After receiving the transfer, Zhang Dahai had already stood up smugly, ready to leave with his son. He had not expected Xu Yuan to suddenly say that, and his face darkened. "What do you mean?"
"Heh, we damaged your property, and we paid for it. Since you did something wrong, shouldn't you properly apologize?"
Xu Yuan stared at Zhang Dahai. "Or do you think there was nothing wrong with that mouthful of shit you spewed, or with your son pulling my sister's hair?"
"Children don't know any better. Isn't a little roughhousing perfectly normal..."
Smack!
Without any warning, Xu Yuan slapped Zhang Dahai across the face!
"The kid doesn't know any better, and neither do you? Have you lived all those fucking decades as a dog?"
The slap sent Zhang Dahai staggering, nearly knocking him off his feet.
The brat beside him was scared witless, his face as white as paper.
"You-you actually hit me?"
Several full seconds passed before Zhang Dahai came to his senses and stared wide-eyed at Xu Yuan.
"Cut the crap. Apologize to my mom, and have your son apologize to my sister. Otherwise, neither of you is leaving."
Xu Yuan sat down squarely in the chair. "You can report it, too. Call the Public Security Bureau or the Martial Suppression Department and have them come take you away. I certainly won't stop them."
Honestly, if Xu Yuan had followed his own inclinations, he would not have paid the three thousand at all. He would simply have beaten the father and son up and thrown them out.
As long as he controlled how far he went, even if it reached the Martial Suppression Department, he would only have to pay some medical expenses.
But Xu Kexin was still young, and Xu Yuan felt he ought to give her some proper guidance.
If they smashed someone's phone, they should pay what they owed.
But if someone bullied them, they absolutely would not swallow their anger in silence!
They would not stir up trouble, but they would not fear it, either!
That was what he wanted to convey.
Still, he did not know whether his approach would achieve the effect he wanted. After all, he had not studied education or raised a child. Even considering all this had not been easy.
"Kid, you win."
After a long while, Zhang Dahai conceded, his face ashen.
He really could not bear the humiliation of reporting it.
Besides, even if he did report it, he would probably have to apologize in the end anyway.
Because he knew perfectly well that from the moment Xu Yuan paid the compensation, they no longer had right on their side in this whole affair.
"I'm sorry, Xu Kexin's mother. What I said just now was too offensive. I apologize," Zhang Dahai said sullenly.
Zhang Yaying did not respond. She stood behind Xu Yuan in a daze.
All of this felt so unreal to her.
Her son, who spent his days running wild outside and came home to throw tantrums whenever he suffered a grievance, was actually standing up for her and her daughter like a real man.
She would not have dared dream of this even in her dreams.
"Your turn." Xu Yuan turned his icy gaze on the little boy.
Zhang Yu was a typical brat. At school, all he did was rotten stuff like putting dead bugs in little girls' exercise books and pouring chalk dust into their pencil cases.
He was a reserve scumbag who feared neither heaven nor earth.
Yet facing Xu Yuan now, he could not stop trembling.
This person even dared to hit his dad. He was terrifying!
"S-sorry, Xu Kexin! I'll never do it again! Don't let your brother kill me, waaah..."
The brat barely managed a couple of sentences before bursting into loud wails.
Xu Yuan frowned in disgust. "Enough. Get lost."
"Let's go."
Zhang Dahai made no threats. He grabbed his son and headed straight out.
A wise man did not take a beating when it could be avoided. Once he was out the door, he would find out this kid's name and have his eldest son settle the score!
His fine eldest son had already reached Skin Tempering Fourth Stage and was an excellent student with a very good chance of passing the martial arts class assessment. He refused to believe this kid could be stronger than his son!
"All right, it's over."
Watching the father and son disappear through the doorway, Xu Yuan put away his icy expression. "If anything like this happens to the family again, tell me right away. Let me handle it."
"..."
Without saying a word, Zhang Yaying covered her mouth and ran into the bedroom, shutting the door with a bang.
Before long, Xu Yuan heard muffled sobbing.
He pressed his lips together, more or less understanding how Zhang Yaying felt.
Her son, who had never amounted to anything, had suddenly become sensible and dependable, starting to shelter his family from the wind and rain. It would have been strange if she could hold back her tears.
"Xu Yuan, you were pretty impressive just now."
At some point, Xu Kexin had wiped the tear tracks off her face. She spoke to Xu Yuan with a solemn expression.
Her hearing was not as good as Xu Yuan's, a Divine Martial Artist's, so she could not hear her mother crying. Otherwise, she certainly would not have been acting like a little old woman right now, but would have been a little crybaby bawling her eyes out.
Children were like that.
Little girls in particular would absolutely be unable to stop themselves from crying along if they heard their mothers cry.
"Impressive, huh? Then shouldn't you start calling me big brother?" Xu Yuan asked his little sister with a smile.
"No. But once I become a powerful Divine Martial Artist, I can give you one less beating."
Xu Yuan: "?"
One less beating? Is that any way to talk?
Then Xu Kexin rummaged through her schoolbag, took out a little notebook, and opened it, revealing little black blobs shaded in with pencil.
They were packed densely across several whole pages.
Then she picked up an eraser and briskly erased one little black blob.
After hesitating, she erased another, muttering, "Two fewer beatings, then..."
This was Xu Kexin's ledger for keeping score against Xu Yuan.
Every time Xu Yuan hit her or scolded her, every time he lost his temper at their mother, and every time he snatched away their mother's hard-earned money, she shaded in a little black blob, waiting until she became a Divine Martial Artist to settle accounts with him.
When that time came, each little black blob would mean one beating for Xu Yuan!
Xu Yuan understood now, too, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Looking at those several pages of little black blobs, was this little girl planning to beat him up hundreds of times?
Fucking hell... good thing the previous owner of this body died early. Otherwise, in another dozen years or so, his own little sister probably would have beaten him senseless!
Bzz, bzz~
Just then, the phone on the table vibrated twice. Xu Yuan looked away, picked it up, and checked it.
[Zhang Baosheng: Bullying my dad and little brother, huh? You've got guts! Don't come to the assessment the day after tomorrow. If you dare show up, I'll break your legs!]
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly. If an ordinary person said something like that, they were most likely just running their mouth.
But it was different between Divine Martial Artists. If Zhang Baosheng said that, he really intended to do it.
Besides, when Divine Martial Artists clashed, basically no one intervened as long as no lives were taken, at least on the surface.
Still, Xu Yuan was not worried. There was indeed a gap between Skin Tempering Second Tier and Skin Tempering Fourth Stage, but with his Transformation Realm Savage Bull Heart-Shattering Butt, if they actually fought, he would not necessarily be the one whose legs got broken.
[Xu Yuan: Teach your dad some manners. Next time, an apology won't be enough to settle things.]
After casually replying, Xu Yuan opened the martial arts class group chat.
I wonder how far word of me setting up a stall at the base has spread?
To Xu Yuan's surprise, there was not much discussion of him in the chat history. Instead, everyone was talking about Luo Yaoxi.
Xu Yuan gave a soft exclamation of surprise and quickly scrolled back.
[Zhang Chao: Holy crap, guess what I saw?!!]
[Chen Jiayu: That master came back to the base?]
[Zhang Chao: No, Luo Yaoxi! Luo Yaoxi and Director Niu just came out of the inner area of the martial arts base!]
[Lu Hai: You must have seen wrong. Luo Yaoxi is just an ordinary person. Why would Director Niu take her to the martial arts base?]
[Yang Xiaoyu: He didn't see wrong. I saw them too. It was Luo Yaoxi and Director Niu.]
[Chen Jiayu: Uh, could Director Niu be keeping her as his mistress? After all, she might only be an ordinary person, but she really is beautiful.]
[Teacher Lin: Don't spread nonsense. Director Niu took Luo Yaoxi there to cultivate.]
That message was followed by a sea of question marks.
Xu Yuan scrolled through dozens of messages before finding the next one with any substance.
[Zhang Chao: Teacher, isn't it impossible to develop a Divine Talent after fifteen? How can Luo Yaoxi cultivate now?]
[Teacher Lin: That isn't what you should be concerned about. Focus on preparing for the assessment.]
[Zhang Juye: Did Luo Yaoxi awaken?]
[Lu Hai: Holy shit! Awaken?!!!]
[Zhang Chao: Awaken? Aren't those super geniuses you only hear about in legends?]
[Huang Yun: It really is possible. If she hadn't awakened, how could she have stabbed Xu Yuan?]
Reading this, Xu Yuan's mouth fell slightly open.
According to the previous owner's memories, a Divine Talent would emerge when a person was fifteen. If no Divine Talent was detected at fifteen, it was essentially impossible for one to emerge afterward.
But there was one exception, a one-in-ten-thousand occurrence.
Awakening a Nascent Divine Ability!
Or, in more modern terms, awakening a superpower.
Once someone awakened, a Divine Talent would emerge as well!
And whenever such people appeared, every single one was a genius among geniuses!
No wonder Niu Gang had looked at Luo Yaoxi as though she were some peerless treasure. He had probably suspected she had awakened right then!
Tsk, tsk. Why does this somehow feel like one of those novels where heaven's chosen rise together and a great era approaches?
Click!
Just then, a crisp sound came from the master bedroom door. Having finished crying, Zhang Yaying walked out with slightly reddened eyes.
Her face, which years of toil had made look several years older than those of her peers, seemed to have suddenly gained a glow. Even the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes seemed to have diminished.
"Yuanzi, Kexin, you must be hungry. Mom will cook for you right away!" she said.
"Just cook for yourself and little sis. I already ate outside."
Xu Yuan stood up. "I need to go into dormancy to heal. I probably won't wake up until tomorrow evening. Unless something really important happens, don't wake me."
"Also, I had a little over three thousand left, and I've already transferred it to you. Don't skimp on food, clothes, or daily expenses from now on, especially food. Little sis is still growing. Give her more good food."
With that, Xu Yuan walked straight into his room.
Zhang Yaying stood where she was, unable to stop herself from feeling like crying again.
Xu Kexin took the little notebook she had just put away back out of her schoolbag, muttering, "One less beating again, then..."