At night, when the Yue Family heard what had happened, they trembled with rage.
Yue Jiannan's reaction was the strongest.
"That bastard Wang Jinshun, if it weren't for him, would I have been fatherless as soon as I was born? I... I'll fight him to the death!"
The youth's eyes reddened as he shouldered the hoe from the corner of the wall, ready to run out the door and fight desperately.
Yue Jiandong held his brother tightly in his arms.
"What's the use of being rash, is his life worth your life?"
Yue Jianxi, not eloquent, kept urging repeatedly, "Little brother, put the thing down."
Zhang Ying, looking from one to another, was so anxious that she broke into a sweat.
But Yue Qingqing's eyes were fixed on the braised pork on the table.
Fat intermingled with lean, the pork was coated with a deep red sauce made from fermented tofu, continually giving off an enticing aroma.
As for Yue Jiannan...
It's nothing, his Qi Fortune was very normal.
After all the fuss, it was Lin Chunju who slammed her hands on the table.
"Big brother, don't stop him. Let this scoundrel get beaten by someone else, then he'll learn his lesson."
Yue Jiandong thought about it and agreed. After all, Wang Jinshun was someone who labored in the fields, possessing considerable strength.
In contrast, Yue Jiannan was naturally frail. As a child, the slightest breeze would give him a runny nose, and it was only in the past couple of years that he had started to get better.
Once the elder brother let go, Yue Jiannan stood awkwardly at the door.
To leave would be inappropriate, but to come back would be a loss of face.
The hoe he shouldered slipped, nearly crushing his own foot, and scared him into yelping.
Yue Jiannan could only sheepishly sit back down at the table.
"Pah, I'm not that stupid. I... I will outlive that old geezer," he said, as he went to grab a piece of meat. Lin Chunju's chopsticks hit his hand.
Seeing this scene, everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter.
Only Yue Jiandong sighed silently in his heart.
When their father died, he was already a sixteen-year-old youth.
Wang Jinshun stood in front of everyone, insisting confidently that Yue Dashan's drowning had nothing to do with him.
Everyone knew he was lying, but no one wanted to offend him for the sake of the impoverished Yue Family.
Back then Yue Jiandong, far from being as mature as he was now, had hidden the family's kitchen knife in the night, intent on taking Wang Jinshun with him to the grave.
But when he reached the door, he found his mother standing in the courtyard.
In her arms was his prematurely born brother, the wind pressing her clothes tightly against her body.
Despite having just given birth, she was so emaciated that she was practically skin and bones.
His mother said if his father knew what he was planning, he would jump out of his coffin to beat him.
The dead could not return while the living had to find a way to survive.
His mother made him swear never to seek revenge on Wang Jinshun.
His mother said he was young and should not be blinded by hatred; he was the eldest, responsible for leading his family to a better life, instead of constantly squabbling with the rats in the ditches.
His mother said so much, some of which Yue Jiandong still remembered, but some had been forgotten.
However, there was one sentence he remembered most clearly.
Heaven's justice is clear; retribution is certain.
Those words, like an echo in the wind, had resonated in Yue Jiandong's mind for over a decade.
But is there really such a thing as retribution under the heavens? So many years had passed, and Wang Jinshun was still very much alive and well.
The infantile voice interrupted Yue Jiandong's reverie. He followed the sound and saw Yue Qingqing swinging her little fists at the braised pork on the table.
Zhang Ying cooed affectionately and amused, "Qingqing be good, wait until you're older to eat."
As if understanding, the little girl's face showed indignation, and in a huff, she buried her head in Yingzi's arms.
Yue Jiandong couldn't help but grin, his mother was right, there was no need to be blinded by hatred.
Might this child indeed be a gift from the heavens?
This good mood lasted until the next day at noon.
Yue Jiandong had just finished his work when, as he took off his straw hat and sat by the edge of the field fanning himself, a figure in the distance came running, shouting incessantly.
"Elder of the Yue family, come with me quickly!"
"Your youngest brother is about to fight with Wang Jinshun, you better hurry and stop them, or it'll be too late to prevent trouble!"