Wu Dashan and Wu Xiaoshan assaulted An Fu simply because they were too jealous.
You see, lately the An family had been delivering tofu to Jiuping Village, even though the village had its own tofu vendor. An Jing and Xiao Changyi, however, went out of their way to bypass the local vendor and instead purchased a lot of tofu from the An family!
Every time the An family brought tofu into Jiuping Village, their family would be mocked, with people saying the Ans were on their way to riches while their own tofu just wouldn’t sell.
Rather than say the brothers envied and resented An Fu, it was more accurate to say they resented An Jing and Xiao Changyi. If only Changyi and An Jing had bought tofu from them instead of the An family, none of this would’ve happened: they wouldn’t be a laughingstock, and they could have sold a lot of tofu and made a good sum!
But they didn’t dare provoke An Jing and Xiao Changyi, these two Great Demon Kings. Just by selling tofu in Sixteen Town, they had heard plenty and knew how Xiao Changyi had taken care of He Ba and his gang of thugs, not to mention how he previously left a dozen men in the village severely injured. How could they dare to challenge An Jing and Xiao Changyi?
Still burning with indignation, the brothers saw An Fu as an easy target. Having held back their anger for far too long, they ambushed him at the entrance to Jiuping Village. As soon as they saw An Fu carrying his tofu, they beat him up.
They meant only to vent their spleen by roughing up An Fu, but they went too far and cracked his skull open.
Shi Xiaolan, a woman, couldn’t be much help. Seeing An Fu beaten, she hurried back to call for assistance. By the time An Hegui and the others arrived, they found An Fu bleeding profusely from his head on the ground.
They immediately brought An Fu to the doctor. His head was bandaged, but the doctor said he would need several expensive medicines to recover, estimating the cost to be around three taels of silver.
Then, An Hegui and the others went to Madam Liuhua’s house to demand compensation, but Madam Liuhua’s family refused to pay.
Wu Dashan and Wu Xiaoshan even said, "It’s your own fault for An Fu having a face that rubs people the wrong way!"
When Xiao Changyi returned, he relayed to An Jing what had happened to An Fu, and how Madam Liuhua’s family refused to offer compensation.
Upon hearing this, An Jing burst into anger, "What kind of excuse is that for assault? They are clearly resentful because someone is better off than they are! They think I don’t know that they are too scared to trouble us and chose to bully Brother An Fu instead! Let’s go to Brother An Fu. We cannot let this matter slide!"
An Hegui was the eldest son and had two younger brothers: An Legui and An Quangui.
At that moment, the family members from An Hegui’s home, An Legui’s, and An Quangui’s were all present, including the village chief An Mancheng, while An Fu lay on the bed. He was conscious, but his face was deathly pale due to the significant blood loss.
Yun Dame and Shi Xiaolan sat on the side, wiping away tears.
Everyone was incensed that Madam Liuhua’s family refused to pay compensation but felt powerless about what to do. If they refused to offer compensation, they couldn’t very well beat them up in return, could they?
After a long silence, An Mancheng said, "Brother Hegui, Fu Zi is a member of our An Village and has been beaten for no reason. I can’t just sit by and do nothing as the village chief. I think I will speak with the village chief of Jiuping Village to see if he can persuade the Wu brothers to pay up."