This time, Tang Guihua was well-prepared and sharply slapped away Luo Yang's hand.
"Is this garment made of cotton?"
With her red lips lightly pursed and a smile on her face, Tang Guihua firmly twisted Luo Yang's chest.
"Sister Guihua, you're not checking the clothes; you're pinching me. Don't be so rough."
"Giggle..."
After laughing, Tang Guihua mimicked Luo Yang's tone and said, "Is this garment really elastic?"
As she spoke, she reached out to grasp the flesh on Luo Yang's chest and pulled on it.
Luo Yang responded with a sheepish smile, thinking to himself that Sister Guihua was not easy to fool.
"Time to eat."
At that moment, Mother Tang came up to call them for dinner.
She took the opportunity to intervene and stop her daughter's flirtation with Luo Yang.
"Mom, you all go ahead and eat, I already ate outside," Tang Guihua said.
"It's still good to have some soup. Niu Zai, come out quickly," Mother Tang urged.
Thus, Luo Yang and Tang Guihua had to leave the bedroom.
Actually, Luo Yang was not hungry at all, but he still drank half a bowl of soup. Seeing the strange expressions on Old Tang and his wife's faces, he excused himself and left.
Within the Hongyun Brigade, Hong Jiaxin was generally safer.
But Luo Yang didn't dare to leave her for too long, worried that some villain might sneak into the village and if Hong Jiaxin got hurt or disappeared, he wouldn't know how to explain it to her parents.
When Luo Yang returned home and didn't find Hong Jiaxin, he went to look for her at Qin Piao's house.
Hong Jiaxin, brought over by Zeng Xiaomei with textbooks, was studying.
These past few days, she hadn't gone to school. But her self-study abilities were strong; as long as she had textbooks and notes, she could still learn well.
Qin Piao accompanied Luo Yang upstairs to the room.
When someone arrived, Hong Jiaxin had no choice but to put down her textbook.
"Monitor, if there's something you don't understand, you can ask me," Luo Yang offered generously.
Hong Jiaxin almost vomited blood when she heard this.
Qin Piao giggled at the comment.
Within the Hongyun Brigade, the label of a poor student had been hanging over Luo Yang's head for some time already.
Everyone who knew him was aware that his academic performance was very mediocre.
It wasn't that he was dumb; it was because he hadn't put his heart into studying.
While Qin Piao was not originally from the Hongyun Brigade, she had quickly come to understand just how Luo Yang fared academically after her arrival.
"How can you even say that!" Hong Jiaxin scoffed, lifting the corner of her mouth.
"Monitor, one should view things with a perspective of growth," Luo Yang said.
Even Qin Piao couldn't bear listening to this.
"Niu Zai, I heard you've scored as low as 1 point. And you want to teach Jiaxin?" Qin Piao said with a laugh.
"Sister Piao, I'm not the same as I was before," Luo Yang said earnestly.
He had eaten a magical fruit in the "Shennong Scripture," which had boosted his memory to an explosive level.
Academic performance largely depends on memory, especially for liberal arts subjects, which rely incredibly heavily on memorization.
However, since Luo Yang had a poor foundation, it was indeed impossible for him to guide Hong Jiaxin in her studies in a short period of time.
But given time, he was confident that he could surpass Hong Jiaxin in academics.
From the big bag of extracurricular study materials he had purchased, Luo Yang took one and started to study it seriously.
At this sight, both Qin Piao and Hong Jiaxin laughed.
"Niu Zai, if you were this serious about studying, your grades should be quite good," Qin Piao said, still smiling.
"Sister Piao, wait until the mid-term exams; you'll see how formidable I am," Luo Yang declared with confidence.
"This time you're not going to set a new record low and score zero, right?" Qin Piao teased.
Indeed, Luo Yang had gotten a zero on a test before, but that was because he had actively chosen not to answer any questions.
"Don't underestimate the young and poor; in time, you will see what I'm capable of. Monitor, you'll be defeated by my hand," Luo Yang said with a smile.
"Luoyang, your bullshitting skills have gotten even better," Hong Jiaxin said with a sneer.
In the midst of their casual conversation, a sudden ringtone from a cell phone interrupted.
He took it out, saw it was Lang Yifeng calling, and answered.
"Brother Yang, people from Xingang Brigade have come to the village entrance, and we urgently need you to come and support us," Lang Yifeng said.
"Drunk?" Luoyang asked.
He hadn't seen anyone at the village entrance when he was coming back from the Xiaoshulin Market.
"Brother Yang, it's a long story. You come over first, then we'll talk," Lang Yifeng urged anxiously.
"Tell me first, then we'll see," Luoyang demanded.
He felt like Lang Yifeng was bluffing.
Afterward, Lang Yifeng had no choice but to recount what had happened. Though his explanation wasn't very clear, Luoyang understood.
It turned out that a young man from Hongyun Brigade had fought with a young man from Xingang Brigade over a girlfriend and had seriously injured the man from Xingang Brigade.
The two villages had a longstanding feud, and after this incident, people from Xingang Brigade came over immediately, demanding that the Hongyun Brigade turn over the assailant.
Knowing this, Luoyang's head grew heavy; damn it, messing up my good day again.
After hanging up, Qin Piao asked what the matter was, and Luoyang briefly explained.
Hong Jiaxin, curious, followed Luoyang to the scene.
Walking along the village path, they could already see many young men heading towards the village entrance, obviously ready to fight.
Hongyun Brigade and Xingang Brigade had fought several group brawls before, each ending with fatalities, and the scene was extremely bloody.
When villages clash, most of the young men from the village participate.
If this fight broke out, it wouldn't stop until a few were dead.
Quite a few people encountered Luoyang on the village path, and they followed behind him, rushing toward the village entrance together.
It was only when passing by the village head's general store that they learned village head Xie Runfa had already left.
As they nearly reached the village entrance, the noise from the two quarrelling groups could be heard from afar, the voices loud and clear.
At that moment, the setting sun hung over the western mountains, casting a gentle golden light over the earth, a pleasant sight.
But the animated argument between the villagers from the two villages ruined the harmonious atmosphere of the evening.
A cursory glance revealed that hundreds had already gathered on both sides.
They heard village head Xie Runfa say, "Don't come here causing trouble! If you have a dispute, you can go to the police."
A man's voice retorted immediately, "You think it's over just because you beat someone from our Xingang Brigade? Don't even think about it! If you don't hand over the culprit today, we'll bloodbath the Hongyun Brigade!"
Then the cries for murder echoed loudly.
The villagers from both villages were armed, either with iron rods, steel pitchforks, machetes, or even hunting guns.
Hong Jiaxin had never seen such a scene before, and although it was none of her business, she was also very nervous.
"Make way! Brother Yang is here!"
Someone shouted, and the crowd from Hongyun Brigade immediately split down the middle, opening a path.
Luoyang walked to the forefront and saw that each person from Xingang Brigade was seething with killing intent.
He did not see the village head from Xingang Brigade, however.
At this time, Lang Yifeng came over to consult with Luoyang, "Brother Yang, what do we do now?"
Seeing Luoyang arrive, Xie Runfa also calmed down considerably.
Luoyang looked around; if this scene had taken place six months ago, damn, it would have scared the hell out of me.
The scene was very noisy.
Luoyang shouted, "Everyone, quiet down for a moment."
The people from Hongyun Brigade naturally listened to Luoyang, and immediately quieted down.
However, the people from Xingang Brigade did not seem inclined to show any respect.
Especially the square-faced young man who seemed to be leading them, Luoyang did not know his name, but seeing that he was a leader, he knew he held a prominent position among the youths of Xingang Brigade.
"Who do you think you are? If you don't hand over the man, we'll chop you into nine pieces!" the square-faced young man yelled, pointing a machete at Luoyang.
"Then come chop!"
Luoyang took a step forward, asking with open arms.