Yun Hao walked dejectedly into the County Town, intending to mail a letter at the post office. But before he even arrived, he spotted a noisy crowd on the street.

He had no interest in rubbernecking, so he moved to the side to get out of the way.

"Pah! You shameless piece of filth! I can’t believe you’d dare to do something like this. You always looked so honest, but it was all an act. See if I don’t beat you to death..."

As Yun Hao brushed past them, he could faintly hear curses coming from inside the crowd.

The foul language made him frown involuntarily. The curses were truly vile. ’I wonder what the person in there actually did!’

Still, he didn’t stop. He was in a hurry to get to the post office. He needed to mail a letter telling his parents to find a way for him to return to the city as soon as possible. There was no way he was going to marry Xu Wenwan.

He took a few more steps, skirting the edge of the crowd. Just as he was about to clear it, someone grabbed his arm.

It was a young man, about seventeen or eighteen years old. He shoved a few marble-sized pebbles into Yun Hao’s hand.

"Don’t just stand there gawking, do something!"

The moment he finished speaking, the boy snatched up a hard clod of earth. He hid behind the crowd and, seeing that no one was watching him, hurled it into the center.

"Who threw that dirt? What son of a bitch hit me?"

Hearing this, a person nearby spat. "Serves him right! He’s always using his family’s connections to throw his weight around and bully people. With the stuff he’s pulled, he would’ve been severely punished back in the day."

"It’s only these modern times that saved him."

This was Liu Dazhu, the village’s infamous scoundrel. Unfortunately for him, he was greedy and lazy, his family was dirt poor, and not a single girl in the village would marry him.

Being a bachelor for so long had turned him into a pervert. He was always staring at the village girls with a strange look in his eyes.

He never dared to actually do anything, though—he’d just stare intently. As a result, many people grew wary and kept their guard up around him.

This time, a woman from their village had divorced her husband and returned to her parents’ home. Perhaps thinking a divorced woman wasn’t valuable, Liu Dazhu had set his sights on her. He would frequently block her path and refuse to let her pass.

Worried about her reputation, the woman had simply been putting up with it.

Then, Liu Dazhu got even more brazen. One night, he went to the woman’s house in the dead of night. She was scared to death. Fortunately, she found a chance to scream, alerting her family. Her younger brother managed to scare him off by brandishing a kitchen cleaver.

Yun Hao looked toward the man in the center of the crowd and asked the boy beside him.

"What crime did he commit?"

Hearing this, the boy paused, his hands stilling. He glanced at Yun Hao and gave a vague explanation.

"It wasn’t much. He just grabbed a woman’s hand."

’He came to our house in the middle of the night to take advantage of my sister. Good thing he only managed to touch her hand.’

Yun Hao frowned.

"But is it really necessary to treat him like this?"

The boy gave him a strange look. "How is it not necessary? If you ask me, this is letting him off easy. He deserves a much harsher punishment."

Yun Hao’s face paled. He hadn’t realized it was that serious.

Thinking about himself and Xu Wenwan, he couldn’t help but blurt out in anger.

"Something like this requires mutual consent. Why is only one person taking the blame?"

Hearing this, the boy flew into a rage.

"You look all respectable, but I can’t believe you’d side with an animal like him. You’re no better, are you? Pah! Say one more stupid thing and I’ll knock your teeth in."

Seeing the boy was serious about fighting, Yun Hao immediately turned and walked away.

’What rotten luck,’ the boy thought. ’Why did I have to run into such a psycho!’

Muttering in frustration, he quickly fished a few more clods of earth from his pocket and hurled them viciously.

’Serves him right for bullying my sister.’

Yun Hao walked away from the crowd. Even from a distance, he could still hear the clamor of shouts and curses. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He was in a complete daze.

’If Village Chief Xu actually reports me, I’ll be in serious trouble.’