Farm Girl's Manor

"Lin, I don’t want to fight you today. If you know what’s good for you, you’d better take your men and get lost, or don’t blame me for not being polite!"

Zhang Hu, feeling triumphant, yelled at Lin Yong. He had thought this Mr. Lin was too high and mighty to fight over things with others. But now, wasn’t he leading his clan to take over the newly set-up porridge booth?

Earlier, Zhang Hu received a message from his lackey that a new porridge booth was set up in the camp. Lin Yong had taken over the new booth with his people. Zhang Hu had always been irritated by Lin Yong, and this time he was even more determined to snatch the new porridge booth from Lin Yong’s hands.

Lin Yong gave him a cold look and, too lazy to waste words, waved his right hand and commanded, "Fight!"

Lin Da and the others had long disliked Zhang Hu and his overbearing gang and were itching to thrash them. Now that the boss had given the order, they pounced like hounds on the scent, silently resolving to beat them until they cried for their parents and learned to behave.

Lin Yong didn’t just stand by. He stepped forward, grabbed Zhang Hu who was trying to dodge, threw him to the ground without resistance, clenched his right fist, and slammed punch after punch into Zhang Hu’s stomach with satisfyingly dull thuds.

Zhang Hu was tough. Even as he was being beaten to the point of howling miserably, he didn’t beg for mercy. His few flunkies tried to come to his aid but were kicked to the ground one after another by Lin Yong.

Mo Yan watched and cheered them on. She couldn’t show herself in such a situation, so she just had the elderly and children disperse to avoid accidental injury.

Lin Yong had some skills and easily dealt with Zhang Hu, but Lin Da and the others had strength without fighting techniques. Outnumbered, they weren’t at an advantage. Mo Yan saw several of Lin Yong’s people being pinned down and beaten, and she felt extremely anxious. If Zhang Hu and his men got the upper hand this time, they would surely keep coming back for more trouble, just like today.

For the future’s peace, Mo Yan couldn’t care less. She grabbed a long stick as thick as her arm from the firewood pile, clenched it tightly in her hand, and shouted to the worried elderly and children around her, "If we don’t teach them a lesson today, we’ll definitely lose our share of food. Better to fight than to starve to death waiting. We have so many people; can’t we beat them?"

These elderly people and children had not had an easy life. They had barely gotten hold of some food, which was often snatched away by Zhang Hu and his men. At Mo Yan’s cry, their bad memories resurfaced. New resentments and old grievances filled their hearts, and their eyes reddened with anger.

"Right, we can’t let these beasts off easy. We have to drive them away!"

"Everyone together now, don’t let them take our food!"

"Okay, let’s unite and drive them out!"

"..."

This one call rallied everyone as one. Whether old or young, each wielding a stout stick, they rushed at the bad guys and struck them down fiercely. As anger flared, each person put their all into the fight, and the bad guys, beaten and howling, struggled to defend themselves. But they were surrounded by a dozen or more people and could hardly fight back.

Before long, those thirty or forty people were beaten up with swollen faces; one by one, they held their heads, crying and begging piteously for mercy.

At this moment, Zhang Hu, whom Lin Yong had beaten until he couldn’t tell his directions, completely lost the thought of competing with Lin Yong. He hadn’t expected to bring so many people, only to have them beaten until they couldn’t stand up. Not only him, but these guys would probably not oppose Lin Yong again. Whether they would still follow his lead in the future was uncertain.

Zhang Hu and his men fled with their tails between their legs, having come with high hopes but leaving in utter defeat. On Mo Yan’s side, whether Lin Yong and his people, or the elderly and children, everyone was elated because they knew Zhang Hu wouldn’t dare come looking for trouble so easily anymore, and their food, too, wouldn’t be taken away.

Lin Yong and his men reestablished order, and everyone, beaming with joy, held bowls of thick white rice porridge, squatting happily on the side and eating. The "Space" was only at a primary level; the abundant "Spiritual Energy" made the vegetables and rice taste better but had no other function. However, for the elderly and children who had long been starving, this simple bowl of porridge was an exquisite delight.

Seeing them eat so happily, Mo Yan felt exceptionally content.

The food she brought that day was enough for two meals, and the rest would be cooked in the afternoon. Mo Yan trusted Lin Yong’s character. She had many things to take care of and couldn’t come every day, so she spoke to Lin Yong about it.

Lin Yong naturally had nothing to say about that. He just assured Mo Yan not to worry, that he would take good care of everything here and not let anyone cause trouble.

That night, after everyone at home had fallen asleep, Mo Yan went into the "Space" to prepare sprouts for potatoes and sweet potatoes. She had gone to the "Jade Table" to check the beads, expecting to see an additional red line, but to her surprise, she didn’t even see a single red thread. She was somewhat disappointed; to say she wasn’t would be a lie.

Although she hoped the "Space" would upgrade soon, it truly wasn’t something she could force. After feeling down for a while, Mo Yan let go of the thought.

For the next few days, Mo Yan prepared the food on time each day and let "Elder Meng" take it over. In addition to vegetables and staples (potatoes, sweet potatoes), she also added a basket of chicken eggs against Elder Meng’s disapproving gaze, simply stating it was for the children and nursing women. Elder Meng sighed and didn’t say anything more.

When Lin Yong and a group of men saw the full basket of eggs, they actually cried like children. Hearing this from Elder Meng left Mo Yan in tears and laughter; what she had done wasn’t much at all!