Another man, along with Ye Baozhu, who had just gotten back to her feet, blocked Luo Xi from both sides, ready to pounce on her at any moment.
A ruthless glint flashed through Luo Xi’s eyes.
Since that was how things were, she would cripple Ye Guoliang first!
She had been too kind just now. That was why Ye Baozhu still had enough strength to call for help and get back up.
Luo Xi aimed at Ye Guoliang’s knee and raised the brick in her hand, ready to bring it down.
Just then, she seemed to hear the sound of wind rushing past her ears.
Bang!
The man holding the stick collapsed at Luo Xi’s feet.
Bang!
The man blocking her left side fell.
Bang!
Ye Baozhu, who had been blocking her right side, fell as well.
Seeing the force about to land on Ye Guoliang’s knee, Luo Xi instinctively reduced the strength and shifted the aim slightly.
The brick struck his thigh just above the knee instead.
“AHHH!”
Ye Guoliang let out a blood-curdling scream, rolling around on the ground.
Only then did Luo Xi look up at the tall man.
“What a coincidence!”
The corner of Chu Yan’s mouth twitched.
What coincidence?
He picked up the stick from the ground and quickly joined the fight.
Luo Xi grabbed her brick and followed.
There was no denying that Chu Yan was a formidable fighter.
With him joining the fray, the tide of battle quickly turned.
In less than ten minutes, all more than a dozen people from Maotou Village were lying on the ground.
The incident caused such a huge commotion that before dawn, the cadres from both villages had already arrived at the commune.
Under normal circumstances, unless absolutely necessary, disputes within the commune were handled by the commune itself. They rarely went to the police station because it was simply too embarrassing.
Commune Party Secretary Li Weidong and Security Section Chief Wang Yifeng had both been dragged out of bed.
Under the dim lights, Li Weidong looked at the row of bruised and battered faces in front of him—every color of the rainbow, a whole collection of demons and monsters—and immediately felt a splitting headache.
He looked over at the sleepy Luo Xi and the perfectly composed Chu Yan.
Fortunately, there were at least two people who were easy on the eyes.
The brigade leader of Maotou Village, Ye Dakun, put on a mournful expression and complained.
“Secretary, you have to stand up for us! Just look at what they did to our people!”
Guo Jiandang snorted.
“What did they do to you? Why don’t you look at what they did to our people? You had more people and ganged up on the fewer of us, and you still think you’re in the right?”
Ye Dakun glared at him.
“Don’t make false accusations! How can you say we bullied you? Look at us—more than a dozen of our people are injured, while you still have two people who are completely unharmed!”
Guo Jiandang rolled his eyes inwardly.
“What does that prove? It only proves that you’re weak. More than a dozen people couldn’t beat five. If I were you, I’d go straight home and never come out again. How embarrassing!”
Ye Dakun pointed at Guo Jiandang.
“You… you…”
This time, it wasn’t only Li Weidong who had a headache. Even Wang Yifeng was getting one.
“Ahem. Enough.”
Li Weidong coughed and interrupted their pointless war of words.
He turned to Li Chaoying, the doctor from the commune clinic who was standing nearby.
“Doctor Li, how badly are they injured? Have you examined everyone?”
Li Chaoying nodded.
“I’ve checked everyone. They’re all superficial injuries. I’ve applied medicine to them. A few are bleeding, but none of the wounds are large.”
She pointed at Ye Guoliang.
“The most serious is this man with the thigh injury. But even that hasn’t damaged the bone. There’s plenty of muscle in the thigh. A few days of rest should be enough.”
She had been on duty tonight.
When she heard the repeated bang, bang, bang of someone pounding on the door, she’d been so frightened that she thought a wild boar had come charging in.
Only after asking did she discover it was people from Maotou Village.
She hurried to open the door.
But when she saw a whole row of battered, swollen faces outside, she almost slammed the door shut again.
Fortunately, although they looked frightening, their injuries were only superficial.
Even Ye Guoliang, who was limping badly, had only suffered a muscle contusion. His tendons and bones were completely fine.
Li Weidong secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“That’s good.”
Only then did he turn his attention back to the “demons and monsters” before him.
“Now, tell me what happened.”
Ye Dakun angrily pointed at Luo Xi and the others.
“It was the people from Wushan Village who beat our people! Secretary, you have to stand up for us!”
Li Weidong glared at him.
“Did I ask you? Let them tell their own story.”
Ye Baozhu was the first to speak.
“The people from Wushan Village were unreasonable. They attacked us with sticks and bricks the moment they came up. They were practically trying to beat us to death!”
“Look! Just look at my injuries! Sob, sob… The people from Wushan Village must be severely punished, especially that educated youth. She was the one who hit me with a brick!”
She pointed directly at Luo Xi, her eyes practically spitting fire.
She had grown up fighting, but she’d never suffered such a humiliating defeat before.
Everyone turned their eyes toward Luo Xi.
Luo Xi’s head was slowly bobbing up and down.
She was genuinely sleepy.
At this hour, she would normally already be deep in dreamland.
Everyone: “……”
No, seriously.
The situation was so tense that it looked like another fight could break out at any moment.
How on earth could she sleep through this?
The veins on Chu Yan’s forehead twitched.
He was just about to remind her when Luo Xi finally felt the scorching gazes of everyone around her.
She raised her confused eyes.
“What?”
When she saw everyone staring at her without saying anything, she jolted awake.
She looked at Ye Baozhu, who was glaring furiously at her.
“What did you just say? I didn’t hear you. Could you say it again?”
Ye Baozhu was so furious at her dismissive attitude that she stamped her foot.
“Everyone, look at her! What kind of attitude is that? She beat someone up and doesn’t show the slightest bit of remorse!”
Luo Xi looked puzzled.
“Listen to yourself. You make it sound like you have any remorse.”
Everyone: “……”
She was incredibly arrogant.
But… she wasn’t wrong.
Not a single person present seemed to think they had done anything wrong.
Luo Xi turned toward Li Weidong and Wang Yifeng and spoke clearly.
“They attacked first. This female comrade from Maotou Village immediately tried to hit Guo Yuanyuan.”
“As revolutionary comrades, of course I had to protect my fellow comrade, so I pushed Guo Yuanyuan out of the way. Then, because this female comrade failed to hit her, she redirected her anger toward me and swung a huge slap at my face…”
She clearly explained everything that had happened.
Finally, she summed it up.
“I think the members of Maotou Village are all far too hot-tempered and prone to impulsive behavior.”
“That’s not good. It’s only because we’re kind-hearted and know how to control our strength. Otherwise, they might have already gone to meet their ancestors.”
Ye Baozhu was so angry that her lips trembled.
“You… you…”
Luo Xi secretly rolled her eyes.
“I know I’m very kind-hearted. You don’t have to get so excited. Don’t faint on me.”
Li Weidong felt his headache getting worse.
“Enough. Stop talking.”
How was this woman’s mouth even made? She could talk forever.
Then he remembered something.
“How about you? How come you don’t have a single injury?”
The room fell silent.
No one answered.
Chu Yan tried to hold back, but eventually couldn’t.
“She asked you a question.”
Luo Xi looked completely bewildered.
“Me? Didn’t you just tell me not to talk?”
Li Weidong really wanted to quit on the spot and walk away.
But he had to endure it.
Through gritted teeth, he said,
“You can talk now.”
Luo Xi gave an “oh” and said,
“Because I study hard, strive to improve every day, love my country and the Party, and eat a handful of green vegetable leaves every day. Naturally, my reflexes are much more agile than those of people who don’t like studying.”
Everyone: “……”
Li Weidong silently looked away.
If I ask this female educated youth another question, I’ll be a dog.
Then he looked at Chu Yan.
“And what about you? I heard there were only four people from Wushan Village guarding the water at night. How did you end up at Xinshu Woods?”
The corner of Chu Yan’s mouth twitched.
“It was too hot, so I couldn’t sleep. I went out for a walk. Somehow, as I kept walking, I accidentally ended up at Xinshu Woods.”
Everyone: “……”
Why does that excuse sound so ridiculous?
Chu Yan also felt that his explanation was rather far-fetched.
So he solemnly added,
“It’s true. Please believe me.”