On this day, after breakfast, Zhang Tieshan did not go to the fields or the mountains to hunt as usual. Instead, he took Zhang Qingshan and his good brother Luo Er, who grew up with him in the same village, out of the village and headed straight for Lijiazhuang.
Zhang Qingshan was so happy when he heard that his brother was going to Lijiazhuang to settle accounts with the Li family that he walked with a breeze. He felt very proud. "Brother, I thought you would just let this matter go. It turns out you don't plan to let the Li family go. That's great. We should get back what they did to us!"
Luo Er was standing nearby, feeling both indignant and guilty, saying, "The Li family is really too much. When you were not at home, they often came to bully your mother, brother, and your son. All the valuables in the house were taken away, and the people were driven out. I fought with that family several times, but the Li family was large, and the two sons were powerful. I was useless. I couldn't beat them, and I couldn't win an argument with them. Brother, I'm sorry for not taking good care of your family for you."
How could Zhang Tieshan blame him? He knew that villagers generally would not help others with these household chores, and most of them just watched the fun. Just like when his mother and brother and son were bullied at home, no villager stood up for them. Only Luo Er was willing to help. When his mother and brother were driven out and had nowhere to go, it was Luo Er who gave them his old house to live in. This gave his mother and brother a place to live. He was very grateful for Luo Er's help.
Knowing that he was going to settle accounts with the Li family this time, Luo Er also volunteered to help, just because he was afraid that they didn't have enough manpower. He didn't make any mistakes with this brother.
Zhang Tieshan patted Luo Er on the shoulder and said, "Xiaoer, I have never blamed you. I am only grateful to you."
Luo Er smiled as if he was relieved, and then asked curiously: "I thought you would go to the Li family to settle accounts as soon as you came back, why did you go today?"
Zhang Tieshan pursed his lips, thinking of Li Hehua who left yesterday, and said in a flat voice: "The Li family probably just knew I was back yesterday, so it's just in time for them to come today." Although he didn't bother with Li Hehua anymore, he would not let the Li family go. If he ignored them after they bullied his family to this extent, he would not be a man. The reason why he didn't look for the Li family immediately was only because of the incident with Li Hehua before. If he wanted to settle the score, he naturally had to wait until Li Hehua was divorced and returned home.
Luo Er grew up playing with Zhang Tieshan and knew him very well. Hearing what he meant, he immediately understood and didn't ask any more questions.
The three men went straight to Lijiazhuang and headed straight for the Li family without stopping. Outside the gate of the Li family, Zhang Tieshan kicked the gate open without saying a word. A wooden door fell to the ground with a loud bang.
The loud noise scared the Li family so much that they ran out of the yard to see what was going on. What they saw was Zhang Tieshan standing in the yard with a stern face.
The family's faces turned pale instantly.
The Li family knew about Zhang Tieshan before they married Li Hehua to him. It can be said that everyone in the nearby villages knew about Zhang Tieshan. The reason was that Zhang Tieshan was extremely strong and brave. Others could carry one bag of rice, but he could carry three bags. He was also a famous hunter in the area. He once hunted a wild boar by himself, which made people envious. The Zhang family was very wealthy because of Zhang Tieshan. There were countless families in the surrounding villages who wanted to marry their daughters to him.
Zhang Tieshan is so powerful that naturally no one dares to mess with the Zhang family. The Li family didn't dare to mess with them before, but they were blinded by money. Seeing that Zhang Tieshan hadn't come back for several years and rumors that he was dead, they thought he died on the battlefield. So they became interested and started to search the Zhang family for valuables and robbed all the Zhang family's savings.
Now that Zhang Tieshan is coming to his house, how can he not be afraid?
Mother He Hua stuttered and asked, "Tie Shan, what are you doing?"
Zhang Tieshan's eyes were frighteningly dark as he slowly glanced at the Li family. That look made them shiver involuntarily. Where was his original domineering look?
Zhang Tieshan stepped forward slowly, scaring the Li family members so much that they retreated step by step until they retreated into the main hall. Zhang Tieshan then sat down at the table, while the Li family members stood not far away, staring at him nervously.
Zhang Tieshan touched the table and chair in front of him and raised the corner of his mouth, "This table and chair are so familiar, they seem to be exactly the same as before I left."
The Li family members looked embarrassed for a moment and didn't know what to say.
Zhang Tieshan's eyes turned to other furnishings in the room. He spoke about each familiar thing he saw, as if he was simply asking a question. However, the Li family members lowered their heads lower and their faces became paler.
When Zhang Tieshan said there was nothing to say, he looked at the Li family coldly, "Don't you have anything to say? Why don't you tell me where these things came from?"
The Li family looked at each other and knew that they could not deny it today. If they did not admit that these things were taken from the Zhang family, they might be beaten to death on the spot by Zhang Tieshan. After all, they had the honor of seeing how Zhang Tieshan dealt with thieves. The Li family was not stupid and did not intend to deny the source of these things.
It was just that everyone used their eyes to urge each other to stand up and explain, but no one wanted to open the mouth. In the end, there was no choice but Li Changfu stood up and said, "Tieshan, this matter is all my family's fault. It's all my fault that Hehua didn't know better. She insisted on taking the Zhang family's things back to honor us. We said no, but she insisted on taking them back to her parents' home. So we thought of keeping them first and returning them together when you come back. Now that you're back, we will transport the things back later."
Li Changfu's wife nodded immediately. "Yes, yes, we can't do anything about my sister-in-law. She is too ignorant. When she came back yesterday, we asked her to go back and apologize to you. We will not let our married daughter do whatever she wants."
After listening to what the Li family said, Zhang Tieshan remained silent. After a while, he laughed. His laugh was so creepy that the Li family swallowed back the words they wanted to say.
"Are you treating me like a three-year-old kid?" As Zhang Tieshan spoke, he smashed the tea bowl next to him to the ground, scaring the Li family so much that they almost screamed.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Lotus's mother quickly waved her hand and persuaded, "Tieshan, we are relatives after all. Although you have divorced Lotus now, the friendship of so many years is still there, don't you think? Besides, if it wasn't for Lotus's father who saved your father back then-"
Zhang Qingshan couldn't help but interrupted loudly, "How shameless! You were the ones who took the things away, but now you say that Li Hehua insisted on giving them to you. How shameless! Also, your family used this life-saving favor to force my eldest brother to marry your daughter, and now you're bringing it up again. Do you have any shame!"
The Li family members were embarrassed by Zhang Qingshan's words, but the Li family members were always thick-skinned. Lotus mother said: "Qingshan, it was our attitude that was wrong before. We are all rough people. We speak and act rudely, so we accidentally hurt you. We are really sorry. We apologize to you. Please forgive us." After saying that, she changed the subject and continued: "But, my Lotus father did save your father. This kindness cannot be forgotten."
Zhang Qingshan was so angry at what He Hua Niang said that his face turned red, "You, you..."
Zhang Tieshan raised his hand and patted Zhang Qingshan, signaling him not to get excited. Then he looked at the Li family calmly and said, "Don't talk about that favor anymore. We have already repaid what we should repay. I don't want to hear another word from you, otherwise..."
Although he didn't finish his words, the Li family members shut up and dared not say anything more.
Seeing that the Li family had shut up, Zhang Tieshan continued, "Now let's talk about these things. I remember that they were brand new before I left, but now they are worn out. I don't like to use things that have been used by others, so I can't take them back and continue to use them. How about this, you can convert them into silver to compensate me, and let's forget about this."
As soon as these words were spoken, the Li family members' faces froze.
Zhang Tieshan asked calmly: "Why, you don't want to?"
Mother He Hua had a stiff face, but she managed to force a smile. "Tieshan, our family is not well off, and we really can't afford so much money. Can you please just ship the things back? If not, can we give you fifty cents?"
Hearing this, Zhang Tieshan raised his lips, stood up, and turned his wrist nonchalantly, "So this means you don't want to take the money? Fine, since you don't want to take the money, then use your arm to pay off the debt. One piece of furniture, one arm. Who goes first?"
The Li family members were so frightened by these words that their faces turned pale. They didn't expect Zhang Tieshan to be so cruel that he actually wanted to cripple their arms.
Li Changfu was so angry that he said, "Zhang Tieshan, don't go too far!"
Zhang Tieshan was not angry, "Is that too much? If you are not convinced, come closer and let's spar. Maybe you broke my arm. I heard that you were very brave when you were at my house."
Although Li Changfu was strong and good at fighting, he was no match for Zhang Tieshan. He dared not act wildly in front of Zhang Tieshan and did not dare to take a single step forward.
Seeing that he didn't move, Zhang Tieshan became impatient, his face turned stern, and he slammed his hand on the table. With a "pop", the table, which was fine just now, broke into pieces in an instant, as it was broken by Zhang Tieshan.
The Li family members could hardly stand.
"I'll ask you one last time, do you want to compensate me with money or with my arm?"
This one sentence made all the Zhang family members tremble. Seeing that they would die if they didn't pay the money, Li Changfu's wife was afraid, so she turned to Hehua Niang and begged: "Mom, let's pay the money, otherwise what will happen if I become disabled?" She didn't want to become disabled, nor did she want her husband to become disabled.
Lotus Lady's mouth trembled, and after struggling for a while, she finally nodded, "We will pay the money, pay the money!"
Zhang Tieshan nodded indifferently, "Okay, I counted the furniture, there are seven pieces in total, I won't charge you for the small things, you just need to pay me fifteen taels of silver in total."
"What? Fifteen taels of silver?" All the Li family members exclaimed in surprise.
"Tieshan, you may be exaggerating. This piece of furniture is worth at most two taels of silver. How could it be fifteen taels of silver?" Mother Hehua asked with gritted teeth.
Zhang Tieshan raised his eyes and said, "Since you think the price is wrong, let's calculate the lost savings of my family. According to my mother, she was robbed of more than ten taels of silver. I want to ask you, where did the money go?"
When the Li family thought of the money, all the resentment in their throats was choked.
Zhang Tieshan shook his head, and walked to the corner of the main hall in front of the Li family. He picked up an axe that was placed there, twisted it in his hand, and walked back slowly. "How is it? Have you thought it through? I don't have that much time to waste with you. If you haven't thought it through, don't blame me for taking action."
Li Changfu and Li Changshou were scared, and they simultaneously reached out and tugged at their mother's sleeves, signaling her to take the money. They didn't want to fight with this evil star, they couldn't beat him, not even if they joined forces.
Lotus mother pursed her lips tightly, staring at the axe in Zhang Tieshan's hand with cold sweat pouring down her face. Seeing that Zhang Tieshan was about to approach her, she finally said, "I'll give it to you, I'll give it to you, I'll go get the money right away."
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