"It’s nothing serious," Xu Nianhua assured Ji Ying, not wanting her to feel guilty. "Dr. Du said that with the medicine he prescribed and some good rest, everything will be fine." She then changed the subject, "By the way, why hasn’t big brother come home yet? Usually, by this time, he should have been back already, right?"
For some reason, Xu Nianhua felt a persistent twitch in her eyelid all day.
"He might have been held up by something," Xu Nian’an answered as he and Xu Qinghe were busy chopping the firewood they had dragged home into pieces in the yard.
As they waited, another half hour passed. Just when they were growing worried that something might have happened, a commotion came from outside.
"Uncle Xu, Auntie Xu."
The voices of Cai Gen and Yao Feng rang out.
"Eh, isn’t that Brother Yao Feng and Brother Cai Gen?" Xu Nian’an listened carefully, put down his ax, and went to look outside.
To his shock, the two men appeared to be carrying something.
Xu Nian’an called out excitedly, even though it was already dark outside, the moonlight was still shining brightly.
When Yao Feng and Cai Gen brought Xu Nianji home, it gave the Xu family quite the scare. Xu Qinghe and Xu Nian’an fumbled to carry Xu Nianji into the room.
"Little sister, don’t marry him."
Xu Nianji, barely clinging to life after being beaten, held onto Xu Qinghe’s hand tightly, his main concern being this very matter.
"What happened? What’s this about not marrying? Who did you offend?" Ji Ying was on the verge of tears as she looked at her son, beaten until his face was swollen and black and blue. His feet were bloody, which was why he couldn’t walk, and had to be carried home.
But, as Xu Nianji tried to speak, the pain was so intense that every word made him break out in a cold sweat.
"Big brother, drink some water, have a little water."
Xu Nianhua tenderly offered water, feeding it to Xu Nianji bit by bit, "Big brother, don’t talk right now. Let’s ask Brother Yao Feng what exactly happened."
Yao Feng and Cai Gen took turns explaining the situation.
It all started because Yue Hongliang claimed he had arranged an engagement with Xu Nianhua. Xu Nianji naturally didn’t believe it and unequivocally denied it. Yue Hongliang said he had already paid a betrothal gift of three hundred, and the rest would be given once the marriage had been formalized.
Xu Nianji felt Yue Hongliang was deceiving everyone. He was sure his parents would never agree to marry Xu Nianhua to Yue Hongliang. He thought Yue Hongliang was merely intent on destroying his little sister’s reputation.
A woman’s reputation, how important could that be?
So, Xu Nianji and Yue Hongliang got into a dispute. Xu Nianji knew Yue Hongliang had already lost two wives and believed that even if his parents were desperate for money, they would never marry his sister to someone like that, especially not now that the family had earned some money. How could it be possible to still marry little sister to Yue Hongliang?
Their loud argument escalated until Yue Hongliang cursed Xu Nianji for his ingratitude. Yue Hongliang taking a liking to Xu Nianhua should have been considered an honor for the Xu family. Xu Nianji’s firm declarations that he would never allow his sister to marry Yue Hongliang finally enraged the man.
Yue Hongliang then resorted to violence, and chaos erupted on the construction site.
Xu Nianji, just an ordinary brick mover at the brick factory, how could he have more people than Yue Hongliang?
Sure enough, Xu Nianji was brutally beaten, and even Yao Feng and Cai Gen got caught up and took a few blows themselves.
Xu Nianji’s foot had been smashed by a brick. They had initially intended to take him to the hospital, but Xu Nianji refused, insisting on going home no matter what.