As they approached the village, the loud and rowdy noise grew clearer and clearer.
It was sister-in-law He Hongjuan arguing with someone.
Chen Erniu quickened his pace even more.
When he arrived in front of his own courtyard,
there was already a crowd of onlookers gathered at the entrance.
"Sister-in-law...."
Chen Erniu exclaimed in alarm, his heart burning as he rushed through the gate.
In the courtyard, a man with a buzz cut and a thick gold chain was pulling and tugging at He Hongjuan's sleeve.
At his side, two thugs laughed nastily, egging him on.
Chen Erniu recognized the buzz-cut man with the gold chain as a local thug from the next village over named Wang Tian.
Wang Tian made a living by bullying both men and women and lending money at extortionate rates.
How could his sister-in-law be entangled with such a person?
With a heart full of confusion, Chen Erniu was about to rush forward when an arm grabbed him.
"Erniu, don't go, we can't afford to provoke these drunks!" Zhang Ling, the little aunt from next door, came out from the crowd, firmly grasping Chen Erniu's arm.
At that moment, they heard Wang Tian slur his words:
"He Hongjuan, in five days, the loan will be due. That's eighty thousand yuan. Where will you get that much money? How about you repay it with your body? Stay with me for a month, and I'll cut you a ten-thousand discount. How's that?"
"Hehe... yeah, as long as you make our Brother Tian happy, you'll have a good life after that."
"If that's not possible, you can be with us too, we'll pay off the debt for you."
"Hahaha..."
The thugs laughed without restraint.
Wang Tian was even more jubilant.
Coming to ask He Hongjuan for money was just a whim after he had drunk a few bottles of alcohol.
Now it seemed like He Hongjuan was scared by him.
The next instant, Wang Tian reached out to rip open He Hongjuan's clothes.
Chen Erniu couldn't bear it any longer at the sight.
"Who dares to bully my sister-in-law!"
With a shout of fury, Chen Erniu shook off Zhang Ling's hand and charged forward.
In the yard, Wang Tian sobered up a bit from the shock of the angry shout.
When he turned around and saw that it was Chen Erniu, he burst into laughter.
"Who do I think it is? It turns out to be Chen Erniu... Chen Erniu, you fool, think you can protect your sister-in-law? Humph, today, right in front of you, I'm going to strip your sister-in-law naked, hehe..."
As he spoke, Wang Tian was about to take action.
At the same time, two thugs moved forward, blocking Chen Erniu's way.
Chen Erniu didn't even glance at the thugs.
With a large stride, he moved forward,
grabbed a thug's head with one hand, and fiercely slammed their heads together.
Bang.
The two thugs, struck dumb, collapsed onto the ground limply.
This scene dumbfounded Wang Tian, causing him to instinctively release He Hongjuan's sleeve.
"They say Chen Erniu, although simple-minded, is aptly named for his strength like that of a bull. Today, I really want to see for myself."
Fueled by drunkenness, Wang Tian acted fearlessly.
In the midst of speaking, he drew a small dagger from his waist, "Dare to hit my men? Today I'm going to let you bleed..."
Seeing this, He Hongjuan shouted, "Erniu, run!"
But it was already too late.
In a blink of an eye, they saw Wang Tian raise the dagger and fiercely stab at Chen Erniu.
Chen Erniu, as if petrified, made no move to dodge, standing still.
"Erniu, get out of the way!" He Hongjuan cried and rushed forward, trying to block the knife for Chen Erniu.
But her speed was no match for the alcohol-fueled Wang Tian.
Just as the knife was about to reach Chen Erniu, He Hongjuan stumbled and fell to the ground.
It was then that Chen Erniu seemed to come back to his senses.
He had just realized that Wang Tian's movements, though quicker than an ordinary person's due to drunkenness, appeared to be in slow motion to him.
With a slight raise of his hand, he grabbed Wang Tian's wrist effortlessly.
This sudden move left Wang Tian dumbfounded, completely unresponsive.
With a forceful grip, Wang Tian immediately cried out in pain, dropping the dagger to the ground.
Bang.
With one kick, Chen Erniu sent Wang Tian tumbling to the ground.
"Bully my sister-in-law, I'll take your life!"
A furious Chen Erniu, looking like a madman, was about to kick again.
Wang Tian rolled and crawled to avoid it, also shouting loudly, "Chen Erniu, you've got guts, not paying your debts and daring to hit someone..."
Hearing this, Chen Erniu turned to look at He Hongjuan, "Sister-in-law?"
He Hongjuan gave a bitter smile, shook her head, but said nothing.
Seeing that Chen Erniu stopped kicking him, Wang Tian took the opportunity to stand up.
"You're really a fool, not even looking at your family's situation. With your poverty-stricken state, how could you ever marry someone as beautiful as Han Meili?
Let me tell you, to help your brother Chen Jianghe marry a wife, your sister-in-law He Hongjuan borrowed eighty thousand yuan from me, and it's due in five days. Here's the loan agreement."
What?
The dowry money for that wretched Han Meili was borrowed as a high-interest loan by sister-in-law?
Just for that kind of trash, the dowry actually was eighty thousand yuan.
In that moment, Chen Erniu loathed Han Meili completely, as well as Chen Jianghe.
Thinking that Chen Erniu was also intimidated, Wang Tian proudly and arrogantly said, "Chen Erniu, you hit me. This isn't over. If you kneel down and apologize now, let your sister-in-law entertain us a bit, I might consider letting you off easily. I'll even reduce the interest on your debt."
Upon hearing this, a cold light flashed in Chen Erniu's eyes.
He bent down to pick up the dagger, and when he looked up again, his expression was even more crazed.
"You, deserve to die!"