Chapter 51: Bullying at the Door

With the transaction complete, Meng Yulan walked home with a vegetable basket in one hand and the neck of a large goose in the other.

She had just entered the village and hadn't even reached the small grocery store when Old Lady Ma, who lived by the small stream at the edge of the village, spotted the large white goose in Meng Yulan's hand from a distance.

For several consecutive days, Old Lady Ma and her husband had searched everywhere around their doorstep, but they hadn't found so much as a single goose feather, let alone a goose.

Old Lady Ma had originally given up, but upon seeing the large goose in Meng Yulan's hand, she rubbed her cloudy old eyes; the more she looked, the more familiar it seemed.

Some might think this was nonsense—don't all geese look the same? How could she recognize it?

I can say with absolute certainty that it is possible. It's not just geese; if you've raised chickens, ducks, cats, or dogs for a long time, you can recognize them.

To give a simple example, breeds like Golden Retrievers or Poodles on the street might look identical to outsiders, but in front of their owners, even if their dog were mixed into a pack of dozens or hundreds, the owner could easily pick it out.

This large white goose was one that Old Lady Ma had raised bit by bit since it was small; she was certain she wouldn't mistake it.

Having found her large white goose, Old Lady Ma turned and headed straight for the house. A few minutes later, Old Man Zhu followed behind his wife, and the two arrived at Yue Feng's house one after the other.

"Oh, Uncle Zhu, Auntie, what a rare visit! Please, come inside!!"

Meng Yulan thought the old couple had come to look at the bicycle. Seeing them at her door, she immediately greeted them warmly.

"Jingjing's Mom! We didn't come here for no reason today! Just now, I saw you carrying my goose into the village. I called my old man and we followed you all the way back!"

Old Lady Ma spoke coldly, her face set in a grim expression without a hint of a smile.

Hearing this, Meng Yulan was slightly stunned. "Your goose? Auntie, you must be mistaken! I bought this goose at the Wangjia Village market early this morning for four yuan and fifty cents; it's for a banquet at our house tonight!"

"We have six geese in total. A few days ago, we lost a laying hen—the one that laid the most eggs. I even announced it over the village loudspeaker at the brigade headquarters!"

As Old Lady Ma spoke, she turned her body and glanced around, trying to spot the goose Meng Yulan had brought home.

Initially, Meng Yulan had been quite polite to the couple since they were elders visiting, but seeing Old Lady Ma's disrespectful manner of entering someone else's home, she immediately lost her patience.

"What does it matter if you lost a goose? I told you, I bought this goose at the market for four fifty!" Her neighbor, Chang Meijuan, had gone to the market with her, and other villagers there could witness it!

"I don't care! The goose you brought back is the one we lost!"

Hearing the sound of geese calling in the storehouse, Old Lady Ma pushed open the door to the courtyard storehouse without even asking Meng Yulan's permission.

"Husband! Old Lady Ma is here to cause trouble!!"

Although Meng Yulan was a gentle person, she was not the type to let people bully her without a word. She immediately shouted toward the north room.

At that moment, Yue Lei was half-reclining on the *kang* bed, playing with a small pinecone his son had tied for him. He heard someone in the courtyard but didn't think much of it, assuming they were villagers coming to watch the commotion. However, hearing his wife's call, he immediately grabbed his crutch and got off the bed.

By the time Yue Lei pushed open the door and came out, Old Lady Ma and Meng Yulan were already in a scuffle.

Though Old Lady Ma was elderly, she had worked her whole life and had considerable strength. She was currently grabbing the rope tied to the goose's leg, trying to drag the goose away.

Seeing Old Lady Ma attempting to snatch the goose, Meng Yulan refused to let go and hugged the goose tightly. The two were locked in a stalemate, neither willing to release their grip.

"Both of you, stop!" Yue Lei let out a roar, startling both Old Lady Ma and Old Man Zhu.

"This is my goose! I recognize it! There's a swirl in the feathers right by its right eye!!" Old Lady Ma refused to let go, and because of the force she was using, the goose's two legs were stretched taut.

"I told you to let go, do you hear me?" Seeing that she wouldn't budge, Yue Lei's temper flared.

"I won't! I won't let go! The goose is mine! You stole our goose and you still think you're in the right?"

Old Lady Ma was not afraid of trouble at all. At this point, she didn't even mention where the goose came from; she simply accused Yue Feng's family of theft.

Jingjing, who was doing her homework in the room, also came out. Seeing her mother fighting with Old Lady Ma over the goose, she rushed over.

"Don't be mean to my mom!"

"This goose is ours! It's been missing for days!"

Seeing that his wife couldn't win the struggle for the goose, Old Man Zhu stepped in to help. In his haste to grab the goose's leg, he accidentally squeezed Jingjing's chubby little hand.

In pain, Jingjing leaned down and bit Old Lady Ma's hand.

With a cry of pain, Old Lady Ma violently pushed the little girl to the ground. Jingjing landed hard on her bottom and immediately burst into tears.

This was the breaking point for Yue Lei!

They were bullying his family and had even pushed his precious daughter.

"Damn it! You people are used to bullying others, and now you've come to my house!"

Yue Lei raised his right-hand crutch and swung it toward Old Lady Ma's hand as she gripped the goose.

With a light thud, Old Lady Ma's hand was struck, and she let go of the goose's leg in pain. Seeing the physical altercation, Old Man Zhu grabbed a discarded sickle handle from under the eaves and swung it at Yue Lei.

Although Yue Lei's left leg was still in a cast and hadn't fully healed, his hands and his right leg were perfectly fine. He blocked the blow with his crutch and then thrust forward, the tip of the crutch striking Old Man Zhu in the abdomen. Old Man Zhu was knocked breathless, his face turning red as he slumped to the ground.

Seeing that they couldn't win the goose and that his husband had been knocked down in a single move, Old Lady Ma sat on the ground and began to make a scene.

"Oh! Help! Someone help! The Yue family is unreasonable! They stole my goose and they're hitting people!"

"Yue Lei, you cripple! Even with a limp, you're still dishonest! You stole my goose! Neighbors, come and judge this!"

"Old man, are you alright? If anything happens to you, how am I, an old woman, supposed to live!"

...

With Old Lady Ma's wailing, the neighbors were all alerted. A crowd of onlookers quickly gathered in Yue Feng's courtyard.

Li Wen同's wife, Chang Meijuan, also heard the commotion from the backyard. After a quick glance at the entrance to understand the situation, she turned and ran toward the mountains.

The Zhu couple was notorious in the village for being unreasonable, nicknamed "The Spicy Ones"—the kind of people who, once they latched onto you, would cause nothing but harm.

Yue Lei and his wife were not good with words and would find it difficult to deal with such people. Furthermore, Old Man Zhu's three sons were none of them good characters. If this matter escalated, the Yue couple might end up being the ones at a disadvantage.

To solve this, she had to call back her husband, who was up the mountain falconry, and Yue Feng!

Chang Meijuan was very familiar with the ridges near her home. Every day before Li Wen同 left, he would tell her which mountain ridge he would be roaming. Thus, Chang Meijuan headed straight for the area her husband had mentioned.

After a quick jog, in less than half an hour, Chang Meijuan saw the father and son in the distance, training the falcon near the marshland bushes.

"Old Li, something has happened..."