"Dog, you listen to everything Brother Zhuzi says."
"Whatever Zhuzi tells you to do, you do it. If you dare disobey, I'll beat you."
Second Uncle glared at Er Gouzi, speaking with a stern face.
"Don't worry, Dad. I'll definitely listen to Brother Zhuzi."
Er Gouzi nodded heavily, his expression serious.
Liu Tiezhu said, "Next, I'll assign everyone their tasks."
"Big Brother, Sister-in-law, Second Uncle, don't go anywhere for now."
"Use the break in the snowstorm to tear down all the courtyard walls and reinforce them, raising them to two meters."
"Zhuzi, what are you planning to do?" Liu Tieshan couldn't help asking.
"Guard against thieves."
"Think about it, Big Brother—once the villagers can't get enough to eat, won't they start having crooked ideas?"
"We need to prepare in advance."
Liu Tiezhu didn't hide it and directly stated the reason.
Liu Tieshan thought for a moment and agreed that reinforcing and raising the courtyard walls was necessary.
After speaking, Liu Tiezhu's gaze returned to Second Uncle.
"Second Uncle, Dog, you don't need to go back either."
"Move in tonight. I have three rooms in the west wing. With more people, we can look out for each other."
"Alright, we'll go back and grab our stuff in a bit."
Second Uncle wasn't one to dawdle. Hearing this, he nodded immediately.
After handling the bamboo shoots, they moved them all to the cellar for storage.
By then, it was almost dinner time.
Second Uncle and Er Gouzi hurried back to move their things, while Sister-in-law Huang Xiumei went into the kitchen to cook.
With some free time, Liu Tiezhu pondered how to train the puppies next.
He had already sorted the nine puppies.
Big Sweet Potato, Taro, and Cassava—these three pups would serve as the vanguard, responsible for finding prey.
Banner Spear No. 1, Banner Spear No. 2, and Banner Spear No. 3 would be the heavy hitters, tasked with tearing into prey.
War Banner, with its slender build, was suited to helping Big Sweet Potato and the other two hounds circle the prey.
The remaining two, Spade and Niu Niu, lacked hunting instincts and could only serve as breeding dogs.
But heading into the mountains with just these dogs wasn't enough.
"Looks like I'll need to make another trip to town tomorrow."
Liu Tiezhu thought for a moment and decided to go to the town to buy ten more hunting dogs.
After playing with Yaoyao for a while, Second Uncle and Er Gouzi arrived.
They pulled a cart full of stuff—besides daily necessities, there was rice and dried meat.
Liu Tiezhu helped move the things to the cellar and then helped clean the rooms.
After all the hustle, it was past six in the evening.
By then, the snow was falling harder, and the wind was howling stronger, toppling many large trees outside the village.
Once they finished, they set the table for dinner.
Just then, a knock came at the courtyard gate.
"Who's that at this hour?"
"Could it be Liu Shan and his bunch?"
They exchanged glances, and finally Liu Tieshan went out, calling out to ask who it was.
"It's me, Liu Yanhai. I'm here to see Zhuzi. I need to talk to him."
A response came quickly from outside.
Liu Yanhai?
Hearing the name, everyone looked at each other in confusion.
"Did Liu Yusheng not tell his old man about what happened between them?"
As Liu Tiezhu wondered, his big brother had already opened the courtyard gate.
Outside stood not only Liu Yanhai but also Liu Ruyu.
The father and daughter both wore sour expressions, as if someone had offended them.
"Uncle Hai, Ruyu, come in and sit."
Guests were guests, and even with their sour faces, Liu Tieshan greeted them warmly.
As soon as Liu Yanhai sat down, he raised his voice and said, "We're here to discuss the marriage with Liu Tiezhu."
"Our Liu family doesn't ask for much—thirty-eight dollars and eighty cents as the bride price."
"You need to come up with this money today, and I'll pick an auspicious day for the wedding."
"If you can't produce the bride price today, then let's call off the engagement."
"Then let's call it off."
No sooner had Liu Yanhai finished than Liu Tiezhu responded with a nonchalant tone.
Hearing this, Liu Yanhai's face darkened immediately.
Before he could lose his temper, Liu Ruyu cut in, "Liu Tiezhu, what do you mean by that?"
His indifferent attitude made her feel insulted, and she was furious.
"Calling off the engagement—wasn't that clear enough just now?"
Liu Tiezhu still wore that unconcerned expression.
This instantly enraged Liu Yanhai.
He pointed at Liu Tiezhu and snapped, "Kid, you can't just call off the engagement whenever you feel like it."
"Then what do you want?" Liu Tiezhu asked.
"If you want to break it off, fine, but you've damaged my daughter's reputation, so you need to compensate."
"I'm not asking for much—just eighteen dollars."
Liu Yanhai held his head high, looking down on them.
Liu Ruyu chimed in, "I heard from my brother that your family eats meat and fish every meal."
"Compensating me eighteen dollars isn't too much for you."
Hearing this, Liu Tiezhu couldn't help but laugh.
Now he finally understood the real reason the father and daughter had come.
It wasn't that Liu Yusheng hadn't told them about their earlier grudge—it was that the two of them knew the marriage was off and wanted to squeeze some money out of him.
What a piece of work this family was.
Seeing his reaction, Liu Ruyu immediately started cursing.
"Liu Tiezhu, what are you laughing at?"
"Are you trying to shirk responsibility?"
"What responsibility?" Liu Tiezhu fixed his gaze on Liu Ruyu's face and asked seriously, "Liu Ruyu, did I sleep with you, or do something to you?"
"You're the one calling off the marriage—what's it got to do with me?"
"You want eighteen dollars? I don't have it. I've got eighteen cents in my pocket—want that?"
"Bastard, scumbag, you're humiliating me."
"If you don't compensate me today, I'm not letting this go."
Liu Ruyu's face flushed red with anger as she threw a tantrum.
"You little brat, humiliating my daughter like this—I won't let you off."
"I'm telling you now, you'll pay this money whether you like it or not."
"Otherwise, this isn't over."
Liu Yanhai pointed at Liu Tiezhu's nose, threatening him.
"You bastard, trying to throw your weight around, huh?"
Er Gouzi couldn't take it anymore and stepped forward.
Liu Yanhai wasn't about to back down from Er Gouzi either, coldly retorting, "Little punk, get out of my way."
"This is between me and Liu Tiezhu—keep your mouth shut."
"Screw you."
Er Gouzi's temper flared, and he raised his hand.
Liu Tieshan quickly pulled him back.
But Liu Yanhai leaned in, shoving his face toward Er Gouzi.
"Little punk, you want to hit me? Go ahead, try it."
"Touch me, and I'll drop right here—you'll be feeding me for the rest of my life."
Liu Yanhai slapped his own face a few times, looking like he was begging for it.
Er Gouzi was grinding his teeth in fury, wanting to tear the old man apart.
"Liu Yanhai, what exactly do you want? Don't start trouble in my house."
Seeing Liu Yanhai's attitude, Liu Tieshan was angry too.
"I'm here to start trouble—so what?"
"Hit me, if you've got the guts."
"You bunch of cowards, not a real man among you."
"I'm shoving my face right in front of you, and you still won't swing."
Liu Yanhai kept slapping his own face, taunting them arrogantly.
"To hell with you."
Liu Tiezhu couldn't take it anymore. He raised his hand and slapped Liu Yanhai across the face, again and again.
"You rotten old bastard, since you love getting slapped so much, I'll give you what you want."
Liu Tiezhu hit him a few more times with the back of his hand.
Liu Yanhai was terrified—he never expected Liu Tiezhu to actually hit him, and so hard.
"Brother Zhuzi, let me handle this."
"I'm good at dealing with old dogs."
Er Gouzi howled with excitement, pulling the belt from his pants.