An Hegui and the others were actually also stirred to boiling blood by An Jing’s words.
You see, An Village has always valued peace above all, enduring whenever possible. But now, which of the surrounding villages took An Village seriously? Everyone seemed to think they could bully them at will.
They truly needed to toughen up and show everyone that the people of An Village were not as easy to bully as they thought.
"Good, let’s report to the authorities!" An Hegui loudly agreed. Then, turning his head, he looked at An Yijin: "Gold, you go report to the authorities."
"Yes, Uncle!" An Yijin immediately responded and turned to run outside.
An Eryin and An Santong quickly followed suit, shouting as they went: "Big brother, wait for us, we’re coming too!"
An Yijin, An Eryin, and An Santong, these three brothers, had long been frustrated with always being bullied and wanted to stand up against those who bullied them; however, their father, An Quangui, had always told them to endure, saying that less trouble was better than more. They had always felt incredibly stifled, but now that they were going to report to the authorities, they were as excited as if they were about to lift their heads high and breathe freely. They felt not only excited but also as if their spines were straighter than before.
Finally, they didn’t have to endure anymore!
An Quangui watched his three good-for-nothing sons excitedly run out and felt both helpless and amused in his heart. Looking at An Jing, it took him a long moment before he finally laughed and said, "An Jing, girl, you have great ideas. I thank you for today. If it wasn’t for you waking us up, we would still be enduring, and others would continue to bully us however they wished."
An Mancheng looked at An Jing with extreme admiration, repeatedly praising her: "Such character at such a young age is extraordinary, truly extraordinary."
An Jing laughed it off: "What character do I have? I’ve just been bullied too much before and don’t want to be bullied anymore, that’s all."
An Mancheng had heard about the ordeal An Jing and Xiao Changyi faced in Jiuping Village, so when An Jing said this, An Mancheng fell silent.
It was An Hegui, however, who apologized with guilt: "An Jing, girl, we were all rude to you earlier, don’t take it to heart. We just wanted to live in harmony and prosper, but alas, others did not wish with us."
An Jing didn’t mind at all and smiled: "No problem, my tone wasn’t good earlier either. I’m just this straightforward, so I hope you uncles don’t mind."
Seeing An Jing’s frankness and magnanimity, An Hegui and the others felt even more ashamed and, of course, more grateful to An Jing for enlightening them.
As soon as An Yijin and his brothers reported to the authorities, soon after, government officials arrived in Jiuping Village and took Wu Dashan and Wu Xiaoshan away.
Wu Dashan and his camp never expected the easily bullied An Fu to report to the authorities. They were dumbfounded at first and then began to cry and plead in fear, but it was no use; they were still taken to the County Government and each was beaten with ten heavy boards and were also detained.
If they wanted Wu Dashan and Wu Xiaoshan to be released, they could, but only after they had gathered three taels of silver to cover An Fu’s consultation and medicine fees, would the County Government agree to release them.
Aunt Liu Hua and her household didn’t have three taels of silver. After scraping together all they could and selling quite a few belongings, they managed to gather one tael and six hundred coins. With no other option, Wu Dashan’s wife, Liniang, had to go back to her parents’ home to borrow money, but she could only get five hundred coins.
They were still nine hundred coins short of the required three taels. Madam Liuhua and Liniang had to go door to door in Jiuping Village to borrow money; they wept and borrowed, and even Aunt Liu Hua did not hesitate to kneel down and beg others to lend them the money. Wu Dashan and Wu Xiaoshan were her lifeline, and she had to get them out no matter what.
Two days later, Aunt Liu Hua’s family finally gathered the three taels and handed them over to the County Government. Only then were Wu Dashan and Wu Xiaoshan released.