Chapter 79: Teaching Luo Ming

On Wednesday morning, Su Xinghui walked through the market, wanting to buy some vegetables to take to Ye Zhugou and cook a meal for Cheng Taoxian's family—her living conditions were terrible, and she probably hadn't eaten meat in a long time; yet she had invited him to her home for meals several times, so today he decided to eat at her house.

If he ate at Cheng Taoxian's home, she would surely go out of her way to prepare good dishes, which meant borrowing money from others—he didn't want her to borrow money because of him, so he had no choice but to buy the vegetables himself.

He was inspecting cuts of pork at a meat stall when someone called, "Little Comrade Su." He turned around—it was Lu Dawang's mother, who had set up a small roadside stall selling vegetables, likely grown by herself, with a basket beside her filled with eggs.

Su Xinghui greeted her, "Auntie." She beamed at him: "Little Comrade Su, buying vegetables? Come, take some from Auntie, and take some eggs too."

Just as Su Xinghui was about to refuse, he saw several young men walking over from the west; the one in front, annoyed that Lu Dawang's mother's stall blocked their path, kicked it with a swing of his foot, sending the vegetables flying, and the egg basket rolling far away, most of the eggs inside cracking.

Lu Dawang's mother heard the noise, turned around, and hurried after the rolling basket, picked it up, saw all the eggs broken, and burst into tears.

Su Xinghui recognized this young man—his name was Luo Ming'an, a local tyrant of Meng Hu Ling, who spent his days loitering on the village street, playing pool, gaming machines, beating up anyone he disliked, insisting on stakes when playing pool: if he lost, he owed; if he won, he demanded cash—this was how he earned his pocket money.

Later, when Meng Hu Ling's economy improved, he began collecting protection fees, demanding monthly payments from every shop—if anyone refused, they couldn't open for business; he made a good income this way and kept a few thugs under him, becoming even more arrogant in Meng Hu Ling.

He dared be so tyrannical because his uncle was Vice Township Chief Jin Taihe, who managed political and legal affairs; Jin Taihe was a native of the area and had served as Vice Township Chief in Menghuling for over a decade, effectively a local powerbroker.

In this era, the township police station was subject to both horizontal management by the township government and vertical management by the county public security bureau, but the township government's horizontal control was stronger; Jin Taihe had long overseen political and legal affairs, so the police station naturally fell under his authority—with such an uncle, Luo Ming'an's arrogance was understandable.

Jin Taihe tolerated Luo Ming'an for a reason: he had only one sister, whose husband died early, leaving Luo Ming'an as her only child; Jin Taihe himself had three daughters and no sons, so he treated Luo Ming'an as his own.

Luo Ming'an lost his father early and dropped out of school before finishing junior high, spending his days wandering the streets; whenever trouble arose, his uncle fixed it, and the police dared not touch him—over time, this shaped his character.

Seeing this, Su Xinghui's rage boiled over—he shouted, "Luo Ming'an, why did you kick someone's eggs?"

Luo Ming'an was surprised—someone in Meng Hu Ling dared to confront him? He glanced sideways toward the voice and saw a slightly familiar young man; since Su Xinghui had only been in Meng Hu Ling for a month and rarely wandered the streets, Luo Ming'an didn't recognize him.

Luo Ming'an grinned: "So what if I kicked them? Whose fault is it that her basket blocked my way?"

Seeing Luo Ming'an's insolent face, Su Xinghui's anger flared—he hated bullies who oppressed common folk—and he coldly said, "So what? You broke the eggs, you pay for them!"

Luo Ming'an laughed as if hearing the funniest joke: "You want me to pay? Do you even know who I am?"

Normally, Luo Ming'an would have punched Su Xinghui on the spot, but he sensed Su Xinghui's bearing was unusual and he looked vaguely familiar—perhaps a township government official—so he held back.

Su Xinghui said, "Of course I know who you are—you're Vice Chief Jin's nephew. But even if Vice Chief Jin broke someone's eggs, he'd still have to pay!"

At that moment, Lu Dawang's mother stepped beside Su Xinghui and whispered, "Little Comrade Su, forget it, don't make him pay."

Lu Dawang's mother knew Luo Ming'an well and what kind of person he was; besides, he had several thugs behind him—she feared Su Xinghui would suffer a loss, so she tried to defuse the situation.

Su Xinghui shook his head: "No, he must pay. Selling eggs isn't easy for you!"

Seeing Su Xinghui wouldn't back down, Luo Ming'an sneered and lunged at him, kicking hard at his thigh—he was cautious, aiming for the fleshy part—but Su Xinghui wasn't going to be kicked. He turned his palm into a blade and sliced Luo Ming'an's shin; Luo Ming'an screamed like he'd been struck by an iron bar and collapsed to the ground.

This shocked everyone—Luo Ming'an's arrogance wasn't just because of his uncle; he was also a skilled fighter, nearly unbeatable in Meng Hu Ling—how could he be so easily defeated by this mild-looking young man?

The other thugs, seeing this, shouted and charged Su Xinghui together—but Su Xinghui landed three punches and two kicks, and they all fell to the ground, groaning.

This scene should have delighted the crowd, but not a single bystander cheered—after all, Luo Ming'an was infamous here; if they cheered now, what would happen next time when Su Xinghui wasn't around?

Moreover, everyone worried for Su Xinghui—Luo Ming'an had Jin Taihe behind him, and Jin Taihe would never let this go.

Su Xinghui said to Luo Ming'an, "Stop pretending to be dead—pay for the eggs."

Su Xinghui had held back—he only made Luo Ming'an hurt for a while, not injure him—he knew his limits.

Su Xinghui's skill stunned Luo Ming'an—could all of them really be taken down by this one man? He groaned, "I don't have any money!"

"None of you have any money? If you don't, then take a few more punches!"

Su Xinghui's words left the thugs speechless—this guy looked so refined, yet he was even more violent than they were!

Luo Ming'an wasn't a hero, but he knew not to provoke immediate danger—he told his thugs, "Who has any money?"

One thug fished out five yuan. The broken eggs were worth no more than five yuan. Su Xinghui took the money from him and handed it to Lu Dawang's mother: "Auntie, take it."

Lu Dawang's mother refused, but Su Xinghui insisted, pressing the money into her hand; she could only accept it, and without lingering, she gathered her vegetables and went home.

Su Xinghui said to Luo Ming'an, "Remember this—I'm Su Xinghui from the township government. Don't you ever bully people in this township again, or you'll regret it one day! Now get out!"

Luo Ming'an got up, and with his thugs, fled in a hurry.

Su Xinghui bought over a kilo of pork, a three-kilo fish, some eggs, and some greens—totaling just over six yuan. Prices here were low to begin with, and after he'd beaten Luo Ming'an and his gang, everyone was delighted and gave him discounts—this was an unexpected bonus.

Su Xinghui mounted his bicycle, loaded the vegetables, and headed for Ye Zhugou.

Arriving at Ye Zhugou, Su Xinghui didn't go to the village committee first—he went straight to Cheng Taoxian's house. She was still weaving bamboo crafts at the door; seeing him, she smiled brightly: "Brother Xinghui, you're here!"

Su Xinghui handed her the groceries: "Cheng Taoxian, take these inside—I'm eating lunch at your place today."

Cheng Taoxian blinked in surprise: "Brother Xinghui, you're eating here, so why did you buy groceries?"

Su Xinghui said, "It's nothing—I bought some vegetables, what's the big deal?"