Bang Geng's left eye was swollen, and one of his front teeth was missing.
He was covered in dirt, and one of his shoes had vanished somewhere.
All he could do was sob.
Silly Zhu was furious. With Jia Dongxu gone, he felt it was his turn to shield Bang Geng from the storm.
Lin Guo, Lin Jia, Lin Dong, and Lin Liang followed behind, looking entirely justified.
Third Master's whole family came out to watch the commotion too.
Lin Zhen asked grimly, "Lin Guo, what happened?"
Neither servile nor overbearing, Lin Guo said, "Dad, Uncle Silly told me and Bang Geng to have a wrestling match. Bang Geng couldn't beat me, so he opened his mouth and bit me. I knocked out his tooth. Look, he even bit my finger until it bled!"
Lin Guo raised his little hand. The skin on his right thumb had been scraped off, though the bleeding was hardly noticeable.
"Then why did Bang Geng say the four of you ganged up on him?"
"He lied. A match was one-on-one. If it had really been the four of us, Bang Geng would've lost four teeth!"
"Even so, you shouldn't have hit him that hard. What do I usually teach you?"
Though Lin Zhen was thinking, Good job, he still had to put on a show of disciplining his son.
Lin Guo lowered his head and dared not speak.
Lin Jia immediately stepped forward. "Uncle Silly told Bang Geng to bite him! He said if Bang Geng couldn't pry my brother's hand apart, he should bite it. Bang Geng was the one who broke the rules!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? I was just teasing you!" Silly Zhu said with an awkward laugh.
Lin Zhen frowned, thinking, Silly Zhu, you must really be itching for a beating today.
"Xiao'e, take our sons inside and clean their wounds."
Lou Xiao'e quickly led the four boys into the house.
Lin Zhen held out two fingers and crooked them at Silly Zhu. "Come here. Let's have a little practice."
Silly Zhu hurriedly took a step back and chuckled. "Is that really necessary? Lin Guo only scraped some skin off his hand, but Bang Geng lost a tooth and can barely open his eye. Your son hits like a beast!"
Lin Zhen was not joking with him.
"Silly Zhu, you've got some nerve. You taught Bang Geng to bite people, and then you dared come knocking at my door."
"Lin Zhen, don't come any closer. Last time I lost to you because I let my guard down. This time, if we're fighting for real, I won't lose again."
Smack!
Before Lin Zhen could even make a move,
Qin Huairu came running over from behind and gave Silly Zhu a hard slap across the back.
"Silly Zhu, you're acting like a fool again! Go home!"
Qin Huairu's shout immediately cowed Silly Zhu.
There were only three people in the courtyard whom Silly Zhu feared: the Deaf Old Lady, Qin Huairu, and Lin Zhen.
Silly Zhu had come full of enthusiasm and left utterly deflated. He had meant to test Lin Zhen's nerve, only to run into a wall.
He had wanted to stand up for Bang Geng, but Qin Huairu sent him packing with one slap.
Lin Zhen was a little unhappy. His practice punching bag had gotten away again.
"Bang Geng, apologize to your Uncle Lin!"
After driving Silly Zhu away, Qin Huairu generously and sensibly made Bang Geng apologize as well.
That truly surprised Lin Zhen.
"Lin Zhen, don't take it to heart. Silly Zhu is just an idiot who never does anything worthwhile all day."
Lin Zhen smiled. "It's fine. I was only fooling around with Silly Zhu just now. I wouldn't have really hit him. Kids playing together are bound to get bumps and bruises. Is Bang Geng's tooth all right?"
Qin Huairu smiled. "It was a baby tooth. It was due to fall out anyway. Lin Guo did him a favor."
After Bang Geng lowered his head and admitted his mistake, Qin Huairu took him away.
Yu Li said in surprise, "That's a first. Grandma Jia actually didn't come out and start yelling."
Lou Xiao'e smiled. "Maybe she was thirsty and drinking water inside."
Yu Li shook her head with a smile. "Not necessarily."
Yan Jiecheng said, "Silly Zhu is really something else, teaching Bang Geng to bite people."
Lin Zhen chuckled. "Silly Zhu is probably still angry about us criticizing him together at the last meeting."
As the four of them chatted and laughed, Third Master Yan Bugui felt rather sour inside.
Thinking about how he would never get control of Yan Jiecheng's wages back, he pursed his lips and slunk back into the house.
The moment he got home, he said to Third Mistress, "old woman, do you think Lin Zhen taught Jiecheng and his wife to play these tricks on us?"
Third Mistress frowned. "I wouldn't say that. Don't make wild accusations without evidence!"
Yan Bugui shook his head. "Who knows? Look at how Jiecheng and Yu Li were chatting and laughing with Lin Zhen and Lou Xiao'e just now. I keep feeling like those young people planned this together. The way Yu Li acted today, it was like she'd been waiting for me to bring up the matter of wages!"
After hearing her husband say that, Third Mistress began to feel doubtful too.
"Jiecheng has always been quite honest, and Yu Li was very sensible in the first few days after she married in. Could Lin Zhen and Lou Xiao'e really have taught them this?"
Yan Bugui sighed. "Even if you ask Jiecheng about it in private, he won't tell you. I think we should stop trying to build any relationship with Lin Zhen. We can't get any real benefit from him. The farther away we stay, the better!"
Having lost control over his son's wages, Yan Bugui felt disappointed and began suspecting his neighbors.
He kept pinning his suspicions on Lin Zhen.
He had originally wanted to get along well with Lin Zhen, but now that he thought about it, no one in his family worked at the steel mill. There was no need to keep close contact.
After Silly Zhu returned home, he was terribly depressed.
He felt that Bang Geng was pitiful enough after losing his father, and even more pitiful for being bullied by the four Lin brothers.
So he had egged Bang Geng on to win a wrestling match and gain some confidence.
He had thought that with Lin Zhen absent, he could play favorites and rig the match to help Bang Geng.
He never expected Bang Geng to be completely outclassed by Lin Guo.
In an instant, Silly Zhu saw himself and Lin Zhen in the scene before him. Bang Geng, pinned firmly to the ground, was himself, while Lin Guo was Lin Zhen, the man who had beaten him until he gave in.
In his panic, Silly Zhu blurted out, "Use your teeth, bite him! Bite his hand!"
The result was that Bang Geng took two heavy punches.
Then he took Bang Geng to confront Lin Zhen, only to be driven back by Qin Huairu.
The more Silly Zhu thought about it, the more frustrated he became.
He got up and headed to the Jia family's house to ask what was going on.
When he got there, Jia Zhangshi was angrily wiping Bang Geng's face, while Qin Huairu was calmly coaxing Huai Hua to sleep.
"Qin Huairu, what's wrong with you today? Bang Geng was beaten up like this, and you don't even feel sorry for him? Lin Guo only scraped a little skin off his finger, and you still made Bang Geng apologize to him?"
Jia Zhangshi snorted and led Bang Geng into the inner room. It was obvious that she was furious too.
But Qin Huairu merely smiled. "Silly Zhu, don't act recklessly again in the future. Kids were just playing around, yet you taught Bang Geng to bite people. How could you even teach him that?"
Silly Zhu was utterly baffled. "Hey, you're still smiling!"
Qin Huairu smiled. "Should I be crying instead?"
"You... ah, forget it! If you don't even feel sorry for him, why did I come here? What a waste of time. I'm leaving!"
After Silly Zhu left, Jia Zhangshi came out and muttered, "If you ask me, that Lin fellow must teach his sons to hit hard all the time. He was just waiting for a chance to beat Bang Geng!"
Qin Huairu said, "Mom, say things like that only when the children aren't around. If Bang Geng or Xiao Dang repeats it to Lin Guo or Lin Jia, and they tell their parents, we'll offend Lin Zhen again. Then we can forget about borrowing even the smallest thing from him in the future."
Jia Zhangshi said dismissively, "I don't believe you can get any advantage out of him!"
Qin Huairu sighed. "Whether we can or not, we still have to plan ahead. First Elder was cursed by you so badly that he doesn't dare come to our house anymore, and Second Elder doesn't dare talk to me either. If we cling only to Silly Zhu, won't everyone in the alley be pointing fingers at us?"
Jia Zhangshi curled her lip. "Silly Zhu does it willingly!"
Before you continue