The onlookers had all dispersed. By now, only a few people remained, one of whom seemed quite aged. Chen Jie knew him, his name was Chen Erba, an elder of his own clan.
He even had a slight disability in his leg, usually making a living by weaving bamboo baskets.
According to the hierarchy, he should address him as, "Uncle Erba."
Daqian was a nation founded by foreigners, so they implemented an enslavement policy towards the native population. The most significant aspect of this policy was that the Han people were not allowed to have their own names; they were required to use numbers instead of names, just like livestock were tagged.
For example, Chen Jie's original name was Chen Jiusi.
Uncle Erba, leaning on a stick, moved with difficulty. He approached Jiu Si and said, "Jiu Si, you were too impulsive. It's not like your granduncle is still alive. Beating up Lu San's wife like that, given Lu San's temperament, he's bound to come after you for trouble."
"That Lu San is tall and burly, plus he's close to the Fishing Guild. You've provoked him, so I fear there will be no good outcome for you."
Chen Jie pondered upon hearing this and then said, "Uh, I understand, Uncle Erba."
Hearing this, Uncle Erba added, "Uh, as long as you're aware, that's good. As for today's matter, I'll figure out a way to stop Lu San from troubling you."
After speaking, Uncle Erba patted Chen Jie on the shoulder and said, "You, just take it easy, stop gambling and live a good life with Yunjin."
Then he left, hobbling away.
After Uncle Erba had departed, the remaining few also left one by one, but they all said Chen Jie had been too impulsive today. Provoking Lu San meant no more good days ahead—everyone in the village knew what a scoundrel Lu San was.
Once everyone had gone, Chen Jie turned to look at Su Yunjin, who stood there stationary, and their eyes met, creating a moment of awkward silence.
Chen Jie was the first to break the silence, "Are you okay?"
Su Yunjin replied, "I'm, I'm fine."
Chen Jie said, "That's good."
He then went inside the house, where he saw little Daisy, Su Yunrui, holding a basket of wild vegetables and watching him warily. Chen Jie didn't pay her any attention and just found himself a clay basin.
He drew a bucket of water from the well in the courtyard and began to skin and clean the rabbit with practiced movements.
Meanwhile, Su Yunjin stood frozen in the courtyard, utterly surprised by Chen Jie's handling of the situation earlier. She had thought she would be thoroughly humiliated by Lu Qinsi, but instead, her husband had stepped in assertively. The feeling of being protected like this was genuinely pleasant.
"Hey, Yunjin, go heat up the pot. Do we have any soybean oil or rapeseed oil at home? Find some. We're going to have stewed rabbit today."
Hearing this, Su Yunjin was startled and then saw Chen Jie dealing with the rabbit. After pausing for a moment, she walked over to him and said, "About today, hitting Lu San's wife, it won't cause any trouble for you, will it?"
Chen Jie was taken aback at that, lifted his head to look at Su Yunjin, who felt uncomfortable under his gaze, touching her face as if something was on it.
It was then that Chen Jie spoke, "It's no trouble at all, just a bully who preys on the weak."
Chen Jie truly wasn't afraid of this Lu San—at least, according to the memories of his original self, Lu San hadn't practiced any Kung Fu. He relied solely on being taller and bigger than Chen Jiu, which was how he intimidated the original Chen Jiu.
But Chen Jie was not afraid of such tactics. In his life before crossing over, Chen Jie had seen his share of battles, often fought, and had extensive fighting experience. Most crucially, he had the fortune to learn some self-defense and counterattack techniques from Chen Hegao for a few days.
It gave him a deep mastery in this unstructured style of combat.
Therefore, he didn't consider Lu San's so-called retaliation a real threat. If it had been someone proficient in the martial arts, he might have had to think of other methods.
Like, setting up an ambush with a cart to crush the opponent on the road, or perhaps designing a rock trap or poisoning...
If you're determined, there are always ways.
But Lu San wasn't worth it.
Chen Jie continued to skin and gut the rabbit, ignoring Su Yunjin.
Seeing that Chen Jie ignored her, Su Yunjin hesitated for a moment before returning to the house to wash the wild vegetables she had dug up that day.
Su Yun Rui, still somewhat fearful of Chen Jie, kept her distance.
But she was curiously watching Chen Jie skinning the rabbit.
She thought to herself, "The rabbit looks really delicious!"
However, she didn't dare to move closer, as Chen Jie had truly frightened her.
With that, the entire yard fell into silence.
Meanwhile, at the nearby home of Uncle Erba, Uncle Erba returned, leaning on his crutch.
He was met by an old wife with a weathered face who said to him, "With your leg like that, you shouldn't go wandering about. You didn't finish the baskets today, leaving Hu Zi to do all the work alone."
Uncle Erba replied, "There's a big commotion at Jiu Si's house. I thought I should go have a look. His uncle has been good to our family; I can't just ignore it."
"Worry, worry, Jiu Si, that no-good gambler, has squandered his uncle's large estate. How much can you possibly contribute with your frail body? How could you possibly fill his bottomless pit?"
Uncle Erba sighed and the wife sighed as well, continuing, "I just pity that girl Yunjin. Say, that shrew from the Lu San family hasn't made things difficult for Yunjin, has she?"
Uncle Erba said, "She did make things difficult. I wanted to intervene, but then Jiu Si came back."
"Ah, that bastard, is he siding with outsiders to bully Yunjin again?"
The wife exclaimed with wide eyes.
Uncle Erba said, "No, Jiu Si helped Yunjin and beat that shrew!"
"What!"
The wife's eyes widened in shock before she exclaimed, "Has that bastard changed his ways?"
Uncle Erba said, "Seems like he has changed a bit."
The wife quickly added, "Not good, that couple from the Lu San family, a hooligan and a shrew. If Jiu Si has provoked them, isn't he just asking for trouble?"
Uncle Erba, with a worried frown, said, "Wife, take out that fifty cents we have at home."
"Ah, what do you need the money for?"
Uncle Erba looked at his wife and said, "Just take it out."
"No, that money is saved up for marrying off Hu Zi; I can't give it to you."
"Ah, you're ruining our household, woman. Not even listening to me now, take it out!"
Uncle Erba suddenly shouted in anger, his expression very stern. Despite Uncle Erba's slight disability, when he truly got angry, even Aunt Erba didn't dare to defy him.
Then, Uncle Erba, leaning on his crutch, went into the yard where a teenager around seventeen or eighteen years old was weaving baskets with rattan strips, his little knife skillfully pruning the branches, very practiced.
"Hu Zi, go get five jins of sorghum rice for your Jiu Si; they're out of food."
"Alright, Dad."
The young man stood up, the sunlight shining on his bronze skin, which looked very robust; a result of weaving baskets bare-chested for a long time.
The young man went inside the house, followed by the sound of the wife cursing from within.
"Still wanting food? We don't need to live anymore, do we? You two heartless people, just take this money and food and throw it into that bottomless pit..."
Listening to the wife's shouting from inside the house, Uncle Erba sat down where he wove baskets, picked up the rattan strips, and began weaving, mumbling to himself, "We can't just do nothing, can we…"