Honey, you didn't really drugged me, did you?

The spectators had all left, and now only a few people remained, one of them clearly aged. Chen Jie knew him; his name was Chen Erba, an elder from his own kin.

With a slight disability in his leg, he ordinarily made a living by weaving bamboo baskets.

According to seniority, he should address him as Uncle Erba.

Daqian was a country established by foreigners, and therefore, they implemented a policy of enslavement against the indigenous people. One critical element of this policy was that the Han people were not allowed to have their own names; they had to use numbers instead, just like an animal's tag.

For example, Chen Jie was originally called Chen Jiusi.

Leaning on a stick and not very agile, Uncle Erba approached Jiu Si and said, "Jiu Si, you were too impulsive. It is not like when your great-uncle was alive. By hitting Lu San's wife like that, given Lu San's temperament, he will undoubtedly seek trouble with you."

"Lu San is tall and stout, plus he has ties with the Fishing Guild. You've provoked him, and I fear there will be no good outcome."

After listening, Chen Jie pondered for a moment then responded, "Mmh, I understand, Uncle Erba."

Upon hearing this, Uncle Erba added, "Mmh, as long as you're aware. As for today's incident, I will try to stop Lu San from causing you trouble."

After speaking, Uncle Erba patted Chen Jie on the shoulder and advised, "You should behave yourself, stop gambling, and live a good life with Yunjin."

Then, he left limping.

After Uncle Erba left, the others also left one by one, all commenting that Chen Jie had been too impulsive today; provoking Lu San meant no good days ahead, as everyone in the village knew of Lu San's rowdy nature.

When everyone had gone, Chen Jie looked at Su Yunjin, who stood frozen in place, and their eyes met, both feeling somewhat awkward.

Chen Jie was the first to break the awkwardness: "You alright?"

Su Yunjin replied, "I'm, I'm fine."

Chen Jie responded, "That's good."

Then, he entered the house where he saw Little Douding, Su Yunrui, holding a basket of wild vegetables and warily watching him. Chen Jie ignored her and retrieved a clay pot on his own.

He fetched a bucket of well water in the courtyard and began to skillfully skin and clean a rabbit.

Meanwhile, Su Yunjin was standing dumbfounded in the yard. The way Chen Jie had handled the situation today had completely taken her by surprise. She had thought that Lu Qinsi would thoroughly humiliate her, but unexpectedly, her husband had forcefully taken her side. The feeling of being protected was genuinely comforting.

"Uh, Yunjin, why don't you heat up the pot? Do we have any soybean or vegetable oil at home? Find it; we are having stewed rabbit today."

Hearing this, Su Yunjin blinked, then noticing Chen Jie handling the rabbit, after a moment of hesitation, she approached him and said, "About hitting Lu San's wife today, it won't cause you any trouble, right?"

Chen Jie, startled, looked up at Su Yunjin, who felt uneasy under his gaze and touched her face, thinking something was on it.

Chen Jie then spoke, "No trouble at all, just a coward who bullies the weak."

Chen Jie truly wasn't worried about Lu San because according to his predecessor's memories, Lu San had never trained in any martial arts. He only intimidated the original Chen Jiu due to his larger build.

However, Chen Jie was not afraid of such things. Before transmigrating, Chen Jie had been through brawls frequently due to his military background and had a wealth of fighting experience. Most critically, he had had the fortune to learn self-defense counterattacks for a few days under Chen Hegao, an expert in unruly combat.

Thus, he didn't consider Lu San's potential retaliation a threat. If it were a trained martial artist, he might have considered other strategies, such as luring him into an accident with a mud truck or possibly setting up a rolling stone trap or even poisoning...

When there was a will, there was a way.

But Lu San didn't necessitate such measures.

Chen Jie continued skinning the rabbit and removing its internal organs, ignoring Su Yunjin.

Seeing that Chen Jie was ignoring her, Su Yunjin hesitated for a moment before returning to the house and began to clean the wild vegetables she had gathered that day.

Meanwhile, Su Yunrui was still somewhat afraid of Chen Jie and kept his distance.

He was just curiously watching Chen Jie skin the rabbit.

He thought to himself, "The rabbit looks really delicious!"

But he did not dare to come any closer; he was truly frightened by Chen Jie.

Just like that, the entire courtyard fell into silence.

At this time, not far away, Uncle Erba came back, leaning on his crutch.

An old and pale-looking woman greeted him and said, "With your bad legs, you still wander around; today, leave the basket-weaving to Hu Zi alone."

Hearing this, Uncle Erba replied, "Chen Jiusi's household is in turmoil; I thought I should check on them. Our uncle has been good to us; we mustn't ignore this."

"Giving them your support, Chen Jiusi, that gambling wretch, has gambled away our uncle's great legacy. How many taels can you possibly squeeze from your frail body to fill his bottomless pit?"

Uncle Erba sighed and said, while the woman also sighed, "I just feel sorry for that girl Yunjin. By the way, that shrew from the Lu San family hasn't made life difficult for Yunjin, has she?"

Uncle Erba replied, "She has, and I wanted to intervene, but Jiu Si came back."

"What, that scoundrel, siding with outsiders to bully Yunjin again?" the woman exclaimed with wide eyes.

Uncle Erba replied, "No, Jiu Si helped Yunjin and beat up that shrew!"

"What!"

The woman, shocked, widened her eyes and then exclaimed, "Has that scoundrel changed his ways?"

"It seems he has changed a bit," Uncle Erba said.

Following this, the woman said, "That's bad, with the Lu San couple being such bullies, if Jiu Si has provoked them, won't he be doomed?"

Worried, Uncle Erba furrowed his brows and said, "Wife, bring out those fifty cents from the house."

"What, what do you need the money for?"

Uncle Erba looked at his wife and said, "Just bring it."

"No way, that money is saved up for Hu Zi's marriage; I can't give it to you."

"Ah, you foolish woman, you won't even listen to me now? Hand it over,"

Uncle Erba suddenly shouted angrily, his expression stern. Though Uncle Erba had a slight disability, when he truly got angry, even Aunt Erba dared not defy him.

Then, Uncle Erba, leaning on his crutch, went out to the courtyard where he saw a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy weaving baskets with rattan. The boy's knife swiftly trimmed the branches, showing great skill.

"Hu Zi, go and bring five kilos of sorghum rice to your Jiu Si; his family has run out of food."

"Alright, Dad,"

The boy stood up, sunlight shining on his bronze skin, making him look very robust—a result of long-term shirtless basket weaving.

The boy entered the house, and then the scolding of the wife was heard from inside.

"Still want food? We're not supposed to live anymore, you heartless folks, just use this money and food to fill that bottomless pit..."

Listening to the wife's scolding from inside the house, Uncle Erba sat down where he had been weaving baskets, picked up some rattan, and began to weave, muttering to himself, "We can't just ignore them, can we..."