"Red-haired Ganoderma!"
Chen Yu was the first to cry out. She quickly clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes as wide as gongs as she stared at her older brother.
"Th-this... where did you get it?!" Chen Yuxu sprang to his feet. He reached out to grab it, then hurriedly pulled his hand back.
That Red-haired Ganoderma was huge, even bigger than the one he'd seen Li Ming pick up!
"Did you go to Qingshan?" Chen Yuxu asked in a low, pinched voice. His eyes brimmed with shock, along with a trace of fury, relief, joy, and complicated emotions.
The Living Room fell silent.
In Chen Yu's Consciousness World, the Red-dressed Woman's delicate brows, like distant mountains, knitted together, then rose. A flicker of surprise crossed her eyes.
Chen Yan looked at his delighted father and younger sister, about to tell them what had happened to him that day.
Suddenly, a commotion erupted outside the courtyard.
"Chen Yuxu, come out!"
"You hit someone and ran off, huh? Think you can get away with it?!"
A sudden racket rose beyond the courtyard.
Bang, bang, bang!
The sound of iron rods pounding against the wooden gate rang out. The faces of the family of three in the Living Room changed in unison.
Chen Yuxu shot to his feet and gestured at Chen Yan.
Chen Yan nodded, carried the Red-haired Ganoderma back to his room, and put it in his Backpack.
When Chen Yan came out of the Living Room, he saw his uncle, Hu Zeyuan, standing in the courtyard with five or six men, confronting Chen Yuxu.
"You little brat, you dared hit my son!"
Hu Zeyuan spotted Chen Yan at once. His eyes were full of menace; he no longer bothered with the fake politeness he'd put on before.
The five or six men behind him smoked. Some held clubs, and all of them looked at Chen Yuxu with mocking smiles.
Chen Yu clutched Chen Yuxu's arm, looking nervous at the sight.
"Un... Uncle, what's going on?"
"Don't call me Uncle!"
Hu Zeyuan's low growl rang out. He glared fiercely at Chen Yu.
"Your mother's dead. Our families have nothing to do with each other anymore. Got it?"
The men Hu Zeyuan had brought with him all laughed.
Chen Yan's expression turned cold. It seemed Hu Yuan had told Hu Zeyuan that Chen Yan had sent him flying with a single punch.
So what?
Chen Yuxu was going to make a scene. Chen Yan narrowed his eyes. This family tie had broken long ago, anyway.
He tugged at the nervous Chen Yu, intending to step to the front, but Chen Yuxu blocked him.
Chen Yuxu's expression was grim. He hadn't even asked what had happened; Hu Zeyuan had brought so many people that his children's safety was clearly at risk.
That was what mattered most.
But the next moment, Chen Yuxu's expression grew even grimmer.
Even Hu Zeyuan and the others, who had just come in, turned to look behind them, their expressions strange.
Outside the open gate, a tricycle was parked by the road. A Mediterranean man in a Town Martial uniform watched everything happening in the courtyard.
He was the very man who had come to Chen Yan's home that morning to see Chen Yuxu and asked Chen Yan to tell him to move out of the Noodle Shop as soon as possible.
The man worked at the Town Martial Hall. He wasn't a martial artist, but the instant he arrived, everyone in the courtyard—on the verge of an argument—fell silent.
After a brief flash of surprise, Chen Yuxu's expression turned even grimmer.
"Heh." Hu Zeyuan caught on, folded his arms, and watched with amusement.
"Martial Division Li, you're here." Chen Yuxu stepped forward and glanced at his children, speaking anxiously.
"I'll move out of the Noodle Shop in town tomorrow."
Chen Yuxu knew the mayor had given the shop to Zhang Ge. This Martial Division officer surnamed Li had already come to see him twice, telling him each time to move out as soon as possible.
But now, with Hu Zeyuan causing trouble at his home, the thing he least wanted his children to know could no longer be kept from them, not with the Martial Division officer showing up.
Chen Yuxu drew a deep breath, forcing himself to smile as he looked at Martial Division Li.
Beside Chen Yan, Chen Yu parted her lips, tears glimmering in her eyes.
Even with a great opportunity before her, the only thing echoing in the sixteen-year-old girl's mind was this:
Their family was about to lose the storefront.
In Chen Yu's Consciousness World, the Red-dressed Woman sensed her beloved disciple's wavering emotions. A trace of tenderness appeared in her eyes.
She was already thinking of some words to encourage her disciple to turn humiliation into resolve.
Hu Zeyuan and his group exchanged glances, watching the scene like a joke.
"Old Chen."
The first two words from the Martial Division officer surnamed Li made everyone's expressions shift. His sudden friendliness left even Chen Yuxu dumbfounded.
"There's no rush about the shop. Move whenever you want—as long as it's before the week after next."
The Mediterranean man spoke with a hearty laugh. He glanced around the courtyard, immediately understood what was going on, then fixed his gaze on Chen Yan.
Unlike the indifference he'd shown that morning, he now gave Chen Yan a friendly smile.
"Not bad, Old Chen. You really raised a fine son."
As he spoke, the Mediterranean man lifted a burlap sack out of his tricycle. It was soaked red with blood, and water dripped steadily from it onto the ground.
"This is ten jin of snake meat. That Lord asked me to bring it over."
As he spoke, the Mediterranean man handed the snake meat to the dumbfounded Chen Yuxu. Even his own eyes, as he looked at the sack, held a trace of envy. He couldn't help swallowing.
He knew exactly how valuable this snake meat was. But That Lord had ordered it delivered to the Chen family. No matter how much he coveted it, he only dared to smell it, not even touch it.
"Martial Division Li, this is..." Chen Yuxu was bewildered, just like everyone else in the courtyard.
"Go back and ask your son. I don't know what happened, either," the Mediterranean man said with a hearty laugh. He walked over to Chen Yan and took a piece of paper folded in half from his pocket.
"That Lord asked me to pass this on to you. I didn't read it, and I wouldn't dare."
A glint flashed in Chen Yan's eyes as he took the paper.
"Thank you, Martial Division officer."
The Mediterranean man was pleased with Chen Yan's attitude. Then he swept his gaze around the courtyard, settling on the equally stunned Hu Zeyuan and his group. He immediately barked:
"Breaking into someone's home, carrying clubs, too. What do you think you're doing?!"
Hu Zeyuan's expression changed. A young man beside him was so startled by the shout that he dropped the club in his hand.
"Old Li, I..." Hu Zeyuan hurriedly tried to explain. Though he didn't know why the Mediterranean man was being so friendly to the Chen family, he understood that he was the one at a disadvantage now.
"Old Li?" The Mediterranean man frowned.
"Since when were you allowed to call me that?
"All of you, come with me to the station and give statements!"
Under normal circumstances, the Martial Division officer would have stepped in if he saw something like this. But Hu Zeyuan had shared meals with him, so he would have turned a blind eye.
Today was different. He knew Chen Yan had become connected to That Lord. Chen Yan's status was no longer that of an ordinary high school student.
Gulp...
Hu Zeyuan swallowed with difficulty. His gaze darted back and forth, and for some reason, he found himself looking at the young man standing behind Chen Yuxu.
Even a fool could see the Mediterranean man was helping the Chen family because of Chen Yan.
What had this brat done?
His head was buzzing. He tried to speak several times, but ended up being herded out of the courtyard with the others by the Mediterranean man.
As for the Martial Division officer, he didn't look back into the courtyard until he'd reached the gate. With a rueful smile, he said:
"Old Chen, you really raised a fine son."
Outside the gate, Hu Zeyuan and his group stood obediently behind the tricycle, their faces filled with helplessness and bitterness.
At the neighboring house, Old Master Li, who had been pressing an ear to the wall to listen to the commotion, now kept his head lowered and said nothing. His eyes were dark and distant.
The Mediterranean man glanced at the old man and opened his mouth. His eyes were full of complicated emotions, but in the end, he said nothing.
As for the deaths of Li Xuan and his father, other Martial Division officers would come to their family later. It wasn't his concern.
"Stay close, all of you."
The Mediterranean man started the tricycle. Hu Zeyuan and the others grimaced and began running after it.
Villagers came out to watch and point, one after another.
It was quite a ridiculous sight.
Before you continue