Lin Feng obediently went next door to borrow some soybeans from Aunt Tian. Aunt Tian, seeing Lin Feng, happily gave him a whole bag. She thanked him for his bravery, which allowed everyone to eat wild boar meat.
Lin Feng's face turned red from the praise, and he fled home. Fu Wenwen, watching him run back with a flushed face, looked behind him in confusion. "Is someone chasing you?"
"No… no one." Lin Feng shook his head slightly, handed the bag of soybeans to Fu Wenwen, and then went to the courtyard to fetch water.
"Strange," Fu Wenwen blinked and took the soybeans back to the kitchen, pouring a handful into water to soak.
She took out the pig trotters and used a fire poker to burn off the hair, then scrubbed the skin clean. After washing them, she blanched them in a pot. Once the blood water floated to the surface, Fu Wenwen scooped them out and set them aside.
After preparing the pig trotters, Fu Wenwen meticulously cleaned the pig liver. Liver was a magical source of iron for children.
Because Lin An had been very sickly as a child, Fu Wenwen learned from Lin Feng that Lin An was already three years old, but due to malnutrition, he wasn't as tall as children in the village who were only two and a half.
Since Fu Wenwen transmigrated, she had been nourishing Lin An with tonics every day, giving him an egg daily. Lin An was visibly gaining weight.
Slicing the pig liver, Fu Wenwen prepared to make a pig liver soup for Lin An. While Fu Wenwen was busy in the kitchen, Lin Feng, on his way to fetch water, encountered the legendary Liu Zihua.
Why was he called the legendary Liu Zihua?
Because at present, only his name identified him as Liu Zihua. His bruised and battered face bore no resemblance to his former appearance.
Liu Zihua stood in the middle of the road, carrying a water bucket and preparing to return to the educated youth point. As he turned, he saw his 'enemy'.
"Lin Feng!!" Seeing Lin Feng, Liu Zihua immediately dropped his bucket and, gritting his teeth, rushed forward.
Lin Feng looked at the bruised and battered man before him with a blank expression, raising an eyebrow. "What? Do you have a grudge against me, educated youth Liu?"
"You villain, you dare to do it but not admit it! Do you dare to say that I didn't do this to you?" Liu Zihua grabbed Lin Feng's collar, gnashing his teeth.
He hadn't dared to go to work for the past few days. The redness and swelling on his face had subsided, but the bruises would take days to disappear.
With this face, he didn't even dare to see Zhu Xi.
He had finally managed to get close to Zhu Xi, and now it was all for naught. He didn't even know who the assailant was. He had considered all the men in the village; someone who could beat him this badly, with such skilled force and technique, could only be someone he couldn't figure out.
Until Lin Feng, after being discovered, actually returned.
Besides Lin Feng, Liu Zihua couldn't think of anyone else. Who else would hold such a deep hatred for him? Lin Feng must have been bothered by his relationship with Fu Wenwen. He had returned the night before and encountered him halfway, his anger rising, so he had put a sack over him and attacked him.
And it was such a coincidence that he had just been beaten when Lin Feng returned.
"I actually have the guts to admit it, but it really wasn't me who beat you!" Lin Feng looked at Liu Zihua, a hint of a disdainful smile curling at the corner of his lips. "Because if I were to act, I would do it directly, without needing to put a sack over you!"
Lin Feng's words did not satisfy Liu Zihua; instead, they made him angrier.
"You hypocritical and insidious villain, you're just jealous that Fu Wenwen likes me and you're unbalanced!" Liu Zihua gritted his teeth and tried to pull Lin Feng down.
However, Lin Feng stood with his back straight, and Liu Zihua couldn't budge him. Standing before Lin Feng, Liu Zihua was automatically a head shorter.
One meter ninety versus one meter eighty, a ten-centimeter gap, the chasm between them.
"Heh, then let's say it was me who beat you! What do you want?" Lin Feng sneered, and with a flip of his wrist, he lifted Liu Zihua up. Liu Zihua's legs suddenly left the ground, and his whole body stiffened.
Looking at Lin Feng's face up close, Liu Zihua could only glare. To others, however, he posed no threat at all.
"Someone like you, one of my hands is enough! Why would I need a sack?" Lin Feng scoffed. Seeing Liu Zihua frozen and not daring to move, he let go.
Liu Zihua, suddenly released, almost stumbled and fell to the ground.
"Don't say I look down on you. I'll give you one hand. Do you dare to fight?" Lin Feng provocatively beckoned to Liu Zihua. Liu Zihua glared at Lin Feng, feeling wronged. He looked around and realized that some villagers had already noticed him and Lin Feng.
Liu Zihua glared at Lin Feng but did not dare to make a move.
"Soldiers are all simple-minded, always resorting to violence!" Unable to get revenge, Liu Zihua sneered at Lin Feng, tidied his clothes, brushed off the dust, and walked towards his water bucket.
"Indeed, if the country relied on scholars like you to defend it, it would have fallen long ago! With your mouths, you'd definitely win! Use your mouths to block bullets!" Lin Feng chuckled, looking Liu Zihua up and down, his imposing aura completely crushing. Liu Zihua, enraged, glared at Lin Feng. "...You, hmph."
"Liu Zihua, I don't care what method you use to return to the city. If I catch you doing anything wicked, I will personally send you to jail!" Lin Feng said coldly to Liu Zihua, who was picking up his water bucket to leave.
"My business is none of your concern!" Liu Zihua said coldly. "Our business is not over!"
"I'll be waiting anytime!" Lin Feng sneered.
After Lin Feng returned with the water, a villager who had just witnessed him and Liu Zihua confronting each other stopped Lin Feng. "Fengzi, are you alright? Did educated youth Liu lay a hand on you?"
"No! How could he hurt me!" Lin Feng laughed. "Uncle, don't worry, he won't do anything!"
"That educated youth Liu is very cunning. You should still be careful!" The villager patted Lin Feng and advised him.
"Uncle, do you know about him?" Lin Feng asked, hearing the villager's words.
The villager looked around to make sure no one was nearby and pulled Lin Feng to a small tree. He said to Lin Feng, "For a while, this educated youth Liu and that educated youth Su often liked to go to this forest. A man and a woman alone, what good could they be doing?"
"Many times?" Lin Feng raised his eyebrows.
"Of course. This was their favorite place. It was close to the educated youth point, and there were no houses nearby!" the villager said. "That educated youth Su isn't good either. Last time, she even pulled Zhang Laosan here. Neither of them are good sorts."
"Uncle, when did you find out?" Lin Feng asked.
"It's been a while. I happened to discover it one night when I went out for a midnight pee. They were also saying a lot of bad things about educated youth Fu, to the point where one couldn't stand listening!" The villager said to Lin Feng, "I'm not familiar with that educated youth Fu. I wanted to tell her before, but I was afraid she wouldn't believe me and would think I was meddling."