Chapter 38: Fighting

If they stay in the camp and do nothing, they can still receive money. If this continues, many people will become lazy and develop a mindset of sitting back and enjoying the gains.

Those who take risks and work hard should not have their rewards shared with those who do nothing. It’s unfair to those who put in the effort.”

“If this trend continues, there will be more and more lazy individuals in the group who expect something for nothing.

Eventually, our team won’t get far, and if something happens, they could easily lose focus and bring about our downfall.”

Butcher Yang chuckled, “You’re right.”

In truth, he was only testing the waters. If she wanted to propose splitting the rewards but felt awkward doing so, he would initiate the conversation to give her a reason to agree.

As the people rested in the woods, preparing fire to cook, the sun began to set, and the Yang family and Su Baozhu grew increasingly anxious.

Su Baozhu glanced toward the direction they had left from time to time, feeling more uneasy as time passed.

“Baozhu, do you think something might have happened to Yinyin and the others?” Su’s mother asked worriedly.

“Sister-in-law, Yinyin is very capable; she will be fine. Remember how she was able to take down three attackers by herself in that dangerous situation?” Su Baozhu reassured her.

Though she attempted to comfort Mother Su, a sense of worry lingered in her heart. They hadn’t provoked the other group, yet they had sent people to kill them, which demonstrated the ferocity of those individuals.

As night fell and the darkness deepened, the absence of the three made Mother Su increasingly anxious.

“Sister, try not to worry. Yinyin will be okay,” Sister Li said, trying to provide some solace.

“By this point in the journey, they should have returned.”

Just then, a strong woman passed by them with a smirk on her face, clearly enjoying the unease surrounding them. That little girl deserved her bad luck, she thought.

Recalling how this family had humiliated her a few days ago, she couldn’t help but taunt, “Sister Chunhua, I’m not saying anything bad, but if that girl had nothing to do, she shouldn’t have run out to see what was going on.

If something happened to her, well, she would have brought it upon herself. What’s the use of feeling sorry for those people?”

Aunt Li responded angrily, “Big Zhuang Niang, are you even speaking human language? Don’t forget, if it weren’t for Su Yatou, you wouldn’t even be standing here to make sarcastic remarks. How can you be so ungrateful? Have you lost your conscience?”

“I can stand here thanks to everyone, but what can she do? If she’s so powerful, why couldn’t she handle it all by herself?” the strong woman retorted.

Aunt Li was so furious that she lunged at her, ready to tear into her verbally.

Su’s mother quickly intervened to stop Aunt Li, but soon there was a loud “pop.”

The strong woman covered her face, staring in disbelief at Madam Xu, who had just slapped her.

This woman, who seemed so insignificant, actually dared to strike her.

“How dare you hit me!” the strong woman exclaimed, shock mixed with anger.

“You’ve got such a filthy mouth; you absolutely deserve it,” Madam Xu retorted.

“You think you can just bully me? I’ll show you!” The strong woman rolled up her sleeves and charged at Madam Xu.

This time, Mother Su didn’t hold back Aunt Li. Instead, she joined the fray herself, rushing in to defend her daughter.

Madam Xu was fighting for her daughter, and she couldn’t just stand by and let her suffer.

The commotion drew the attention of everyone nearby. When women fought, men typically held back, but the other women in the area rushed forward to break up the brawl. If they didn’t intervene, the strong woman would surely be beaten badly.

The strong woman, once rescued, had her hair in disarray, scratches on her face, and her clothing was a mess, leaving her looking utterly defeated.

Seeing the crowd gathering, she fell to the ground, pointing at the sky and the ground as she began to wail and moan.

“Ouch! This is so unreasonable! The Su family is bullying me! A married woman is using her brothers to intimidate me! Why must I suffer like this?

I just said one little thing and got slapped for it!”

When Yang Lizheng arrived, the strong woman’s howls grew more intense, giving him a headache.

“Stop shouting! Are you trying to attract wild beasts? And don’t come crying to me when the time comes, and you have no idea how people might die,” he warned, his voice stern.

The moment he spoke, the strong woman fell silent, clearly intimidated. However, she quickly recovered, saying, “Li Zheng, you have to make a decision for me! They bullied me all by myself. Look at how they’ve beaten me!”

Yang Dashu’s daughter-in-law chimed in, “Why should I be the one to beat you? If you’re so tough, why didn’t you say anything about what you did?”

Everyone in the village was well aware of the strong woman’s reputation.

“What did I say? I just spoke the truth,” the strong woman insisted defiantly.

“Then tell me, what truth did you tell?” someone pressed.

“I, I…” The strong woman hesitated, suddenly feeling too guilty to elaborate.

Butcher Yang’s wife smiled and asked, “Dazhuang, go on! You don’t dare to speak because you know you said something you shouldn’t have, right? That’s why you got beaten.”

“Who said that!” Dazhuang frowned, feeling cornered by the mocking eyes around her. Heartbroken, she continued, “All I said was that Su Yin shouldn’t go out to check things. And then, out of nowhere, they started attacking me! Look, I was beaten by them!”

Her exaggeration only fueled the anger of those listening.

Several villagers whispered among themselves after hearing her.

“That’s right.”

“I can understand if Chunhua felt uneasy after hearing that. I wouldn’t feel comfortable either, but I wouldn’t resort to violence. That’s too much.”

“Indeed, that’s a bit inappropriate, but you can’t hit someone over it.”

“Who knows if what Dazhuang said is true? You all seem so sure.”

“I believe Chunhua and Yanggui wouldn’t act without reason.”

Yang Li observed Su’s mother and the others, waiting for their input.

“What do you say?” he asked.

Madam Xu spoke up first. “Let me clarify. After all, I was the one who slapped her first. When I approached, I happened to hear the big strong lady say…”

Madam Xu recounted the events as they unfolded. As she repeated Dazhuang’s words verbatim, the crowd began to regard the strong woman with disapproving looks.

Dazhuang sensed the shift in the atmosphere but refused to back down. “I’m right! Everyone contributed to taking down those few attackers. Yanggui said she was my benefactor, so I have to defend myself!”

“She wants to go out and check. If something happened to her, she didn’t deserve it,” Dazhuang insisted.

As soon as she finished speaking, there were two loud ‘dong’ sounds as the wooden stick in Yang Lizheng’s hand struck her sharply.

The strong woman winced in pain, almost letting out a scream, but the cold, stern gaze of Yang Lizheng silenced her words before they could escape her mouth. A wave of fear washed over her.

Yang Li was speaking to Dazhuang’s father and grandfather in the crowd. “Discipline your daughter-in-law well. If she can’t keep her mouth shut, maybe she shouldn’t speak at all.”

After making that point, he turned to the surrounding villagers and said seriously, “Whether Su Yatou has merit or not is not for me to decide. You should reflect on it according to your own conscience.

Su Yatou has led everyone out of danger several times.

This time, she went out to investigate for the safety of all of us. I don’t expect you to treat her poorly that would be commendable but at the very least, don’t engage in such unscrupulous behavior.”

“You all have your own minds; make your own decisions about how to act. I don’t want the people of Xinghua Village to be seen as ungrateful.”