Xiaoyu nodded obediently, but then looked puzzled. "But Xiaoyu didn't see Uncle Er Bao's needle."
Chen Erbao felt a headache coming on. 'This kid,' he thought, 'why is she so dead set on getting to the bottom of this right now?'
He thought for a moment and said, "Mommy's afraid of pain, so Uncle Er Bao used a very special kind of needle. Only grown-ups can get this type of shot. Understand?"
Xiaoyu nodded emphatically. "Xiaoyu understands."
Chen Erbao breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, Xiaoyu, go and play for a bit. It'll be done in a little while."
"Okay!"
Xiaoyu immediately scampered off, skipping as she went.
Only then did Chen Erbao finally relax.
Wen Shuqin looked at Chen Erbao apologetically. "Er Bao, I'm afraid today won't work."
"Come back another day."
How could Chen Erbao refuse? He nodded repeatedly.
After suppressing his discomfort and nodding, Chen Erbao checked Wen Shuqin's condition one more time. Once he confirmed there were no other issues, he went home.
...
Chen Erbao's house was only a single wall away from Chen Dabao's. By standing on his tiptoes, he could see what was happening at his brother's place.
Chen Erbao didn't see any sign of Fang Yun, which made him even more hesitant to go over. He hastily boiled some noodles for dinner before returning to his room.
Today had been a truly complicated day for Chen Erbao. The day's events were more dramatic than everything he had experienced in the past twenty-plus years combined.
He was exhausted and needed some time to process everything.
Chen Erbao fell asleep before it was completely dark.
In his dream, a huge crowd of naked women chased after Chen Erbao, demanding lollipops.
Chen Erbao did his best to get away.
When he woke up in the morning and realized what the dream was about, Chen Erbao was filled with regret.
'I should have just given them their fill.'
Just as he thought that—
"Chen Erbao, you good-for-nothing bastard who was born but never raised! Get your ass out here right now!"
A shrill voice pierced through from outside. Chen Erbao was already in a bad mood, and now this. He flew into a rage, hastily threw on some clothes, kicked his door open, and started cursing.
"Dammit, which blind son of a bitch is out here wailing like someone died this early in the morning?"
"Did your father die or something?!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Chen Erbao saw Chen Qing's entire family, flanked by a large crowd that had clearly come to back them up.
Leading the group was none other than the mother of Chen Qing and Chen Jiaqi—Bailong Village's infamous shrew, Liu Xiufen.
Fang Yun stood to the side, looking apologetic and trying to explain something to Chen Qing's family.
Noticing Chen Erbao, Liu Xiufen immediately pointed a finger in his face and screamed, "And you have the nerve to get angry?"
"Look what you did to my son!"
Chen Qing stood nearby, wrapped in bandages, looking as if he'd suffered the greatest injustice in the world.
Chen Erbao was so angry he almost laughed.
'Don't you know why your precious son got beaten up?' he thought.
Just as he was thinking this, Fang Yun walked over and said to him in a low voice, "Er Bao, what's gotten into you? You're already engaged to Jiaqi, so why would you hit her brother?"
"Don't say another word. Just hurry up and apologize properly to your future mother-in-law. You're about to get married, how can you still be as unreliable as your brother!"
The moment Fang Yun's voice faded, Liu Xiufen sneered, "Marriage?"
"You people still have the nerve to talk about marriage?"
"Look at the state my son is in!"
"It's a question of whether he'll even be able to live a normal life after this."
"Let me tell you, if this isn't settled today, forget about the wedding. You'll have to support our entire family from now on!"
Just as she finished speaking, Chen Qing began to wail in perfect coordination. "Oh, Momma!"
"Mom, I hurt all over. I... I don't think I'll be able to have children anymore."
Liu Xiufen immediately grew frantic.
"Listen! Just listen to that!"
"What kind of grudge is this? He's trying to wipe out our family line!"
As Liu Xiufen and Chen Qing put on their little performance, Chen Erbao just sneered.
'These two animals. Their acting is actually pretty convincing. If I hadn't been there myself, I'd probably be fooled by their performance too.'
Before Chen Erbao could speak, Fang Yun, already flustered, rushed forward. "Aunt Xiufen, how can you say such things?"
"There must be some misunderstanding."
"If there's a misunderstanding, we should just clear it up. Don't ruin the wedding over it."
"As the old saying goes, it's better to tear down ten temples than to ruin one marriage."
Fang Yun's face was filled with urgency.
As they say, the eldest brother's wife is like a mother. Fang Yun had always taken Chen Erbao's marriage to heart.
Her desire to protect this marriage wasn't because she was particularly fond of Chen Jiaqi. It was mainly because of Chen Erbao's current situation. Although being the village doctor gave him a job, how much could a village doctor possibly earn in a month?
In this day and age, people look down on the poor but not on prostitutes. It was already a small miracle that Chen Erbao had managed to find a wife. If he missed his chance with Chen Jiaqi, he would probably be a bachelor for life.
If that happened, Chen Erbao would be scorned and badmouthed by everyone until the day he died.
As his sister-in-law, she naturally had to look out for him.
Fang Yun said, "Aunt Xiufen, how about this?"
"I can see Chen Qing's injuries look pretty serious. I have two thousand yuan here. Why don't you take the money and get him checked out in town first?"
"As for the misunderstanding, we can sort it out slowly."
"Let's not be so quick to say things are off between Er Bao and Jiaqi. It would be such a shame."
Fang Yun had already humbled herself completely, but Liu Xiufen clearly had no intention of letting the matter go so easily.
She stared at the money in Fang Yun's hand and sneered.
"Two thousand yuan? You have the nerve to offer that?"
"Are you trying to get rid of a beggar?"
"I've said it before! When it comes to Chen Erbao and my Jiaqi, it's eight hundred eighty thousand or nothing!"
Fang Yun's eyes went wide. Even the onlookers who had been drawn by the commotion were stunned.
"Eight... eight hundred eighty thousand?"
Fang Yun swallowed hard. "Aunt Xiufen, didn't you say eighty-eight thousand before?"
Forget eight hundred eighty thousand; even a bride price of eighty-eight thousand was considered extremely high in Bailong Village.
Bailong Village was a well-known poverty-stricken village in Sihai County. The average monthly income was only around one or two thousand yuan, and that was for the relatively well-off families.
For an ordinary family, even managing to offer ten or twenty thousand for a bride price was a sign they were taking the marriage very seriously, let alone eighty-eight thousand.
But now, the bride price had just multiplied tenfold.
Fang Yun was at a loss for what to do. To make matters worse, the man of the house, Chen Dabao, was nowhere to be found—probably off fooling around somewhere again.
Just thinking about it made her head ache.
Seeing her hesitation, Liu Xiufen sneered. "What, can't afford it?"
"If you can't pay up, then don't even think about marrying our Jiaqi. And let me tell you, there's a long line of men who want to marry her. Asking you for eight hundred eighty thousand is letting you off easy."
Fang Yun still wasn't ready to give up. She gritted her teeth and said, "Aunt Xiufen, why don't we discuss this a little more?"
"Discuss my ass!"
Liu Xiufen suddenly reached out and gave Fang Yun a hard shove. Caught off guard, Fang Yun stumbled.
Seeing this, Chen Qing's interest was instantly piqued. He immediately stepped forward and caught Fang Yun in his arms.
He was a scoundrel to begin with and had long been drooling over Fang Yun. He wasn't about to let such a perfect opportunity slip by. As he held her, his hands began to roam all over her body. At the same time, he feigned a complaint to Liu Xiufen, "Mom, how could you be so rough?"