Chapter 50: Beating Up the Lackey

Su Chunfeng lifted the door curtain and walked out, calling politely, “Uncle, Third Maternal Grandfather, you’ve come…”

“Hmm.” Chen Shunhe was in a very good mood today. He stretched out his large, fan-like hand and vigorously ruffled Su Chunfeng’s hair, making Su Chunfeng grimace.

Chen Xian also nodded with a kind expression. As he walked into the house, he said, “Xiao Feng, studies must be keeping you busy now, right? You must get good results in the High School Entrance Examination this year.”

“Sure,” Su Chunfeng answered cheerfully.

Once inside, Chen Xiulan invited Chen Xian and her elder brother to sit on the sofa. As she went to make tea and pour water, she said happily, “Xiao Feng’s academic performance is quite good. He’s just a bit stubborn. We suggested he take the technical secondary school exam this year so he could become a teacher or a policeman after graduation, but he insists on taking the high school exam, saying he wants to go to university in the future.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Chen Xian’s expression, but he nodded and said, “Xiao Feng is a child with ambition. I think you, as parents, shouldn’t be too strict with him.”

“Exactly,” Chen Xiulan said. “Xiao Feng’s father and I aren’t forcing him. If he wants to go to high school, then let him.”

As they chatted casually about everyday matters, Chen Xian looked around the interior of the room.

Now, although Su Chunfeng’s home appeared plain and simple on the surface, the interior had been newly renovated.

There were blue-flowered white floor tiles, snowy white walls coated with a ceramic-like paint, yellow wall tiles below the windowsill, and a line of blue skirting tiles between the walls and the floor. The ceiling was covered with a clean, white plasterboard. On the wall facing the main door hung a large mirror, one point two meters high and two point five meters wide. Below the mirror stood a brownish-yellow square altar table. Against the wall behind the table was a long offering platform, flanked by two traditional armchairs. Although these were old pieces of furniture, they had been repainted to look brand new. The spacious living room also had new additions: a sofa, a tea table, a TV cabinet, and a twenty-five-inch color TV, which was even bigger than the twenty-one-inch one in Chen Xian’s own home.

Looking at the interior decor and furniture, and thinking back to the simple, clean elegance of the small farmyard outside, Chen Xian suddenly felt a pang of shame. In the past, whenever his poor relatives from the countryside visited his home, he always assumed they came to get some benefit from him. But seeing the environment and conditions of Xiulan and her husband’s home, it seemed their life was even better than that of many state-owned enterprise workers in the city.

No wonder when Su Chunfeng came to pay New Year’s greetings, he had said to him with a hint of sarcasm at the end, “Grandfather, our family won’t ask you for any favors, so you can rest assured.”

Look at this home…

They really had no need to lower themselves and beg a relative who was an official like him.

Thinking this, Chen Xian couldn’t help but shake his head with a bitter smile. In truth, he knew very well that the reason he had such thoughts was precisely because he had taken early retirement due to illness and no longer held any power. Otherwise, even the wealthy people in the city wouldn’t have been worthy of his regard.

After chatting for a little while, voices suddenly came from outside, including Xiao Yu’s tearful shouting.

Su Chunfeng frowned and quickly stood up. “Mom, I’ll go outside and see…”

“Okay.” Chen Xiulan didn’t pay it much mind. After all, it was normal for children to have scuffles. Besides, they had important guests at home, so it wasn’t appropriate for her to go out.

When Su Chunfeng went outside, he saw a black Santana sedan parked at the intersection of the north-south alley to the west of their door.

It was only because this north-south alley was wide enough that the car could drive in. If it were the narrow east-west alley right in front of their door, a car wouldn’t have been able to enter at all.

Two men stood beside the car.

One of them, a tall young man around twenty-six or twenty-seven, wearing a brown leather jacket and with a crew cut, had a fierce expression as he tightly twisted Xiao Yu’s arm and scolded, “You little brat, if you damage the car, could your family afford to pay for it? And you dare talk back! And you’re crying… shut up! If you keep yelling, I’ll slap you silly! You little bastard!”

“Bullshit!” Su Chunfeng couldn’t hold back his anger. He rushed forward, kicked the young man away, and pulled Xiao Yu back.

Xiao Yu, seemingly startled, immediately hid behind his brother.

“Go home!” Su Chunfeng pushed Xiao Yu.

The young man stumbled back against the car from the kick, slightly surprised. But seeing that the one who kicked him was just a half-grown boy—about one point sixty-five meters tall and looking thin and weak—his anger flared. He got up and lunged at Su Chunfeng, shouting, “How dare you hit me?”

Su Chunfeng sidestepped slightly, hooked his foot, and slapped the other’s back.

Thump, thud!

“Owww…” The young man uncontrollably crashed into the corner of the wall, immediately breaking his head open and bleeding. He clutched his forehead as he stood up, looking at Su Chunfeng, who was less than two meters away, with fear. Pointing a finger, he stammered, “Y-you… you dare hit me…” He never expected that in just one exchange, this half-grown kid would make him bleed!

Without a word, Su Chunfeng strode forward, and with a few punches and kicks, he knocked the already bleeding and panicked young man to the ground, then proceeded to kick him fiercely, again and again.

For nearly a year since his rebirth, Su Chunfeng had persistently exercised every morning. Combined with the agile reflexes of an Occultist at the Awakening Spirit Realm, and his calm decisiveness in handling situations, although his strength still couldn’t compare to that of a grown adult man, dealing with this young man who looked strong and tall but was actually all brawn and no brain was practically effortless.

Moreover, even if the other could fight, an enraged Su Chunfeng would still go head-to-head with him!

The other man, who had been standing by the Santana sedan all along—a fair-skinned man in his thirties, wearing a dark blue suit, with slicked-back hair and glasses—was stunned for a moment upon seeing this. He then hurried forward to intervene, saying, “Hey, hey, how can you, a child, hit someone?”

Su Chunfeng stopped and stepped back, looking coldly at the bespectacled man. “He hit my brother. Why didn’t you say anything then?”

Su Chunfeng knew this bespectacled man!

It was Chen Xian’s eldest son, Chen Yufan.

However, Chen Yufan didn’t recognize him, the son of his poor country cousin. Even if he had seen him a couple of times, he couldn’t be bothered to remember a child from such a poor family.

At that moment, Liu Jinming, who had run out upon hearing the commotion to see what was happening, happened to witness Su Chunfeng beating up the young man. He stood there in shock for a while. Now, snapping back to reality, he immediately started cursing and strode forward, roughly shoving Chen Yufan. “Hey, who the hell are you? Daring to come to our doorstep and bully a kid? Tired of living, huh? Believe me, I’ll make you leave this village lying down!”

Liu Jinming was tall and burly, with a naturally fierce and menacing appearance. Combined with the domineering aura he had developed over time, when he got angry like this, he looked ferocious and brutal, the very image of a typical village thug.

This made Chen Yufan, who was serving as the Township Head in a township under Wucheng County for practical training, rather alarmed and flustered.

The bloodied young man, seeing this, quickly stepped forward with his blood-stained face to protect his superior. “Hey, this is Township Head Chen. Don’t you dare act recklessly, or you’ll be in deep trouble!”

Upon hearing that the young man he was grabbing by the collar and shoving was a Township Head, Liu Jinming’s heart skipped a beat. He let go and took a step back, but still snarled and cursed, “So what if he’s a Township Head? Does that mean a Township Head can bully people freely? And bully a child at that? What kind of damn Township Head is that? Not even the emperor himself could get away with that here!”

Chen Yufan felt extremely embarrassed by the scolding and, still shaken, didn’t dare talk back.

In the past, as a Township Head, whenever he went out in an official car to any village, the villagers always treated him with awe and respect. This had allowed his driver, Xiao Du, to develop a habit of arrogance and bullying. Chen Yufan didn’t pay much attention to this phenomenon; in fact, he somewhat enjoyed the sense of superiority and privilege that his power and status brought—the feeling that when one person gained power, even his associates benefited.

However, today, he and Xiao Du had overlooked something: this wasn’t Wucheng County, much less the Fengtou Township where he served as Township Head!

Actually, it wasn’t meant to be a big deal. Chen Yufan had used the official car for personal reasons today to bring his father to visit relatives. He had been reluctant, worried that these poor relatives would try to get close to him and later ask for favors, which would be troublesome. So he thought, since his father said they would only chat for a bit inside before leaving, he might as well just stay in the car. Coincidentally, a boy who looked about twelve or thirteen passed by. Probably having rarely seen a car, the boy felt envious and curious, so he touched the car a few times.

Xiao Du, the driver, who was smoking in front of the car, saw this and habitually scolded the child a couple of times.

The child initially seemed afraid but then gave Xiao Du a stubborn glare before turning to leave.

But it was precisely that disrespectful look that angered Xiao Du, who was used to being domineering. He immediately pulled the little boy back, slapped him twice on the head, and kicked him in the backside.

Next…

A conflict broke out. Driver Xiao Du got beaten until his head was bloody by the little boy’s older brother—a half-grown kid!

Now, an even burlier middle-aged man, who looked fierce and combative, had appeared. What if they tried to extort money from him? What should he do then?

Just then, Su Cheng returned from the distance on his bicycle. Seeing the scene, he quickly rode over and frowned. “Brother Jinming, what’s going on? Huh? Isn’t this Yufan! You’re at our doorstep, why not come inside?”

Chen Yufan was taken aback. He seemed to think for a moment before guessing that the man before him must be his cousin-in-law, whom he had met only a few times. Somewhat reluctantly, he forced a smile and extended his hand. “Cousin-in-law, hello, hello. My dad came to visit your family. He’s already gone inside. I was just looking at some documents in the car and was about to go in.”

Su Cheng shook Chen Yufan’s hand somewhat awkwardly, thinking to himself that after all, he was an official. This man clearly didn’t regard his poor country relatives as important. Shaking hands upon meeting—wasn’t that too formal? But of course, he didn’t voice these thoughts. Instead, he turned to look at the bloodied young driver, then at Liu Jinming, his own son, and the several neighbors who had gathered around. “What happened here?”

Just then, Chen Xiulan, whom Xiao Yu had quickly run inside to fetch, along with Chen Shunhe and Chen Xian, all came over.

After a brief introduction and explanation, it turned out they were all on the same side—just a misunderstanding.

Su Cheng quickly offered apologies filled with regret. He also seemingly sternly reprimanded Su Chunfeng and instructed him to immediately take the young driver to the village clinic to get bandaged.

However, upon hearing what had happened, Chen Xian couldn’t help but feel angry. If not for his former power and status, how could his son have become a Township Head in the countryside? With such an attitude and arrogant disposition, how could he advance in his political career in the future? So Chen Xian immediately frowned and said, “Xiao Feng, don’t go. Yufan, you take Xiao Du to get bandaged.”

“Okay,” Chen Yufan had no choice but to agree.

Seeing this, Su Cheng stepped forward and took Driver Xiao Du’s arm. As he led him out of the alley, he said, “Come on, let’s not delay. It wouldn’t be good if you got an infection. I’ll take you there…”

Once they left, Chen Xiulan gave Su Chunfeng a reproachful glare and was about to scold him when Chen Xian spoke up. “Xiao Feng, accompany me for a walk outside the village. It’s rare for me to come out. I’d like to see the countryside fields. It’s March, with beautiful scenery—a perfect time for a spring outing.”

With that, Chen Xian started walking south along the street. He had seen that the southern end of the alley opened up to vast, green fields.

“Go on, catch up,” Chen Xiulan urgently pushed her son.

“Sure,” Su Chunfeng agreed, turning and quickly following. However, a trace of confusion and helplessness showed in his expression.

The sky was high, the clouds vast, and the warm sun shone brightly.

Standing on the field ridge where a gentle breeze blew, looking out, the lush green wheat fields stretched as far as the eye could see.

“What do you want to talk to me about?” Su Chunfeng asked with a smile, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon. His tone and demeanor seemed to lack any trace of a teenager’s innocence and naivety.

“After the New Year, I applied for early retirement due to illness… managed to preserve my reputation.” Chen Xian also didn’t look at Su Chunfeng, seemingly unconcerned whether Su Chunfeng could understand his words. He sighed lightly, sounding both nostalgic and worried. “Now that I no longer hold an official position or power, my Official Authority has naturally weakened. That makes it easy to be harmed by evil entities, right?”

Su Chunfeng turned his head and examined Chen Xian carefully. Indeed, between his eyebrows was a very faint, almost imperceptible green line if one didn’t look closely. He said, “You and my grandmother will be fine. But… is it my cousin, Yufang, who has attracted evil entities again?” As he spoke, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of reflection. Although he didn’t understand the intricacies of political maneuvering, he could guess that Chen Xian’s decision to retire early was the wisest choice. Otherwise, with his current paranoid and suspicious state of mind, persisting would only lead to a worse outcome.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xian abruptly turned to look at Su Chunfeng, feeling even more astonished.