Chapter Thirty-Two: Every Grudge Must Be Repaid

The second brother, Li Chuxiu, had fallen behind, mainly because he had been in such a rush that he forgot to take off his heavy basket. Carrying tens of pounds, he couldn't run fast. As soon as he caught up, he began to complain to Li Tianhe.

"It’s all your fault, Father! If I had known, I would have stayed to watch over my sister. If you hadn't insisted on me carrying the luggage at the back, Sister Jinyu wouldn't have been in danger. When Grandmother finds out about this, she’ll skin us alive!"

Su Jinyu had suggested walking at the front to help clear the path, while Wang Qiaohui, suffering from lower back pain, remained at the back of the group with the rest of the Li family.

"Uncle, Big Brother, Second Brother, why are you all so worried? I’m fine. It’s Uncle Zheng who got hurt; he pushed me out of the way when the tree fell!" Su Jinyu felt a headache coming on and offered a helpless smile.

Once these words were out, the three Li men realized there was someone lying less than a meter away. They all turned toward Zheng Dali, and Li Tianhe stepped forward to thank him.

"Brother Dali, thank you for saving our Jinyu. Are you badly hurt?"

"Thank you, Uncle Zheng, for saving my sister!"

By now, the surrounding villagers had gathered around. "Heavens! How did Zheng Dali get crushed by a tree? Will his leg be crippled?"

Zheng Dali’s wife, Liu Qionghua, had arrived as well. Upon hearing that her husband was injured while saving Su Jinyu, she immediately began to rail against him.

"You damn fool! Risking your life for someone else's kid—you’re the stupidest person on earth! If your leg is crippled, don't expect me to carry you! You can limp the rest of the way yourself! It’s all your own stupidity, you deserve it!"

"I saw the tree falling," Zheng Dali retorted, wincing. "Jinyu is just a child; I couldn't just watch her die. Besides, she did our family a great favor. If she hadn't saved Tiger, would he be safe and sound right now? Why are you being so unreasonable, woman?"

Seeing him talk back, Liu Qionghua unleashed an even harsher torrent of abuse. Zheng Dali irritably turned his face away, unwilling to engage with her scolding.

Some villagers, unable to stand by, spoke up for him. "Enough, Dali’s wife. Your husband has been crushed by a tree, and instead of showing concern, all you do is mock him as if you’re stabbing his heart with a knife. That’s enough; you’ll only break the poor man's spirit."

Liu Qionghua remained indifferent, her tone dripping with contempt for her husband. "He’s a useless piece of trash anyway. Marrying him was the greatest misfortune of my life! If he can’t stand up, I’ll take Dalong and leave him! Let the cripple fend for himself!"

Village Chief Yang rushed over. Learning of Zheng Dali’s condition, he allowed him to sit on his ox cart so the group wouldn't be delayed. Zheng Tiger helped his father onto the cart and said firmly to his stepmother, "Even if Father can never stand again, I will take care of him for the rest of his life!"

"Alright, everyone back in line!" Chief Yang dispersed the crowd.

Su Jinyu felt a gaze on her. She noticed Wang Dagui, a man from the village, staring at her repeatedly. He was gripping an axe tightly, and a flash of murderous intent flickered in his eyes—fleeting, yet she had caught it.

Su Jinyu walked over as if nothing were wrong, stealing a glance at the broken part of the tree that had nearly crushed her. It had clearly been felled by human hands, and Wang Dagui’s axe was covered in wood shavings.

So, the tree hadn't fallen on its own.

*Fine, Wang Dagui, you dare to ambush me? I’ll make sure you learn that I’m not someone to be bullied!*

She searched her memories for information on Wang Dagui, but found little. He had been a butcher before switching to farming in the last two years. He had married twice, but both wives died young, and he had no children. The villagers whispered that he was cursed. He had been a bachelor for ten years because no woman dared to marry him. Su Jinyu had never had any dealings with him in the village; they should have been strangers with no grievances.

Lacking evidence, Su Jinyu decided not to alert him. She continued with the group, keeping a close watch on his every move.

By noon, everyone was clamoring for a break to eat. The Yang brothers scouted the woods ahead to ensure there were no wild beasts, and the Chief ordered everyone to rest and have lunch.

Elder Liu recalled the terrain and estimated that if they didn't delay, they would reach a large cave by sunset. Once the people of Qingyuan Village were inside, they could hide for a few days until the danger from the enemy troops passed.

Li Tianhe grabbed the best spot under a large tree, dumping his luggage sacks on the ground. Other villagers, having lost out on the good spot again, gnashed their teeth in frustration.

Wang Qiaohui had applied two medicinal plasters to her back, and the pain had mostly subsided. She could stand straight again, though Su Jinyu still cautioned her to be careful to avoid a relapse.

Since the group had been following a stream, finding water was easy. Li Zhe'an carried a bucket to fetch water, while Li Chuxiu and his younger brother, Su Jinyu's brother, went to gather firewood.

Chen Shulan prepared to stew a chicken, asking Li Tianhe to help chop it. Su Jinyu, happy for the leisure, slipped away into the woods under the guise of looking for wild vegetables and herbs.

She followed a few women, including Mrs. Luo, and soon found a hillside filled with wild greens. The women were overjoyed, scrambling to dig them up with shovels. Su Jinyu wanted to join in, but there were over a dozen women huddled together on a tiny patch of land; she couldn't even find a gap to squeeze into.

Refusing to force her way into a circle where she wasn't needed, she waited until the women were preoccupied and slipped away into her personal space.

The 5,000 system coins she had earned for saving Zheng Tiger were still untouched. Thinking of her aunt, she bought two bottles of "All-Inclusive Vitality Pills" for 528 coins. She poured the small, black pills into a cloth pouch, tightened the string, and tucked it into her pocket to take back later.

With the family's only chicken being cooked, they would be short on food, so she bought five silver carp and several heads of napa cabbage from the fresh produce section for 125 coins. Such vegetables could be stored for a long time; it was plausible enough to claim she had found them growing wild in the mountains.

Just as she was about to turn back to find Mrs. Luo and the others, she heard rustling sounds not far ahead. Behind a dense thicket of leaves, a man and a woman seemed to be standing there.

The woman whispered with a mix of coquettishness and resentment, "Keep your voice down, or someone will see us! If the village finds out about us, I’ll lose all my reputation!"