Second Uncle didn’t stop him; instead, he held back Liu Tieshan, who was about to intervene. Ergouzi pinned Liu Yanhai down like riding a horse, his belt smacking down with a series of sharp cracks. “Oh my dear mother, you’re killing me!” Liu Yanhai lay on the ground like a dead dog, wailing in agony. Beside him, Liu Ruyu was already stunned with terror. Snapping out of it, she immediately yelled at Liu Tiezhu: “Liu Tiezhu, what do you thugs think you’re doing?” “Tell this bastard to stop right now, or you’ll never set foot in the Liu family home again!” “Dog, stop hitting him.” Liu Tiezhu stepped forward and pulled back the excited Ergouzi. Seeing this, Liu Ruyu thought Liu Tiezhu was scared and immediately threatened him: “Liu Tiezhu, help my father up right now.” “I’m warning you, if you don’t give me an explanation for today, I swear you’ll never see me again.” “The men chasing after me line up from Liu Family Village all the way to town. You’d better know your place.” “That many people are chasing you?” Liu Tiezhu looked at Liu Ruyu with an incredulous expression. Liu Ruyu lifted her chin arrogantly and commanded Liu Tiezhu: “Help my father up now, and bring out the thirty-eight yuan and eighty cents as a betrothal gift.” “I might as well tell you, Liu Gang is one of the men pursuing me too.” “If you don’t do as I say, you’ll regret it.” Hearing this threat, Liu Tiezhu couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, I really regret it.” “It’s getting late. Don’t hang around here ruining my appetite for dinner.” “Liu Tiezhu, what do you mean by that?” Liu Ruyu’s face turned black with rage as she glared coldly at Liu Tiezhu. “I’m telling you to leave now and go ask your suitors for the betrothal gift.” “You’re not worth thirty-eight yuan and eighty cents. I’d say you’re worth at most two yuan.” Liu Tiezhu waved his hand, looking thoroughly annoyed. “You, you, you…” “Liu Tiezhu, I swear you’ll regret this.” Liu Ruyu was so furious she could spit blood. She helped her father up and turned to leave. She had come hoping to swindle some money, but instead, she got nothing, and her father took a beating—what rotten luck. “Daughter, what do we do now?” “We’ve only got a bit of dried meat left at home; it won’t last until New Year’s.” Liu Yanhai stared with wide eyes, speaking pitifully. Liu Ruyu said, “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll get some dried meat.” “Liu Gang told me his father got over a thousand pounds of meat and rice from the village.” “I’ll find a way to get some from him.” Hearing this, Liu Yanhai’s eyes lit up. “Daughter, Liu Gang is way better than that bastard Liu Tiezhu.” “String him along and get some meat and rice first.” “Don’t worry, Dad, I’ll keep Liu Gang on a leash.” “Liu Tiezhu dared to treat you like this—I’ll make him regret it.” When she mentioned Liu Tiezhu, Liu Ruyu’s eyes gleamed with venom. On the other side, after the Liu father and daughter left, Liu Tiezhu’s family returned to a warm, harmonious atmosphere. “Brother Zhu, if you hadn’t pulled me off, I’d have whipped that old dog until his skin split open,” Ergouzi said, still not satisfied as he tossed a piece of meat into his mouth. Liu Tiezhu scolded with a laugh, “You little rascal, always causing trouble. What if something goes wrong?” “A few lashes with the belt to let off steam is fine, but if you really hurt him and he ends up lying around, would you take care of him?” Liu Tieshan said, “That father-daughter pair wouldn’t come asking for money for no reason. Something’s definitely off.” Liu Tiezhu analyzed, “I think it’s the snowstorm causing a chain reaction.” “Given Liu Yusheng’s lazy habits, the Liu family probably doesn’t have much food.” “The father and daughter came here just to squeeze some money out of me.” Everyone thought it over and agreed with Liu Tiezhu’s reasoning. Second Uncle took a swig of strong liquor and gazed out the window. “If this snowstorm lasts more than ten days, a lot of people are going to suffer.” Liu Tiezhu, worried his uncle might get too softhearted, warned him, “Uncle, we can’t worry about others.” “No matter how tough things get for the villagers, we can’t let anyone know we have food stored at home.” It wasn’t that he was heartless, but in the midst of relentless snowstorms, whether his own family could survive was still uncertain. If others found out they had food, they’d surely band together to target them. At that point, laws and morals would mean nothing. When people are starving to death, who cares about such things? Besides, there were dozens of households in Liu Family Village, and most of them weren’t good people. He had no obligation or responsibility to help those who had bullied him. “Don’t worry, Zhu. I’m just lamenting the disasters and hardships,” Second Uncle replied, taking another gulp of the strong liquor to ease his mood. After dinner, Second Uncle and the others went to bed early. Outside, the wind howled fiercely, and snow fell in thick flurries. The village roads were visibly buried under snow, and many trees collapsed under the weight. Liu Tiezhu couldn’t sleep. He picked up some firewood and tossed it into the stove, then placed an aluminum kettle on top to brew tea. The rising steam warmed the chill from his body. Soon, the tea in the kettle began to boil. Liu Tiezhu poured a cup, blew on it to cool it, and downed it in one go. The tea settled in his stomach, sharpening his mind. In his past life, he had left the village just as the first snowstorm began. He remembered that storm lasted seventeen straight days. Under the freezing temperatures, all plants died. Many small animals in the mountains also perished in that storm. During that snowstorm, many people ran out of their stored food. They thought the storm would pass, but instead, an even bigger one came. After the second snowstorm, villages started seeing people die of starvation. That was when some villagers began to turn to crooked schemes. Dozens of people formed groups and started preying on their neighbors. After that, other villages followed suit, looting and burning. Eventually, these groups carved out their own territories. It wasn’t until the snowstorm ended and authorities came down to suppress them that these groups quietly disbanded. Liu Tiezhu carefully recalled every detail from his past life. He needed to prevent his family from losing their lives in this disaster. Now, all his plans were falling into place. If nothing went wrong, getting his family through the snowstorm shouldn’t be a problem. The only shortcoming was his physical fitness. In his past life as a mercenary, he had a special training regimen. That regimen required a lot of protein to sustain. Luckily, they had thousands of pounds of meat stored at home, enough for him to use freely. Once his fitness improved and he trained the hunting dogs well, he could hunt more game in the mountains. But how to haul the game out of the deep mountains was a headache. Relying on manpower alone wouldn’t work. Going back and forth would be time-consuming and exhausting. Just as Liu Tiezhu was fretting over the transport issue, urgent knocking came from outside the wooden door again. “Brother Dashan, Zhu, help…!” In the silent, snowy night, the crying voice outside was especially piercing. As soon as the voice fell, lights flicked on throughout the house. Second Uncle wrapped his cotton coat around himself and hurried over to open the door. When the wooden door swung open, Second Uncle couldn’t help but jump in shock.