"Ma Xiaolan, what are you doing!"
The pain in his coccyx brought tears to Chen Xiaoshu's eyes.
But when he saw Ma Xiaolan looking at him with a smug yet disdainful expression, Chen Xiaoshu tried his best to hold back.
I absolutely cannot let him see me crying!
Ma Xiaolan thought Chen Xiaoshu would definitely cry after she beat him, but to her surprise, although his eyes were red, he didn't shed a single tear. Instead, he stiffened his neck and glared at her with disdain.
That resentful look only fueled the nameless anger in Ma Xiaolan's heart.
He bared his arms and rolled up his sleeves, ready to grab Chen Xiaoshu. Although Chen Xiaoshu was still a child, he could tell that Ma Xiaolan was up to no good. In his panic, he wished he had a weapon to defend himself.
But when he tried to grab it, he only managed to grab the dirt on the ground.
"Chen Xiaoshu!"
Ma Xiaolan shouted angrily, and Chen Xiaoshu was startled, instinctively throwing the soil in his hand forward!
"Cough, cough! Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey!"
Not a drop of soil was wasted; Ma Xiaolan caught it all with her face, getting it in her eyes, choking on her nose, and even swallowing a mouthful.
"My eyes! My eyes! They hurt!"
Ma Xiaolan's eyes were covered in a substance. She tried to open them, but felt something rubbing against her eyeballs. Tears immediately welled up, but this did not completely relieve the pain.
He burst into tears, fearing that he was going to go blind.
"Chen Xiaoshu, you've blinded Ma Xiaolan!" Immediately, some of the children watching shouted in fear.
"No...no, he tried to hit me first." Chen Xiaoshu panicked, his legs went weak and he couldn't stand up. He sat down on the ground in a panic.
"Waaaaah, I'm going to tell the village head!" A little girl, terrified, ran away wiping her tears.
Just then, a villager passed by and saw a group of little kids making a fuss, and he could vaguely hear crying, so he quickly came over.
Then they saw a child covered in dirt, shouting, "My eyes hurt, I'm going blind!"
"What exactly is going on?" The adult was also anxious and hurried forward to check.
With the surrounding children chattering away, the person finally understood what had happened.
"It's just dirt in your eyes, it's alright, child, don't be afraid. Someone go and fetch me a ladle of water! Hurry up."
After washing Ma Xiaolan's eyes with water, she gradually dared to open them. Although her vision was still blurry, at least she wasn't blind.
At this time, the village chief and the adults from the village arrived one after another, followed by Ma Tiannian, Lin Moniang, Su Yun'er, and Old Lady Chen.
Su Yun'er was sleeping at home when she heard that Chen Xiaoshu had gotten into a fight and injured someone. She immediately lost her sleepiness and rushed over with Old Lady Chen.
From afar, she saw a group of children gathered together, chattering excitedly as they recounted what had happened to the village head.
Ma Xiaolan was covered in dirt and water, looking extremely disheveled.
As soon as Lin Moniang saw it, she rushed over and looked it over from all angles.
"Lazybones, Lazybones, how are you feeling? Are you hurt?"
"The child is fine. He just squinted his eyes. He washed them and is much better now," said the first villager who found him.
After thanking the villagers, Lin Moniang checked Ma Xiaolan several more times to make sure she had no other injuries before she felt relieved.
It wasn't until he saw Su Yun'er that Chen Xiaoshu finally had an outlet for his pent-up grievances.
"Mother!" Chen Xiaoshu rushed over and hugged Su Yun'er tightly, bursting into tears. "Mother, Ma Xiaolan hit me... I didn't... He pushed me... I'm scared..."
The little tree was suffering terribly, sobbing and whimpering, so it spoke haltingly. This broke Old Mrs. Chen's heart, and she hugged the little tree, calling it her "my darling."
"You surnamed Ma, how did you raise your son! Just because he's tall and strong, he beats people up. Your whole family is heartless!" Old Mrs. Chen hugged the sapling to her chest and shouted angrily!
Lin Moniang was timid by nature. When she heard Old Lady Chen scolding her, she didn't dare to say anything back. She just hugged Ma Xiaolan even tighter and lowered her head very low.
But Ma Tiannian wasn't afraid at all.
However, he didn't feel sorry for Ma Xiaolan.
"You old hag, who are you cursing! Your grandson beat my son up, and he's almost blind. Instead of paying for my son's medical treatment, you dare to spew nonsense?"
"Chen Xiaoshu didn't hit Ma Xiaolan!" a clear girl's voice rang out. "That's right, Chen Xiaoshu didn't hit Ma Xiaolan, Ma Xiaolan started it!" More children chimed in.
"Get out of here! What do you little brats know? If you don't understand, don't talk! Go home and suckle your mothers." Ma Tiannian spat out a bunch of spittle, and those standing within his "range" unconsciously took several steps back.
"Hey, little widow, your son beat my son, you have to pay for his medical bills and get him treated." Ma Tiannian said with a lewd grin.
Last time you tricked me, you little bitch, causing me to fall and get hurt, and I became a laughingstock. This time, I'm going to teach you a lesson!
"Let me see. Renting a carriage, seeing a doctor, getting medicine, brewing medicine, and burning firewood—all these miscellaneous expenses will cost at least... twenty or thirty taels of silver."
"Good heavens, Ma Tiannian, are you out of your mind? The child is safe and sound, and you still want to extort twenty or thirty taels from the Chen family!"
Some villagers couldn't stand it anymore.
"What do you know? What does it have to do with you? Does that widow Chen even care about this little bit of money? Twenty or thirty taels? Her family could probably have as much as they wanted! You bunch of bastards, shut your mouths!"
Ma Tiannian already had a bad reputation in the village. Everyone in the village knew that Ma Tiannian liked to drink, gamble, and visit prostitutes, and that he would beat his wife and children at the drop of a hat. Everyone in the village looked down on him.
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