"What nonsense are you spouting?! I'll tear your filthy mouth to shreds!!!" Zhou Yun didn't give Xiaolin's Mom a chance to continue.
With that, she charged toward Xiaolin's Mom.
The two women instantly became entangled in a fight.
The courtyard was in chaos, and more onlookers gathered outside the gate.
Among the spectators was Xiaolin's Mom's nephew. Seeing that it was actually Xiaolin's Mom who was being beaten, he immediately rushed in.
Xu Cheng swiftly pushed Xu Changxia and Xu Fangfei aside, saying, "You two, step back! Don't get hurt!"
After speaking, he hurriedly went to restrain Xiaolin's Mom's nephew.
A few elderly neighbors, seeing the situation escalate, also joined in to break up the fight, and the crowd descended into chaos.
Xiaolin's Mom's nephew was young and strong, and Xu Cheng, standing in the middle, took several hits.
"Xiaxia, your uncle!" Xu Fangfei couldn't even squeeze into the crowd and could only watch helplessly, her eyes reddening with anxiety.
Seeing Xu Cheng struggling to stay on his feet amid the crowd and realizing the situation was spiraling out of control, Xu Changxia hesitated for a few seconds before pulling Xu Fangfei aside and saying, "Mom, don't panic! Ride the bike to the Public Security Bureau across the street and report this!"
The Public Security Bureau was less than a five-minute bike ride away.
With things having reached this point, they had no choice but to call the Public Security Bureau to mediate and break up the fight.
First, it could save Xu Cheng.
Second, once the entire incident was investigated, Zhou Yun's actions would inevitably come to light.
By then, Xu Cheng would finally see the true nature of the woman he had trusted unconditionally for over twenty years!
She was determined to make Zhou Yun apologize to Xu Fangfei for all the absurd things she had done over the years!
A meek person's weakness was no excuse to tolerate a villain's boundless bullying!
"Alright!" Xu Fangfei thought it over. Although family shame shouldn't be aired in public, this was the only solution now.
Xu Changxia handed the bicycle to Xu Fangfei, then turned and rushed toward Xu Cheng.
Just then, someone suddenly shouted, "Hey! Stop fighting! This could turn deadly!!!"
Xu Changxia watched in horror as Xiaolin's Mom's nephew picked up half a brick from the ground, leaped up, and hurled it toward Xu Cheng: "Damn you!"
As she was about to rush over and push Xu Cheng out of the way, someone suddenly grabbed her arm from behind, pulling her back two steps.
It happened in an instant—the brick flew past Xu Changxia's temple.
She felt herself collide with a broad, sturdy embrace.
Still shaken, she turned to look and saw that the person who had pulled her back was none other than Jiang Yao.
Jiang Yao frowned deeply, his gaze fixed on the crowd as he whispered sternly, "What are you trying to prove, rushing in like that?"
As he spoke, he pulled Xu Changxia behind him.
Thankfully, he had arrived just in time—otherwise, Xu Changxia would have been badly injured by that brick!
"Any more violence, and this becomes a criminal case!"
At Jiang Yao's words, everyone in the courtyard froze, and silence fell.
A pool of blood on the ground nearby looked terrifying.
Fearing that Xu Cheng was injured, Xu Changxia stood on her tiptoes to get a better look at the crowd. She immediately spotted a familiar figure squatting on the ground, clutching his head, blood streaming through his fingers.
She froze for a moment, then rushed over: "Third Uncle?!"
Xu Jin, the third son of the Xu family, had somehow arrived without anyone noticing.
Xu Jin had taken a brick meant for his elder brother Xu Cheng, and was now so dazed he couldn't stand up from his crouched position. Only when Xu Changxia came to support him did he regain his senses. Lifting his head, he managed a weak smile at her: "It's nothing, Xiaxia. Just a flesh wound."
His eyes were completely sealed shut by dried blood, creating a gruesome sight.
Nearby, Zhou Yun was crying in terror: "Xiaolin's nephew! You're trying to kill someone!"
Thankfully that brick hadn't struck her or Xu Cheng!
Xiaolin's nephew had acted in panic when he saw his aunt being overpowered, grabbing a loose brick from the corner and throwing it blindly, never expecting it would hit Xu Jin instead.
Faced with this scene, no one dared make a sound.
Xu Changxia swiftly unwrapped the scarf from her neck and tied it around Xu Jin's head. After a moment's thought, she turned to Xu Cheng who sat collapsed nearby: "I'm taking Third Uncle to the hospital first!"
Regardless of anything else, saving him was the priority.
As she tried to pull Xu Jin up from the ground, Jiang Yao stepped forward: "Let me."
Without waiting for response, he half-crouched before Xu Jin and hoisted him onto his back.
Outside, the deputy officer who'd gone to reserve a restaurant returned, bewildered by the scene. He hurried forward to assist: "Sir, should we… still keep the restaurant reservation?"
Jiang Yao glanced at the chaotic courtyard behind them, considering briefly before replying: "You stay here and help manage things."
"Yes, sir!"
Xu Changxia followed them to the car waiting at the alley entrance, sitting in the backseat with Xu Jin while Jiang Yao took the wheel.
The hospital was nearby, less than ten minutes away.
Yet to Xu Changxia, this journey felt slower than her usual bicycle rides. Xu Jin's blood gradually soaked through her scarf, staining her hands and clothes crimson. Her heart hammered wildly in her chest.
"Don't panic yet. I checked earlier—the wound isn't large," Jiang Yao murmured from the driver's seat, watching her through the rearview mirror. "Deputy Officer Lu will handle things at home properly."
Xu Changxia's eyes reddened, but she remained silent.
Having lived through a previous lifetime, Xu Changxia now understood how precious family truly was.
Moreover, Xu Jin had always treated her exceptionally well, genuinely regarding her as his own daughter.
After their grandfather passed away over a decade ago, Xu Jin had briefly become the family's pillar. Young, tall, and robust, he'd guarded the Xu family's nearly ten acres of farmland in their remote town, bearing almost all the hard labor alone.
This very dedication caused him to miss his chance at marriage during the appropriate age. Now thirty-six, he remained unmarried.
In her previous life, Xu Jin stayed single his entire life. When he passed away in his fifties, Xu Changxia was abroad and couldn't return in time to see him one last time.
While sorting through his belongings, she discovered he'd long ago recorded his will—leaving his meager savings and the old house in their rural town entirely to her.
Yet back then, consumed by her efforts to conceive, she'd simply sold the property and land after his funeral and returned to the United States within days.
The memory filled her with guilt. Now that Xu Jin was injured, she feared being unable to mend this lifetime's regrets from the last.
Knowing Xu Changxia's anxiety, Jiang Yao fell silent and floored the accelerator.
They soon reached the hospital.
Only after the doctor finished stitching and bandaging Xu Jin's wound, carefully examining him and confirming no intracranial bleeding, did Xu Changxia finally release her pent-up breath.
"Are you sure you're not feeling unwell anywhere?" Xu Changxia asked softly once more as she helped Xu Jin lie down on the hospital bed.
"Really, I'm fine." Xu Jin shook his head, grinning to reveal a set of bright white teeth. "Jiang Yao brought in the best chief physician to examine me. Don't you trust that?"
"It's not about trust." Xu Changxia furrowed her brows tightly.
Xu Jin had passed away early in her previous life due to a second intracranial hemorrhage—there was a small blood clot in his brain that had been left there long ago.
Xu Changxia now suspected it might be a lingering effect from this recent fight.
Nearby, Jiang Yao watched her worried expression and couldn't help but frown deeply.
She herself was injured too—a patch of skin scraped raw on her forehead, which she still hadn't gotten around to treating.
He quietly stopped the doctor who was personally administering an IV to Xu Jin and gestured toward Xu Changxia's forehead.
The doctor immediately understood, fetching iodine and cotton swabs.
"And the back of her right hand," Jiang Yao added in a low voice, his gaze fixed on Xu Changxia's hand.
When Jiang Yihe had struck Xu Changxia that morning, she had blocked with her hand, leaving four bloody scratches on its back—Jiang Yao hadn't missed that.
Earlier, before the Xu family's crisis erupted, he had originally intended to bring her to the hospital.
Neither the Jiang family nor the Xu family had a place where she truly belonged.
She was his fiancée. That these people dared to humiliate her so boldly was simply because they assumed he, Jiang Yao, wouldn't care about this arranged marriage, wouldn't care about this woman with whom he shared no emotional foundation.
Yet, he would make them understand—they were mistaken.