Chapter 80: Saturday Afternoon Stir

Saturday afternoon.

Xu Chen staggered out of the dormitory and headed to Back Street, where he quietly enjoyed a bowl of rice noodles with a drumstick and a marinated egg.

After a while, he heard a car horn coming from the intersection.

A black Accord pulled up at the corner – Li Rui had come to pick him up.

Li Rui stepped out of the car, grinning as he called, “Chen-ge,” and opened the front passenger door.

Xu Chen climbed in, and they drove off toward town.

On the road, Li Rui drove while chatting with Xu Chen.

After spending time together, Xu Chen had gotten to know Li Rui a bit better.

He’d learned about “Rui-ge’s” wild past and some of his dealings with “Bing-ge.”

Just as they were about to leave the city limits, Li Rui’s phone rang.

With one hand on the wheel, he answered and said a few words into the phone. Then he turned to Xu Chen:

“Chen-ge, we need to stop by a pharmacy first.”

Xu Chen asked, “What’s up?”

Li Rui replied, “Fourth Aunt called. She wants us to pick up gauze, iodine, bandages, that kind of stuff.”

Xu Chen frowned, “Did someone get hurt?”

Li Rui shook his head. “She didn’t say much, but she sounded urgent.”

Xu Chen offered, “Is it at the factory grounds? I can come along.”

They spotted a pharmacy just around the corner. Li Rui pulled over, told Xu Chen to wait in the car, and went inside to buy the supplies.

…

Twenty minutes later, the black Accord rolled into the factory grounds.

The signs for East Morning Star Co. and Chenxin Nurseries hung high above the entrance, and Xu Chen’s father’s yellow van was parked out front.

Nearby stood a farm tricycle and an old road bike.

Xu Chen frowned.

That bike belonged to Eldest Uncle Xu Zhishan.

And that tricycle was Paternal Aunt Xu Zhiyan’s…

What were Uncle and Aunt doing here?

Li Rui parked, and they hurried inside.

In the back dormitory block, they ran straight into Maternal Uncle Zhang Yongqing, who looked flustered, as if he’d just been startled.

Xu Chen asked, “Uncle Zhang, what happened?”

Zhang Yongqing adjusted his glasses, anxiety etched on his face:

“Fourth Uncle went up to Beishan to arrange irrigation, ran into some villagers, and got beaten up!”

“…”

The door swung open, and Aunt Xu Zhiyan stepped out.

“Xiao Chen, you’re here!”

Xu Chen asked her, “Aunt, how’s Fourth Uncle?”

She waved the shopping bag. “He’s fine, nothing serious. Did you get the gauze and iodine?”

Li Rui held out the bag and handed it over.

Aunt Xu Zhiyan took it and said to Xu Chen:

“Your Eldest Uncle and I were in the next workshop when we heard Fourth Uncle got hurt, so we came to check.”

With that, she turned and went inside.

Xu Chen followed her in.

Fourth Uncle Xu Zhilin sat on the sofa, blood matted on his forehead.

Fourth Aunt sat beside him, clearly having cried.

Eldest Uncle Xu Zhishan stood nearby, smoking a pipe.

Xu Chen said softly, “Fourth Uncle…”

Xu Zhilin looked up.

“Xiao Chen’s here!” he said with a smile.

He grinned and added,

“See? You all came. It’s just a flesh wound, nothing serious.”

Aunt Xu Zhiyan stepped forward with the bag.

“Stop talking, Fourth Elder. Let me dress that cut.”

She and Fourth Aunt quickly treated his wounds.

Besides the forehead, his right hand had some scrapes.

“Really, it’s no big deal. A few scratches—won’t take more than a couple days to heal.”

Xu Zhilin took a drag of his cigarette and said,

“Don’t tell Second Brother. He’s still on a business trip—no need to worry him and have him rush back.”

Seeing Fourth Uncle was all right, Xu Chen poured him a glass of warm water and said,

“Fourth Uncle, what exactly happened?”

Xu Zhilin inhaled smoke again and said,

“Xiao Chen, this is grown-up business. You don’t need to worry.”

“It’s a small problem, nothing major. I’ll spend some money and sort it out tomorrow.”

Aunt Xu Zhiyan spoke up:

“Fourth Elder, you got beaten up and it’s nothing major?”

“Why do you insist on planting on Second Brother’s land?”

Xu Zhilin’s brow darkened.

“Zhiyan, don’t speak out of turn!”

Aunt Xu Zhiyan, noticing Xu Chen standing quietly, realized she’d overstepped and fell silent.

Xu Chen said, “Fourth Uncle, what’s going on? If I can’t help, at least let me offer some advice.”

Xu Zhilin drank his water and said,

“Today I went to North Mountain Joint Village to set up irrigation, but the men in charge of the well wouldn’t release water.

They were just a bunch of punks. I argued with them, and they attacked me.”

“They’re clearly picking a fight—probably those two families who competed with Second Brother for the land. Jealous of our high-speed bid, they’re trying to sabotage us.”

“They were behind the fertilizer incident too.”

“Those two families are from North Mountain Joint Village and have close ties with the water and power overseers.”

Fourth Aunt added,

“And the farmers who leased us the land are now demanding higher fees!”

Xu Zhilin said,

“They dare? We have signed proper contracts. They can’t just extort us.”

Fourth Aunt snapped back,

“But it’s their territory. It’s easy for them to play dirty. Those men who beat you clearly aren’t local farmers handling irrigation!”

“Those punks were obviously hired troublemakers!”

Xu Chen listened silently.

The situation was clear: someone in North Mountain Joint Village was out to get them.

They failed to block Fourth Uncle’s fertilizer purchase last time, and now they’d gone further.

Not only were they withholding water, but they were pushing the farmers to demand more money.

Eldest Uncle Xu Zhishan coughed on his pipe smoke and said,

“I told Second Brother not to plant those saplings. Now look where it’s gotten you.”

“Those North Mountain Village troublemakers are cowards!”

“This mess is unsolvable. You’d better pull out of the land and stop growing saplings. You’d be better off working at the factory with Third Brother.”

“Fourth Elder, I advise you to stop meddling with Second Brother…”

Xu Zhilin bristled but didn’t know how to respond to his elder brother.

Xu Chen said nothing but glanced at Li Rui.

Li Rui, who’d lingered at the doorway, caught Xu Chen’s eye, pulled out his phone in silence, and walked out…

…

Moments later, Li Rui returned through the door.

Xu Chen looked at him.

Li Rui, a cigarette dangling from his lips, nodded to Xu Chen.

Xu Chen nodded back.

He pondered for a moment, then said,

“Fourth Uncle, about this matter…let me handle it.”