Aunt Wang, with her sharp eyes, saw Wang Dabao pushing his bicycle toward them and immediately went to greet him.
"Da Bao...brother, right?"
She knew about how Yi Zhonghai and Liu Haizhong had been beaten for acting like big shots in front of this kid, so she didn't dare to be presumptuous at this moment. She hesitated and called out to her brother, "Brother Da Bao, you're also a member of the compound. It seems you have a good relationship with Lao Yan. Why don't you help persuade him?"
Wang Dabao nodded, parked his bicycle, went up to Yan Bugui, and offered him a cigarette.
To make the act more convincing, Wang Dabao lit a cigarette for Yan Bugui, whose face was gloomy.
"Old Yan, tell me, is the child more important, or is venting your anger more important?"
"Nonsense, of course the child is more important."
"That's good." Wang Dabao exhaled a puff of smoke, gesturing for Yan Bugui and the residents gathered around to look at Yan Jiekuang. "This kid's acting a bit strange, didn't you notice?"
The group of people immediately turned their attention to Yan Jiekuang.
Yan Jiekuang was sitting on the bench with his head down, motionless.
His feet dangled a few centimeters off the ground, hanging there lifelessly. Normally, children this age are very active and their feet shouldn't be idle; they should at least swing them around a couple of times.
"Wait... something's not right, Da Bao, don't scare me."
Yan Bugui, no longer caring about smoking, jumped up and grabbed Wang Dabao's arm, feigning anxiety as he asked.
Wang Dabao pointed to his head and said, "It seems the child has suffered a significant shock here, and is probably shutting down his senses to perceive the outside world."
"No, Brother Da Bao, what exactly do you mean by this 'perceiving the outside world' thing?" Aunt Li from the front yard was also anxious. Although Yan Bugui was scheming against everyone and sometimes quite annoying, Aunt Li had watched Yan Jiekuang grow up, and she still didn't want anything to happen to him.
After hearing Wang Dabao describe the severity of Yan Jiekuang's situation, most of the residents held their breath and wondered what was going on.
"Strictly speaking, it is a mental illness."
However, Wang Dabao's first words almost made Yan Bugui collapse to the ground in fright.
Seeing this, Wang Dabao quickly reached out and supported Yan Bugui, secretly pinching him. "You old bastard, don't overact, or you'll give yourself away."
Yan Bugui understood, and his small eyes behind his glasses blinked twice imperceptibly.
Then, her voice trembling with tears, she said, "Da Bao, don't scare your old brother like that! My youngest son is the apple of my and your sister-in-law's eye. If anything happens to him, how am I supposed to live?"
"Can crying make a child go back to the way they were before?"
Aunt Li was getting anxious. Seeing Yan Bugui wailing and crying, she wanted nothing more than to slap this scheming devil. "Brother Da Bao, tell me! What kind of mental illness does Jie Kuang have? Can it be cured?"
"Playing tricks and claiming mental illness."
Sha Zhu muttered to himself from the side.
Wang Dabao glanced at Sha Zhu but ignored him, which earned him a cold snort from Sha Zhu.
Jia Dongxu quickly pulled Sha Zhu aside, "Zhu Zi, don't cause trouble."
Wang Dabao was taken aback by Jia Dongxu's actions. Goodness, so you two have a pretty good relationship, no wonder you can take turns sleeping with your wives in the future.
It seems I need to find an opportunity to give Jia Dongxu a heads-up, otherwise he won't even know that his wife is being targeted by Sha Zhu.
“Look at Jie Kuang’s appearance. He must be affected by emotions such as fright, frustration, and humiliation. The child has closed himself off in a space of consciousness that he thinks is safe and is unwilling to communicate with the outside world.”
Wang Dabao stopped Aunt Li, who wanted to go and check on Yan Jiekuang's condition, saying, "If he is subjected to strong external interference, he may leave his consciousness in the enclosed space."
"No, Brother Da Bao, could you please speak in a way that we can all understand?"
Aunt Wang clutched a handful of pumpkin seeds, her expression anxious.
Wang Dabao pondered for a moment, "To put it simply, the fact that the child was beaten on the ground by the Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu brothers caused great harm to his young mind."
“I just discussed this with Yi Zhonghai. I’m afraid the child will fall seriously ill in the next couple of days.”
"Whether she can survive this illness depends on fate. If she can't, she is very likely to become crazy or stupid. But then again, even if she does survive, it will still be a significant psychological trauma for her."
"The best thing to do now is to have Liu Guangfu come over and sincerely apologize to Jie Kuang. That might help the child's recovery."
After Wang Dabao's explanation, everyone finally understood and nodded in agreement that Wang Dabao was right.
Since the injury was caused by Liu Guangfu, having him come over and apologize might help Yan Jiekuang's mental recovery.
Wang Dabao looked at Liu Haizhong's family not far away and saw Yi Zhonghai gesturing incessantly, almost pointing at Liu Haizhong's forehead to lecture him.
Liu Haizhong didn't refute, he just listened silently.
Wang Dabao glanced at Yan Jiekuang again, secretly worried. After all, Yan Jiekuang was only a ten-year-old child, and if this dragged on any longer, he might be exposed.
Fortunately, less than a minute later, Yi Zhonghai, along with Liu Haizhong, Liu Guangtian, and Liu Guangfu, walked towards them. Behind them were several men who had just gone to arrest Liu Guangfu.
Wang Dabao stepped forward and explained Yan Jiekuang's situation to Yi Zhonghai in detail.
Liu Haizhong and his two sons listened intently from the side.
The more they listened, the paler their faces became. Finally, Yi Zhonghai glared at Liu Guangfu and said, "You heard everything, didn't you? Go over there yourself. Don't scare Jie Kuang, or you'll be in big trouble."
Liu Guangfu nodded with his head down, and slowly walked towards Yan Jiekuang.
In reality, it wasn't many steps, but Liu Guangfu managed to make it feel like the Long March.
Yan Jiekuang remained indifferent to what was happening around him, showing no awareness of Liu Guangfu's approach.
It wasn't until Liu Guangfu walked up to Yan Jiekuang and called out to him that he finally understood.
"Brother Jie Kuang, I..."
Yan Jiekuang looked up in astonishment. When he saw that it was Liu Guangfu, his face was filled with terror, as if he had seen a ghost. Before Liu Guangfu could finish his apology, Yan Jiekuang had already fallen off the bench in a panic and sat down on the ground with a thud.
"You...you stay away, don't hit me, it hurts...don't hit me..."
Yan Jiekuang was almost crying from fright, his eyes filled with tears, and he frantically waved his hands in front of his face.
Everyone was stunned by what they saw.
Aunt Li's eyes were red; how could such a good child have turned out like this?
He Yushui was also shocked by what she saw. She subconsciously grabbed Sha Zhu's arm, which made Sha Zhu grimac.
"It relieves boredom..."
Yan Bugui roared and pounced like a mad old dog, knocking Liu Guangfu aside and tightly embracing Yan Jiekuang.
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