By evening, the work in the fields was nearly done. Hua Zizhou took Mao’er and headed home early to cook. Just as he got home and started washing rice and boiling water, voices came from outside the door—somewhat familiar, but he couldn’t immediately recall who they were for a moment.
When Hua Zizhou stepped outside to take a look, he found it was a few thugs in the village who had a relatively good relationship with Er Mazi. There were three of them in total, and seeing their unfriendly expressions, he knew that trouble was likely going to happen.
He pushed Qu Xin into the kitchen, closed the door, and locked it. His gaze then swept over the hoe and sickle nearby, and he calmly asked, “What are you guys doing here?”
When the three saw him, they were surprised, and then began to mock him. “Oh! Look who it is, the ugly Hua Gou’er!”
“I heard his mother gave him away, turns out he was given to Qu Qing’s house. I really didn’t expect someone like Qu Qing would want such an ugly thing!”
Hua Zizhou immediately clenched his teeth, and his hands clenched into tight fists.
The three men, noticing the anger on his face, erupted into boisterous laughter filled with malice. “Such an ugly freak, and he dares to take him in? Isn’t Qu Qing afraid of being scared awake in the middle of the night?”
“Stop the nonsense! It’s best if Qu Qing isn’t home, but even if that useless guy is around, it won’t matter. Brothers, search the place!”
One of them said this, and they all headed toward the main room where Qu Qing currently lived. Hua Zizhou remembered the two hundred ninety wen they had gotten by selling hair hidden at the bottom of a box and felt a surge of panic. He rushed to block their way at the door. “Get out! This is my house. You’re robbing me openly—don’t you care about the law?”
The leader among the three laughed at his words. “Oh, the law? Are you scared? I’m so scared right now.”
The others also found Hua Zizhou’s appearance to be incredibly ridiculous. They had heard stories about the fierce Hua Gou’er in the village, but to them now, no matter how fierce he was, he seemed no more than a sissy who dared to shout a few times.
“He’s blocking the way, so there must be something good inside. Brothers, whoever finds it first gets the big share!”
Excitement surged among them. One of them was about to push Hua Zizhou aside, but Hua Zizhou, with a fierce look in his eyes, seized the opportunity and directly pushed the man out. Caught off guard, the man fell onto the ground with a thud.
The other two, seeing that he dared to resist, were instantly furious and prepared to teach this disobedient sheep a lesson. They each grabbed one of his arms, intending to restrain him.
Meanwhile, little Qu Xin, locked in the kitchen, had been peering through the crack in the door, enduring his tears. When he saw Hua Zizhou being grabbed, he couldn’t hold back any longer and cried out heartbreakingly, “Don’t hurt my da… Father! Come back quickly, there are bad people in the house!”
Qu Qing, still several hundred meters away from home, heard Qu Xin’s anguished cries. He knew how well-behaved and patient he was, even when he cried, it was soft and heart-wrenching. He couldn’t imagine what could have happened to make such a small child cry so miserably.
Something must have happened.
He immediately dropped the pile of farm tools he was carrying and ran toward the house recklessly. Jiang Zhu, hearing the cries, panicked and quickly dropped his things to follow Qu Qing, though his short legs caused him to lag behind significantly.
The man who had been pushed to the ground felt humiliated and got up with an angry look. He stretched his neck and spat on the ground, then approached Hua Zizhou with a fierce expression, ready to hit him. However, Hua Zizhou kicked him hard, causing him to howl in pain and fall again. As he got back up, he realized he was bleeding from his nose, which made his anger soared to the highest point.
The three thugs truly felt their pride had been completely shattered, and just as they were about to take their revenge, Qu Qing rushed in, shouting, “What are you doing!?”
Hua Zizhou had originally planned to open his mouth and bite one of them in a desperate attempt to escape. However, upon hearing Qu Qing’s voice, his whole body froze. The mouth that had already revealed sharp teeth immediately shut, and his biting action stopped.
At this moment, all he could think about was: he couldn’t let Qu Qing see him acting so ferociously.
But then, he felt a sharp pain on his face as the bleeding guy slapped him hard, causing his head to tilt to the side, accompanied by a burning pain.
Seeing this, Qu Qing instantly became furious. Even if he was a bit timid, it didn’t mean he lacked courage or wouldn’t fight back. They were fighting in his own house, and he couldn’t just stand by and let it happen!
Without a word, he rolled up his sleeves and charged at the three of them.
Qu Qing knew he couldn’t take on all three at once, so he had a clear goal: no matter how much they hit him, he would grab the one who slapped Hua Zizhou. He pinned the man to the ground and beat him mercilessly, while the other two, trying to save their friend, attacked Qu Qing with full force. The man Qu Qing had caught was howling in pain.
The sight of four big men fighting brutally stunned Jiang Zhu, who had just entered, and also terrified little Qu Xin, who was peering through the crack in the door. He desperately tried to open the door while crying even more heartbreakingly.
Hua Zizhou, who had just been released, was slightly dazed from the beating and staggered for a moment. When he regained his senses, he saw the three of them teaming up against Qu Qing, and his hearing slowly came back, with Qu Xin’s cries ringing in his ears.
He hadn’t wanted to be seen in such a bad way.
But why did they have to force him?
He walked to the corner of the courtyard with an eerie calmness, bent down to pick up the sickle, and when he turned around, the expression on his face changed suddenly, revealing a chilling murderous intent in his eyes that could truly kill people.
He walked over quickly, raised the sickle in his left hand, and swung it down toward the left guy’s head. Before the man could even scream, Hua Zizhou reached out with his right hand, grabbed the man’s hair, and tossed him aside like a piece of trash. The entire process took less than a second, happening so fast that no one could react.
The other man, who was still angry but caught off guard, felt a tingling sensation in his head and suddenly realized there was a sickle pressed against his neck.
Hua Zizhou said indifferently into his ear, “Why stop? Fight, keep going.”