was like a cleaver crusted with frost.

That look felt like a blade slamming right down the middle of his forehead.

Xu Fengshou was so scared he couldn't get a word out.

Seeing him like that, everyone was even more convinced that Chaoning Ge had hit him because he'd badmouthed Xue Geer.

But, but—what exactly did Xu Fengshou say about Xue Geer?

Some kids snuck curious glances at Gu Chaoning.

Not far off, wailing cries rang out, and everyone could tell just from the sound that it was Xu Fengshou's grandma.

But they still turned to look, and there came Xu Fengshou's family and Gu Chaoning's family.

Besides those two families, there were also their dads, moms, and a bunch of other folks coming to watch.

And leading the pack, of all people, were the village head and his wife.

Everyone got a little nervous and instinctively backed up a step.

Xu Fengshou's grandma, between wails for her grandson, was also taking shots at Gu Chaoning without saying his name outright.

Gu Chaoning just kept staring at Xu Fengshou with a cold look.

Xu Fengshou, half-sprawled on the ground, looked at Gu Chaoning—every time his grandma cursed, he'd give a barely noticeable flinch under Gu Chaoning's stare.

Xu Fengshou had never wished so badly for his grandma to just shut up.

Until everyone was just about on top of them.

Gu Chaoning suddenly lunged down, straddling Xu Fengshou's legs with his knees, and threw a punch straight at his face.

"My boy!"

"Chaoning!"

"Gu Chaoning!"

With that punch landed, the adults finally yanked Gu Chaoning and Xu Fengshou apart.

Gu Chaoning looked furious, his dark eyes glistening with a watery sheen of rage.

He stared at Xu Fengshou, who was bundled up in Granny Xu's arms.

"Xu Fengshou, if I ever hear you or anyone in your family badmouth Xue Geer again, saying he's not part of the Gu family, that he was bought by the Gu family to wait on people..."

He gave a cold sneer: "Then I'll beat you every time I see you."

As soon as those words left his mouth, Granny Xu's screeching was cut off as if someone had stuffed a mouthful of duck feathers down her throat.

Xu Chunmiao, who had fallen behind, went white with fear and stopped dead in her tracks.

The others' faces changed too.

Chen Youyan's rebuke for Gu Chaoning also died in his throat.

The suppression of his words made his face flush red, a ball of fire coiling in his chest.

What's going on? What's going on!

Chen Youyan abruptly turned to look at Granny Xu standing at the side, meaning to ask if it was true, but seeing Granny Xu's pale face and frightened demeanor, there was no need to ask.

Chen Youyan sneered: "Black-hearted, rotten-gutted old hag, is your family out of food that you've got nothing better to do than spew filth all day?

Or are you just jealous that my kids are handsome and well-behaved, or jealous that my family's days are harmonious and happy?

With all that free time to run your mouth, you'd be better off hoeing a couple of acres of crops, so you don't go hungry again, you filthy-mouthed hag!"

When had Granny Xu ever been scolded like this, and by a young whippersnapper at that? The deflated air she had from Gu Chaoning's words suddenly seemed to puff back up.

Granny Xu planted her hands on her hips and opened her mouth to curse him back.

"Wang Xiuxiu, look at your son-in-law, a young'un lecturing his elders, I..."

Wang Xiuxiu was also so angry her eyes were red.

Without letting her finish, Wang Xiuxiu closed the distance in two quick strides, and before anyone could react, she was in front of Granny Xu, grabbing her hair with one hand and slapping her twice across the face with the other.

"What about my son-in-law? He's just fine! You make a fuss when the young speak, but I'm of the same generation as you, so I've got every right to speak!

Saying such vile, family-ruining nonsense in front of the kids, aren't you afraid your tongue will rot off? What happens in our family is none of your business! Mind your own damn mess of a household!"

Granny Xu, slapped across the face, felt her cheeks burn from both the pain and the villagers' stares. Her head felt like it was about to burst with blood, and she quickly reached out to grab Wang Xiuxiu's hair in retaliation.

But just as her hand landed on Wang Xiuxiu's hair, Xu Fengshou let out a scream.

Granny Xu turned and saw Gu Chaoning, being held back by others, still landing kick after kick on Xu Fengshou.

Then another scream came from the other side, and she saw Gu Wen slam Xu Dasheng to the ground with a punch.

Xu Dasheng was all tough when beating his wife, but when a man like Gu Wen hit him, he was like a rat on hot coals, squealing and dodging every which way.

Her son and her eldest grandson were her lifeblood!

Granny Xu's raging emotions were doused like a bucket of ice-cold well water thrown over her head in the dead of winter.

The punches and kicks landing on Xu Fengshou and Xu Dasheng seemed to land on her own body, and she screamed: "Stop! Stop hitting them!"

As she wailed, she frantically scanned for Xu Dasheng's wife, Xiao Chun.

But when she saw Xiao Chun cowering in fright, trying to hide, she felt like she couldn't breathe.

The Gu family moved too fast, and the villagers were caught off guard on the one hand, but on the other, they had their own selfish reasons not to jump in.

It wasn't until Granny Xu let out her screams that everyone hurriedly stepped in to pull them apart.

But Gu Chaoning and Gu Wen both seemed impossible to pull off.

Gu Daniu stood silently to the side, and someone tugged at him anxiously: "Uncle Daniu, quick, control Dawen and that Chaoning kid! Don't let them actually beat someone to a pulp!"

Gu Daniu scrunched up his face, looking troubled and pathetic: "Oh, Tieniu, it's not that I don't want to, it's just that nobody listens to me."

Finally, the village head, Gu Changhe, roared: "Enough! Everyone stop right now."

Gu Wen and Gu Chaoning, who couldn't be pulled apart no matter what, finally stopped, their faces cold and indifferent.

The village head was huffing and puffing with anger at them.

Especially since Gu Chaoning still had exams to take—what if he actually hurt Xu Fengshou badly and got reported?

But before he could get a word of scolding out, Gu Chaoning dropped to his knees with a thud in front of him.

Gu Chaoning, teary-eyed and on his knees, startled everyone around him.

The village head was also shocked speechless.

"I beg Uncle Lizheng for justice!" Gu Chaoning shouted, looking utterly wronged.

"Everyone knows how Xue Geer came to our family, but everyone should also know how we treat him."

"Xue Geer, whom I cherish like a younger brother, went out happily this morning to play, but came back wiping his tears, saying someone called him our servant, saying he was bought to wait on us.

There were even harsher words I can't even repeat. My heart ached so much. In the afternoon, I thought I'd catch a little bird for Xue Geer, but then I heard Xu Fengshou saying such degrading things, and I just saw red..."

Gu Chaoning sniffled at the perfect moment, a single tear falling from the tip of his nose to the ground.

"I, I beg Uncle Lizheng for justice, and I also beg Uncle Lizheng to punish me. I deserve punishment for losing my temper and hitting someone, but my Xue Geer shouldn't be degraded like that either!"

Chen Youyan stepped forward at just the right moment.

"If you must punish someone, punish me. When children err, it's because the parents failed to teach them right." As he said this, his gaze landed squarely on Granny Xu's face.

"But I truly understand my Chaoning's actions. It's true that Xue Geer was bought by our family, but we all cherish him like the apple of our eye.

If Xue Geer grows up and has feelings for Chaoning, then he'll be our son-in-law, the one to carry our family's banner and keep the household together.

If not, he's still our second son, and his father and I will save up a dowry just like An Geer's, and marry him off in grand style!"

"Today, the child is only ten years old, and someone says such divisive, degrading words about our boy—that means they don't want our family to do well, that means they're picking a fight with the Gu family."

"Besides, we're farming folks—what masters and servants do we have? Whoever says such things is corrupting the village's morals. People will start saying that anyone who marries into our Xiaohe Village is coming to be a servant! Everyone, tell me, shouldn't such a person be punished and scolded?"

"Since there are so many people here today, let me ask everyone to bear witness: Xue Geer is a good child of our family. From now on, anyone who brings up his origins is picking a fight with our whole family!"

Some of Chen Youyan's friends quickly came over to back him up and say some placating words. Gu Changhe stood at the side, his face iron-gray, but Chen Youyan did have a point.

Besides, Chen Youyan had said all that needed to be said. In the end, Gu Changhe could only scold everyone one by one and send the crowd home.

But after today's incident, no one dared say anything out of line to Yin Hongxue anymore.

Gu Chaoning, as if barely able to stand, braced his hands on the ground and slowly got up. A cold, dark smile curled at the corner of his mouth. He tilted his head slightly, his gaze landing squarely on Xu Chunmiao, who stood to his right.

Gu Wen came over to pull Gu Chaoning along. "Alright, let's head back. Xue Geer and An Geer will be waking up from their nap soon."

Xu Chunmiao seemed frozen in fear, still standing there dazed even after Gu Chaoning had left.