Without Jian Xiu by his side, dealing with Zhang Zixuan would be as easy as turning a hand.

Thinking of this, Old Madam Liu quickened her pace impatiently.

At the edge of the village.

After his mother and siblings had left, Zhang Zixuan started gathering plantain herbs.

Jian Xiu had told him that they wouldn’t be able to profit from this for long because soon, the villagers would catch on.

You can hide it for a while, but not forever.

So, he needed to gather as much as possible before others found out.

If Fei Xuan and Fei Yi performed well in their exams today, they would need even more money.

And then there was the house construction—just from Jian Xiu’s design draft alone, it would take at least dozens of taels of silver to build properly.

Thinking of this, his hands didn’t stop peeling bamboo shoots.

As he peeled, the stove nearby was also boiling bamboo shoots.

“Mother, from the looks of it, Jian Xiu won’t be back so soon. Let’s go in quickly!”

Even before they arrived, their voices had already reached the yard.

Zhang Zixuan, being trained in martial arts, had keener hearing than ordinary people.

Hearing this, his brows furrowed immediately.

But he reacted quickly, grabbing the wooden staff he had prepared earlier and placing it beside his wheelchair, ready to fight at any moment.

Then, he swiftly moved the bamboo shoots aside and covered them with straw.

Only after ensuring they wouldn’t be discovered did he walk toward the courtyard gate to wait for them.

After making all these preparations, Zhang Zixuan narrowed his eyes and looked toward the gate.

Sure enough, before long, Old Madam Liu led the people from the first and second households to the courtyard.

Having learned from the last incident, Old Man Zhang didn’t come this time.

It made sense—why would he personally involve himself in such matters?

He and Old Madam Liu had always played their roles—one as the strict one, the other as the kind one.

In situations like this, Old Man Zhang would never step forward, leaving Old Madam Liu to act while he pulled the strings from behind.

Simply put, Old Madam Liu was just a pawn being used, but she remained oblivious to it.

Jian Xiu and Zhang Zixuan had analyzed all this.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have thought so deeply about it.

“Bang!”

Old Madam Liu kicked open the courtyard gate.

When she saw that Zhang Zixuan was indeed alone, she didn’t even realize that a weight had lifted from her heart.

The memory of Jian Xiu beating her last time was still vivid in her mind.

“What are you all doing here? Don’t forget—we’ve already severed ties. We have nothing to do with each other anymore,” Zhang Zixuan said with a frown.

“Nothing to do with each other? Hahaha! All these years, you’ve eaten my food and drunk my water. Didn’t all of that cost money?”

“In my years as a bodyguard, I must have earned you plenty. Do I really need to remind you how our fourth household was treated in the Zhang family’s old house?” Zhang Zixuan replied indifferently.

Others might not dare to say such things, but Zhang Zixuan wasn’t a fool.

Back when he could still walk, his family’s life in the old house was at least tolerable.

But ever since he became paralyzed, his household had lived in constant suffering.

And all of it was because of the old woman standing before him—Old Madam Liu.

Thinking about this, there was no reason for him to be polite to her.

“Hahaha! I raised you for decades, and you think that little bit of silver repays the debt? Let me tell you, severing ties is impossible unless you give me another hundred taels of silver—”

“You must be dreaming!” Zhang Zixuan interrupted before she could finish.

Seeing this, Zhang Zihua quickly interjected:

“Mother, why are you wasting words with him? If he won’t give us the money, we’ll just take everything in his house!”

“That’s right! Take everything! Let’s see if they still refuse to hand over the silver. I heard that wretched woman sold a few wild boars for dozens of taels. Since we’re already here, that money should naturally belong to us, shouldn’t it?”

Hearing Zhang Zihua’s words, Zhang Zixuan felt an indescribable emotion in his heart.

Even if he wasn’t related to these people by blood—even if they weren’t truly his family—

The bonds they shared from growing up together were real.

In the past, he never understood why, though they all called Old Madam Liu “Mother,” she never seemed to like him.

If Jian Xiu hadn’t pointed it out, he wouldn’t have thought about it so deeply.

Looking back now, Jian Xiu had been right.

But he couldn’t blame Zhang Zihua. Back in the old house, the only one he had been close to was Zhang Zifu from the third household.

Thinking of this, Zhang Zixuan glanced toward the group at the gate.

Luckily, the third household wasn’t there.

It seemed they knew that Zhang Zifu wouldn’t turn against him, so they had deliberately excluded them.

Realizing this, Zhang Zixuan smirked coldly.

“What are you laughing at? Do you think you’re still the same Zhang Zixuan as before?” Zhang Zihua asked, stiffening his neck.

“None of you will lay a finger on anything here. If you try, don’t blame me for being ruthless with this staff,” Zhang Zixuan said coldly.

While speaking, his gaze never left Old Madam Liu.

Zhang Zixuan knew that if she gave the order, no matter how unwilling the others were, they wouldn’t dare to act.

But to his surprise, as soon as he finished speaking, Old Madam Liu burst into wild laughter.

“You? Just a cripple? What makes you think you can stop us? Zirong, Zihua, go inside and bring out that sack of rice we didn’t take last time.”

“Who dares?” Zhang Zixuan said coldly, raising his staff.

Seeing this, the eldest son, Zhang Zirong, finally spoke:

“Third brother, don’t blame us for being ruthless. The whole village knows your household caught a group of wild boars. You even gifted half a pig to Jian Xiu’s mother’s family, but our old house didn’t even get a single piece of meat?”

Zhang Zirong thought he was speaking reasonably.

In his mind, Their actions today were entirely justified because the fourth household had been unfilial.