Sui Changsheng also prescribed some anti-inflammatory medicine for both external and internal use. Bai Jiaojiao took the medicine, paid for it, and went home.

On the way back, Bai Jiaojiao asked, "Heng-ge, who did you fight with?"

“I stabbed him in the back six or seven years ago, and now he’s come looking for me. He just heard I’m doing well and he’s trying to extort money from me.”

Bai Jiaojiao knew less about Shen Heng stabbing someone when he was fifteen than the villagers of Shili Village. She had only heard about it from others to describe how terrifying Shen Heng was.

Now that things had developed this way, Bai Jiaojiao asked, "Why did you stab him back then?"

"You want to know?"

Shen Heng raised an eyebrow; it was clear he had conditions.

Bai Jiaojiao pinched him: "Stop talking nonsense and tell me right now!"

"hiss--"

Shen Heng pretended to have a headache, but Bai Jiaojiao ignored him: "Doctor Sui said the anesthetic doesn't wear off that quickly, don't lie to me! Let me tell you, you're disfigured now, and if I don't like you anymore, you'll have nowhere to cry!"

Shen Heng said, "So you've always thought I was pretty, haven't you?"

Bai Jiaojiao: "...Speak quickly, don't interrupt!"

The wife thought she was beautiful, and Shen Heng was stunningly handsome: "It's nothing. I was young at the time, and he thought I was easy to bully. Back then, I was running errands for a big brother in the county to earn a living. He wanted to rob me. I was young and didn't know any better. I happened to have a knife that I had sharpened myself, so I stabbed him."

Shen Heng lived alone at that time. He was young and not without suspicion of others. He wandered around the shipyard for several days before picking up a piece of scrap iron. He would come back at night to grind it, all for self-defense. Who would have thought that it would actually come in handy?

Shen Heng's description was understated, but Bai Jiaojiao couldn't imagine how scared Shen Heng must have been at the time.

"He struck first, so what you did was self-defense. Why are they all saying that about you?"

Bai Jiaojiao said indignantly.

"I can't explain where my money came from. You don't know how serious the situation was back then. If I didn't tell him, it would be considered a fight. I stabbed him, but he didn't get into any serious trouble. He was young and got released. If I explained everything, I would probably really be locked up."

Shen Heng's predicament ultimately stems from the fact that he had a very difficult childhood.

"So how badly did you beat him this time?" Bai Jiaojiao finally had time to worry about the person in the hospital. "You beat him too badly, you won't have to go to jail, will you?"

"Go to jail? Isn't that just getting a free government job?"

Shen Heng was slapped by Bai Jiaojiao after he finished speaking: "What will I do if you go to jail!"

Bai Jiaojiao almost cried.

Shen Heng then became serious: "Don't worry, it's alright. He won't dare to call the police."

As Shen Heng spoke, his face darkened to a grim expression.

Bai Jiaojiao glanced at Shen Heng, but didn't say anything.

"Are you alright? Let's go to the hospital to get it checked out."

"Okay, I'll listen to you. The captain should still be in the hospital."

Shen Heng's head was under anesthesia, so he didn't feel any pain. Plus, he was someone who could tolerate pain, so he acted as if nothing was wrong, even carrying Bai Jiaojiao on his bicycle.

When the two arrived in town, Shen Heng hissed, "My head hurts a bit, and this time it really hurts."

"How can it not hurt? It's such a big cut. Why don't you find a place to sit down and I'll blow on it for you?"

Seeing that Bai Jiaojiao's face was all scrunched up, Shen Heng quickly said, "It doesn't hurt that much. You can blow on it for me when we get home."

Bai Jiaojiao glanced at Shen Heng with annoyance, then entered the hospital and met the patient who had been brought in at noon that day in the lobby.

Following the nurse's directions, Bai Jiaojiao and Shen Heng arrived at the ward. There were six beds, four of which were occupied. Zheng Xu was sitting on a stool next to the bed closest to the window.

"You two are finally here!" Zheng Xu stood up from his stool when he saw them. "The doctor said I have a broken leg and need to be hospitalized. I just got it fixed and am now lying down."

Zheng Xu then pulled out another slip of paper: "This is the money to be paid."

Since Shen Heng was the one who hit him, Zheng Xu naturally wanted Shen Heng to pay up.

"Captain, could you please step outside for a moment? I have something to say to him."

Shen Heng spoke these words while staring at the person lying on the bed. Zheng Xu was stunned when he heard this. This person was actually giving him orders?

"Captain, let's go outside."

Bai Jiaojiao spoke up, and Zheng Xu, fuming, followed her out.

“Chen Heng is just a brute. How did you end up with him? Do you know how much he yelled and screamed along the way? He broke someone’s leg with his bare hands. He used so much force.”

Bai Jiaojiao didn't like hearing this: "Heng-ge's head injury was caused by a sickle. He was holding a sickle. What if he had poked Heng-ge's eye? What if he had used too much force and cut a tendon? Heng-ge was bare-handed, and I felt like he was being bullied."

Zheng Xu was speechless. He felt that Bai Jiaojiao's words were a bit biased, but also very reasonable, and he couldn't refute them.

“You and Shen Heng are truly birds of a feather. Anyway, what’s done is done. I’ve already talked him out of it on the way here. He won’t call the police. You can pay less compensation and just buy peace of mind.”

No matter what, fighting is wrong, and it's even more unacceptable to beat someone into the hospital.

Bai Jiaojiao seemed to be deep in thought.

At home, Shen Heng confidently stated that this person wouldn't call the police, and Zheng Xu just said the same thing. Bai Jiaojiao felt that this matter wouldn't be resolved simply because Zheng Xu had done a good job of persuasion.

No matter who it is, if someone is beaten like this, there's no reason for them to back down. Pay compensation? They can get compensation if they call the police.

Bai Jiaojiao didn't say these words. She glanced at the door of the ward, wondering what Shen Heng was saying to that person inside.

"Why aren't you saying anything? If you're having financial difficulties at home, just tell me, and I'll help you if I can."

Seeing that Bai Jiaojiao remained silent, Zheng Xu assumed that she didn't have much money left.

Although Zheng Xu noticed that they usually spent money extravagantly, he also felt that the two of them didn't know how to manage their money and couldn't save much.

"Thank you, Captain. We can handle this, don't worry."

Bai Jiaojiao said.

“You had better be able to resolve this. Things were going well, and you even saved someone in the county. How could you just start beating someone like that? This is such a bad influence in the village.”

Zheng Xu's words reminded Bai Jiaojiao of what the villagers who escorted Shen Heng home had said: "Who did he affect? ​​What does reputation matter?"

Zheng Xu glanced at Bai Jiaojiao as if it were the first day he had met her.

Bai Jiaojiao had previously asked Shen Heng to be mindful of his reputation and do good deeds in order to help him secure a spot as a worker-peasant-soldier college student. Now that spot has been decided and it has been awarded to Hushan Commune, proving that Bai Jiaojiao's memory was correct.

But now Shen Heng has decided to take the exam with her. Although for Shen Heng, taking the college entrance exam is something he doesn't know when the policy will be released, he is studying hard with Bai Jiaojiao because of his trust in her.

What use is fame to her then?