She knew perfectly well what kind of child her grandson was, and she also knew the things she had just said were unpleasant. If this matter truly blew up, her family would be the ones in the wrong.
“You… you…” Auntie Li stammered for a long while, but in the end she didn’t dare continue making threats. She shot Xiao Lu a hateful glare, then viciously glared at Luoluo sitting on the ground before hugging the still-sobbing Tiedan and trying to drag her daughter-in-law back home.
But Xiao Lu still wasn’t willing to let them off.
Taking one long step forward, he blocked their doorway.
“Did I say you could leave? You haven’t apologized to my daughter yet. You think you can just walk away? No chance.”
“Xiao Lu, what more do you want?” Auntie Li felt they had already backed down, and Xiao Lu should know when to stop.
“I want Tiedan to apologize to my daughter. And he shoved, hit, kicked, and stomped on her—she’s definitely injured. Your family is paying her medical expenses.”
Xiao Lu refused to budge an inch.
“Medical expenses? Impossible! You hit my grandson too!” The moment Auntie Li heard money was involved, the small bit of fear she’d felt was immediately drowned out by anger again.
She shrieked sharply:
“Xiao Lu, think carefully! Are you really going to turn against us for some wild little girl? She’s just a picked-up brat anyway. Raising her is nothing but raising a money-losing burden. Is it really worth it?!”
“Li Cuihua! Are you looking for a beating? How dare you talk about my granddaughter like that?!”
Lu Suzhen, who had just finished working in the backyard and come out after hearing the commotion, immediately shouted furiously.
The moment she entered the courtyard and heard Li Cuihua insulting Luoluo, she grabbed the carrying pole leaning against the wall and pointed it at her.
“Luoluo is Xiao Lu’s daughter, which makes her my biological granddaughter! We already registered her properly with the village secretary, so who are you to gossip and spout nonsense here? Say one more word and I’ll rip your mouth apart!”
Only after yelling at Li Cuihua did she turn to Luoluo.
“Oh my precious baby, what happened to you?!”
Throwing the carrying pole aside, she hurried over and scooped Luoluo into her arms.
“Grandma… hug…” The moment Luoluo saw Lu Suzhen, she stretched out her dirty little hands for a cuddle. Her miserable crying instantly shattered Lu Suzhen’s heart.
Both furious and heartbroken, she turned to Xiao Lu.
“What exactly happened?”
Xiao Lu briefly explained the scene he had witnessed and repeated what Luoluo had told him.
At that moment, Xiao Shan—who had been carried out by Xiao He after hearing the noise—just happened to hear Xiao Lu’s explanation.
His lips pressed tightly together as barely restrained fury blazed in his eyes.
“Xiao Lu, keep hitting him! Hit that little bastard until he apologizes to Luoluo. Hit them until the Li family agrees to pay the medical fees.”
Then he ordered Xiao He:
“Xiao He, put me down. Go to my room and bring out my medals. Today I’ll place my military honors right here and see whether the honors I earned risking my life to protect this country can protect even one child in our family!”
Xiao Shan’s words struck the noisy courtyard like thunder.
All the villagers watching turned their eyes toward the dark iron box Xiao He carefully carried over.
At Xiao Shan’s sharp glance, Xiao He took a deep breath and slowly opened the lid.
There was no dazzling glow.
Only several medals lying quietly atop red velvet cloth.
One Second-Class Merit Medal.
Two Third-Class Merit Medals.
And several military campaign commemorative medals.
The surrounding villagers—young and old alike—instantly fell silent in solemn respect.
Many of the older villagers immediately reddened around the eyes.
They knew Xiao Shan had once been the most promising young man in the village, the pride of Guhe Village. They also knew he had lost the use of his legs while protecting the country.
But knowing it was one thing.
Seeing those heavy medals with their own eyes was another.
The impact instantly crushed everyone’s desire to merely watch for entertainment, replacing it with overwhelming respect and heartache for Xiao Shan.
Auntie Li and Liu Guifen were also stunned.
They knew Xiao Shan had been a soldier and injured in service, but they had never imagined that this quiet, bedridden cripple possessed so many honors.
Yet under the combined shock and humiliation, their reaction was not respect.
Instead, they lashed out recklessly in an attempt to salvage some dignity.
“What’s there to show off? Crippled means crippled—a useless废人! Who are you trying to scare with this pile of scrap metal? Can they feed you? Can they make you stand up and walk again?”
“Li Cuihua, shut your filthy mouth!”
Holding Luoluo tightly, Lu Suzhen trembled with rage as tears burst from her eyes.
“My son became disabled protecting the country, and in your mouth he’s turned into useless trash? Did a dog eat your conscience? Without soldiers like them risking their lives on the front lines, do you think you’d have the peaceful life to stand here screaming like a shrew today? You… you’re not even human!”
The moment Xiao Shan heard the words “useless cripple,” his face instantly turned deathly pale, his lips pressing into a hard line.
But he did not explode in anger.
His chest merely rose and fell violently, as if he were desperately suppressing a monstrous rage and overwhelming sorrow.
That silent fury was even more suffocating than shouting.
Xiao Lu’s eyes practically split from rage. His fists clenched so hard they crackled audibly. If Xiao He hadn’t desperately held onto his arm, he truly might have rushed forward and beaten Li Cuihua to death.
“Li Cuihua, shut your stinking mouth!”
“Get out of Guhe Village—you don’t deserve to belong here!”
“Apologize to Brother Xiao Shan! Apologize to a hero!”
The surrounding villagers were completely enraged now. Waves of furious accusations crashed toward Li Cuihua one after another.
Terrified, Li Cuihua and Liu Guifen retreated repeatedly, their faces pale white. Tiedan buried his head into his grandmother’s arms, too frightened to make a sound.
“What’s all this shouting? Have you all lost your sense of propriety?!”
At that moment, Village Secretary Li Degui arrived with two village officials, pushing through the crowd with large strides.
Clearly, he had heard about the incident and rushed over immediately. His expression was dark with anger.
The moment he entered, he saw the medals in Xiao He’s hands, and his gaze instantly filled with respect and grief.
Xiao Shan was the pride of their village. Even though he was disabled now, he still received state subsidies.
And now he had actually brought out his medals.
This meant the village leadership had failed him.
“Secretary! Secretary, you finally came!”
Auntie Li immediately acted as though she had found a savior and began wailing dramatically.
“You have to stand up for us! Xiao Lu beat my grandson, and Xiao Shan even brought out those broken things to scare people! Xiao Lu even said he’d chop down my family’s door!”
“Shut the hell up!”
Li Degui roared sharply, frightening Auntie Li into a shudder.
Ignoring her completely afterward, he walked directly to Xiao Shan and looked at the medal box, his voice heavy.
“Dashan, put them away. The village remembers your honor and your sacrifices. No one can erase them. And they should never be used in an argument like this—that would stain them.”
Then he turned toward Xiao Lu and Lu Suzhen. Looking at Luoluo in Lu Suzhen’s arms—her little face red from crying, her body filthy with dirt—his brows furrowed tightly.
“Xiao Lu, what happened? Explain everything clearly.”
Suppressing his fury, Xiao Lu recounted the entire incident from beginning to end:
how Tiedan tried to steal the turtle,
how he pushed, hit, kicked, and stomped on Luoluo,
how Auntie Li insulted Luoluo as a wild girl, a burden, and a money-losing child,
how he himself had disciplined Tiedan,
and how Auntie Li later insulted Xiao Shan as useless trash.
He repeated every single detail word for word without omitting anything.
His voice was not loud, but every sentence struck like a nail hammered into everyone’s hearts.
The more Li Degui listened, the darker his expression became.
Especially when he heard Auntie Li’s insults toward Xiao Shan and Luoluo, the veins on his forehead began visibly throbbing.
With a livid face, he demanded:
“Li Cuihua! Did you say those things or not?”