That nasty gash on Mingyue’s head bled so much. She’s very weak now and needs to build up her strength. How about this? Your family can also compensate Mingyue with a hen so she can nourish her body and recover. There’s another very important matter. The vile things Wang Daqiang said to Mingyue at the time were simply unbearable! They caused her severe psychological trauma. Mingyue is now extremely depressed and has no desire to go on living, which has inflicted tremendous emotional damage on her. Therefore, you’ll also have to pay compensation for the emotional distress she suffered. I think ten yuan should be enough. Consider it a form of comfort and compensation for Mingyue.
“Lastly, the mistake Wang Daqiang made this time was simply too serious. If he isn’t punished, I’m afraid he won’t learn his lesson. So, according to the rules of the clan, he’ll first receive twenty strokes to teach him a lesson. After that, he’ll be locked in the ancestral hall for ten days to reflect on his actions and seriously consider what he has done. Does your Wang family have any objections to these punishments?”
When Old Madam Wang heard that they not only had to pay money but also hand over a hen, and that her precious grandson would not only be beaten but even locked up in the ancestral hall as punishment, how could she possibly agree to that?
She immediately threw herself onto the ground and began rolling around, making a scene. She shouted nonstop, “No! Absolutely not! Why should we compensate you so much? Paying the medical expenses is enough. How can you make such an outrageous demand?
“You’re practically robbing us in broad daylight! Su Heping, don’t think that just because you’re the brigade leader, you can abuse your authority and bully ordinary people like us! Is there any justice left in this world?
“These days, does being the brigade leader and having power and influence mean you can bully people whenever you please? Heaven above, please open your eyes and see what’s happening! We’re being bullied!”
Seeing Old Madam Wang’s unreasonable behavior, Su Heping was furious.
He turned to Wang Aiguo, who had been standing silently to one side, and asked in a deep voice, “Wang Aiguo, what do you think about this? Don’t tell me you and your mother think the same way?”
Wang Aiguo looked troubled. After stammering for quite a while, he finally said, “Brigade Leader, this… this is really difficult for our family. Asking us to come up with so much money all at once is quite a burden.
“And as for you saying that Daqiang should receive twenty strokes, his little body can’t possibly take that. What if something goes wrong after he’s beaten? What would we do then?
“How about you show us some mercy and let us off this time? We promise we’ll reimburse Miss Mingyue for all her medical expenses, and then we’ll lock Daqiang up for a few days so he can properly reflect on what he’s done. What do you say? Wouldn’t that be enough?”
When the neighbors heard that the brigade leader was demanding ten yuan, every one of them was visibly shocked, and they began whispering among themselves.
They shook their heads and sighed as they quietly discussed the matter. Someone couldn’t help lowering their voice and saying to the person beside them, “Good heavens, the brigade leader’s asking price is way too steep, isn’t it? Ten yuan all at once! Who could come up with that much money so easily? Besides, Mingyue isn’t seriously hurt or anything. Just paying the medical expenses should be enough, right?”
Another person chimed in, “Exactly! And Daqiang really does deserve a good lesson. Otherwise, with the way he is, who knows when he might accidentally push down someone else’s child again? This time, Mingyue was lucky. The brigade leader found people to look for her quickly. But if it had been one of our children who ran into something like this, we’d really have nowhere to turn and no one to answer our cries for help!”
The other villagers nodded repeatedly in agreement after hearing this.
“That’s right, that’s right! Exactly! What you said makes perfect sense!” they murmured.
Su Heping heard every one of Wang Aiguo’s and the villagers’ whispers. Instead of becoming angrier, he laughed coldly and said, “Looks like you all think I’m asking for too much? Fine! Then I won’t ask for any compensation either. We’ll settle this at the police station! Let them decide what the punishment should be. After all, Mingyue is the victim, and the police certainly won’t let her suffer a loss. Whatever compensation your family is supposed to pay, you won’t be able to escape it. As for Wang Daqiang, I’ll leave him to the police. They can handle him however they see fit. I won’t interfere at all.”
With that, he called out to his family members, telling them all to go home, and turned to leave.
When the surrounding villagers saw that Su Heping was genuinely about to leave, they realized that he had meant every word he said. They couldn’t help feeling a little frightened.
They had never expected that even after the death of the second branch’s head of the family, Su Heping would still care so much about Su Laowu’s two children. He was clearly determined to stand up for Su Mingyue and support her.
Then they thought about how much gossip they had spread about Su Mingyue and Su Qingfeng during this period, and they became even more uneasy. Among them were quite a few families with unruly children. This time, Wang Daqiang had lost his temper and picked on Su Mingyue. If this incident hadn’t happened, then next time it might very well have been one of their own children.
And if that happened, wouldn’t their own families be the ones forced to pay compensation?
The moment many of them thought of this, they broke out in a cold sweat. Having to compensate someone with money or goods might hurt a little, but that wasn’t what truly frightened them. What they feared was offending the brigade leader. After all, there were plenty of ways a brigade leader could make things difficult for them.
It would be easy enough for him to assign them exhausting work that earned few work points, while making sure no one could find fault with the arrangement. Even more frightening was when the work points were calculated and money distributed at the end of the year. If the brigade leader manipulated things behind the scenes, they could end up having worked hard for an entire year for nothing.
It seemed they really needed to keep a closer eye on the children at home and make sure they stayed away from Su Mingyue. Even if they happened to run into Su Mingyue and Su Qingfeng, they had better treat them politely. Otherwise, they would have plenty to suffer later.
Leaving aside how effective Su Heping’s move of killing a chicken to frighten the monkeys would ultimately prove to be, let’s return to what was happening now.
When the Wang family saw that Su Heping was clearly serious about going through with this, they immediately panicked. They hurriedly called out to stop him.
“Brigade Leader, please wait! We’ll compensate you! We’ll compensate you! Please don’t report this to the police! We admit it, we admit our mistake! We’ll do everything according to what you said. Please don’t report us to the police!”
Hearing this, Su Heping turned around and looked at the Wang family. He asked, “You really agree? You’d better think it through carefully. Don’t come back afterward and accuse me, the brigade leader, of bullying a fellow villager! Everyone is watching this. If you regret it later and claim that I handled the matter unfairly, all the neighbors here can testify for me!”
After saying this, Su Heping stared steadily at the Wang family.
The members of the Wang family looked at one another uncertainly. In the end, Wang Aiguo stepped forward and said, “Brigade Leader, you’re joking. Our Wang family isn’t like that. This matter was our Daqiang’s fault in the first place. We absolutely won’t hold it against you afterward.”
The moment Wang Daqiang heard his father say this, his face turned deathly pale. He pleaded with Wang Aiguo, “Dad, save me! Save me! I don’t want to be beaten! I don’t want to be locked in the ancestral hall! Dad, please save me! I’m your only son! Otherwise… otherwise, let Zhaodi take the beating and be locked in the ancestral hall in my place!”