Chapter 291 – Bullied

Once the three little ones entered the city, they were visibly curious about everything, pointing here and asking questions there.

Zhou Yimin patiently answered all their questions without showing the slightest impatience.

Suddenly, Lai Fang spotted someone selling candied hawthorn skewers on the street and asked softly, “Big Brother, can I have one?”

In the countryside, even getting candy was a rare treat, let alone candied hawthorn skewers. Many rural kids had never tasted them and only ever heard of them.

Zhou Yimin nodded. Lai Cai couldn’t wait to jump out of the vehicle either; sitting on the iron seat up front had long made his backside numb. This was a perfect chance to stretch his legs.

Zhou Yimin walked over to the vendor.

“Comrade, I’ll take three skewers of candied hawthorn.”

“That’ll be thirty cents,” the vendor said.

Zhou Yimin handed over the money and turned to head back with the skewers in hand.

But just then, he seemed to hear Lai Fang crying. He spun around and saw two chubby kids surrounding the trio, pointing and jeering. Without hesitation, Zhou Yimin dashed over.

He shielded the three behind him and barked, “What do you think you’re doing?”

The moment Lai Fang saw her big brother, she instantly had someone to lean on. She clung to Zhou Yimin’s leg, sniffling.

Zhou Yimin comforted her, “Don’t cry, Lai Fang.”

Then his sharp gaze turned to the two chubby kids.

He asked Lai Fu, “Tell me exactly what happened.”

He needed to understand the situation before acting.

“Big Brother, they came over and started calling us bumpkins from the countryside. When we ignored them, they shoved Lai Fang,” Lai Fu explained everything.

At that moment, one of the chubby kids puffed up arrogantly and said, “They are bumpkins! Look at their raggedy clothes. What else would they be?”

He wasn’t even afraid of Zhou Yimin, which showed how spoiled he must’ve been.

In that era, a kid could only get that fat if their family was well-off.

In truth, the kids’ clothes weren’t ragged, just a bit worn. They did have new clothes, but their mother told them to save those for the New Year. And Lai Fu had even gotten uniforms from school.

Compared to other village children, what they were wearing was already quite decent—not much worse than what kids in the city wore.

Zhou Yimin slapped the chubby kid across the face.

The boy had clearly never been slapped before—he froze.

It took him a few seconds to react before bursting into loud sobs, crying even louder than Lai Fang had.

A crowd quickly gathered, but no one stepped in.

Just then, a voice rang out, “Who bullied my son?”

A large, meat-faced man emerged from the crowd, holding two skewers of candied hawthorn.

“Son, didn’t you want candied hawthorn? Come eat.”

“Your son? Well, he’s got some serious problems. He’s discriminating against farmers!” Zhou Yimin said sharply, not giving the man any room to speak.

The man’s face darkened. “Comrade, don’t go throwing labels around. My son isn’t discriminating against farmers.”

Saying that sort of thing privately was one thing, but saying it in public, in front of a crowd? If word got out, it would be serious. He had no choice now but to deny it outright.

“Throwing labels? There are so many comrades here who heard everything. Your sons kept insulting my younger siblings,” Zhou Yimin said firmly.

If it was about tossing labels, Zhou Yimin was no amateur—he was a leader himself, and he had also seen countless online arguments in his past life. Compared to internet trolls, this was nothing.

Once the crowd heard him, they immediately sided with Zhou Yimin and started criticizing the family.

“Comrade, let me apologize on behalf of my sons to your brother and sister. Please be the bigger person and don’t stoop to their level. They’re just kids. They don’t know any better.”

The two cocky chubby kids saw their father groveling and realized they had really screwed up. Even their candied hawthorn didn’t taste good anymore.

Just then, another voice joined in from the side, “Even if they’re kids, that doesn’t give them the right to insult farmers. If you’d raised them right, would they even say such things?”

A middle-aged man in a Zhongshan suit stepped out.

The big man paled when he saw him and nearly collapsed to his knees—he hadn’t expected to run into the director of the neighborhood committee. He quickly stepped forward. “Director Li, please be merciful. Let us off this once! We won’t dare again. I’ll definitely discipline them properly at home.”

“Wang Defa, I didn’t think your family would go so far as to insult farmers. Looks like you need a proper lesson. I’ll be speaking with your factory’s leadership,” Director Li said sternly, giving him no room to backpedal.

Earlier, some people had been afraid of Wang Defa’s fierce looks and kept quiet, but now that a major figure had spoken up, they weren’t afraid anymore and even began booing him.

This was the classic case of everyone kicking someone when they’re down. When he looked tough, people stayed silent. Now that someone powerful was taking him down a peg, they all joined in.

Director Li spoke to the crowd, assuring them that the neighborhood committee would handle the matter fairly and not let a single wrongdoer off the hook.

Had fewer people witnessed the scene, he might’ve been lenient, but with so many watching and listening, he couldn’t sweep it under the rug—or he’d be the one in trouble.

Besides, he’d always disliked Wang Defa anyway.

Upon hearing Director Li’s final words, Wang Defa collapsed to the ground. Gone was his earlier arrogance; now he looked like a dog that had lost its home.

His two sons, realizing the severity of their actions, began crying again.

Wang Defa, hearing their cries, realized they were the root of his downfall. Furious, he slapped each one across the face and shouted, “You two money-sinks have ruined me—and you’re still crying?!”

Then he couldn’t help giving them another couple of smacks.

The two chubby kids, once so mouthy, were now just bawling.

Watching all this, Lai Fang and her brothers felt an immense sense of satisfaction, as if a weight had been lifted from their hearts. They finally began eating their candied hawthorn.

(End of Chapter)