Volume One, Chapter Eleven: What Is Truly Valuable?

Reconciliation? Old fox! If your shotgun could reach me, would you let me go? Lin Hu saw that the trap had been uncovered, the slingshot couldn’t hit, and even with the shotgun aimed at him, there was no advantage to be gained.

But reconciliation? Dream on.

Lin Hu hurried to shift the focus of the conflict.

He spoke out his true purpose directly, shouting:

“Ma Biao!”

“If your family’s younger ones stop bothering me, I won’t pursue it further.”

“But…”

“My parents’ deaths—you must tell me the truth. Otherwise, I won’t let you off so easily.”

Ma Biao was suddenly taken aback!

So this boy is making trouble to avenge his parents.

He quickly shouted, “Huzi, did you hear some nonsense? This has nothing to do with me, don’t listen to their babble, they’re just stirring up trouble.”

Lin Hu shouted back, “Whether it concerns you—you know best. If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll never let you go!”

“Why would I, for no reason, burn your parents? I haven’t gone mad! Tell me, who’s the bastard that told you this had anything to do with me?”

Ma Biao tried hard to explain.

But Lin Hu didn’t listen to a single word. He firmly believed Ma Biao was responsible—otherwise, his fourth sister wouldn’t have clung to him with her dying breath.

“Stubborn!”

“Just you wait!”

After that, Lin Hu didn’t reply, but slowly crouched down, quietly shifted his position, and watched the group from the shadows.

He still wanted to try—could he subdue Ma Biao?

But after quite a while, no opportunity arose.

Many villagers arrived, even Captain Wang Defa came personally.

The noisy crowd carried the injured onto the ox cart, and Ma Biao and Li Dali hurried off to the commune.

The remaining housewives helped carry the fainting Old Lady Li back.

“All right, old lady, worrying won’t help, go home first.”

“Oh, this cursed Huzi, how could he cripple my two grandsons? Their legs are broken...”

“They won’t survive…”

“I’ll report you to the authorities, you bastard! I’ll see you locked behind bars... sob, sob…”

Hmph.

A whole group ganged up on me, but I defended myself. What’s there to fear?

He truly wasn’t afraid they’d report him. First, the Ma family couldn’t afford the shame, and second, if the officials knew a crowd bullied an orphan, they’d be lucky not to get punished themselves!

So as long as no one died, nothing big would come of it.

Lin Hu felt confident.

After a long while, the crowd finally dispersed.

Only Black Egg lingered, glancing around, then darted into a ditch.

“Huzi, where are you?”

“Huzi…”

He wasn’t overly cautious, knowing the trap’s markings, and avoided them with ease.

“Over here.”

Lin Hu saw the village road quiet, so he poked his head out and called Black Egg over.

The two met up.

Lin Hu quickly asked, “Black Egg, what’s the situation with the Ma and Li families now?”

“Ma Biao’s wife went with Ma Da Donkey to the commune this morning. Now Ma Biao and Li Dali went too, only some old women are left at home, nothing to worry about... I think they can’t do anything to you for now.”

After speaking, Black Egg asked curiously, “Huzi, why did you hit so hard? So much blood, wasn’t that enough?”

Lin Hu sighed, patted Black Egg, and explained, “Remember this, Black Egg—in these lax times, if you’re not ruthless, you’ll never stand firm!”

“If I don’t scare these troublemakers off once and for all, they’ll keep coming for me. With so many of them, how could I defend myself?”

“That’s true,” Black Egg mused, his confused eyes seeming to grow more determined.

“But will they really give up? Won’t they sneak up on you once they heal?” Black Egg worried.

“They won’t surrender, and they’ll definitely think of revenge,” Lin Hu said deeply. “So there’s only one way to make them give up on that idea!”

“What is it?” Black Egg was curious.

Lin Hu didn’t want to give a lecture, so he asked, “Have you ever seen an ant threaten an elephant? The ant can only look up—even if it envies, hates, or resents, all it can do is raise its neck in awe, nothing more.”

“Hmm…” Black Egg nodded, half-understanding. “But... by your logic, we’re all ants. How could we ever become elephants?”

Lin Hu rubbed his head and explained, “Strength can be money, or power and status. It’s internal, external, physical, mental, or wisdom.”

“In short, there are many ways…”

He didn’t elaborate, perhaps because it’s something everyone spends their whole life searching for.

“I don’t get it…” Black Egg wiped his big runny nose.

“You silly bear~”

Lin Hu looked at Black Egg’s bear-like appearance, suddenly finding the snot-stained little ball oddly endearing.

Black Egg’s full name was He Tie Bing. Because he was dark and round, always playing with slingshots and mud balls, he earned the nickname.

The child had a hard life.

His mother left soon after he was born, so he grew up alone, no siblings. His father, driven to drink, froze to death in a cold winter, leaving only a half-blind grandmother at home.

When Lin Hu was bored, he liked playing with the half-grown kids and called himself their big brother.

Black Egg seemed to find in him a “fatherly” protector, and so became his most loyal follower.

Black Egg wiped his nose and asked worriedly, “Huzi, what now? Won’t they try to get revenge?”

“With their temperament, they won’t give in so easily. I don’t think this will blow over, so I need to stay alert,” Lin Hu recalled the past.

Ma Da Donkey, with his gang of cousins, had bullied him and beaten Black Egg many times.

Finally, Lin Hu was forced to leave the village, working on construction sites in the city, leading to a miserable life.

“I need to think carefully~”

“How can I make them truly accept me, and force Ma Biao to tell the truth?”

Lin Hu sprawled in the grass, picking his teeth with a dry stalk, gazing at the fiery clouds above, pondering how to escape this predicament.

To gain a foothold in the village, he needed power, strength, and money.

With status and support from the villagers, the Ma and Li families would finally submit.

Strength was easier—once his skills improved, he’d gradually pull ahead of ordinary people.

By then, even if they held grudges, they’d have to hide them deep.

Once he reached the heights others couldn’t touch, these petty enemies—however much hatred they bore—what could they do?

They could only submit!

But!

In these times, every family was dirt poor—where could he get money?

Ask his sisters?

Impossible. Over the years, his eight sisters had suffered enough reproach and even beatings from their in-laws because of him.

Farming?

Not realistic.

His parents’ land had been reclaimed after their deaths, and with his sisters married out, their land transferred too—only two acres remained.

Trying to rise by farming? Impossible in these days.

“What’s worth money?” Lin Hu mused, then asked offhand, “Black Egg, what’s valuable in the countryside now? We need to find ways to earn.”

Black Egg fiddled with his slingshot. “Go outside the dam to the big pond and catch big fish, you can sell them. Silver carp’s thirty-five cents a pound, big carp fifty.”

“So cheap...” Lin Hu searched his memory.

The Northeast was vast and rich; wild goods weren’t hard to get, so market demand was low. Especially fish—easier to catch than wild game, so prices were generally lower.

“There’s expensive stuff, too,” Black Egg said as he played with the slingshot. “Rabbits are a yuan a pound. Ma Da Donkey and his gang caught a big rabbit the other day and sold it for three yuan!”

“Ah, too bad.”

“This lousy slingshot can barely hit a sparrow, let alone a rabbit.”

He helplessly fired a mud ball into the water.