MLH | Chapter 28
“What’s going on?” Several women behind them heard the noise and came over.
A man wiped his face, steadied himself, and pointed at Liu Laizi’s house. “That brat Fang Zichen is in there beating someone up!”
“What? Then why is Liu Laizi screaming like that! Should we go in and take a look? Don’t let him get beaten to death!”
“Beaten to death would be best,” a young woman said. “That way he won’t go on harming people later.”
“This is probably coming to avenge Zhao ge’er,” an old auntie nearby said. “That man is stronger than Ma Wen.”
More and more people came to watch, and the matter spread all at once.
Zhao ge’er was hoeing in the yard when Zhou ge’er came running in from outside in a hurry.
“Zhao ge’er, something bad has happened.”
Zhao ge’er almost hoeed his own foot.
“What is it?”
“Fang Zichen is at Liu Laizi’s house, he… he’s about to be beaten to death.” Zhou ge’er was gasping so hard he could barely get the words out.
Zhao ge’er’s mind went blank, and he swayed. Zhou ge’er hurried over to support him. “Zhao ge’er, what’s wrong?”
“You mean, I, my husband is… is going to be beaten to death?”
“No! It’s Liu Laizi!”
“…Then it’s fine.” Zhao ge’er said.
Zhou ge’er: “……”
Liu Laizi was about to be beaten to death, and that was fine?
Did the yamen belong to your family?
Killing someone meant going to prison!
When Zhao ge’er and the others ran to the outside of Liu Laizi’s house, the wailing inside had just stopped.
There were already quite a few people gathered outside Liu Laizi’s house.
As soon as Zhao ge’er arrived, everyone automatically made way for him.
“Zhao ge’er, go persuade your man quickly. Liu Laizi has been screaming for ages, if this keeps up someone might really die.”
Zhao ge’er’s heart tightened, and he immediately moved to go into the courtyard.
Just then, voices came from inside the house.
The people outside the yard had all been holding their breath, listening to the movement inside, and had stayed quiet all this time, but now they heard it clearly.
“Will you dare again next time?”
Zhao ge’er’s steps halted. It was Fang Zichen’s voice, and it was not quite like usual, unfamiliar.
“No, I won’t dare.” Three of Liu Laizi’s teeth had been knocked out, and his speech was badly lisping. “I really, really didn’t touch him yesterday.”
“I know you didn’t touch him, so you can still live to gasp for breath now,” Fang Zichen crouched down, pinching his chin, his face without the slightest ripple. “Do you know why I hit you?”
“Because, because I teased Zhao ge’er.”
“That’s right.”
“But, but I didn’t touch him.”
“If you had that idea, you deserved to be hit,” Fang Zichen used more force, and the chin bone hurt from being pinched. Liu Laizi felt like his jaw had come loose. The cold voice above his head spoke again. “Zhao ge’er is my fulaang, he’s my man, he’s the father of my son, he’s the partner I’ve chosen. What belongs to me, Fang Zichen, is never allowed to be touched by anyone else. You dare have this kind of thought, you deserve to die.”
“If you had touched him yesterday, I would have cut off your hands one by one. Whoever dares harm him, I’ll take his life.”
Fang Zichen patted his face and warned, “This is the first time, so I’ll let you off. If there’s a next time, breaking your legs would be letting you off easy. Remember that?”
“Remembered, remembered.”
Everyone around suddenly looked over at himself. Zhao ge’er pressed his lips tight and lowered his head. His heart was pounding so hard it seemed to have reached his throat, and his mind was full of Fang Zichen’s words.
[He is my fulaang, my partner. Whoever dares harm him, I’ll take his life.]
Zhao ge’er’s eyes suddenly turned wet, but he forced himself to hold it in.
Zhou ge’er bumped him with his elbow and asked softly, with a bit of envy, “Your man… does he always talk like that?”
“Not… not always.”
By the time Fang Zichen came out from inside, the wooden stick was slung carelessly across the back of his neck and shoulders, carrying a whole air of hooliganism. The crowd outside circled around him, and he ignored them completely. The yard gate, only waist-high, had been closed and blocked the way, so he kicked it open with one foot.
Everyone: This gate offended you too? Kicked once going in, kicked once coming out, poor gate.
Zhao ge’er: That posture, he really was even more like a rogue than Liu Laizi.
When Fang Zichen saw him, he immediately lowered the wooden stick, his expression turning a little unnatural. “Zhao ge’er? Why are you here?”
Zhao ge’er’s face had already returned to normal. “I came to call you home for noodles.” He looked at Fang Zichen and saw no injuries, his clothes clean and neat, as if he had only come out for a stroll after eating his fill, but he still couldn’t help asking, “Are you all right?”
“What could happen to me?”
Fang Zichen wanted to put an arm around his shoulder, but just as he raised his hand he remembered that there were so many people, so it wasn’t appropriate. He had to let it drop, leaning close to his ear instead. “I’ve beaten every enemy in Xiaoheshun Village, don’t worry!”
Zhao ge’er hesitated a little. “Actually, you didn’t need to make this trip. If I’m more careful in the future, it’ll be fine.”
“There’s only a thousand days of being a thief, never a thousand days of guarding against a thief.” Fang Zichen said carelessly. “I beat him up, so next time he sees you he’ll be scared stiff. Let’s see if he still dares to covet you.”
Halfway through speaking, the village chief came jogging over, panting, with several people following behind him. “Boy Fang, you… you fought again?”
……
What do you mean again?
As if he loved causing trouble and fighting all the time.
“‘Fought’ might not be quite the right word,” Fang Zichen said. “Saying I taught him a lesson might be better.”
“Isn’t it all the same, and you’re still talking back.”
“Fine then! If you say I fought, then I fought,” Fang Zichen shrugged. “What are you here for? If you’re worried about me, you can go back. If you’re here to speak for Liu Laizi, then you can go back too. He’s not a good person, what I did counts as helping the women and ge’ers of Xiaoheshun Village vent their anger. There’s nothing to criticize.”
Village chief: “……”
“But you also can’t just hit people whenever you want!” the village chief said.
Before Fang Zichen could speak, Auntie He, who had come with him, cut in, “Exactly, you have to reason things out first. How can you just start hitting people as soon as you open your mouth.”
The village chief’s face tightened.
Fang Zichen did not speak right away.
As soon as he saw Auntie He, he got annoyed.
This was Fang Sanshao’s first time in his life going down into the fields to work, and after being tired for half an afternoon, he was handed a few rotten sweet potatoes and sent away. Getting the better of him and then landing on his head like that, even if there was a little of one willing and one willing to be taken advantage of, seeing the person still made him feel put off.
His tone immediately turned bad.
“Reason? Reason what? Since you love reasoning so much, why are you still staying in Xiaoheshun Village? Why don’t you go out and save all living beings?”
Auntie He: “……”
“I…”
“What do you mean, I? Don’t stand there talking without pain in your back. Do you have a daughter or a ge’er? If one day Liu Laizi teases your daughter, and you can still hold your temper and reason with him, then come find me. Fine?” Fang Zichen did not plan to give her any face at all. “If it doesn’t concern you, then don’t act like a good person.”
Wang Damei did not know the twists and turns between them. She only felt that Fang Zichen seemed to have a particularly strong opinion of her sister-in-law.
Seeing Auntie He looking embarrassed, she could not help advising, “Boy Fang, your auntie doesn’t mean that. You’ve misunderstood.”
“Misunderstood? Is it that she can’t speak, or that I can’t understand?”
Wang Damei smiled. “It’s that your Auntie He isn’t very good with words.”
“Then less talking is better.” Fang Zichen waved at Zhao ge’er. “Let’s go, home for food.”
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