Second Uncle’s face darkened as he fixed a cold glare on Liu Changhai, who was leading the group.
“Liu Changhai, what are you doing here?”
“And the rest of you, what’s your game?”
“We’re here to discuss something with the Liu Tieshan brothers,” Liu Changhai said.
“Discuss something?” Second Uncle said coldly. “Looks to me like you’re here to pick a fight.”
“I can’t be bothered with you,” Liu Changhai shot back, then raised his voice to shout.
“Liu Tiezhu, Liu Tieshan, what are you hiding in there for? Get out here!”
“Fuck your mother, Liu Changhai, what are you calling your ancestors for?”
Liu Tiezhu stepped out with a grim face, immediately cursing Liu Changhai’s mother.
He still hadn’t settled the score from last time, when Liu Changhai followed that bastard Liu Shan to bully his family.
And now Liu Changhai dared to show up at his door—who gave this son of a bitch the guts?
Seeing Liu Tiezhu’s dark expression, Liu Changhai’s arrogant demeanor instantly deflated.
He stood frozen on the spot, forgetting all the words he’d prepared.
“Speak up, you motherfucker, what are you calling your ancestors for?”
Liu Tiezhu glared at Liu Changhai and pressed on.
“I… I…”
Liu Tiezhu bellowed, cutting Liu Changhai off.
“I’ll fuck your mother, spit it out if you’ve got something to say.”
“I don’t have time to waste on you bastards.”
“Liu Tiezhu, you’re going too far. Uncle Changhai is your elder.”
“As for you…”
Before Liu Zhengguang could finish, Liu Tiezhu roared him down.
“Fuck your mother, what’s it to you if I curse this old bastard?”
“Why the hell are you butting in with your mouth?”
“You… you… you…”
Liu Zhengguang pointed at Liu Tiezhu, stammering for ages without squeezing out a single word.
According to their original plan, they were supposed to butter up Liu Tiezhu first, then use moral blackmail to force his family to share the meat with everyone.
But Liu Tiezhu didn’t play by the rules and wasn’t swayed by moral pressure.
The moment he opened his mouth, aside from cursing their mothers, nothing else could get through.
“You what? Can’t even string a sentence together, and you want to lecture me? Fuck off.”
Liu Zhengguang’s face turned bright red from the scolding, and he didn’t dare say another useless word.
Er Gouzi clapped his hands. “Well said, Brother Tiezhu.”
“These bastards deserve a beating.”
The dozen or so people exchanged glances, none daring to speak.
But thinking of the dozens of pounds of meat, no one wanted to leave just like that.
“Tiezhu, I actually came to borrow some meat from you, nothing else.”
“It’s almost New Year’s, and with the weather lately, we can’t go hunting. So I wanted to borrow a hundred pounds of meat.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back right after New Year’s.” Liu Hegang stepped forward and said.
Borrow a hundred pounds of meat?
Liu Tiezhu’s gaze shifted to Liu Hegang.
“Liu Hegang, you’ve got some nerve asking.”
“A hundred pounds of meat—do you think my house is a meat market?”
Liu Hegang said, “Tiezhu, I know you’ve got a few thousand pounds of meat at home.”
“Just give me a straight answer: are you lending it or not?”
“Liu Hegang, which bastard told you I’ve got a few thousand pounds of meat?” Liu Tiezhu said.
No one knew about the meat at home—where did Liu Hegang get that information?
“Don’t worry about that. Just one word: are you lending it or not?” Liu Hegang said.
Liu Tiezhu didn’t hesitate to flip Liu Hegang off.
“Lend you my ass.”
“With that tone, you’d think I owe you, you bastard.”
“Why the hell should I lend you meat from my house? Do you have any shame?”
“Liu Tiezhu, don’t get cocky. We’re all from the same village—we’re a collective.”
“Everyone’s out of food at home, and you’ve got all this meat. Not sharing it means you’re sabotaging the village collective.”
Liu Hegang spoke with authority, ready to guilt-trip Liu Tiezhu.
“That’s right, we’re all a collective. Why should your family eat meat while we starve?”
“Hand over the meat and split it evenly, or your family won’t have it easy either.”
The others chimed in, looking like they were ready to stage a land reform struggle.
Seeing the crowd’s agitation, Liu Tiezhu couldn’t help but laugh.
“Fuck your mothers, when I didn’t have a wife, did any of you offer yours for me to sleep with?”
“Why should you get to cuddle your wives on a warm bed while I just stare?”
“How about you share your wives with the village bachelors? That’d be fair, wouldn’t it?”
Uh…
Well…
Everyone was choked speechless by Liu Tiezhu’s words.
Liu Changhai refused to give up and stepped forward to argue.
“Liu Tiezhu, can you compare a wife to meat?”
“The whole village is starving—why should your family get to eat their fill?”
“Why?” Liu Tiezhu said. “Because I earned it.”
“You idiots deserve to starve—what’s it got to do with me?”
“Back then, you all backed that old dog Liu Shan. Why didn’t you dare go to his house and demand the meat back?”
“Now you come to my house to borrow meat—what, you think my family’s easy to push around?”
“We are pushing you around. Either way, if you don’t hand over the meat today, this isn’t over.” Liu Changhai threw caution to the wind.
With so many people here and only four men on Liu Tiezhu’s side, he was confident Liu Tiezhu wouldn’t dare cause trouble.
“That’s right, we’re pushing you around—so what?”
“You’re giving up that meat today whether you like it or not.”
“Bottom line, if you don’t lend us the meat, we’re not leaving.”
Everyone jabbered away, looking like they had Liu Tiezhu cornered.
“Oh, fuck your mothers, you really think I’m some pushover to squeeze.”
“I’m laying it out now.”
“You’ve got ten minutes. If any bastard hasn’t scrammed by then, you’ll face the consequences.”
As he spoke, Liu Tiezhu picked up the compound crossbow and loaded a bamboo arrow.
“Gouzi, once ten minutes are up, if any son of a bitch hasn’t left, we fight.”
“Let’s see if these idiots have the balls to stay.”
Er Gouzi immediately grabbed a wooden stick. “Idiots, if you’ve got guts, don’t leave.”
“If I don’t break every bone in your bodies today, I’ll write my name backward.”
This time, Second Uncle didn’t stop Er Gouzi and picked up a wooden stick too.
Even the timid Liu Tieshan didn’t hold Liu Tiezhu back this time; he also grabbed a wooden stick.
Liu Changhai and his crew had gone too far. If they let the old bastard keep causing trouble, life would be unbearable.
Huang Xiumei and Yang Yulan shielded Yao Yao and retreated into the room.
Time ticked by, and Liu Changhai’s heart started to race.
But as the ringleader, he couldn’t be the first to leave.
Otherwise, no one would listen to him in the future.
Soon, it was nine minutes. Second Uncle’s palms were sweating.
Though he was furious, he didn’t want to start a fight either.
On Liu Changhai’s side, everyone was terrified.
They were all gambling, betting that Liu Tiezhu would hold back because of their numbers.
Sweat had already beaded on Liu Changhai’s forehead, and his heart pounded wildly.
“Gouzi, hit them!”
Liu Tiezhu roared and swung a club straight at Liu Changhai’s shoulder.
“Fuck you, you broke your word—it’s not ten minutes yet, you…”
Liu Tiezhu kicked Liu Changhai to the ground, then landed another blow on his lower back.
“Fuck your mother, do I need to check the time to hit you?”