After taking two hits from a stick and a kick, Liu Changhai instantly lost his nerve. None of the people behind him dared to step forward to help. No one had expected Liu Tiezhu to actually strike. And he struck so hard, aiming to take Liu Changhai’s life. “Gouzi, hit them! I don’t care if I die today—I’ll take out all these bastards!” Liu Tiezhu roared, landing another kick to Liu Changhai’s lower abdomen. Er Gouzi didn’t back down either. He charged into the crowd, swinging his wooden stick. The crowd scattered in an instant, vanishing within minutes. They had come only to extort some meat from Liu Tiezhu’s family. They didn’t have the guts to fight two madmen like Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi head-on. Liu Changhai’s face turned green with rage. He hadn’t expected these men to lack courage despite their size. It had barely started, and they’d already fled, leaving him, an old man, behind. “Stop… stop hitting me! If you keep going, I’ll die!” Liu Changhai clutched his lower abdomen, pleading in pain. Liu Tiezhu grabbed him and yanked him up. “Who the hell told you my family has thousands of pounds of meat?” “If you don’t tell me today, I’ll chop off your dick and be done with it.” “It… it was Liu Haifeng…” Liu Changhai’s eyes darted around, and he immediately threw Liu Haifeng under the bus. “Damn it, I knew it was that bastard!” Gouzi cursed loudly, grabbed his stick, and turned to leave. “Gouzi, come back.” Liu Tiezhu stopped Er Gouzi, then shoved Liu Changhai away. “Get the hell out of here. If you come looking for trouble again, it won’t end with just a beating next time.” Liu Changhai’s courage had completely evaporated. He scrambled away, crawling and running with surprising speed. “Brother Tiezhu, are we really letting that bastard Liu Haifeng off?” Er Gouzi said, his face full of anger. “Let him off?” Liu Tiezhu’s gaze turned cold. “That bastard caused such a big mess for our family. How could we let him off?” “Then why did you stop me? Let’s go take care of that son of a bitch right now.” Liu Tiezhu said, “What’s the rush? You’ve got to use your head.” “Now’s not the time to deal with that bastard. We’ll go tonight.” “Save your strength for digging now.” Uncle said, “Gouzi, listen to Tiezhu. Focus on finishing the new cellar.” “Now that the neighbors know we have meat, they won’t let this go easily.” During the day, these people wouldn’t dare to rob openly, but at night, it was a different story. Besides, once word of the meat got out, it would attract covetous eyes from other villages. “That bastard Liu Haifeng—I should have broken his leg last night.” The more Uncle thought about it, the angrier he got, and he couldn’t help cursing. Liu Tiezhu said, “Uncle, don’t get worked up. It was only a matter of time before the news about our meat got out.” “Getting exposed early isn’t necessarily a bad thing. At least we have enough time to prepare.” “If these people dare to sneak in and steal, I’ll make sure they know our meat isn’t so easy to take.” Uncle paused, then asked, “Tiezhu, what do you have in mind?” Liu Tiezhu said, “I’m planning to set up some traps around the courtyard wall.” “If those bastards try to climb over, I’ll make them regret it.” Uncle thought for a moment and said, “Tiezhu, traps are fine, but don’t kill anyone.” “Don’t worry, I’ll just teach them a lesson,” Liu Tiezhu said. Setting up some injurious traps was easy for him. The bamboo in the grove was the best material for traps, and it didn’t require much effort. With his mind made up, Liu Tiezhu grabbed a hatchet and headed to the bamboo grove. Uncle and the others stayed behind to start digging the new cellar. By noon, Liu Tiezhu returned carrying a bundle of bamboo. Each piece was two meters long, made from old bamboo with excellent flexibility. Huang Xiumei and Yang Yulan had also finished cooking lunch by then. The two women called the men to stop working and eat. After lunch, Uncle and the others continued digging. Liu Tiezhu took the bamboo to the wall. He first drove iron nails into the wall as anchor points for the traps. Then he tied one end of a white cowhide rope to the bamboo, bent the other end back, and connected a buckle in the middle. This trap worked on the same principle as an automatic fishing trap, but Liu Tiezhu adapted it from vertical to horizontal. If a thief jumped down from the wall and touched the cowhide rope, the buckle would release, and the anchored bamboo would snap forward with force. Of course, just the bamboo wasn’t enough. Liu Tiezhu also nailed iron spikes onto wooden boards and laid them around the wall, waiting for some unlucky soul to step on them. After setting up over a dozen traps, the sky had darkened. Uncle told Yang Haitian not to go home, so he wouldn’t have to come back early the next morning. There were plenty of empty rooms in the house, so there was no shortage of places to sleep. Yang Haitian thought it over and didn’t refuse Uncle. After dinner, everyone gathered at the wall to inspect Liu Tiezhu’s traps. “Tiezhu, will these bamboo pieces actually work?” Uncle asked doubtfully, seeing the bamboo bent and fixed around the wall. Liu Tiezhu said, “Uncle, don’t underestimate these traps.” “If those bastards step on the cowhide rope, the bamboo will snap at them—it’ll be more than enough to give them a hard time.” “And look at the boards on the ground. Each one has five iron spikes. If they step on those, they’ll be in for a world of pain.” Er Gouzi grinned after hearing this. “Brother Tiezhu, honestly, I’m kind of looking forward to those bastards coming to steal now.” Liu Tiezhu chuckled. “Right? Me too.” “If we don’t teach these bastards a serious lesson, they’ll think our family is an easy target.” This time, Uncle didn’t say anything more. He turned and pulled Yang Haitian away, saying he wanted to have a few more drinks. After the two left, Liu Tiezhu said, “Gouzi, go prepare two wooden sticks.” Er Gouzi got excited and asked, “Are we going to settle the score with Liu Haifeng?” Liu Tiezhu said, “If we’re not going to settle accounts with that bastard, are we supposed to invite him to dinner?” “He deliberately leaked the news about our meat to make life impossible for us.” “That vicious bastard needs a harsh lesson.” “I’ll go prepare now. Do we need anything else?” Gouzi asked. Liu Tiezhu said, “No, just the two of us and two sticks will be enough to give that bastard a hard time.” Er Gouzi nodded and went to get the sticks. Around eight in the evening, the entire village was plunged into pitch-black darkness. The snow had stopped, but the wind had picked up. Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi each took a wooden stick and left the yard, heading toward Liu Haifeng’s house. Uncle saw them off but didn’t stop them, only letting out a helpless sigh. Fifteen minutes later, they reached the outside of Liu Haifeng’s yard. Liu Haifeng lived alone—his older brother and sister-in-law had long moved to the edge of the village to get away from this scoundrel. Liu Tiezhu observed for a moment, confirmed Liu Haifeng was home, and immediately climbed over the wall. Er Gouzi, after some training, was also agile and followed right behind. “Brother Tiezhu, look what that bastard is doing?” Once they stood still, Er Gouzi pointed at the window. There, a shadow was holding a woman’s bra, while the other hand made an indescribable motion. At the cringe-worthy sight, Liu Tiezhu couldn’t help cursing. “Damn it, this animal is truly despicable.” “That bastard must have stolen some woman’s bra and is fantasizing.” Er Gouzi grinned, a wicked idea flashing through his mind.