This punch was incredibly powerful, knocking out another of Liu Yangshan's front teeth.
Liu Yangshan's eyes were bloodshot, his expression one of wanting to devour Liu Tiezhu alive.
"Fucking not convinced, huh? I'll beat you until you are today."
As he spoke, Liu Tiezhu's fists rained down on Liu Yangshan's face one after another.
A few minutes later, Liu Yangshan's entire face was covered in blood, looking terrifying.
"I'm convinced, I'm convinced."
After taking that beating, Liu Yangshan suddenly realized Liu Tiezhu really would kill him.
"Convinced, huh? Pay up."
Liu Tiezhu rudely held out his hand to Liu Yangshan.
"What money? When did I ever owe you money?" Liu Yangshan snapped angrily.
Liu Tiezhu slapped him across the face.
"You son of a bitch, playing dumb?"
"I damn near wore myself out beating you, don't you think you owe me a labor fee?"
Liu Yangshan was so furious he could spit blood.
Not only did he get beaten by Liu Tiezhu, but now he had to pay a labor fee in return.
"How much do you want?" Liu Yangshan asked, forcing down his rage.
"Ten bucks, not a cent less." Liu Tiezhu's tone brooked no argument.
"Ten bucks? Fuck you, why don't you just rob me?"
"I'll give you one buck at most, take it or leave it."
Liu Yangshan gritted his teeth, speaking with fury.
"Dog, beat the shit out of him."
Liu Tiezhu didn't coddle Liu Yangshan, directly ordering Er Gouzi.
"Motherfucker, one buck? You think we're beggars?"
Er Gouzi cursed loudly, his fist slamming mercilessly into Liu Yangshan's lower abdomen.
After several blows, Liu Yangshan was vomiting stomach acid.
He quickly waved his hands and pulled ten bucks from his pocket.
"Stop hitting, ten bucks, I'll pay."
"You dumb fuck, your bones are just cheap—you only feel good after getting beaten."
Er Gouzi took the ten bucks and still kicked Liu Yangshan in frustration.
"Liu Yangshan, you'd better cool it."
"If I find out you're stirring shit, I'll have a good talk with Uncle Ming."
"Then we'll see if Uncle Ming digs up your ancestral graves or not."
Before leaving, Liu Tiezhu didn't forget to warn Liu Yangshan.
"Tiezhu, don't worry, he won't cause any more trouble."
Yang Xiaoli put on a flattering smile as she saw the two off.
"That was satisfying, tonight's work wasn't for nothing."
Er Gouzi grinned, looking smug as hell.
"Don't celebrate too early. This isn't over." Liu Tiezhu warned.
"Brother Tiezhu, you mean that bastard Liu Yangshan will still stir trouble?"
"Isn't he afraid we'll expose his affair with Yang Xiaoli?" Er Gouzi said.
"Of course he's afraid."
"But he doesn't have to do it himself—he can secretly get others to cause trouble." Liu Tiezhu said.
Hearing this, Er Gouzi couldn't help cursing.
"Motherfucker, if we catch him scheming behind our backs again, we won't go easy on him."
The two got home late at night.
Second Uncle was still awake, sitting by the stove in the yard, drinking strong liquor.
Seeing them return safely, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Dad, why are you still sitting out here alone so late?" Er Gouzi asked.
"Just worried about you two. Good that you're fine, go get some rest early."
Second Uncle smiled, picked up his bottle, and stood.
"Dad, wait."
Er Gouzi took out the ten bucks and handed it to Second Uncle.
Second Uncle was startled and asked, "Dog, where'd you get ten bucks?"
"Dad, it's from that bastard Liu Yangshan."
Er Gouzi didn't hide it, telling him about Liu Yangshan and Yang Xiaoli's affair.
"This world is really messed up. If Liu Xiaoming finds out, there'll be bloodshed."
Second Uncle sighed, stuffed the money back into Er Gouzi's hand, and turned to go to his room.
Watching Second Uncle's retreating figure, Er Gouzi looked confused.
"What's up with him? He seems unhappy?"
Liu Tiezhu said, "That's how the older generation is—they value relationships and don't want to see neighbors in trouble."
"Get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll get up early to train."
...
The next day, Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi got up.
In the yard, Second Uncle and the others were already busy.
To finish digging the new cellar quickly, they were working with great energy.
Sister-in-law and Yang Yulan had breakfast ready and called everyone to stop working.
After breakfast, Liu Tiezhu and Er Gouzi headed to the bamboo grove.
They still had a ten-minute time limit to navigate through layers of obstacles and reach the 1,500-meter destination.
Another day passed quickly, and only at night did the two drag their exhausted bodies back.
After dinner, everyone took out buckets and soaked in the medicinal water boiled in the big pot.
Soaking in this water quickly relieved the day's fatigue.
Day after day, they worked on the cellar and trained.
Ten days later, the weather changed again, and the snow fell even heavier.
The hunters waiting for better weather had completely given up on going into the mountains.
Every household in the village had run out of food.
Some thick-skinned people went to borrow from friends or relatives.
But at this time, no one had much stored grain.
Even brothers wouldn't easily lend out food.
Some people started getting crooked ideas, forming small groups to break into villagers' homes at night and rob them.
This had already happened several times in other villages.
Although Liu Family Village hadn't seen robberies yet, there had been over a dozen incidents of grain theft.
After dinner, Second Uncle gathered everyone to discuss how to protect against grain theft.
The new cellar was already built, and the stored grain was safe.
But these groups of villagers wouldn't stop until they got something.
Eventually, they would resort to injuring or even killing people.
As the eldest in the family, Second Uncle had to find a way to prevent such incidents.
"Dad, we don't need to worry."
"If these bastards dare to break in and rob, we won't go easy on them."
"Brother Tiezhu and I aren't pushovers with our weapons. If they're not afraid to die, let them try."
Er Gouzi didn't grasp the seriousness of the situation and spoke carelessly.
Second Uncle glared and scolded, "Shut up. Besides fighting and killing, can you think of anything else?"
"There are dozens of them. Can you take them all out in one go?"
"Second Uncle is right. If these people dare to break in and rob, they're definitely not good people."
"It's best to avoid a direct fight. Actually fighting should be a last resort." Liu Tiezhu said.
It wasn't that he was afraid of trouble, but he had to consider the family's safety.
If it came to a fight, he could use his compound crossbow to kill them.
But he couldn't guarantee none of them would escape and target Yao Yao, Yulan, or Sister-in-law.
"Brother Tiezhu, so we just let these bastards rob us?" Er Gouzi said.
Liu Tiezhu said, "Of course we can't just let them rob us. Everyone think it over and see if there's another way."
"If only we had a gun. Those bastards are afraid to die, right?"
Er Gouzi thought for a moment and mentioned it.
Second Uncle slapped his thigh and said, "Right, how did I forget that."
"Your grandfather left a shotgun hidden behind the house, but there are no bullets."
Liu Tiezhu said, "Second Uncle, go get it out quickly."
"These people won't know if we have bullets or not."
Shotgun bullets were easy to make—just mix pellets with gunpowder. Liu Tiezhu had played with them as a kid.
The weapon wasn't very powerful, but the pellets spread out and could be lethal at close range.
With a shotgun in hand, anyone trying to break in wouldn't dare act rashly.
Everyone only has one life; no one would risk it for a bit of grain.