Chapter 24: Playing Out the Plot

“Yan Daya, stop right there! Stop! Do you hear me?” A harsh, raspy voice shouted like a death knell.

“If you don’t stop, I’ll go straight to your house and make your scholar father lie in bed for another ten days or half a month!”

That threat forced Daya to halt, her whole body trembling as she stammered, “You… don’t… come any closer, don’t come… any closer…”

Seeing the person getting closer and closer, Daya instinctively sensed danger, but she was too afraid to run, so she could only keep backing away.

The raspy voice belonged to none other than Guo Lizheng’s youngest son.

At this moment, he was panting heavily, gritting his teeth as he said, “I heard your dad sold the land—seventy taels of silver, that’s a huge sum! Go home and tell your father, we don’t need much, just thirty taels for your dowry, and I’ll settle things tomorrow. We won’t mention the past, and from now on, you’ll be the youngest daughter-in-law of the Guo family, living the good life at my house!”

Guo Lizheng’s youngest son had been furious ever since he heard the news.

This was supposed to be a win-win: marry Daya, gain a scholar for a father-in-law, and earn some respect in town.

Yan Lao’er owed gambling debts outside, coaxed his father-in-law’s family into selling the land, and got a reward from a wealthy patron. Then, squeeze out more for the dowry.

Money and status, plus a connection to a prominent family—what could be better?

But just as all the hooks were set, the scholar father-in-law refused to play by the rules.

He exposed Yan Lao’er’s gambling debts ahead of time and went straight to the pawnshop to sell the land.

Their family ran around in circles and ended up with nothing!

Fine! If they couldn’t get both, they’d at least get something.

Yan Daya was a good-looking girl, as pretty as any in town.

Her father’s scholarly title was still there, so the marriage was still worth making.

“I won’t go to your house. My father would never agree!” Daya stammered, shivering.

Seeing that no one was around, Guo Xiaoxiang’s thoughts turned dark.

Scholar Yan had flatly refused the marriage, and last time he’d gotten shoved and hurt when he went to propose. If he didn’t use some extreme measures, nothing would come of it!

Scholar Yan might look down on him, but he’d make sure Yan had to accept him as a son-in-law, whether he liked it or not!

He lunged forward, grabbing Yan Daya’s arm in a rough grip.

He dragged her toward an even more secluded spot.

“Let… go of me! Let go!” Daya cried, terrified and in pain. “I’ll scream for help if you don’t let go.”

“Go ahead and scream!” Guo Xiaoxiang snarled. “If you scream, I’ll strip your clothes off! Go on, scream!”

Daya was so frightened she couldn’t muster any strength. She didn’t dare scream, so she could only sob helplessly.

Yan Yu was furious!

You bastard, not only did you ignore the script, but you scared my Daya sister so badly her lips turned white and she was shaking all over.

“Sanbao! Run him down!” Yan Yu shouted fiercely.

Yes, she’d spent the whole way home thinking up names for the ox.

She was Dabao, her younger sibling was Erbao, so this ox was her family’s Sanbao!

Guo Xiaoxiang never expected Yan Lao’er’s family to return at that exact moment and catch him in the act.

He watched in horror as the ox charged at him like a mad beast.

“Mother of mercy!” He stumbled to the side and let go of Daya without hesitation.

Daya’s legs gave out and she collapsed to the ground.

The ox barreled past Guo Xiaoxiang, then, with cart and all, wheeled around and charged again.

Guo Xiaoxiang scrambled to his feet and bolted, glancing back in terror and screaming as he ran.

“Yan Lao’er, grab the beast! Hold it back!”

If that ox gored him, he’d be lucky to survive!

“Stop! Stop!” Yan Lao’er shouted.

Li Xuemei, clutching her belly with one hand and gripping the cart with the other, gritted her teeth and refused to let go.

When the ox finally stopped, she spat, “Why’d you stop it? Run him down!”

Yan Yu was still fuming, yelling at the ox, “Sanbao, listen to me, run him over!”

Sanbao stood stock-still.

Yan Lao’er jumped off the cart, helped Li Xuemei down, and then forcefully carried his daughter out of the cart.

By now, Guo Xiaoxiang was already far down the road.

“Daya, it’s all right now. Don’t be scared, Second Uncle and Second Aunt are here,” Li Xuemei said gently.

Seeing her family, Daya burst into even heavier sobs. “Second Aunt! Wuuu… I was so scared, I was so scared…”

She was stiff as a board, and only after Li Xuemei’s soothing did her body finally relax.

She struggled to her feet, careful not to bump her aunt’s pregnant belly, clutching Li Xuemei’s sleeve like a lifeline.

Yan Yu picked up the bamboo basket that had fallen far away, gathering up the few half-yellow wild vegetables scattered around.

She finally let out the breath she’d been holding, feeling a wave of lingering fear.

Thank goodness they made it in time!

If they’d been even a little later, and Daya had been dragged farther away, even if she screamed, they wouldn’t have heard.

Once tragedy strikes, a living, breathing life is lost.

Their whole family knew what would have happened to Daya…

That’s why she and her mother were so worked up, wishing they could run him down with the ox.

Yan Lao’er held back. He knew his wife and daughter were just venting in the heat of the moment; they didn’t really want the boy dead. It was just angry words.

They probably forgot that Sanbao was a Mechanical Bionic Ox—if it really ran him down, he’d be dead for sure.

“Er Ya, help your Daya sister and your mother home,” Yan Lao’er instructed.

Er Ya glanced at her father, then silently did as she was told.

Once they were out of earshot, Yan Lao’er quietly unhitched the cart, patted the ox, and said coldly, “Sanbao, go give him a kick—right in the chest. Don’t kill him.”

Level 1 Authority had spoken.

Sanbao charged off in the direction Guo Xiaoxiang had fled…

…

Yan Yu squatted at the doorway, waiting for her father to return.

Her mother had put Daya to work, helping her sew bags, and stayed right beside her, chatting softly from time to time.

Yan Yu heard light, leisurely hoofbeats and jumped to her feet.

No mistake—it was Sanbao!

“Dad! Sanbao!” she called, waving.

“Moo!” Sanbao answered, picking up speed and trotting into the courtyard.

Yan Yu hurried to close the gate and immediately whispered to her father, “Dad, where did you go? Did you go beat up that bastard? Well? Did you catch him?”

Before Yan Lao’er could answer his daughter’s barrage of questions, Yan Xiangheng came running out at the commotion. The pale, delicate scholar’s face was flushed with anger. “Uncle, my father’s calling you.”

Yan Lao’er grunted in reply and followed him to the east room.

Yan Yu was stroking Sanbao’s fur when she suddenly exclaimed, “Huh?” She crouched down to examine the ox’s hoof.

On the left front leg, there were two suspicious red spots.

She leaned in and sniffed—it was blood!

“Sanbao, was it you who kicked him, or did my dad hit him?” Yan Yu asked urgently.

How was the ox supposed to answer a multiple-choice question?

Sanbao: “Moo!”

“Was it my dad?”

Sanbao shook his head.

“So you kicked that bastard! Good job!” Yan Yu praised, then asked, “How many times did you kick him?”

As soon as she got home, she’d started to regret her earlier impulsiveness. Her mother was pregnant and couldn’t handle a shock.

If someone died, their whole family would be done for. Not worth it for a scumbag like that. But her dad told them to go ahead first, so he must have had a plan.

Now she saw—her dad was the wise one.

He didn’t do it himself; he let Sanbao do the kicking.

It hurt more that way!

Sanbao let out another “Moo!”

Yan Yu waited a while, eyes wide. “That’s it? Just one kick?”

Sanbao nodded.

Yan Yu huffed, “Hmph! Got off easy!”

She grabbed a handful of dirt and rubbed it on the ox’s leg, then scrubbed it with some straw.

She worked hard, scrubbing and scrubbing!

When the bloodstains were almost invisible, she tossed aside the straw and dashed off toward the east room, her little legs pumping.

(End of this chapter)