Just hearing the voice, Zhang Zixuan knew why they had come.
Indeed, no one rises early without profit; the sun hadn't even set yet, and they were already at the door.
In the past, when working in the fields, when had they ever been this early?
Besides, it is currently spring plowing season, the busiest time!
"Zixuan, this is..." Shopkeeper Wu couldn't help but speak up.
Zhang Zhiyong, knowing the Zhang family was coming to cause trouble, had found Zhang Haifei early and was waiting at the entrance.
Sure enough, this family was never disappointed in this regard.
"Shopkeeper Wu, don't misunderstand. I'll explain this matter to you slowly."
Then, Zhang Zixuan recounted everything that had happened over the years to Shopkeeper Wu truthfully.
It's said that family ugliness shouldn't be aired in public, and Zhang Zixuan didn't want to air it.
But Zhang Zixuan himself understood clearly that if he didn't explain this matter plainly to Shopkeeper Wu, the man might not be willing to intervene.
Sure enough, after hearing Zhang Zixuan's words, Shopkeeper Wu stood up directly, furious.
"Outrageous! Isn't this outright robbery? Your legs are like this, and they still treat you this way? Have they ever truly regarded you as family?"
After saying this, he swept his gaze over the courtyard again and patted his chest, saying:
"No wonder! I was just thinking, with Xu Xiu's capabilities, how could she possibly be living in such destitution? So it turns out you were just kicked out. Nephew Zixuan, don't worry. Leave this matter to me. I will make everything perfectly clear."
"Then I'll trouble you, Shopkeeper Wu," Zhang Zixuan said gratefully.
At the doorway, Zhang Zhiyong, seeing Old Lady Liu preparing to charge inside, immediately blocked her, saying:
"Aunt Liu, you cannot go in!"
"Why can't I go in? That's my house! What right do you have to stop me? I'm telling you, Zhang Zhiyong, don't think you can throw your weight around here just because your father is the village chief. Today, I'm putting my words right here: even if your father comes, I have a place to reason this out!"
Old Lady Liu said furiously.
If the fieldwork hadn't been so heavy, she would have come long ago; how could she have waited until now?
Thinking this, Old Lady Liu shouted towards the inside again:
"Xu Xiu! You wretched wench, come out here! Don't think hiding inside means I can't do anything to you. Hand over all that silver you embezzled! Otherwise, I'll beat you to death today!"
"Exactly! What kind of person dares to hide silver belonging to all of us from Mother? I'm telling you, if you don't give it... we... we'll go report you to the authorities!" Fang Miaojuan also shouted loudly towards the inside.
"Right, right, report to the authorities! I will definitely let the County Magistrate know what you, as son and daughter-in-law, actually did back then..." Zhang Zihua said, even more aggressively, craning his neck.
"..."
At this moment, they had completely forgotten that the main house and the fourth branch had already severed ties.
Her mind was filled only with the news spreading like wildfire through the village today—that Xu Xiu had bought many things back, including an iron pot.
Only a few days after separating, she could buy so many things—wasn't this proof that the fourth branch had embezzled silver before the separation?
Hearing Old Lady Liu curse Xu Xiu like this, Zhang Zixuan finally said to Zhang Zhiyong at the door, "Zhiyong, let them in!"
When it came to the people from the main house, Zhang Zixuan could be said to understand them very well.
This matter today won't be resolved easily.
Old Lady Liu was momentarily stunned when she heard Zhang Zixuan's voice.
Because judging by the sound, the cripple didn't seem to be inside the house.
Old Lady Liu knew his capabilities; after all, he had been an escort; his martial arts skills should be quite good.
But thinking of his legs, Old Lady Liu subconsciously straightened her back.
Pushing Zhang Zhiyong aside, the family swaggered.
However, upon seeing Zhang Zixuan sitting in the wheelchair, everyone was immediately dumbfounded.
Whether it was a psychological effect or not, after not seeing him for a few days, Zhang Zixuan, who used to seem lifeless, now appeared radiant and full of vigor.
Especially Old Lady Liu; she simply couldn't believe, even if beaten to death, that the half-dead waste would suddenly become so spirited today.
"What? Surprised to see me like this?" Zhang Zixuan was the first to speak, his tone mocking.
He didn't even know how he had gotten through those years, how he could have coexisted with such people for so long.
But thinking about it, it made sense; back when he was escorting, he was essentially the family's main pillar.
Even if he wasn't their biological child, he earned a lot! For the sake of silver, they wouldn't treat him too badly.
Hearing Zhang Zixuan's voice, Old Lady Liu quickly snapped back to reality.
Snorting coldly, she said to her eldest son Zhang Zirong and second son Zhang Zihua behind her:
"What are you waiting for? Take all those things back! Especially that iron pot. The rice and flour should be inside. They said they saw that wretch buying dozens of catties of rice and fine flour, and an iron pot. Those originally belonged to us."
That entitled tone and that arrogant expression finally pushed Zhang Zixuan past his limit.
"I'd like to see who dares to touch anything!" Zhang Zixuan said in a deep voice.
As he spoke, the stick he held in his hand was already pointed at Zhang Zirong and Zhang Zihua.
"Zixuan, what are you doing? They are your elders! This is disrespect towards your elders, do you understand?"
Old Zhang, who had been smoking his water pipe beside them, suddenly spoke up.
From the moment he entered until now, he hadn't spoken a word.
But seeing Zhang Zixuan like this, he put on the airs of an elder and began lecturing him.
"Elders? Have you forgotten? We severed ties! Do I need to remind you? Remember, we severed ties, we didn't just separate the family. Get that straight!"
Zhang Zixuan said to Old Zhang expressionlessly.
In this family, Old Lady Liu was somewhat better; whatever she thought, she did.
The so-called poisonous mouth and poisonous heart described her perfectly.
But Old Zhang was different; inwardly seething with hatred, his mouth still spouted righteous-sounding words.
Who knew who he was putting on this act for?
Thinking this, Zhang Zixuan said to Old Zhang: "Do you know what you look like? Just like Xu Xiu said, you're utterly disgusting."
Meanwhile, Shopkeeper Wu could no longer sit still. Seeing everyone preparing to take action, he immediately stood up.
Addressing Old Zhang, he said: "The silver for Mistress Xu Xiu was all given by me. She sold things at my place..."
"Given by you? You old man, don't tell me you have some unspeakable affair with her, otherwise..."
Before Shopkeeper Wu could finish, Old Lady Liu interrupted him.
As she said this, Old Lady Liu circled Shopkeeper Wu again and again, looking him up and down endlessly.
"Judging by your attire, you don't seem like a country bumpkin. How could you take a fancy to that wench?"
Hearing this, Shopkeeper Wu became so angry his face flushed crimson. His index finger trembled as he pointed at Old Lady Liu, angrily cursing: "You... you..."
Zhang Zixuan, beside them, was also stunned upon hearing Old Lady Liu's words.
He hadn't expected Old Lady Liu to say something like that.
Looking again at Shopkeeper Wu, whose face was flushed with anger.
Zhang Zixuan knew that if Shopkeeper Wu stayed any longer, Old Lady Liu might say even more unpleasant things.
So he apologetically said to Shopkeeper Wu: "Shopkeeper Wu, please go back first! I've troubled you today. This is my family matter; I'll handle it. Regarding that novel food item, when Xu Xiu returns, I'll have her personally go to Yuexiang Lou to give you a reply. How about that?"
Hearing Zhang Zixuan's words, Shopkeeper Wu nodded understandingly but did not leave immediately.
Instead, he looked at Old Lady Liu and said: "The reason Mistress Xu Xiu has this silver is that she exchanged it for her cooking recipe. I bought her recipe, and that's how she got the silver. It's not some embezzled silver as you claim. You are truly wronging her!"
After saying this, Shopkeeper Wu didn't wait for Old Lady Liu to reply and hurriedly walked towards the doorway.
He himself wasn't much affected, but he feared it might damage Xu Xiu's reputation, which would be bad.
"What do you mean she sold a recipe? Her cooking skills? I know them well enough! We've eaten her cooking for years. With her meager skills, could she sell it for silver? I wouldn't believe it even if I was beaten to death!"
Old Lady Liu shouted towards Shopkeeper Wu, who was rushing out of the courtyard.
Old Lady Liu wasn't lying about this; Xu Xiu's cooking skills were indeed very ordinary.
Not just Old Lady Liu, even Zhang Zixuan himself was puzzled about why Xu Xiu's culinary skills had suddenly improved.
These past few days, the food she cooked, whether it was pork offal or other dishes, was all delicious.
But puzzled or not, when facing Old Lady Liu, Zhang Zixuan didn't hesitate in the slightest.
"Whether her cooking skills are good or not, I am the most qualified to say. Besides, this silver truly came from Shopkeeper Wu buying her recipe. If you don't believe it, if you think it's silver we embezzled before the separation, then by all means, go report it to the authorities. But if you touch even the slightest thing here today, I will not be polite to you."
As he said this, Zhang Zixuan deliberately raised the stick in his hand.
He had never been the blindly filial type. Besides, although Old Lady Liu and Old Zhang had raised him, over the years, he had more than repaid them.
On the contrary, the two of them had never treated him as their own son.
Judging from his paralysis over the past two years, if they had treated him even a little better, he wouldn't have sunk to this state.
He didn't even have the strength in his arms to lift himself.
If Xu Xiu hadn't reminded him, he probably couldn't even manage the simple task of sitting himself in a wheelchair.
"Not be polite? I'd like to see how you, this useless cripple, intend to be impolite to me!" Old Lady Liu said hatefully.
In the main house, she had always been the one giving orders. Besides Old Zhang, who among her sons and daughters-in-law didn't obey her words unquestioningly?
Since when had this cripple dared to speak to her like this?
Thinking this, Old Lady Liu immediately said to Zhang Zirong and Zhang Zihua: "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and carry those things back!"
"Okay, okay, okay. We'll go carry them now, go carry them now," Zhang Zirong and Zhang Zihua said repeatedly.
However, as soon as the two made a move, the stick in Zhang Zixuan's hand, sitting in his wheelchair, lashed out towards them.
Zhang Zhiyong and Zhang Haifei beside them also hurried over to stop the two.
Because they were prepared, and coupled with Zhang Zixuan's mobility issues, this strike didn't harm them in the slightest.
Seeing this, Zhang Zixuan prepared to strike at Old Lady Liu next.
Xu Xiu was right; being overly merciful to the enemy is being cruel to oneself.
But when Old Lady Liu saw that Zhang Zixuan actually dared to strike at her, she immediately refused to accept it.
She plopped down on the ground, wailing: "No justice! No justice! Look at this, what kind of reasoning is this? Everyone, come and judge this..."
By this time, the small courtyard was already crowded with people.
Long before the main house arrived, many villagers who loved to join in the excitement had followed them over.
Now, hearing Old Lady Liu's words, they immediately started pointing fingers and murmuring about Zhang Zixuan.
"Zixuan, they are, after all, your parents. No matter what, you can't lay hands on them."
"Exactly! However bad she is in a thousand or ten thousand ways, didn't she give birth to you and raise you to be so big? You absolutely cannot strike her."
"Besides, whether that silver was truly embezzled by your fourth branch before or not, if it wasn't, wouldn't it be enough to explain it properly to your mother?"
"Right, right, what matters in this world can't be explained clearly with words?"
"..."
Most of the villagers had arrived later, so they hadn't heard Shopkeeper Wu's explanation earlier.
But it was just as well they hadn't heard it; since they missed the explanation, they naturally also missed Old Lady Liu's slanderous words.
Zhang Zixuan was actually somewhat relieved about this.
Otherwise, who knows how these villagers would gossip about Xu Xiu?
Seeing the villagers starting to take her side, Old Lady Liu became even more emboldened.
She said to her two sons: "What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take all those things back!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Zirong and Zhang Zihua immediately headed towards the house.
As Zhang Zirong passed by the nearby cooking stove, he casually picked up the iron pot sitting on it.
However, as soon as he lifted the iron pot, he was struck on the back.
"Ouch... Who hit me?" Zhang Zirong turned around and asked with full fury.
But when he met Zhang Zixuan's gaze, he felt a sudden pang of fear.
Others hadn't experienced Zhang Zixuan's skills, but he knew them very well.
Back when he could still walk and run, he had once crossed hands with him.
Yet, in less than three moves, he was knocked flat on the ground by Zhang Zixuan.
How he ended up on the ground. He still didn't understand to this day.