“Elder sister, no!” Third Lady’s voice rang out again.
Only then did Zhang Erya carefully set down the rice and flour. “Third Lady, why are you looking for a knife?”
Third Lady carried a plastic bag containing calcium milk biscuits. “I want to hang this up, so I need a knife to cut the rope.”
Zhang Erya searched around and confirmed that none were left in the house. “You can use the kitchen knife.”
“Elder sister, do you want some calcium milk biscuits? Young master gave me lots more!”
Zhang Erya shook her head. “I’m not hungry. I won’t eat any.”
Night fell, and the sky darkened. Zhang Dalang watched the direction Xiao Ran and Xiao Hei had left in, made up his mind, tightened his grip on the woodcutting knife and sickle, and followed them.
He followed them all the way to the water pool, only to discover that Xiao Ran and Xiao Hei had both disappeared.
Zhang Dalang walked to the bank and looked around.
He did not understand why Xiao Ran was here and found it very strange.
“Looking for me?” Xiao Ran emerged from behind the bushes, carrying a wooden stick.
Zhang Dalang slowly walked toward Xiao Ran. Xiao Ran could feel that this man harbored murderous intent toward him.
It was no longer mere hostility. It was murderous intent.
“No, we’ve never had any grievances. Is this really necessary?” Xiao Ran did not want things to escalate. He was an unregistered person, and causing a commotion would bring him no benefit.
“You don’t lack money, food, or drink, and my sisters and I don’t have anything valuable worth coveting. What exactly do you want?” Zhang Dalang demanded of Xiao Ran.
“I really don’t have any ill intentions. Why won’t you believe me?”
Zhang Dalang quickened his pace. There was nothing in the household worth coveting, so Xiao Ran could only be after his two younger sisters.
Since that was the case, Zhang Dalang would no longer hold back.
There was no one else at home. He was the only man, so he had to deal with this himself.
“Fuck!” Xiao Ran had not expected to encounter such a reckless lunatic who did not care whether he lived or died.
“Hey, hey, hey, never mind whether you can kill me—even if you do, you’ll still die. Murder means paying with your life. What are you hoping to gain?” Xiao Ran genuinely could not understand.
“Woof, woof, woof!” Xiao Hei grew fierce, completely unlike his usual self.
Zhang Dalang’s eyes were bloodshot, and the woodcutting knife and sickle in his hands flashed with two cold glints.
He had never learned any techniques. He merely growled and swung both blades in circles, chopping toward Xiao Ran’s face without the slightest hint of skill.
He carried two blades because he lacked confidence and wanted to increase his chances of victory.
Zhang Dalang was just an ordinary person, and he was not very old. His attacks had no pattern at all; he simply hacked at Xiao Ran.
Xiao Ran stopped trying to persuade him, because there was no point. The man was dead set on taking him down.
Zhang Dalang might have had a chance against an ordinary person, but the problem was that he had encountered Xiao Ran.
Xiao Ran had trained in kickboxing, combat, and military boxing. Although he could not be considered an expert, dealing with an ordinary person was more than easy for him.
Xiao Ran raised the wooden stick to block. After a few exchanges, he knocked the blades out of Zhang Dalang’s hands.
Then he pinned Zhang Dalang to the ground.
“I’m going to kill you!” Zhang Dalang shouted loudly, with a hint of despair in his voice.
Xiao Ran’s strength was beyond imagination.
“Why won’t you believe me?”
“Elder brother. Elder brother.” Zhang Erya’s voice came from nearby.
Zhang Erya had brought Third Lady after him as well.
Zhang Erya sensed that something was wrong and went out to search for them. She saw her elder brother heading toward the water pool.
Zhang Dalang had already shown great hostility toward Xiao Ran, so Zhang Erya could naturally guess what her elder brother intended to do.
By the time the two sisters reached the water pool, the fight was already over.
Zhang Erya ran to Xiao Ran’s side. Although the sky was growing dark, she could still see two knives on the ground. They were very familiar—their family’s possessions.
“Elder brother. Young master.” Zhang Erya was at a loss.
Third Lady began to cry when she saw this scene.
On one side was her elder brother, the person who had protected her since childhood; on the other was Xiao Ran, who had also treated her very well.
In Third Lady’s heart, both of them were good people.
Seeing her elder brother on the ground made her heart ache.
Zhang Erya’s eyes reddened, and tears slid down her face. Her feelings were the same as her younger sister’s.
“Third Lady, don’t cry. There must be some misunderstanding.” Xiao Ran released Zhang Dalang. “Let’s talk. This must be a misunderstanding.”
“Young master, my elder brother wasn’t like this before.” Zhang Erya felt deeply guilty.
But she did not know how to explain herself.
Zhang Erya knew very well how kind Xiao Ran had been to her family.
The things he had given them were precious, and her family desperately needed them.
It was obvious that her elder brother had come to cause trouble for Xiao Ran, but Zhang Erya also knew why he had done so.
Zhang Erya knew there was some reason behind her elder brother’s suspicion that Xiao Ran had ulterior motives, but she still felt sorry for Xiao Ran.
After interacting with him several times, she had found Xiao Ran to be a good-natured person who had also given them many things.
Many people in the village avoided the sisters, but Xiao Ran had not.
Thinking of all this, Zhang Erya could do nothing but cry. She was still only a child.
There was no one else in the household, so she had to support the family together with her elder brother.
But seeing the scene before her, she truly broke down and desperately wanted to cry.
Zhang Erya suddenly fell to her knees. “Young master, I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Seeing elder sister kneel, Third Lady knelt down as well.
There were some things Third Lady was too young to understand, but Zhang Erya knew about them.
“Second Lady, Third Lady, get up quickly. There’s no need for this. It must be some kind of misunderstanding.”
“Second Lady, Third Lady, get up!” Zhang Dalang’s eyes were red, and he felt even worse.
Perhaps because he knew he could not defeat Xiao Ran, and because his two younger sisters were there, Zhang Dalang no longer had any hostile thoughts toward Xiao Ran.
Doggie gently rubbed against Third Lady, as if comforting her.
The group found a place to sit down.
After the sisters had calmed down, Xiao Ran took the initiative to say, “I do have an ulterior motive.”
Zhang Dalang glared at Xiao Ran and clenched his fists.
Zhang Erya was not surprised. After all, how could anyone be kind to them for no reason?
“I just arrived here. I have no household registration and am an unregistered person. I’m an outlaw, and being caught by the government office would cause a lot of trouble. I approached you because I wanted to obtain household registration.”
Xiao Ran had originally not wanted to reveal this so soon.
But given the current situation, he had no choice.
“My goal was to affiliate myself with your family and obtain household registration affiliation, then find a way to obtain independent household registration later. That’s all.”
The three siblings looked at Xiao Ran without speaking. Third Lady did not understand any of this at all.
“I dress differently because I fled back from the western regions. Without household registration, this is the only way I can live.”
Zhang Dalang suddenly stood up. Xiao Ran instinctively tightened his grip on the wooden stick; this man had been rather reckless before.
He was afraid Zhang Dalang would risk his life against him again.
“No, I’m telling the truth!”
Zhang Dalang fell to his knees with a thud. “I misunderstood you before. It was my fault. I’ll kowtow to you.”
With that, he began banging his head forcefully against the ground.
Xiao Ran’s face was filled with question marks. What was he doing?
He hurried over to pull Zhang Dalang up. “Get up and talk. I don’t blame you anymore!”
As a modern person, he truly could not accept people kneeling at the slightest provocation. He did not want to kneel, nor did he want anyone kneeling to him.
“Please help my sisters. I don’t have much time left!”