Chapter 54: If They Won't Pay, I'll Go See the Official

The tall woman was still spraying saliva, chattering nonstop.

Gu Xixi's face had already darkened.

"Shut up!"

She suddenly let out a low roar, the sound shaking the entire venue.

The tall woman hadn't expected that the seemingly delicate girl possessed such strength; startled, she was momentarily at a loss for words and fell silent.

Gu Xixi, bursting with pent-up anger, shouted loudly, "Clash, clash— that's all you ever say. After being neighbors for so long, how come I've never seen any of your families have a cooking fire burn someone to death, or New Year's firecrackers blow the whole family sky-high?"

A father, unable to save face, said, "How can you speak like that, young lady?"

Gu Xixi sneered, "You're not afraid of clashing, so why have you come here?"

"And your little turtle sons— you tied them up because you feared they'd clash, so don't let them run around all day."

"Even Shitou sneaks out the door to avoid them— they're relentless, insisting on coming over to bully Shitou!"

The tall woman regained her composure, unwilling to concede, and said, "What makes you say that? It's our children who sought him out?"

"My Daobao is the most obedient; I told him not to play with Shitou, and he obeys me."

"Obedient?" Gu Xixi scoffed, pulling Shitou forward.

"Can obedience beat Shitou into this state?"

Those five people, upon seeing Shitou's face clearly, were all stunned.

Gu Xixi said, "Your sons only have a bruised butt— look at our faces, these eyes!"

"Damaging the eyes is a lifelong matter; I'll soon take Shitou to a doctor for an examination. If his eyes suffer any harm, I'll see who owes whom compensation!"

Gu Xixi said this, then pulled up Shitou's sleeve to show them the bruise on his arm.

The tall woman stepped back guiltily, and the other four also darted their eyes, unable to meet her gaze.

At this point, Gu Xixi and Shitou's side had already gained the upper hand in momentum.

Gu Xixi lifted her chin and glared at them, "Shitou, tell these uncles and aunts now what the fight this morning was really about."

As she spoke, she secretly squeezed Shitou's small hand in her palm.

Shitou looked up at Gu Xixi; although he couldn't explain why, he felt no fear at all now.

In the past, when he saw those neighbors' contemptuous glances and heard their disparaging remarks, he would only dare cover his ears and run away quickly.

But now he summoned the courage to stare them down, saying, "This morning when I went out, Daobao and Shuanzi insisted on blocking the road, not letting me pass. I took a detour, yet they surrounded me, laughing, then called others to curse me and threw stones at me."

"They, they said my father is a short-lived ghost." Shitou felt a lump in his throat, but he gritted his teeth and held back tears.

He continued, "I said, 'Don't insult my father!' Then Daobao said I'm a jinx, unworthy of speaking loudly, and urged them all to beat me together."

Gu Xixi waited for Shitou to finish, then coldly gazed at the five people before her.

"Did you hear that? Who started the trouble and who threw the first punch are now crystal clear."

"Do you have anything else to say?"

The tall woman turned her back and gave the others a glance.

Although it was her Daobao who took the lead, everyone shares responsibility; if we really pursued this, nobody could escape.

Thus, Shuanzi's father, dropping his earlier ferocity, put on a smile and said, "Oh, what could there be to say?"

"Kids scuffling is normal; boys are naturally mischievous. In my view, since no serious harm was done, we adults shouldn't get involved, right?"

Gu Xixi let out a heavy cold laugh, "Before I opened the door, I heard you say you'd definitely have to pay medical expenses."

"And you said if you had no money to compensate, you could sell the Zhang family's trees."

"How come the tune changes when it's your turn?"

She glanced down at Shitou, her tone light and breezy, "According to our dynasty's law, whoever injures or maims another without cause must bear responsibility: seek medical treatment for the victim, and at minimum provide care until the victim recovers."

"For serious offenses, the offender faces twenty to fifty strokes of the cane and imprisonment of three to five years, depending on the victim's condition."

Daobao's mother, Shuanzi's father, and the other three turned ashen.

Now it was their turn to feel fear.

Daobao's mother's lips trembled, yet she forced herself to say, "You're just a woman— how would you know the rules of the official office? You're probably making this up to scare us."

Gu Xixi smiled, "Forgot to finish: if a child under ten commits an offense, the caning penalty falls on the parents instead."

She fixed her gaze on Daobao's mother's eyes, her smile deepening, "You've never tasted the flavor of a beating board in your life, have you?"

Ordinary people instinctively fear going to see officials.

Daobao's mother, having never faced such a threat, instantly felt her legs go weak and she collapsed onto her knees, unable to control herself.

Shuanzi's father also turned pale and dared not speak.

Gu Xixi looked at these people who would even bully small children, and finally let out a sigh of relief.

"I'll just wait here today."

"If Shitou doesn't receive money for medical treatment, medicine, and nourishment this afternoon, I'll go to the County Office— a poor child without parents, beaten by others— truly, is there no one to uphold justice?"

She left those words, took Shitou's hand, returned home, and bolted the door shut.

Upon reaching the nursery, Shitou finally snapped out of his shock.

"Sister Xixi, maybe we shouldn't take their money—I've applied your medicine and it no longer hurts."

Gu Xixi said, "On what grounds should we refuse it?"

She crouched, gazing into Shitou's eyes, "Money that doesn't belong to us, we certainly won't take."

"But they hurt you; they ought to pay the price."

"Moreover, when those few adults came, they still wanted to keep bullying you."

"If they weren't already in the wrong and unable to argue, how would they have let us off today?"

Shitou nodded, half-understanding.

He silently resolved to be brave from now on, to become someone like Sister Xixi.

At lunchtime, five families successively sent over the medical fees.

The amount wasn't high; altogether it came to just over 140 wen.

According to Shitou's own wishes, Gu Xixi didn't quibble over how much money; she simply had Shitou personally receive it and count it clearly in person.

Is it important to demand this medical fee? Of course it is.

Shitou lost his parents, and money is very important to him.

As for those wicked neighbors, will they become kind? Not necessarily.

But the monetary cost can make them remember, at least so that in the future they will discipline their own children and stay farther away from Shitou.

On the official road outside the county town, a little black donkey pulled the cart forward at a trot.

Mu Nan Zhao looked back over his shoulder, "Rest assured, after this time he won't be so easily bullied again."

Gu Xixi smiled faintly, "I hope so."

Just now Mu Nan Zhao drove the cart to the nursery; upon seeing his face, Gu Xixi knew things were going smoothly for him at the Meng household.

However, in their tacit understanding, one didn't mention it, and the other didn't ask.

Passing through Shitou Village, with nightfall still early, a large bonfire had unexpectedly been lit outside the village.

Several people stood a bit farther away, throwing something into the fire to burn.

Gu Xixi was curious, so she asked the old man standing by the roadside, "Elder, what are you burning?"

The old man wore a worried expression, glanced at Gu Xixi and Mu Nan Zhao, and said weakly, "Rats."