Chapter 12
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Chapter 12: Reporting News
As the first ray of sunlight from Stone Man Peak shone upon the jujube forest, Zhang Xiaohua also opened his eyes. In his dark pupils flickered something, gone in a flash.
Zhang Xiaohua didn’t get up immediately as usual but instead lay on the kang, closing his eyes once more. The swollen cheeks from the beating didn’t hurt as fiercely as they did last night, and if he didn’t move the cracked corners of his mouth intentionally, they hardly hurt at all. The wounds on his body were gradually healing, but what about the wounds in his heart?
In Zhang Xiaohua’s mind, the events of yesterday afternoon played out like a revolving lantern. His father’s decision to stop his older brother from intervening was not wrong. His father’s words were also right, things beyond one’s capabilities shouldn’t be meddled with, and acting on hot-blooded impulses might lead to disaster. His older brother’s intervention was also not wrong. Although Miss Liu only had a passing acquaintance with them, they had helped each other out before. Even if she were a stranger, seeing her being dragged away and harassed by vile men, if they hadn’t intervened at that moment, it might have become a thorn in their hearts, one that could never be removed.
Thinking about the surrounding onlookers, with their numb, delighted, or sympathetic faces, did they not want to step forward and stop it?
And then there were those two short, fat men, along with a bunch of dog-like vicious servants, arrogantly and recklessly doing such despicable things in front of so many people.
Thinking about the tragic scene of his dad and two big brothers being trampled underfoot, fists and feet clashing, perhaps those wicked servants didn’t intend to kill them, just to derive pleasure from it, using their bodies as tools for amusement, letting their blood ignite their excitement. But what if those wicked servants did want to kill them? Could they have escaped?
And then, thinking about Wen Wenhai and his Junior Sister descending from the sky, effortlessly knocking down the group of wicked servants, they didn’t even tell Zhao Wansheng their names, just a few martial arts moves and a token, it made the two arrogant bullies surrender willingly, obediently apologizing.
A thought flashed through his mind like lightning, martial arts!
I need strength, I need martial arts.
This time it was because he encountered the Wen Wenhai and his Junior Sister, who came to his rescue out of righteousness. If they hadn’t intervened, his family members would have suffered severe beatings at best and faced life-threatening situations at worst. Relying on others is unreliable, he must rely on himself. Only when he has strength can he protect himself and his loved ones, and then have the ability to help others.
Zhang Xiaohua’s mind suddenly opened up. The knot in his heart from yesterday instantly loosened, like clearing a new field. With a goal in mind, everything becomes manageable. He didn’t lack perseverance or the willingness to endure hardships, what he lacked was direction. With direction, he could strive to achieve his goals.
With a clear direction for his struggle in mind, Zhang Xiaohua no longer wanted to stay in bed. He briskly got up from the kang and walked out of his grandmother’s room, facing the sunlight.
Excited as he was, Xiaohua didn’t realize that practicing martial arts wasn’t as simple as it seemed. Inheritance, talent, perseverance, opportunities, and so on, all were necessary ingredients, and lacking any one of them could spell failure. But which young man didn’t have his own dreams? Which one wasn’t full of vigor and ambition in his youth? Whether successful or not, the impulsiveness of youth was universal. It’s just that everyone’s path was different, and only by walking would one know what was right or wrong.
The same goes for our Zhang Xiaohua!
Zhang Xiaohua stepped out of the house and saw his grandmother sitting at the doorstep. He approached and said: “Grandma, it’s still early, the wind is cool outside, so come in and wait until noon. You can come out again to bask in the sun.”
His grandmother, hearing her grandson’s voice, affectionately replied: “Xiaohua, Grandma wants to breathe in the fresh air outside. Grandma takes each day as it comes and doesn’t want to spend every day cooped up in the house. How about you, is your body still hurting? You should rest more in bed.”
Xiaohua cheerfully replied: “Grandma, I’m fine now. Feel my face, it’s not swollen anymore.”
Taking his grandmother’s rough hand, Xiaohua placed it on his face. His grandmother gently felt around and said with a smile: “Good, good. As long as you’re better.” After saying that, she wiped her own moist eyes with her sleeve, evidently still feeling very sorry for her youngest grandson
In the courtyard, Guo Sufei was busy outside the house at the makeshift stove with a simple shed. Liu Qian and Liu Yueyue were also helping nearby, looking very happy. However, Liu Qian seemed a bit shy. Oh, Zhang Xiaohua rubbed his eyes and looked carefully. Sure enough, there was a blush on Liu Qian’s face. Strange, what’s going on?
However, Zhang Xiaohua had no idea. Liu Qian and Liu Yueyue woke up before dawn because they weren’t used to being in someone else’s home. They couldn’t fall back asleep and were afraid of disturbing Guo Sufei’s sleep, so they huddled together quietly, talking about yesterday’s events and feeling grateful for their narrow escape. Liu Qian felt especially thankful to Zhang Xiaolong. If he hadn’t rushed up in time to stop them, they would have been in big trouble when those two bullies dragged them into the alley. Moreover, Zhang Xiaolong was unarmed, yet he used his own body to shield two weak girls. Although he was seriously injured, his resolute expression remained etched deeply in her heart.
Before long, Guo Sufei also woke up. She listened to the two girls talking quietly without disturbing them. Seeing that the sky was getting brighter outside, she coughed a few times and sat up, and the two girls quickly got up too. Last night, Guo Sufei had been worried about her family’s injuries, and the light was poor, so she hadn’t looked closely at the two girls. Now that it was morning and her family’s injuries were stable, she had the chance to examine them. Both girls were very pretty and had good figures. Although they were different in height, each had her own charm. But it’s true, if they didn’t have some beauty, how could they have been harassed on the street?
Then, Zhang Xiaolong’s mother started asking all sorts of questions to find out about the two girls’ situations. It turned out that Liu Qian’s family only had three members: her father, her brother, and herself. Her mother had passed away from illness a few years ago. Liu Qian’s father was a teacher, and her brother was also a frail scholar. They didn’t have much land at home and relied on teaching to make a living. They were quite respected in the village. Liu Yueyue was Liu Qian’s cousin. Her father was a butcher, and he was the biological brother of Liu Qian’s father. They lived in the same village. Both of Liu Yueyue’s parents were alive, and she was their only daughter.
Yesterday, when visitors came to Liu Qian’s house, her father and brother entertained them, while Liu Yueyue’s father was busy with his own business, so no one accompanied the two sisters to the market, which led to yesterday’s incident. The three women exchanged a lot of personal stories, and Guo Sufei even asked the two girls if they were engaged. Both answered no. Liu Yueyue didn’t think much of it, but Liu Qian blushed profusely. Guo Sufei looked at Liu Qian’s shy expression and couldn’t help feeling delighted.
As dawn broke, Guo Sufei got up to prepare breakfast, and the two young women also lent a hand. After a while of bustling activity, Liu Qian’s blush still hadn’t completely faded, which Zhang Xiaohua noticed.
Zhang Xiaohua walked over to the stove and said: “Good morning, big sisters.”
It was just a very ordinary greeting, but Liu Qian, sensitive to being addressed as ‘big sister’, felt as if her thoughts had been exposed by this young lad. Her blush deepened, and Liu Yueyue cheerfully replied “Good morning, little brother.”
Zhang Xiaohua inquired about his father and older brothers. Guo Sufei informed him that she had already checked on them, and there wasn’t much change. Their external injuries had improved, but they still hadn’t fully recovered their spirits. She estimated they would wake up soon.
Just as they were talking, Zhang Cai came out of the house, holding a wooden stick as a crutch, limping slightly as if his right leg wasn’t feeling well. Guo Sufei and Zhang Xiaohua went to meet him. Zhang Xiaohua fetched a chair from the house and placed it in the courtyard for Zhang Cai to sit on. He stretched his back and grimaced in pain from his waist.
Liu Qian and Liu Yueyue approached to pay their respects, but Zhang Cai waved it off. Then he said: “Both of you didn’t return last night. Your family must be worried. We men are all injured, and Xiaohua alone can’t escort you back. I suggest Xiaohua sends a message to your family through someone in the village to come and pick you up. What do you think?”
Liu Qian and Liu Yueyue looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
Shortly after, Zhang Cai and Zhang Xiaohua went to the village to find someone to help. Together, they headed to Baligou to deliver a message to Liu Qian and Liu Yueyue’s families.
Baligou was located to the southwest of Guo Village, quite a distance away. By the time Zhang Xiaohua and the others arrived at Baligou, it was already noon. Baligou was a village nestled between two large mountains. It appeared quite sizable from the outside, equivalent to four or five Guo Villages. The village was bustling with many people and as Zhang Xiaohua reached the village entrance, someone spotted him and asked whom he was looking for. Zhang Xiaohua replied that he was looking for Mr. Liu, the teacher. The person looked wary at first, but upon seeing Zhang Xiaohua’s modest attire and the honest-looking farmer accompanying him, they asked: “Where are you from? What’s the matter with finding Mr. Liu?”
Zhang Xiaohua said: “We’re from Guo Village. We’ve brought news for Mr. Liu about Liu Qian and Liu Yueyue.”
The man’s face lit up with joy. “Ah, I see! Good! Come with me quickly.”
With that, he led Zhang Xiaohua and the others, jogging all the way, to a neat courtyard. Before they reached the door, he shouted loudly: “Mr. Liu, Butcher Liu, there’s news about your daughters!”
Just then, a loud voice from the courtyard rang out: “Ah, the bandits have sent the randsom! Let’s see which bastard is causing trouble now?” Following the voice was a burly man, towering two heads taller than Zhang Xiaohua. He leaped out of the courtyard and grabbed Zhang Xiaohua by the neck, saying: “Where are you bandits from? Speak, speak.”
Zhang Xiaohua was being choked so hard that he couldn’t breathe properly, his face turning red. How could he speak? The man who had accompanied Zhang Xiaohua and the one who had led them was about to intervene when someone else emerged from the courtyard, saying: “Second brother, can’t you stop being impulsive? Look at this little guy, his demeanor, his clothes. Does he look like a bandit? Even if he were, you should let him speak.”
The burly man chuckled, loosening his grip and saying, “Big brother, can’t you see I’m worried about our daughters’ safety? Don’t you understand my urgency?”
Zhang Xiaohua took a few deep breaths, his complexion slowly returning to normal. Looking at the two men, he realized that the calm one was Liu Qian’s father, Mr. Liu, while the one who had grabbed him must be Liu Yueyue’s father, Butcher Liu.