Chapter 2: Xu Daoyan

Cai Qiang lifted his foot and trampled all of Daoyan's sweet potatoes. As he looked at the crushed sweet potatoes, anger surged in Daoyan's heart. For the son of a village chief, these few sweet potatoes were naturally insignificant, but for his family, they were precious food necessary for their livelihood

Xu Daoyan broke free from the restraints of the three brothers and charged directly at Cai Qiang. Seizing the moment, he tackled him to the ground and swung his fist, striking Cai Qiang in the face

Xu Daoyan's mouth twitched slightly, and he hurriedly said: "Come with me quickly, don't choke to death, or I will have to pay for your life later."

He completely disregarded his own pain, causing Cai Qiang's face to be a bloody mess: "Even if I am beaten to death by you, I will take half of your life; I want to kill you..."

"Have pity on me, the old beggar, for I have not eaten for several days..." An old man, dressed in tattered clothes, with a face as dark as pitch, seemingly having not bathed for many years, was covered in layers of dirt. His beard and hair were in disarray, tangled together, as he pleaded with Xu Daoyan.

She is a mute and cannot speak, yet she possesses a delicate beauty. Her silence makes her difficult to approach, and she lives alone. According to some of the older villagers, her appearance has remained unchanged for over a decade, giving her an impression of purity, as if untouched by the mundane world

Upon hearing Xu Daoyan's words and seeing the splattered blood, A Yi, A Er, and A San were so frightened that their bodies went limp, unable to move. Killing someone, not even Cai Qiang would dare to do such a thing.

Near Xu Daoyan's house, there stood another small wooden cabin, where a woman was present; she was another legend of the village

"No, can you spit some water for me to drink..." The old man ate the sweet potato too quickly and choked, looking extremely uncomfortable, his face turning purple.

This woman is also an outsider from another village. She arrived shortly after Xu Daoyan's father entered the village. The difference is that after Xu Daoyan's father left, she did not leave.

Cai Qiang raised his hand and grabbed Xu Daoyan's arms, angrily saying: "You little bastard, how dare you hit me?"

There is no need to thank me; it is only right to help the elderly. Xu Daoyan waved his hand, did not look back, and said this with great nonchalance

At that moment, the two individuals walked down another path. Cai Qiang was extremely furious and said, "Damn it, these two bastards actually dare to disobey me. Here, no one is protecting them. Capture them and beat them hard!"

Haha, I have already finished eating. Mother, take your time, I have made plans with Xiaobai to go out and have some fun. Xu Daoyan patted his belly, looking quite full.

The distance from Xu Daoyan's wooden house is not too far; he ran quickly all the way, filled a bucket of water at the front door of his small wooden house, scooped a large ladle of water, and handed it to the old man

"Daoyan, are you alright?" Seeing Xu Daoyan safe and sound, Wu Xiaobai looked astonished

"Damn you, looking for death, Ayi, A'er, A'san, beat him!" With Cai Qiang's command, a group of four rushed forward and directly tackled Diao Yan to the ground

"It's fine, I'm starving." Wu Xiaobai rushed out again, worried that Xu Daoyan might encounter some trouble, neglecting to eat.

"I am starving to death." He left the cabin, took his water bottle, filled it with water, and ran towards the back mountain.

"Xu? Haha, I have indeed heard from my father that the Xu family is a prominent surname, the founder of farming families. I do not know where you, this little bastard, heard that you also bear the surname Xu! It is simply shameless!"

On the way to the back mountain, Xu Daoyan encountered Wu Xiaobai. It turned out that Wu Xiaobai was worried about Xu Daoyan getting into trouble, so after bringing the roasted sweet potatoes home, he ran out again.

"Cai Qiang, I tell you, if you dare to insult me again by calling me a bastard, I will kill you!" Xu Daoyan shouted angrily

"On what basis should I give it to you?" Daoyan and Cai Qiang have always been rivals.

Although the events have already transpired, reflecting on them now still evokes a lingering sense of fear. Xu Daoyan hurried along, and just as he was about to return home, a sudden shadow lunged out, startling him and causing him to break out in a cold sweat

"Then don't run too far!" Wu's voice echoed as Xu Daoyan had already run out.

Xu Daoyan walked out, and Aunt Ya glanced at him before going back inside

Seeing Cai Qiang and his group chasing after them, Dao Yan quickly said: "Run quickly, head towards the village!"

"My surname is Xu, and my name is Xu Daoyan." Xu Daoyan roared

Dao Yan runs very fast, while Wu Xiao Bai has a slightly weaker constitution and soon falls behind

Xie Daoyan was startled as he fell into madness. Coming to his senses, he realized that his forehead was covered in blood. In the past, he would only have bruises and swollen features from fights, but this time it was a bloody mess, which made him feel a bit fearful upon reflection, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

Cai Qiang, accompanied by three subordinates, displayed an arrogant demeanor and issued commands with an air of superiority. His eyes narrowed slightly, revealing a look of disdain as he said to Wu Xiaobai: "Do not pay attention to him, let us go!"

Then you should be careful Wu Xiaobai was extremely frightened, he did not want to become a burden to Daoyan

Let us go to the back mountain together. Xu Daoyan patted Wu Xiaobai on the shoulder and they walked towards the back mountain together

Dao Yan, let me tell you, don't think that just because you have some strength, you can dare to oppose me, you dog scum, you don't even know your own surname. I think your father must have abandoned you and your mother, not wanting to take care of you anymore. You are nothing but a bastard without a father, do you know that? I have long heard my father say that your father is just an outsider from another village, who came here, planted you, and then ran away!" Cai Qiang's words were filled with mockery and disdain. He was the son of the village chief, high and mighty, and no one in the entire village dared to oppose him; they always obeyed him. Yet Dao Yan did not buy into his nonsense, which made him very angry. Today, he finally found an opportunity, so he naturally wanted to humiliate him thoroughly.

"I dare not anymore, absolutely dare not!" Cai Qiang's face turned pale with fear, and he trembled all over; he felt that Xu Daoyan must be insane

The situation has reached this point, and Xu Daoyan directly accepted it, threatening: "Get lost, if you dare to tell anyone about today's events, I will kill each and every one of you!"

The roasted sweet potatoes rolled all over the ground. Cai Qiang saw them and laughed, saying: "I thought it was something else, but it turns out to be roasted sweet potatoes. They are delicious, aren't they? I'll let you have some..."

Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah... "You little bastard!" This provoked an endless rage within Xu Daoyan, transforming it into power. His body struggled wildly, as an arm tightened around his neck, and he instinctively opened his mouth to bite.

Dao Yan turned back to look at Wu Xiaobai, who was about to be caught up with. Gritting his teeth, he rushed back and said to Wu Xiaobai: "Xiaobai, you run quickly, I will hold them off!"

"I have a surname." Dao Yan gritted his teeth, letting out an angry roar from his throat, his eyes bloodshot.

The fierce killing intent emanating from Xu Daoyan's eyes frightened Cai Qiang to the point of losing control, and he cried out in despair: "Please don't kill me, please don't kill me!"

Ah... a wretched scream pierced through, blood gushing forth. A Yi, who had a grip on Xu Daoyan's neck, nearly had the flesh on his arm bitten off.

Young man, don't leave just yet... The old man still had sweet potatoes in his mouth, making his speech unclear

"Oh, that's quite impressive. What is it that your clothes are hiding? Take it out for me," Cai Qiang pointed at the object in Dao Yan's arms.

Xu Daoyan finally felt relieved, ignoring the old man, returned to the small wooden house, placed another roasted sweet potato on the table, and said: "Mother, please eat up."

"Give me something to eat, what about you?"

You alone are no match for them, don't worry about me!

Xu Daoyan generally referred to her as Aunt Ya, as she was a neighbor and Aunt Ya could not speak. During his childhood, he would seek her out to share his innermost thoughts, a fact that even Wu Shi was unaware of.

I dug it up by the edge of the forest" Xu Daoyan said with a grin

Cai Qiang quickly took out a money pouch, and as Xu Daoyan opened it, his heart skipped a beat and his eyes twitched. Inside were ten pieces of broken silver, weighing a total of ten taels. He had never seen so much money in his entire life

Xu Daoyan directly used his head to collide with Cai Qiang's face, shouting frantically: "Who is the bastard? You are the bastard!"

"Of course, there is nothing wrong. What could possibly be wrong with me?" Xu Daoyan shrugged, wearing an expression that suggested they could do nothing to him.

"Roasted sweet potato, where did you get this?" Wu asked

The old man’s eyes lit up as he snatched the sweet potato, eating it without peeling the skin, including the charred blackened skin that had been roasted. Xu Daoyan shook his head at the sight and simply turned to leave.

Xu Daoyan, who was initially startled, looked at the old man in such a miserable state and felt a moment of compassion. He took out a large piece of fragrant roasted sweet potato and said, "You can have this, I will take the other one back for my mother to eat"

"Yes, yes, yes." Cai Qiang nodded repeatedly, and A Yi, A Er, and A San did not dare to speak, as the group fled in a panic.

Hand over the money to me! Xu Daoyan suddenly remembered the grain at home, which had been taken away by the village chief, and immediately wanted to recover some of his losses from Cai Qiang.

"Stop right there." Dao Yan stood alone in front of the four members of Cai Qiang's group

After Xu Daoyan had finished everything, he discovered that he still had a heavy ten taels of silver on him. He immediately found a nearby crooked tree and buried it, then ran back home

When Xu Daoyan went out, he noticed that the old man was already gone. He did not pay much attention to it; beggars eat from the hands of many, and having had his fill here, he was naturally on his way to the next destination without any further delay. Now, he could only hope that the beggar would continue to survive.

The old man gulped down a ladle of water, let out a burp, and felt full

Xu Daoyan looked at the crushed sweet potatoes on the ground, feeling very distressed. Fortunately, he had two wrapped in his clothes, thus escaping disaster. He cherished them like a treasure, wiped the blood from his forehead, and thought that these were all Cai Qiang's. If he did not clean them up properly before returning home, his mother would worry.

As soon as the words were spoken, there was a loud bang

"Then go ahead and say it, what is your surname? Bastard!" Cai Qiang laughed heartily

"Rest assured, they do not dare to do anything to me," Dao Yan shouted.