Chapter 9: Settling the Score

"That goes without saying. My future son-in-law won't be bullied for nothing." Su Chunlin rolled up his sleeves, ready to stir up some trouble.

The very next day, he went to Ximen Village in person.

Ding-shi was chatting with a group of women at the village entrance. When she saw Su Chunlin walk past her quickly, she froze for a moment, then jumped up on the spot. "Su Chunlin, you god-forsaken wretch, you actually dare to come to our village! You stop right there!"

Su Chunlin had spotted Ding-shi from far away; he had slipped by so quickly precisely because he didn't want to get tangled up with her.

Ding-shi hadn't expected that the more she shouted, the faster Su Chunlin would run. Convinced he was acting out of a guilty conscience, she immediately gave chase.

Su Chunlin arrived at the Mo household. As soon as he stepped through the door, he saw Mo Laotian and, without a word, rushed forward and punched him.

Ding-shi, who had followed close behind, let out a shriek of terror.

Mo Laotian’s wife and daughter heard the commotion and rushed out. Seeing Mo Laotian being beaten, they grabbed whatever tools were at hand and charged over.

Su Chunlin grabbed Mo Laotian by the collar and roared in fury, "Shen Ping is dead, that’s true! But Liu Laosan and I are still alive! Shen Yi is not an orphan without anyone to back him up!"

Upon hearing the name Shen Yi, the angry expressions on the faces of Mo Laotian’s wife and daughter instantly turned to ones of guilt.

It took Guan-shi a moment to compose herself before she stepped forward to scold him. "No matter what, you can't just hit people! Besides, our family has already made things clear with Shen Yi and even gave him a bag of grain. You didn't come to make trouble before, but now you come running over—could it be that you think we gave him too little? Isn't this being a bit too pushy?"

Mo Chunxiang nodded vigorously at her mother’s words, shouting indignantly, "I was the one who insisted on breaking off the engagement! So what if I don't like him? If you have a problem, come at me! Don't go after my parents!"

With that, Mo Chunxiang rushed over and used all her strength to pull Mo Laotian behind her, looking as if to say, "What are you going to do about it?"

Su Chunlin had come here with a purpose, but he hadn't expected to hear such words. He was thoroughly enraged and snapped at Mo Chunxiang, "What are you, a little girl, doing interfering when adults are talking? Do you know what 'parents' orders and matchmaker's words' mean? It’s a pity you have both parents, yet you have absolutely no upbringing! Is the life-saving debt your father owes someone something that can be repaid with a single bag of grain?"

Mo Chunxiang had never been pointed at and scolded like that in her life. Facing Su Chunlin’s fierce demeanor, she was so frightened that she burst into loud sobs.

Guan-shi was heartbroken. Like a mother hen protecting her chicks, she stood in front of Mo Chunxiang and shoved Su Chunlin hard. "What happens in my house is none of your business! Calling my daughter uneducated? No matter how uneducated my daughter is, it’s still better than you raising a fool of a daughter!"

Su Chunlin was furious. He shook off Guan-shi and barked at Mo Laotian, "Men’s business is no place for women to interfere! Mo Laotian, I’m here today, and you must give the Shen family an explanation. Otherwise, I’m a man with nothing to lose—I’ll go to town tomorrow and make such a scene that you, Mo Laotian, will be infamous throughout the entire region!"

"You shameless man!" Guan-shi was so angry she nearly fainted.

Mo Laotian’s face turned pale. Knowing they were in the wrong, he didn't even care about his aching cheek. He told Guan-shi to take Mo Chunxiang back inside, then politely ushered Su Chunlin into the house.

Seeing that Su Chunlin was about to leave, Ding-shi rushed out to block his path. "Stop! My son said it was your fool of a daughter who beat him up! You must give me an explanation for this!"

Su Chunlin squinted, looking deeply at Ding-shi. He showed no signs of panic, and his gaze actually made Ding-shi feel uneasy.

She instinctively stepped back, but once she remembered she was in Ximen Village, she regained her confidence. "Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're a man! Anyway, if you don't give me an explanation today, don't think about leaving Ximen Village!"

Su Chunlin suddenly burst into laughter. "What? You want to have me arrested?"

Mo Laotian hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Brother Chunlin, don't be angry. We are all honest, law-abiding country folk; we don't do things that break the law."

Hearing this, Ding-shi huffed in dissatisfaction, but she showed no intention of backing down.

Su Chunlin just gave a mocking, indifferent laugh. "I thought it was strange that so many half-grown boys came to your village that day. Later, my son said that Xiong Dao led a group of people to beat him up, and many people saw it. You can't deny this! I wasn't planning to pursue it, seeing as he already got his retribution, but since you insist on pestering me, let's report this to the authorities and let the town magistrate decide. If Xiong Dao’s injuries weren't caused by my daughter, I certainly won't let this matter rest!"

His fierce and certain tone truly intimidated Ding-shi and Mo Laotian.

Mo Laotian made a decision immediately and impatiently shooed Ding-shi away. "That’s enough! The situation that day was chaotic to begin with. You’ve asked so many households and couldn't find out anything. You want to hold the Su girl responsible just because of your son’s word? What kind of pipe dream are you having? Besides, the Su girl doesn't do any work; how could she have the strength to injure your son like that? Use your brain before you go around accusing people!"

Ding-shi was unconvinced, but she knew that with the men of her house away, she wouldn't gain any advantage by staying. She could only leave in a huff.

After Ding-shi left, Su Chunlin stood with his hands behind his back, calmly glancing at Mo Laotian. He mused, "Since I'm here today, I might as well have you pass a message to the Xiong family: our Su family doesn't look for trouble, but we aren't afraid of it either. My older brother in the county seat isn't without connections. If the Xiong family can truly produce evidence that it was my daughter who injured Xiong Dao, I’ll accept the debt! But if they can't and still dare to spread lies, don't blame me for going after them! We can settle old scores and new ones all at once."

Inside the house, the mother and daughter eavesdropping on the conversation exchanged looks, feeling aggrieved, angry, and helpless.

Mo Laotian gave a dry laugh and nodded repeatedly. "Brother Chunlin, about that matter with Shen Yi..."

Su Chunlin waved his hand and continued on his own. "It’s your problem that your daughter wasn't raised well; I didn't come here today to listen to your excuses. Breaking off an engagement just like that—what decent family does that? That bag of grain can at most be considered an apology for breaking the engagement; it can't possibly repay the life-saving debt from back then, can it?"

"It can't, it can't... definitely not!" Mentioning the events of that year made Mo Laotian’s face burn with shame, and his attitude toward admitting his fault was relatively sincere.

Seeing him like this, the anger in Su Chunlin’s heart finally dissipated a little. "Since it can't, just keep it in mind. Everyone is having a hard time now, and even if I asked you to pay it back, you couldn't. I’ll ask you one last time: are you really not going through with the marriage between the Shen and Mo families?"

Mo Laotian’s eyes were full of struggle. Just then, a sound came from inside the room. Mo Laotian sighed helplessly and nodded heavily. "We aren't going through with it!"

"Then don't you regret it!" Su Chunlin turned and left in a huff, not even giving Mo Laotian a second glance.

As soon as he left, Guan-shi and her daughter ran out from the room.

Mo Chunxiang stomped her feet and gritted her teeth, pointing in the direction Su Chunlin had left and cursing, "If it weren't for the fact that my older brothers and Xiong Kai had all gone to the Canglan River to fetch water, how could he be so arrogant! It makes me so mad, ah..."

"Exactly, exactly! Don't worry, Xiang'er. His daughter is a fool; she must have found out that Xiong Kai was going to propose to you immediately after breaking off the engagement with her, so she came to make trouble. Claiming she was standing up for Shen Yi? Bah! Does he have such a kind heart? If he really wanted to repay the favor, why didn't he marry his own daughter to Shen Yi!" The more Guan-shi thought about it, the more she felt she had guessed correctly.

Even Mo Laotian wore an expression of sudden realization, and the pent-up frustration in his heart suddenly dissipated.