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"It appears to be just some superficial injuries." Zhou Guosheng was finally invited into the house.

Under the dim light bulb, the bloodstains on Zhou Shusheng's face were wiped clean, revealing his handsome face. There were no wounds, but his lips and teeth were covered in blood. Zhou Lexing had to make him rinse his mouth several times before he stopped. Now, with his clothes pulled off and him pressed into Zhou Lexing's arms, he was being forcibly examined. His aggrieved whimpers never stopped, but at least the excessive frenzy of fear was gone, and he could finally hear what others were saying.

Zhou Lexing frowned as he looked at the bruises and swelling on Zhou Shusheng's back from the kicks: "Could there be internal injuries? Is there any blood he vomited inside?"

Dr. Zhou remained silent.

The man pinned down by Zhou Shusheng had a large chunk of flesh torn off his chin and neck by the crazed Zhou Shusheng. Fortunately, he didn't bite an artery, otherwise his life would have been in danger. However, the man was now covered in blood and screaming in pain. He had already received some basic wound treatment and was carried to a small clinic in town.

In this situation, Dr. Zhou wanted to say no, but considering the chaos at the time, he dared not make a definitive statement.

Seeing his silence, Zhou Lexing didn't press him for details. He simply made up his mind to save money and take Zhou Shusheng to a big hospital in the city for a checkup.

The villagers were busy all night, not only watching a great show, but many also participated themselves.

Some were taken to the police station, while others were carried to the small clinic in town. The remaining few were thanked repeatedly by Zhou Yuanxiang in the courtyard before being sent away one by one.

After treating the Zhou family members' injuries, Dr. Zhou took the money and insisted on riding his bicycle home, gradually disappearing into the distance under Zhou Yuanxiang's watchful gaze.

The Zhou family courtyard fell completely silent.

Zhou Lexing patted Zhou Shusheng's back, who was clinging to him, and finally managed to coax him to sleep. Then he lifted the curtain and went out. Sure enough, he saw that Zhou's mother was still awake, sitting alone on the threshold in front of the house, lost in thought.

Looking at Zhou Ma's slumped back and the loose, graying strands of hair that were once meticulously combed, he felt as if his heart had been seared by scalding water. His eyes welled up with tears, and he hesitated for a moment.

After a long while, Zhou Lexing finally walked over to Zhou Yuanxiang and sat down next to her. He struggled to utter the words, which lingered on his tongue for a few moments before finally managing to say, "...Mom, I'm sorry."

Zhou Lexing was swept along by events all night, but looking back now, he realized that he hadn't done anything right.

In this small, clan-based society where graduating from elementary school is considered educated, many things don't follow legal or moral standards. Ideas born of greed are often difficult to detect, and the resulting arrogance carries an absurd undertone. Yet, in this remote village with a weak sense of law, these are things that can actually be implemented.

The punishment they would ultimately receive was not enough to frighten them, just like what the original owner had done before. He treaded on that precarious bottom line, knowing he would not be punished, so he had no scruples whatsoever.

But Zhou Lexing stood idly in the circle of morality and law he had drawn for himself, exposing the people and things he cared about to be exposed to dangerous fangs, and then turned away thinking he was safe. He was utterly foolish.

Zhou Lexing felt annoyed and resentful, and this annoyance and resentment, along with the self-blame and anger at his foolish decision, finally overwhelmed him like a tidal wave after things had temporarily calmed down.

"Why are you apologizing to Mom?" Zhou Yuanxiang's voice was still a bit hoarse. She had been emotionally unstable today and was inevitably tired, but if you looked closely, her eyes were still bright and showed a determined light.

“Those bastards who dared to cause trouble in our house deserve to be beaten! You did a great job today. That old bastard from Zhou Village has been picking on us for a long time. I knew it would come to blows sooner or later. Even if he didn't use you as a pretext, he would have used someone else as a target. I think you said a great thing to him today. Anyone can throw excrement. He dared to spew excrement at us, so we'll give him a good beating! If you ever see him in the public toilet, grab a firecracker and blast him with excrement. Let's see if he dares to bully us again! Don't think that just because the old village chief is protecting him, he can cause trouble all the time! This isn't over!”

Zhou Yuanxiang's emotions had not yet fully subsided, and were stirred up again by the incongruous words of comfort. Her eyes were still red and swollen, and the fine lines at the corners of her eyes made her look even more exhausted. But when that simple care was revealed with the words, even the indignation in her eyes seemed particularly cute.

"good."

Zhou Lexing listened quietly, and finally couldn't help but smile. His eyes were still hot, and the bitterness in his heart had not yet subsided, but the tolerance from his mother still made him taste the sweetness that seeped from the bottom of his heart.

The tide of emotions had not yet receded, but Zhou Lexing could no longer feel the pain of being submerged. The hand that was supporting him had unknowingly protected him as he emerged from the sea, allowing him to see a light he had never seen before.

.

The incident in Zhoulaozhuang resulted in devastating losses in the end.

Zhou Laozhuang was kicked and trampled several times by the crowded people, and now he was truly lying down and unable to move.

Of the people he brought with him, his eldest son kept complaining of leg pain, a relative was bitten and disfigured, two were knocked unconscious by Zhou Lexing and still haven't woken up, and another was caught red-handed while taking something out, the scars on his face were even more gruesome.

Although the villagers were not as strong as Zhou Lexing, they were still quite ruthless. His face was scratched all over, looking like it had been bruised by a wild cat, and his body was covered in cuts.

The only survivor was trembling with fear, as if he had been scared out of his wits. He was still huddled in a corner of the small clinic, seemingly afraid that the villagers might suddenly attack him.

Zhou Laozhuang kept wailing and demanding an explanation from the village chief: "I'm suffering! I was pushed down, and I can't even get justice! Now I'm being accused of stealing from a family with no descendants! How am I supposed to live now!"

The hoarse, unpleasant, and dry cries lingered in the small clinic, drawing crowds layered upon each other, all curiously inquiring about the situation.

"What's going on? What do you mean by 'eating offspring'?" These three words are almost a sensitive word that activates gossip radar.

"How can you bully an old man like this?"

The clamor of onlookers grew louder and louder, and the people of Zhoujia Village who were surrounded in the room immediately stopped them.

"Don't talk nonsense! This Zhou Laozhuang and his family went to that widow's door to cause trouble and even tried to steal things! We caught them red-handed! We didn't send them to the police station to be locked up because we're from the same village!"

"Just wait! Don't think you can act tough just because the village chief is backing you up! Yuanxiang and his three lads are not easy to deal with; I've never seen them suffer in silence."

"That's right! Old village chief, you should go back! Why listen to this old geezer's ramblings? Don't make yourself sick!"

The noise inside the ward and the discussions outside were all mixed together, more lively than even a village market day.

The staff at the small clinic rushed over to maintain order, shouting and trying to shove people away, but their voices were like drops of water, only causing a slight ripple, unable to shake the noisy crowd.

In the next ward, a tall man casually swept all the items on the bedside table into his military green backpack, snapped the buckle, and walked to the door. He leaned against the door frame and listened to the commotion for a while before the person who came to meet him arrived.

"Comrade, you should leave now that you're better. It's best not to linger in crowded or noisy places for a while to avoid getting hurt." A woman in a nurse's uniform walked over with a tray, a polite smile on her face, speaking softly, but her hand under the tray was clutching a wad of banknotes, which she quickly handed over to the man.

The man nodded calmly, then looked at the increasingly noisy crowd: "What are they doing now?"

"It's just some country folk performing monkey shows."

The man lost interest upon hearing this and was about to leave with his backpack when he suddenly heard a deep, hoarse, and aged voice break through the noisy chaos in the crowd, speaking with a firm and resounding tone.

"Our Zhoujia Village is plagued by trouble because of rats like you! If you keep causing trouble, I'll drag my old bones over there and open the ancestral hall!"

The crowd was stunned by the sound and gradually quieted down. The persistent coughing and panting that followed the shouting left a deep impression on everyone's hearts.

The man stopped and pondered the three names that intrigued him.

"Zhoujia Village..."

The man suddenly smiled and said, "So you were here."

.

This morning, Zhoujia Village was much quieter. After the commotion last night, many villagers rode in tractors with the old village chief and led the people of Zhoulaozhuang to the small clinic in town. They haven't returned yet.

When Zhou Lexing opened his eyes, he first felt the large, hot body on his body. He stared at the window for a while, listening to the sounds of sweeping and washing outside, before finally coming to his senses.

Zhou Lexing glanced at Zhou Shusheng, who was lying on top of him, and saw that he was so asleep that he was drooling. He couldn't help but smile, and then lowered his head to touch the other's forehead with his own to make sure that the heat was not due to a fever. Only then did he gently pull the other to the other side of the bed and get out of bed.

"mom."

Zhou Yuanxiang had already woken up. She swept the last splash of dirty water out of the yard before calling out to Zhou Lexing, who had come out, "The food is on the stove. I'm going out to visit some neighbors today. Take good care of Shusheng."

She remembered the help she received from the older women yesterday and was going to visit them today with gifts. Relationships are built through these interactions, and mutual support among neighbors is essential for long-term harmony in this close-knit village.

Seeing her busy with everything, Zhou Lexing quickly stepped forward to lend a hand. The dried meat and canned goods that the thief had found yesterday were carefully packaged and became appropriate gifts again.

Zhou Yuanxiang urged him to go eat, muttering to herself as if reminding herself, "I still need to cut a few pounds of meat. I need to go early, maybe I can even get two pig trotters."

Zhou Lexing: "Mom, do you have enough money?"

He was about to look for the money box the original owner had hidden when Zhou Yuanxiang waved her hand again, neatly hung the items on the bicycle rack, and pushed the bicycle out: "Don't worry about these things, go eat!"

Zhou Lexing watched Zhou Yuanxiang ride her bicycle away into the distance before turning back. Instead of going to eat, he actually went to rummage through the money jar that the original owner had hidden.

Unfortunately, Zhou Lexing's memories were not clear. After wandering around for a while, his eyes lit up. He carried the stairs from the yard into the house, climbed onto the roof, and found the dusty jar in the corner of the roof beam.

"No wonder that little thief couldn't find you yesterday."

Zhou Lexing grinned like a mouse that had found a rice jar. As soon as he landed, he eagerly opened the jar and poured out its contents. But soon, his smile gradually disappeared.

"..."

Zhou Lexing stared at the 82 yuan bills in front of him, which amounted to less than 100 yuan. He counted them again and again, and even reached his fingers into the jar to check for dust. After confirming that there were only one or two grains of dust, he was finally dumbfounded.

Really?

How could the village bully not even have a hundred yuan?!