Qiu Dayong didn't have time to stop; the rolling pin was about to land on Zhao Yuanyuan.
Qiu Dayu exerted all his strength, turned around, and shielded Zhao Yuanyuan with his hands, protecting her head.
The rolling pin struck his arm directly, causing him unbearable pain and a buzzing in his head.
Zhao Yuanyuan was still unlucky; she was hit by Qiu Hui's stick. She cried out in pain, her eyes red with tears.
This family is utterly despicable.
They all stopped what they were doing because of Zhao Yuanyuan's sudden arrival.
Qiu Hui found Zhao Yuanyuan increasingly displeasing. "Zhao Yuanyuan, could it be that you've taken a fancy to Qiu Dayu? Humph, what kind of taste do you have? Qiu Dayu is a scoundrel; whoever goes with him is doomed."
Zhao Yuanyuan was both ashamed and angry. She met Qiu Dayu's gaze, her face turning bright red. "Who I like is none of your business."
Qiu Dayong glanced at Qiu Hui with displeasure. Zhao Yuanyuan was the village chief's daughter; offending her would not do their family any good. "Miss Yuanyuan, I'm sorry, I hope you weren't hurt."
Zhao Yuanyuan said with a hostile expression, "Your whole family is bullying Brother Dayu. I'm going to tell my father."
Qian glared at Qiu Dayong, looking at the mess he'd made. "Yuanyuan, this is our family matter, please don't take offense."
Qiu Dazhi wouldn't listen to their argument; all he could think about was giving Qiu Dayu a good beating.
He threw another punch at Qiu Dayu.
"Brother Dayu, be careful!" Zhao Yuanyuan shouted anxiously.
Qiu Dayu was furious and punched Qiu Dazhi in the chest, causing Qiu Dazhi to fall to the ground.
With a thud, Qiu Dazhi felt as if his body had fallen apart and he couldn't get up.
"Qiu Dayong, Qiu Dazhi, listen up! I, Qiu Dayu, lost a lot of money gambling before, but I will pay it back!"
Upon hearing this, the Qian family and others immediately became interested.
They all knew that Qiu Dayu had found a good job and had even returned some money to the village chief's family today.
He's become more responsible now than before; he knows to pay back the money.
Madam Qian said excitedly, "You said it yourself, so tell me, when are you going to return those fifty taels of silver to us?"
Qiu Dayu tightened his grip on the pork in his hand: "That money was earned by my elder brother, and I will pay it back to Xiaoyan later. After Mother is released from prison, I will also give her some alimony. Please don't keep arguing with me about this!"
After he finished speaking, he and Zhao Yuanyuan exchanged a glance, and then the two turned and left.
"Why...why should you return it to Qiu Yan...if you're going to return the money, you should return it to us." Madam Qian was furious. No matter what, the money shouldn't have been returned to Qiu Yan.
Qiu Dayu turned around, looking coldly at Qian Shi, "Why should my brother's money support your whole family?"
After saying that, he continued walking.
Qian hurried after them, but Qiu Dayong stopped her. If they continued to make a scene, it would be bad if Qiu Dafu came looking for revenge.
"You want Qiu Dayu to return fifty taels of silver? Dream on. Don't we know what kind of person Qiu Dayu is? Just wait and see, in less than half a year, he will definitely make Qiu Yan and Qiu Dafu's lives a living hell. We'll just wait and watch the show."
Qiu Dayong didn't believe that Qiu Dayu had turned over a new leaf. A scoundrel is a scoundrel, and even if he learns to behave well temporarily, he won't be able to stick to it for long.
After saying that, he helped up Qiu Dazhi, who was sitting on the ground glaring angrily at the figure in front of him. "Fourth brother, forget it. Let's just pretend we don't have this brother."
Qiu Dazhi's anger had not subsided, and he still glared fiercely at Qiu Dayu's departing figure.
On the way, Zhao Yuanyuan saw Qiu Dayu almost fall down and wanted to help him up, but hesitated because of the difference between men and women.
"Brother Dayu, are you alright?"
"It's nothing." Qiu Dayu, who was usually quite lively, was too sore to speak at the moment.
Zhao Yuanyuan took the pork from Qiu Dayu's hand. "It's just pork. If they want to eat it, just give it to them. Why hurt yourself like this over a piece of pork? It's not worth it."
Qiu Dayu gritted his teeth and said, "I'd rather throw this meat away than let them eat it."
For some reason, Zhao Yuanyuan just wanted to laugh. "Okay, let's not talk about pork anymore."
Thinking about what had just happened, Qiu Dayu felt sullen. "I didn't want her to go to jail either, but Xiaoyan said that if she didn't go, my second brother would die, and that she was the one who ruined him. Yuanyuan, do you also think I'm an ingrate? Seeing my own mother go to jail and I'm completely indifferent."
Zhao Yuanyuan shook her head, "There's no need to blame yourself, this has nothing to do with you."
Hearing Zhao Yuanyuan's words, Qiu Dayu felt a little better. They returned to the Qiu family's old courtyard one after the other and cooked together.
Because Wang rushed off to inform them, by the time Qiu Yan and her second uncle arrived home, Qiu Dayu had already returned and was acting as if nothing had happened, slicing meat with Zhao Yuanyuan.
Mrs. Wang quickly pulled her daughter aside to ask what was going on.
Qiu Yan saw that Qiu Dayu's eyes and lips were covered in bruises, and she clenched her fists.
Qiu Dafu's expression suddenly changed, and he turned to leave. Seeing this, Qiu Dayu quickly called out to Qiu Dafu, "Second Brother, I didn't suffer any loss."
Qiu Dafu turned his head and looked at Qiu Dayu with a puzzled expression. He had been beaten up like this, yet he hadn't suffered any loss?
"Really, I didn't suffer any losses. Their injuries were even more serious than mine." Qiu Dayu didn't want his second brother and Qiu Yan to be distracted by his own affairs.
"Really?" Qiu Yan was somewhat skeptical.
"Qiu Dayong and Qiu Dazhi are both good-for-nothings; they are no match for me." Qiu Dayu's words, spoken with bruises and swelling, sounded somewhat incongruous.
Qiu Dafu left anyway; he wanted to go to Old Qiu's house to see if what Qiu Dayu said was true.
He didn't want his brothers to be at odds, but Qiu Laosan and Qiu Laosi had questionable character and he couldn't befriend them.
They've actually joined forces to bully the fifth brother, which Qiu Dafu can't tolerate.
With his eldest brother gone, as the second brother, he also wanted to avenge his fifth brother.
"Second brother, I'm really fine." Qiu Dayu called out to his second brother's back a few times, but was ignored. He originally planned to continue cutting meat slices with Zhao Yuanyuan, but when he saw Wang Shi, he sat down awkwardly to the side and rubbed his sore knees.
Qiu Yan turned around and went to find Old Man Zhao to see if he had any herbs for treating injuries.
At Old Zhao's house, the old man sat lazily in a rocking chair, looking utterly hopeless.
Because he often wanders off, his nephews and grand-nephews recently locked the gate to his courtyard from the inside, preventing him from going out.
"Qiu Yan, you promised to learn how to process herbs with me. You can't give up halfway. Your great-grandfather has been waiting for you for so long. Why did you take so long to come?"
On one of the rare occasions, the old man remembered Qiu Yan.
Qiu Yan smiled and replied, "Great-Grandpa, I didn't give up halfway, I've just been a bit busy lately."
She reads medical books whenever she has free time, and what she has learned before is gradually becoming clearer and imprinted in her mind.
"That's good." The old man stroked his beard. After Qiu Yan explained her purpose, he went to his medicine cabinet and searched around for a while. Finally, he found a bottle of medicinal wine and some safflower, angelica, and other herbs, which he managed to gather for three doses of herbal medicine.
"Qiu Yan, the herbal medicine will be decocted for your uncle tonight. Don't use the medicinal wine in time; apply it to him in two days."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
