When I stepped out in my shorts, I saw the fatty standing in the yard, bruised and swollen, holding a big lump on his head. At this sight, I was instantly furious. The fatty was our benefactor, and even for the entire Lin family village, he had done a great service. Even if he was a bit despicable, occasionally stealing a duck or petting someone else's wife after drinking a little, these were minor faults that made everyone think the fatty was quite lovable. Even if he needed a beating, it certainly didn't warrant such heavy-handed violence.
"Hey fatty, who beat you?" I asked.
"Who else could it be? Lin Sanshui has become domineering this time. How dare he bring people to beat up your fatty?" the fatty gritted his teeth.
I just solemnly promised to avenge the fat man, but in an instant, I hesitated. Could it be that the fat man was beaten by my father-in-law? How could this punch help? But I also wonder, Lin Sanshui used to serve the fat man even more intimately than my father, and the fat man even wanted him to treat his daughter, Lin Xiaoyao's face. Lin Sanshui, no matter how confused, wouldn't beat up the fat man at this time.
"Why did he hit you?" I asked.
"Who knows? As soon as I came back, he just gave me a merciless beating for no reason. With their group of little punks, why would I be afraid of fighting them one-on-one? Even if there were three or four people ganging up on me, it wouldn't be a problem for me. But with seven or eight people, I can't handle so many of them with my fists. Xiaofan, tell me, will you help me?" The fat man, looking like a beaten child, came to me to ask for assistance.
"Of course, but, Fat Brother, did my father-in-law hit you? You know, this is a bit complicated for me to handle," I scratched my head and said.
"I can let Lin Sanshui go, but the other seven or eight people, I have to teach them a lesson!" The fat man shouted. After he finished speaking, he grabbed me and wanted to leave. I said, "Fat Brother, wait, I am just a weak scholar, I can only contribute half of a fighting force. If I go, I will only be a burden. Why don't we call Er Dang to help with this matter?"
"Er Dang and his wife have gone back to her family's home. This good-for-nothing, he eats a hundred or so from me every day, but when there's trouble, I can never find him. Xiaofan, don't say anything more, let's go now," the fat man said impatiently. I don't know where he got the confidence to believe that just by bringing me along, we could win? Does he think I'm Donnie Yen, claiming to be able to fight a hundred people?
At this time, Lin Xiaoyao, my grandmother, my father, and my second uncle, all woken up by the fat man's wailing, came out to see the fat man in this state. Except for my second uncle and Lin Miaoke, they all showed solidarity and joined in the anger. What I didn't expect was that my grandmother was the most furious on the scene. She immediately went to the kitchen and picked up a kitchen knife, handing it to me, saying, "Go, Xiaofan, help the fat man."
It seems that this fat man, although without any shame, has made my grandmother speechless, but he has also made her fond of him, as he speaks without any restraint, yet he is still adorable.
"Let's all go and see. Xiaoyao and Miaoke, you stay at home with Grandma," my father said with a frown.
"Dad, I want to go and see too. Why did he hit the fat man?" Lin Xiaoyao said.
"Be obedient, stay with your mother and grandmother," my father frowned, and Lin Xiaoyao immediately stopped talking. Now this guy, is not as obedient to me as before when it comes to my family, still very submissive, hardly daring to argue, and yet she still claims to be the model Chinese daughter-in-law. Yes, when we got married, the family bought a TV, and for the first time, it miraculously received a program, the Chinese version of The Voice, which completely captivated Lin Xiaoyao. She has dreamed of singing several times.
My second uncle, father, the fat man, and I, the four of us, marched back to my father-in-law Lin Sanshui's house. This time, I had some confidence, because in my heart, my second uncle is definitely a superman. As long as he's here, I have nothing to fear.
When we arrived at Lin Sanshui's house, we found the yard in a mess. There were two or three young men who looked decent during the day but now were as bruised and swollen as the fat man. Now, I started to look at the fat man with different eyes. It seems his claim of being able to fight three or four people alone wasn't an exaggeration. Being attacked by seven or eight people, he still managed to seriously injure three of them!
Lin Sanshui and the others were tidying up the mess when they saw us. The men in black immediately became alert, and Lin Sanshui's face turned ugly as he hurried towards us, saying, "Xiaofan, Yutang, this is all a misunderstanding. We are all on the same side here!"
The fat man was furious at this moment, pushing Lin Sanshui aside and cursing, "If it weren't for Xiaofan and Xiaoyao's sake, I would beat you today. You b*stards, dare to gang up on me. Now you have a choice. Fight individually or as a group?"
At this moment, the fat man really resembled the protagonist of the movie "Young and Dangerous," which had nearly ruined my life.
I noticed a man in the crowd who was still wearing sunglasses at night. I didn't pay attention to him because of the sunglasses, but because the man was standing there lazily, seemingly ignoring all of us. Although I couldn't see his face behind the dark glasses, I could sense a hint of disdain in his smile.
"Misunderstanding, a misunderstanding," Lin Sanshui wasn't scared by the fat man's words. He tried to explain. At this point, my father asked, "What exactly happened?"
"When we arrived, Brother Liu was having his meal. These guys didn't know Brother Liu's preferences and didn't like being disturbed during meals, so they fought directly. It's all trivial stuff. As for the fight? They are all my friends, we're all on the same side," Lin Sanshui still called the fat man Brother Liu. I called him Fat Brother. Damn, this family relationship is too chaotic to figure out.
Lin Sanshui's words instantly reminded me of the scene when I first met Liu Fat Brother. This guy is indeed too impulsive. I guess if someone disturbed his meal, he would get angry again, and this time he encountered adversaries. That's why they fought. The truth is not as the fat man claims, people beating him for no reason.
Lin Sanshui's words dismantled the fat man's facade, and he shouted, "Lin Sanshui, stop talking nonsense. This grudge was formed today. You guys, the lot of black-clothed thugs, if you dare to fight singly with the fat man, come here. Otherwise, kowtow three times and scram."
Today, the fat man seems particularly aggressive, unlike before.
How could the people on the other side endure the fat man's screeching like a shrew? One person directly grabbed a flowerpot and charged at the fat man. Although he was bulky, he was agile and dodged the incoming flowerpot with a sideways motion. Then he unleashed a punch, awkward but effective, hitting the man in the stomach. The man, in pain, bent over slightly, and the fat man, not sparing him, hit him with an elbow strike to his back, leaving the man sprawled on the ground in agony. And it didn't stop there. The fat man leaped high and crashed down, his nearly three hundred pounds crushing the man's back.
I couldn't bear to watch it. This was like a giant boulder crushing someone, and indeed, the man's face turned as liver-colored as pig liver.
The fat man clapped his hands and stood up, proud like a victorious rooster, challenging, "Who's next? You bunch of weaklings, still want to fight with the fat man?"
One person from the other side couldn't bear it and was about to charge again. But at that moment, he was stopped by the man in black sunglasses who I had noticed earlier. He seemed to have a high status among the crowd, and when he stepped in, the other black-clothed men sighed with relief, as if a great commander had emerged, with no chance of failure.
The fat man seemed to sense the powerful aura emanating from the man, and the man in black sunglasses immediately counterattacked with the agility of a missile, charging straight at the black-clothed man. His movements were swift, not at all like those of a big guy.
The fat man's figure was fast, and his force was overwhelming. I felt that if he had hit me with that momentum, I would have been shattered. But just when the fat man was about to crash into the man in black sunglasses, the latter merely subtly sidestepped.
It was that easy, but I could sense the aura of a supreme master.
If he had sidestepped earlier, the fat man would have turned his direction in the same way.
But if he had sidestepped later, he would have been hit already.
So, timing and precision were everything.
He just dodged a little, with a smile on his face, seemingly playing with the fat man.
The fat man, dodged in this manner, saw the man with the glasses smile and suddenly flared up, charging at him again like a giant rock. This time, the man didn’t dodge, but as the fat man approached, he stretched out his hand.
Then, snap!
That crisp slap in the night air was so pleasant to the ears. The fat man, seemingly effortlessly smacked to the ground, was too dazed to even try to get up.
Approaching the fat man, the man in black sunglasses kicked him in the stomach, a wicked smile on his face, his voice hoarse, "This kick is payback for my buddy. Do you really think you're unbeatable?"
The black-eyed man delivered three more kicks, forcing the fat man into a shrimp-like stance on the ground, unable to utter a word.
The man in black sunglasses then stepped on the fat man's neck with force, leaving him struggling on the ground.
"Song Brother, stop! He's one of us; don't lay it on too heavily," Lin Sanshui rushed forward to intervene, but was slapped to the ground by the black-eyed man, "And who do you think you are?"
I looked at my second uncle. The fat man was considered a master in my eyes, yet he couldn't withstand a single blow. If my dad and I got involved, it would be suicidal, but now we had no choice. Not only was the fat man beaten, but my father-in-law was also left lying on the ground, looking for his teeth.
The fat man had started convulsing, and I had no doubt that the man with the black sunglasses would go so far as to kill.
But my second uncle had no intention of interfering. There was not a hint of emotion on his face.
He didn't even look at me.
My kitchen knife was originally on my waist because I didn't think I would fight with Lin Sanshui. But now, seeing my second uncle not making a move, I felt I had to, even if I knew it meant certain death.
I brandished the knife and said, "Let him go!"
The man in black sunglasses motioned for me to come fight him, saying, "If you beat me, I'll let him go. Otherwise, I'll be paying him a visit at his grave next year."