"This is the voice of Wu Xiaoru's brother, Wu Yong, you, how did you provoke him?" Although Yu Xiuxiu was blind, she could easily recognize everyone's voice in the village.
She could hear the anger in Wu Yong's tone, which made her worried for Zhang Xiaoshan.
"Last night I ran into the brat causing trouble, so I gave him a beating. I guess he's here for revenge now."
"Sister-in-law, don't worry about it, today I have to let him know his place. He actually bullied his way into our house, that's too much." Zhang Xiaoshan was very angry.
But sister-in-law Yu Xiuxiu, concerned, grabbed Zhang Xiaoshan and said sternly.
"You fought with Wu Yong? Sigh, Wu Xiaoru's family is very partial towards Wu Yong. By fighting him, it will affect your marriage to Little Ru, don't go out, I'll handle it."
"Sister-in-law, I..."
Zhang Xiaoshan wanted to tell Yu Xiuxiu the truth, but meeting Yu Xiuxiu's uncompromising gaze, he nodded obediently.
"Alright, sister-in-law, I'll listen to you."
"That's more like it."
Yu Xiuxiu turned and left the courtyard.
Outside the courtyard, Wu Xiaoru's family were all present.
Upon seeing Wu Xiaoru's mother, Zhang Yulian, Yu Xiuxiu hurriedly greeted with a warm smile.
"Mother-in-law, if there's anything you need, you could have just asked Little Shan and me to come over, why trouble an elder like yourself to make the trip here?"
"Pah, don't get all chummy with me, Xiao Ru hasn't married into your Zhang family yet. I'm here today to demand an explanation."
"That scoundrel Zhang Xiaoshan injured my precious son so badly, he's nearly crippled now. You must give us an explanation today, otherwise, the engagement is definitely off," Zhang Yulian said coldly, very domineeringly.
Hearing her, Yu Xiuxiu glanced at Wu Yong, who stood beside Zhang Yulian.
Wu Yong clearly only had some minor injuries, where was the severity that Zhang Yulian had described?
It was obvious that the Wu family was making a mountain out of a molehill, looking for trouble.
Upon seeing the beautiful Yu Xiuxiu, Wu Yong's face immediately took on a lecherous look, filled with disrespect in his eyes.
"Heh heh, beauty, your face is really good-looking."
As he spoke, Wu Yong reached out to grope Yu Xiuxiu's face with his sleazy hand.
"Take your dirty hand away."
Yu Xiuxiu slapped Wu Yong's hand away.
"You, you can see?"
Wu Yong, feeling the anger and disgust in Yu Xiuxiu's gaze, was quite surprised.
The onlooking villagers also showed expressions of disbelief.
"What's going on, isn't she blind? How can she suddenly see?"
Now that her eyesight had been restored, Yu Xiuxiu's whole demeanor had improved by leaps and bounds; she confronted Wu Yong directly, saying firmly,
"Little Shan has cured my eyes. You'd better show some respect."
"What for, why are you so fierce?"
Before Wu Yong could speak, Zhang Yulian had already jumped in to defend her shameless son and shouted at Yu Xiuxiu.
"Just because your eyes are better doesn't mean you can act high and mighty in front of us. Don't forget Zhang Xiao is still eager to marry our Little Ru. With such a poor attitude, do you still want this marriage to happen?"
"You..."
Yu Xiuxiu was livid.
It was Wu Yong who was insolent and unmanageable, yet she had to be lectured, but for the sake of Zhang Xiaoshan's marriage, Yu Xiuxiu chose to bite back her anger.
Lowering her position, she forced a smile towards Zhang Yulian while speaking humbly.
"Mother-in-law, I didn't mean it that way."
"Then what do you mean? I don't want to waste words with you. Let Zhang Xiao come out here. He had the guts to hit me last night, why is he cowering like a turtle now?" demanded Wu Yong sternly. As his words ended, several young men stepped out from the crowd to stand behind Wu Yong, clearly his kinsmen there to show support for him today.
Seeing that the situation was not good and fearing for Zhang Xiaoshan's safety, Yu Xiuxiu became even more submissive.
"Big brother, let's talk this out, there must be some misunderstanding. How about this, I have three thousand yuan here as compensation for medical expenses," she offered.
Yu Xiuxiu pulled out a wad of cash from her bosom and handed it to Wu Yong.
It included many small bills, clearly not easily saved.
For a blind woman, three thousand yuan was not a small sum.
"Heh heh heh, your hands are really white, let me touch them."
Seeing that Yu Xiuxiu had already given in, Wu Yong grew even bolder, grabbing Yu Xiuxiu's hand with a lascivious grin on his face.
"Ah, let go of me, let go of me," Yu Xiuxiu cried out in panic.
"Scoundrel, let go of my sister-in-law."
Zhang Xiaoshan, unable to contain his rage, burst out of the door. He could tolerate trouble coming his way, but he'd lay down his life before he allowed anyone to disrespect his sister-in-law.
"Bang"
He viciously kicked Wu Yong in the stomach, sending him stumbling back several steps.
Wu Yong fell to the ground with a thud, crashing down hard.
"Ouch, such deep affection between an aunt and nephew, eh, Zhang Xiaoshan? Could it be you've already slept with your sister-in-law? After all, you did have a hand in saving this woman. Heh, the brother dies, and the brother takes his place—quite the deal," Wu Yong spouted a mouthful of obscenities.
"Hahaha"—the cronies that came with Wu Yong erupted into loud laughter.
This was an unforgivable insult, a naked humiliation.
"You, you're shameless." Yu Xiuxiu was red with shame and anger.
"Wu Yong, you're damn asking for death." Zhang Xiaoshan was ready to throw his life away in a fight with Wu Yong, but Yu Xiuxiu clung desperately to his arm.
"Little Shan, listen to your sister-in-law, don't do anything foolish. Besides, they have so many people, if it comes to a fight, you'll be disadvantaged."
"Sister-in-law, I..."
"I can't just stand by and watch these bastards insult you and do nothing about it," Zhang Xiaoshan fumed with rage.
Yu Xiuxiu pleaded.
"Sister-in-law knows how good you've been to her, but I can't let you risk yourself for me..."
"I..." Zhang Xiaoshan looked at Yu Xiuxiu, her face streaked with tears, and for a moment didn't know what to do.
"In-laws, just tell us straight, how do you want to handle this situation?" Yu Xiuxiu tried her best to control her emotions, repeatedly attempting to placate with a smile.
Zhang Yulian stood with one hand on her hip and the other hand greedily extended two fingers towards Yu Xiuxiu.
"The dowry is increased by another two hundred thousand!"
"What?"
Yu Xiuxiu was shocked to hear Zhang Yulian's demand.
"Two hundred thousand? That's too much! Haven't we already agreed on a dowry of eighty-eight thousand? Why all of a sudden an increase of another two hundred thousand?"
"Hmph, it's not like my precious son just got beat up by Zhang Xiaoshan for nothing, right? This is an issue of your family's attitude. In any case, if you don't agree to increase the dowry by another two hundred thousand, this marriage is not going to happen," Zhang Yulian declared, overbearingly confident.
Yu Xiuxiu was on the verge of tears.
A sinister smile appeared on Wu Yong's face.
"This idiot Zhang Xiaoshan ruined my plans and beat me up; look at the state I'm in. No one in White Dragon Village has ever dared to oppose me. Demanding two hundred thousand is actually lenient, but..."
"But, since the extra dowry is for finding me a wife anyway, as long as you keep me company for a few days, sleep with me for a night, I might consider speaking to my mother, asking for less dowry..."
"You, you're shameless."
Yu Xiuxiu instinctively wanted to slap Wu Yong.
"Dare to raise a hand against me, you ungrateful wretch? I'll beat you silly," Wu Yong threatened to strike Yu Xiuxiu.
"I'll screw your mother!"
That's when Zhang Xiaoshan, standing behind Yu Xiuxiu, suddenly lost control.
A figure swift as a wild beast flashed through the crowd.
"Bang."
A fist the size of a sandbag brutally struck Wu Yong's nose bridge. Snap—the nose broke, and blood gushed out.
Before the onlooking villagers could react, Zhang Xiaoshan grabbed Wu Yong by the hair and sent him flying with an elbow strike far across the ground.
"Wu Yong, you damn dare hit me..."
Wu Yong felt the world spin around him.
The witnessing villagers were stunned.
"Has Zhang Xiaoshan eaten the guts of a leopard, daring to lay hands on Wu Yong?"
"The Wu family is a major clan in White Dragon Village, and besides, Zhang Xiaoshan wants to marry Wu Xiaoru, right? After hitting Wu Yong, can the marriage still happen?"
"Zhang Xiaoshan, do you know the consequences of provoking me?"
"Consequences?"
Zhang Xiaoshan walked over to Wu Yong, grabbed him by the nape, and then slammed Wu Yong's head into the trunk of a large locust tree nearby.
"Bang..."
A crisp sound, and blood streamed down from Wu Yong's forehead.
"Ah, it hurts to death!" Wu Yong howled in pain, but Zhang Xiaoshan showed no sign of stopping.
"Zhang Xiaoshan, that's enough!"
Finally, Wu Xiaoru, the person at the center of the dispute and who had been silent all this while, stepped forward, looking like the victim of a great injustice and glaring furiously at Zhang Xiaoshan.