My kitchen knife was originally belted around my waist, because I thought that if I saw Lin Sanshui, I wouldn't fight, but at this point, even though Second Uncle didn't come up, I decided to confront him even if I had to die!
I brandished my kitchen knife and said, "Let him go!"
With a gesture, Black Glasses said to me, "Come, defeat me, and I'll let him go. Otherwise, I'll make sure he's in his grave next year."
I was prepared to be knocked back by Black Glasses and was about to charge, but at this moment, a voice that almost made me cry out sounded.
"Let go of him, you son of a bitch!" Then, a figure rushed towards Black Glasses like lightning!
Obviously, my Second Uncle Lin Baxian wouldn't swear, so this voice belonged to Lin Er Dan, the strong Lin Er Dan who could lift a grinding disc with one hand!
His figure charging towards Black Glasses was almost indistinct, and Black Glasses also quickly wiped the smile off his face. Before Lin Er Dan reached him, Black Glasses turned to one side, but before he could escape, Lin Er Dan grazed his body. He instantly stumbled, but Lin Er Dan, whose speed was too fast, couldn't stop his momentum and crashed into Lin Sanshui's wall!
This collision resulted in a huge hole in the wall.
This scene was so beautiful that I could hardly bear to look. Lin Er Dan had such a grand entrance, but ended up crashing into the wall and dying? This eerie scene shocked everyone on the scene, including Black Glasses himself. They all stared at the large hole in the wall in disbelief.
While they were still astonished, a figure suddenly emerged from the hole. This time, Black Glasses didn't dare to be overconfident and quickly jumped out of the way. If someone could crash through a wall and still come out, was he even human? He certainly could not understand that the person doing so was the apprentice who sold himself for three meals a day and two thousand yuan a month, the same apprentice he had just stepped on - Lin Er Dan!
Lin Er Dan was charging at him too quickly, unable to change direction. As he neared, it seemed he would miss Black Glasses. So, the fat man's earlier words turned out to be true: Lin Er Dan was only strong and nothing else.
But just then, as Lin Er Dan rushed towards Black Glasses and was about to crash into the wall, a brick suddenly flew out and squarely hit Black Glasses in the face.
"Good! Great hit!" I couldn't help but cheer loudly, as Lin Er Dan's move with the brick was absolutely amazing! Seizing this opportunity, my father and I quickly went to help the fat man and brought him back.
Black Glasses, caught off guard by this concealed weapon, had his entire face disfigured from the impact, blood seeping from several places, and his glasses shattered.
Lin Er Dan didn't press his advantage but instead clapped his hands and smiled at me, saying, "Xiao Fan, how cool was that!"
"Cool! Absolutely awesome!" I gave him a thumbs-up.
At this point, the fat man's head couldn't even lift, but his mouth was choked and unclear, "Apprentice, beat the crap out of him!"
Lin Er Dan, oblivious, heard the fat man's words and laughed, "Okay, today we beat him up, tomorrow I'm going to eat beef. I need to eat my fill."
"I'll treat you to a feast!" Liu Fatty shouted with all his might!
Lin Er Dan then picked up a brick from the ground and smashed it towards Black Glasses, who wanted to dodge but couldn't. It hit his shoulder hard, and his shoulder gave a crunching sound. It seemed like I heard a bone breaking.
"Stop fighting, Er Dan, give Uncle Sanshui some face, okay? Such a small matter, does it have to be blown out of proportion?" Lin Sanshui rushed over and pulled Lin Er Dan.
Er Dan just looked at the fat man, who had been taking care of him since he became a professional eater, a provider for him like his parents. When he saw that Er Dan didn't respond, he came over to me, saying, "Xiao Fan, Er Dan listens to you. Just speak to him. These people helped your father yesterday. Can you help me out this time?"
Lin Sanshui's face still bore a clear, visible slap mark from Black Glasses. It was the result of him being hit earlier, and he even cursed at Lin Sanshui, calling him insignificant. But now, Lin Sanshui was pleading on his behalf. I felt uneasy about it. The situation was clear – Lin Sanshui must have sold himself as a servant to these people. At his age, was that really necessary?
Thinking of the pregnant woman I saw in the apartment, I understood. Lin Sanshui was also not in an easy situation.
"Let's go, Er Dan. Let's go back and tend to Fatty's wounds. They're just in the village. You can come back and fight anytime you want, consider them punching bags." I said to Er Dan, and the faces of those in black clothes who looked so arrogant during the day changed color.
That's how we went back home. The fat man was beaten up earlier, and now he was barely recognizable. When we got home, Lin Xiaoyao and Wu Miaoke were both scared. They hurried to heat up water and help the fat man clean up. It took nearly an hour for Fatty to wake up, and the first thing he said upon waking was, "Lin Xiaofan, why did you let Er Dan stop?"
"Hey, don't be angry, Fatty. Your father-in-law was here. When he's not around, you and your apprentice can fight to your heart's content. But, Fatty, you're not behaving like yourself today. You used to have a carefree yet stable demeanor. Why are you so agitated today?" I said.
The fat man spat out a mouthful of blood and cursed, "What do you know! I picked a fight on purpose today. Did you see the scorpion tattoos on those guys? They belong to a fighting family in Luoyang. I've had a feud with them before. This time, Lin Sanshui is going all out for his unborn child, unwilling to lose face even at the risk of his life. He actually brought people to our village to desecrate graves? I was wondering how come that policewoman was suddenly transferred. It turns out their family wants to operate here. The police department is so efficient. Lin Sanshui is really putting in a lot of effort."
When he said this, Wu Miaoke's face turned deathly pale.
"Can that be? Uncle Sanshui isn't that type of person, you must have mistaken him, right?" I asked in shock.
"No mistake. I know that scorpion tattoo like the back of my hand. It's just that their family is not short of money, so why come to the remote Lin family village? I've seen the feng shui here. There definitely won't be any major graves here!" Fatty said.
The room fell silent instantly. Everyone knew what kind of person Lin Sanshui had been before. Even if his handling of Wu Miaoke's matter had been improper, it was understandable. But now, could he really be capable of such a thing? Thinking about Lin Sanshui's behavior today, I figured Fatty's guess was right.
That night, Fatty had to sleep with me. Being a man without a home now, he had to stay at my place. After climbing onto my bed, he bounced a bit and, despite his swollen eyes, he still managed to mutter, "Good, this bed is sturdy enough, keeps up with you and that little girl's play. Let me ask you, Xiaofan, how often do you drink Wangba soup?"
Suddenly, I regretted why Lin Er Dan didn't come later.
The next morning, unexpectedly, Lin Sanshui came to our door carrying a black box. Fatty wanted to hit him upon seeing him, but we firmly stopped him. Now everyone in the family knew Lin Sanshui's intention, and no one wanted to have anything to do with him. But others could ignore him, even though I was a son-in-law, I couldn't just ignore a man who had allowed me to sleep with his daughter, could I?
I was having breakfast and chatting aimlessly with Lin Sanshui. Later, I tentatively asked, "Dad, who are those people? They don't look like good people."
"Dad has met an important benefactor this time, Xiaofan. Yesterday's incident really shouldn't have been blown out of proportion like that," Lin Sanshui said.
"What kind of benefactor, and what do they do?" I continued to ask. The more Lin Sanshui evaded, the more it confirmed Fatty's suspicion which I understood. Lin Sanshui becoming a lackey was fine, but I absolutely could not understand why he would bring people back to the Lin family village to dig up graves.
"They do business. You have to trust Dad, this time, when Dad brought them here, it was to make a big deal with your family, a deal with a hundred benefits and no harm!" Lin Sanshui said.
"What deal?" I asked.
"Remember the red coffin? In our village, it's a time bomb. We went through a lot of trouble before to get rid of it. Now, they want that thing. You should ask your Second Uncle where he buried it. Once you know the location, this entire box of money will be yours!" Lin Sanshui said excitedly.
I was also a little excited upon hearing this. After all the commotion, I even almost forgot about that thing's existence. I only had terrifying memories about it, because of that thing, I lost my mother. Now, someone actually wanted it?! Sure, I would sell it and get rid of it as soon as possible to avoid any trouble.
Lin Sanshui felt embarrassed talking to my family, so he deliberately spoke loudly to ensure everyone heard, "You've already made a deal and step back in time!"
Upon hearing this, my Second Uncle put down his bowl, walked over to Lin Sanshui and threw the box of money out the door.
"Tell them they can still leave now." My Second Uncle said expressionlessly.