So, someone still has a problem with that!
The bald man immediately glared at Li Yang. "Kid, I was talking about your village. Who the hell doesn’t know everyone in your village is a coward!"
The other thugs roared with laughter, their faces full of contempt.
It was the truth.
The people of Bishui Village were honest folk; troublemakers like Li Yang were a rarity.
But their only troublemaker had gone simple-minded a year ago.
Hearing this, the villagers all looked awkward.
Watching their own people get bullied like this, not a single one of them dared to step forward.
SLAP!
Li Yang slapped him across the face.
He’d always been a hell-raiser who feared no one. Now, with his unusual physique and skill in fighting, why would he be afraid of some small-time punk?
The bald man was stunned by the blow. "Get him!"
He shrieked.
Getting hit in a backwater village like this... if word got out, he’d be utterly humiliated.
The men quickly charged forward.
"Xiaoyang..." Zhou Liyun cried out, terrified.
But Li Yang dodged and weaved, showing no fear as he faced the thugs. On the contrary, it was they who fell to the ground one after another, unable to rise.
In less than a minute, not a single one of them was left standing.
"Brother Biao..." The bald thug was dumbfounded. He quickly pulled out his phone and made a call. "We’ve run into a tough one in Bishui Village..."
Li Yang immediately snatched the phone. "It’s you again, isn’t it."
On the other end of the line, Brother Biao instinctively tensed up when he heard Li Yang’s voice. "You... Let me tell you, debts have to be paid! That’s the law of the land! You can’t just decide not to pay."
"Did I say I wasn’t going to pay?" Li Yang sneered. "The money I owe you will be paid. But if you dare send your men to our village to cause trouble again, just wait and see how I take care of you next time."
With that, Li Yang hung up and tossed the phone back to the bald man. "Scram!"
The bald man and his crew scrambled to their feet. Not daring to say another word, they could only depart, filled with resentment.
"Aunt Lian, are you okay?" Li Yang asked, stepping forward.
"I’m fine, I’m fine..." Xia Lian shook her head. "Xiaoyang, thank you so much. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know what I would have done."
"Don’t be so formal. By the way, how much do you owe them?"
Everyone was a little curious.
"Eigh... eighty thousand!" Xia Lian said, her face pale as she uttered the figure.
The villagers were in an uproar.
Eighty thousand!
Eight thousand was already a huge sum in this village, let alone eighty thousand!
"He’s the one who owed it!" Xia Lian cursed. "He just up and died, running away from his problems, and now we’re the ones stuck with his debt."
’That son of a bitch was a real piece of work!’
Li Yang cursed Xia Lian’s husband in his mind, but it was no use. The most important thing now was paying back the money.
But she was a widow with a child; you couldn’t get money from them even if you squeezed them dry.
"Aunt Lian, don’t worry. I’ll pay it for you." Li Yang said, gritting his teeth and making up his mind.
WOW!
The villagers were stunned. Li Yang was going to pay Xia Lian’s debt?
They were all moved. ’Look at Li Yang, doing something so righteous right after his mind cleared.’
"No, you can’t. It’s so much money, where would you get it? We’re just happy that you’re okay now. How could we burden you with something like this?" Xia Lian’s eyes lit up for a moment, but she quickly shook her head and refused.
She was well aware of Li Yang’s family situation. Ye Xiu had already spent a fortune on him because of his... condition. Li Yang himself never had any money, so how could he possibly pay it back?
"Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out," Li Yang said with a wry smile.
But there was no other choice. ’I can’t just stand by and watch them hound you to death.’
When Li Yang became an orphan, many people in the village had helped feed him.
He remembered that.
Since she had been jostled during the scuffle, Li Yang called Xia Lian into the clinic and applied some antiseptic to her scrapes.
"Aunt Lian, I remember you grow a lot of vegetables at home!" An idea struck Li Yang as he recalled her garden, and he quickly asked.
"Gone! They’re all gone!" Xia Lian said, growing angry at the topic. "The vegetables I planted in Wild Boar Gully were all rooted up by those damn wild boars."
"Oh, is that right!" Li Yang felt a little helpless. ’Rooted up by wild boars...’
’Wild boars!’
He shot to his feet, suddenly excited.
’The vast Daqing Mountain is tall and densely forested, teeming with wildlife.’
’I can’t touch the other animals since they’re protected, but the township authorities recently said that if the wild boar population gets too large and threatens the crops, we can kill them.’
’Too many of them have become a menace!’
’Didn’t Han Qiuyue tell me she wanted more mountain goods?’
’And what is this, if not mountain goods?’
Li Yang grew thrilled at the thought.
"Aunt Lian, stop worrying about the loan sharks. I’ll help you figure out a way to resolve this," Li Yang said comfortingly.
"Xiaoyang, how can I ever thank you!" Xia Lian said gratefully. At the same time, she arched an eyebrow, a playful smile on her face. "How about... you come over to my place for a bit later?"
"Don’t be so formal, we’re all neighbors here." Li Yang couldn’t help but glance over at Xia Lian.
’She’s way too beautiful.’
Soon, Xia Lian left.
Li Yang thought for a moment, then went to find Zhou Liyun. "Sister-in-law Liyun, could you see if anyone in the village is willing to sell their vegetables to me? And by sell, I mean their entire plot."
"The whole plot?" Zhou Liyun was taken aback. "Xiaoyang, you’re going to buy produce like that?"
Li Yang nodded. "Just talk to them first and give me an answer by tomorrow. If it works out, I can pay you tomorrow. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t lose out."
"Okay!" Zhou Liyun was pleased.
After taking care of this, Li Yang returned to Ye Xiu’s house.
Ye Xiu was done with class and was making dinner.
"Aunt Xiu, here." Li Yang took out ten thousand yuan. "This is for the school repairs."
Ye Xiu was dumbfounded.
"How did you earn this? Don’t tell me you were treating people again!" Ye Xiu asked worriedly.
"No, I sold vegetables," Li Yang said with a brilliant smile. "Aunt Xiu, my produce sold for a great price, and there will be more business like this in the future. In a couple of days, I’m planning to expand the mushroom shed. Oh, right, can you cook some extra meat for me tonight? I need to make a trip up the mountain."
"What?" Ye Xiu asked, concerned.
"There are too many wild boars coming down the mountain to forage," Li Yang explained. "I need to go hunt a couple of them."
"Ah... That’s too dangerous!" Ye Xiu shook her head. "You can’t go."
"It’s fine. I’m going with Uncle Hai and the others!" Li Yang shook his head. "Just wait for me."
That evening, Li Yang called over Li Dahai and another hunter from the village, Li Jianzhong.
When they heard they were going up the mountain to hunt wild boars, both men hesitated.