Chapter 24: Following the Plot

“Yan Daya, stop! Stop right there, do you hear me!” a voice like a dying duck croaked, sounding as if it were chasing a life.

“If you don't stop right now, I'm coming straight to your house to make sure your scholar father stays bedridden for another half a month!”

This threat forced Daya to stop. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably. “You... don't... come over... don't come...”

Watching the person drawing closer, Daya felt a primal sense of danger. She didn't dare run, so she could only retreat step by step.

The voice belonged to none other than the youngest son of Village Head Guo.

He was panting heavily, teeth clenched as he spoke: “I heard your father sold the land for seventy taels of silver—what a fortune! Go back and tell him he doesn't need to give much; just thirty taels as a dowry, and we’ll settle the marriage tomorrow. We won't mention the past, and from now on, you'll be the little daughter-in-law of the Guo family, living a life of luxury at my house!”

Guo's youngest son was livid after hearing the news.

This was supposed to be a perfect plan that killed two birds with one stone. By marrying Daya, he would have a scholar for a father-in-law, which would bring great prestige.

Yan Lao'er had gambling debts outside; they were supposed to coax the father-in-law into selling the land, use the reward from a benefactor to settle the debt, and then demand an even larger dowry.

They would gain both wealth and status by climbing into a prominent family. There couldn't have been a better deal.

But just as all the hooks were set, the scholar father-in-law refused to play by the rules.

He had exposed Yan Lao'er's gambling debts ahead of time and gone straight to the pawnshop to sell the land.

They had worked themselves to the bone for this, and in the end, they hadn't gained a single thing!

Fine! If they couldn't have both ends, they would at least take one.

Yan Daya was quite pretty; even compared to the girls in town, she was nothing to be ashamed of.

With the father-in-law's academic title, the marriage was still worth pursuing.

“I’m not going to your house! My father won't agree!” Daya stammered.

Seeing that they were alone, Guo Xiaoxiang’s malicious intent flared up.

Scholar Yan had stubbornly refused the marriage, and during their last visit, he had pushed and shoved, injuring him. If he didn't use some extreme measures, it wouldn't work!

The scholar father-in-law looked down on him, but he was determined to make Scholar Yan swallow his pride and accept him as a son-in-law!

He lunged forward, grabbing Daya's arm.

He began dragging her toward a more secluded area with brute force.

“Let... go! Let me go!” Terrified and in pain, Daya cried out, “I'll scream! Let go!”

“Go ahead and scream!” Guo Xiaoxiang snarled. “If you scream again, I'll rip your clothes off! Scream!”

Daya was terrified. She had no strength left to fight and was too scared to scream, so she could only sob uncontrollably.

But Yan Yu was absolutely furious!

It wasn't enough that this bastard wasn't following the script; look at how he had scared her sister Daya—her lips were white, and her whole body was shaking.

“Sanbao! Ram him to death!” Yan Yu shouted fiercely.

That was right; she had been thinking of names for the ox all along the way.

She was Dabao (Big Treasure), her younger sibling would be Erbao (Second Treasure), and this ox was Sanbao (Third Treasure)!

Guo Xiaoxiang never expected Yan Lao'er's family to return at this exact moment and catch them red-handed.

Seeing the ox charging at him like a madman, he gasped.

“Oh, mother help me!” He stumbled sideways, letting go of her instantly.

Daya's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.

The ox brushed past Guo Xiaoxiang, turned the cart around, and charged again.

Guo Xiaoxiang scrambled to his feet and bolted.

He ran while constantly looking back, screaming in pure terror.

“Yan Lao'er, grab it! Stop it!”

If that ox actually hit him, he wouldn't survive!

“Stop! Stop!” Yan Lao'er commanded.

Li Xuemei held her stomach with one hand and gripped the cart frame with the other, her teeth clenched tight.

Seeing the ox stop, she hissed, “Why stop? Ram him to death!”

Yan Yu was equally vengeful, shouting at the ox, “Sanbao, listen to me! Ram him!”

Sanbao remained motionless.

Yan Lao'er jumped down from the cart and helped Li Xuemei down.

Then, he firmly picked up his daughter.

By then, Guo Xiaoxiang had already fled far away.

“Daya, it's okay. Don't be afraid. Your uncle and aunt are here,” Li Xuemei said in a gentle voice.

Seeing her family, Daya's tears flowed even harder. “Auntie! *Sob*... I was so scared, so scared...”

Her entire body was rigid, and it took a long time under Li Xuemeime's soothing for her to finally relax.

She struggled to stand up, but fearing she might bump into the baby in her aunt's stomach, she clung to the hem of Li Xuemei's clothes like a lifeline.

Yan Yu picked up the bamboo basket that had fallen far away, seeing several half-yellow wild vegetables scattered around.

She finally let out the breath she had been holding, feeling a lingering fear.

Thank goodness they made it in time!

If they had been even a moment later and Daya had been dragged further away, they wouldn't have heard her screams.

Once a tragedy is set in motion, it becomes a loss of a living soul.

The whole family knew what would happen to Daya...

That was why she and her mother were so agitated, wishing they could have rammed him to death.

Yan Lao'er held back. His wife and daughter were only being fierce with their words; they didn't necessarily truly intend to kill the boy—it was just words spoken in extreme anger.

They had perhaps forgotten that Sanbao was a mechanical bionic ox; if they said "ram him to death," he really would die.

“Er'ya, help your sister and your mother get home,” Yan Lao'er instructed.

Er'ya looked at her father and silently obeyed.

Watching them walk away, Yan Lao'er silently unhitched the cart frame. He patted the ox and said coldly, “Sanbao, go give him a kick. Aim for the chest, but don't kill him.”

The Level 1 authority had spoken.

Sanbao charged in the direction Guo Xiaoxiang had fled...

***

Yan Yu stayed crouching by the door, waiting for her father to return.

Her mother had tasked Daya with chores, asking her to help sew pockets, but she stayed close by, offering gentle words of comfort from time to time.

Hearing the sound of leisurely, small footsteps, Yan Yu jumped up.

That was it—it was Sanbao!

“Dad! Sanbao!” she waved.

“Moo!” Sanbao responded, accelerating as he rushed into the courtyard.

Yan Yu hurriedly closed the gate and whispered to her father immediately, “Dad, what were you doing? Did you go beat that bastard? How did it go? Did you catch him?”

Before Yan Lao'er could answer the string of questions, Yan Xiangheng heard the commotion and ran out. The clean-cut little scholar's face was flushed with anger. “Uncle, Father is calling for you.”

Yan Lao'er gave a grunt and followed him toward the east room.

As Yan Yu was stroking Sanbao's fur, she suddenly let out an "Eh?" She crouched down to inspect a suspicious hoof.

On the left leg of the ox, there were two suspicious red spots.

She leaned in to sniff; it was blood!

“Sanbao, did you kick him? Or did Dad hit him?” Yan Yu asked urgently.

How was an ox supposed to answer a multiple-choice question?

Sanbao: “Moo!”

“Was it Dad?”

Sanbao shook his head.

“You kicked that bastard! Good job!” Yan Yu praised him before asking, “How many times did you kick him?”

Upon returning home, she had begun to reflect on her impulsiveness. Her mother was pregnant and couldn't handle such shocks.

If they were involved in a homicide case, their whole family would be ruined. It wasn't worth it for a bastard, but her father had told them to leave first, so he must have had a plan.

Looking at it now, her father was indeed more experienced.

He didn't strike himself; he let Sanbao do the kicking.

It hurt even more!

Sanbao let out another "Moo."

Yan Yu waited for a long time, then asked with wide eyes, “That's it? Just one kick?”

Sanbao nodded.

Yan Yu said indignantly, “Hmph! He got off easy!”

She grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground and threw it onto the ox's leg, then rubbed it with some straw.

She rubbed with all her might!

Once the bloodstain was almost invisible, she dropped the straw and scurried toward the east room.