"Big brother, sister-in-law, what's going on?"
Liu Tiezhu set down the game meat and walked up to his elder brother, asking.
Yaoyao immediately threw herself into Liu Tiezhu's arms.
"It was that bad uncle from the day before yesterday."
"He brought a few other bad uncles and beat up Dad and Uncle."
"Liu Yusheng, I'll fucking kill you."
Ergouzi's eyes turned red the moment he heard this. He grabbed the compound crossbow and turned to leave.
"Gouzi, stop right there."
Liu Tiezhu blocked Ergouzi, preventing him from doing anything rash.
"Big brother, tell me what happened."
Liu Tieshan, seeing he couldn't hide it anymore, spilled the whole story.
That afternoon, Liu Yusheng had brought a few people over, demanding that Liu Tiezhu pay compensation.
He'd gotten into a verbal altercation with Liu Yusheng, and then Liu Yusheng had started hitting them.
Before leaving, he'd threatened them to prepare eight dollars in medical fees, saying they'd come to collect tomorrow, or else this wouldn't be over.
"Big brother, don't worry about this."
"Take Yaoyao and sister-in-law to visit her family tomorrow morning."
Liu Tiezhu clenched his fists, his face full of anger.
That bastard Liu Yusheng was practically knocking on his door with a stick.
He couldn't let this slide.
Once he gave in, it would be a bottomless pit.
Otherwise, it'd be eight dollars this time, ten the next.
From then on, that scoundrel Liu Yusheng would have him by the throat.
Liu Tieshan looked worried and urged, "Tiezhu, forget it, don't blow this out of proportion."
Hearing this, Ergouzi immediately glared.
"Tieshan, we can't just let this go."
"That bastard Liu Yusheng dares to come to our door and hit people today, tomorrow he'll bring people to tear down the house."
"If we let him run wild, how are we supposed to live?"
Second Uncle said, "Gouzi's right. We have to find a way to deal with this."
"But we can handle it without making a big scene."
Liu Tieshan opened his mouth to say something, but Liu Tiezhu cut him off.
"Big brother, don't worry, I won't blow this up."
"When Liu Yusheng comes tomorrow, I'll talk to them first. If we can't reach an agreement, then we'll think of something else."
Liu Tieshan thought it over and finally warned Liu Tiezhu not to resort to violence.
Liu Tiezhu nodded, but inside he was thinking, no way I'm not fighting.
After they'd settled on how to handle Liu Yusheng, everyone finally turned their attention to the game meat.
Seeing the game in Ergouzi's net bag, Second Uncle couldn't believe it.
As his father, he knew exactly what Ergouzi was capable of.
On a normal day in the mountains, if Ergouzi bagged two or three pieces of game, it was already incredibly lucky.
But this time, in just a few hours, he'd caught hundreds of pounds of game, leaving Second Uncle stunned.
"Dad, being able to catch so much game is all thanks to Tiezhu's compound crossbow."
"This crossbow has a scope. As long as the distance isn't too far, the accuracy is almost perfect," Ergouzi explained.
Just then, a shout came from Liu Tieshan's side.
He was overjoyed, looking at the twenty-some hopping wild ducks.
Nowadays, the village promoted self-sufficiency—raising animals and planting crops.
But there weren't many people in the village who could actually buy poultry to raise.
These twenty-some ducks, if they could be raised and bred, would bring in a decent income later.
Huang Xiumei, seeing they'd caught wild chickens and ducks, turned and went into the kitchen to boil water.
Second Uncle pointed to the bamboo cage in the corner of the yard and said, "Tiezhu, what do you think of these seven dogs?"
Only then did Liu Tiezhu notice the cage in the corner.
Inside, seven puppies were huddled together, whether from cold or fear of the new place.
Liu Tiezhu walked over and examined them closely, finding that two of the seven could serve as lead dogs, and one could be a "heavy lifter" for taking on wild boars.
The remaining four weren't much use, but they had large frames and could be used for breeding.
After checking the dogs, Liu Tiezhu turned his gaze back to Second Uncle.
"Second Uncle, these puppies are pretty good. How much did they cost?"
Hearing this, Second Uncle grinned. "Two dollars and ten cents."
"Not bad. These seven dogs are worth that price. I'll pay you back."
This immediately made Second Uncle frown.
"Tiezhu, saying that is slapping me in the face."
"If you insist on paying, I'll take the dogs back."
"Alright, alright, no paying," Liu Tiezhu quickly apologized.
He knew Second Uncle's temperament—stubborn as a mule, just like Ergouzi.
The family worked quickly to process the game, and by the time they finished, it was past seven in the evening.
Huang Xiumei had also prepared dinner by then.
Two wild chickens in soup, a dry-pot of bamboo rat meat, and a plate of greens.
Amidst the steaming heat, the family ate with relish.
After dinner, Liu Tiezhu helped carry the meat back to Ergouzi's place, then pulled Ergouzi aside to talk at the village entrance.
Liu Tiezhu lit a fire and tossed a few raw sweet potatoes into it to roast.
"Gouzi, I've got a question for you. Do you dare to take on that bastard Liu Yusheng?"
Ergouzi's eyes went wide at this.
"Tiezhu, what kind of talk is that? Just say the word, and I'll go all out."
Liu Tiezhu immediately waved his hand. "We can't do anything that ends in death, but we've got to teach that bastard Liu Yusheng a lesson."
"That scumbag will definitely bring a bunch of people tomorrow. The two of us can't handle them alone."
"If we want to beat him up, we need help."
Ergouzi said, "Those bastards in our village never lift a finger without profit."
"If we go asking them, they might even mock us."
Liu Tiezhu thought for a moment and said, "Then we won't ask the villagers. Don't you have a few close buddies in the neighboring Yang Family Village? Can they be trusted?"
"They're no good for big plans, but they're definitely not afraid of a fight," Ergouzi said.
"Then it's settled. Go find them now and meet back here in an hour."
"Tell them that if they throw a punch, each one gets three pounds of meat."
Ergouzi nodded, grabbed a flashlight, and turned to leave.
Liu Tiezhu headed back home, took out three wild chickens and over twenty sweet potatoes, and returned to the village entrance to rekindle the fire.
About forty minutes later, Ergouzi came back with eight young men.
Seeing the wild chickens roasting over the fire, these guys were practically drooling.
After Ergouzi introduced them, they all crowded around, calling him "Brother."
Liu Tiezhu gestured for them to eat first, saying they'd talk business later.
In ten minutes, the three chickens and over twenty sweet potatoes were devoured.
"Brother Tiezhu, just say what you need."
"We won't back down if we can help."
Yang Zhihui, the leader, patted his belly and spoke with bravado.
The other seven clearly followed Yang Zhihui's lead, staying quiet and waiting for Liu Tiezhu to speak.
"It's nothing big. I just want you guys to help teach some thugs a lesson."
"Of course, I won't have you work for free."
"Once this is done, each of you gets three pounds of meat."
Hearing about the three pounds of meat, everyone's eyes lit up.