Chapter Seventy-Eight: Arriving at the Door!

“Mom, Dad, that little brat hit me!” Jiang Yang wailed as he rolled on the ground, pain radiating from his forehead and cheek.

“Serves you right, hah!” Yaya, always true to her nature and unable to bear the scene any longer, had marched over and given Jiang Yang a thorough beating, pinning him to the ground. Her actions, impulsive as they were, had conveniently broken the tense deadlock in the room. Almost everyone secretly applauded her. Well done! That really took the edge off!

“Whose brat are you, daring to hit my precious Yangyang!” Han Ying, seeing her son slapped repeatedly and his head knocked against the floor, flew into a rage. She grabbed Yaya by the collar, raising her right hand with fingers splayed, about to strike her across the face.

Yaya, after all, was just a child and no match for Han Ying’s strength. She turned her face away, bracing herself for the impending slap.

A crisp smack rang out. Yaya blinked in surprise—there was no pain. Instead, her collar was suddenly released. She opened her eyes to see Han Ying sprawled on the ground beside Jiang Yang, a bright red handprint emblazoned across her cheek.

Turning, Yaya saw Qin Mu standing behind her, gently dusting his hands.

“You, you!” Han Ying clutched her face, as if that slap had knocked several of her teeth loose.

“If I remember correctly, someone just said adults shouldn’t hit children, isn’t that right? But you came at her so fiercely, ready to strike. What’s the meaning of that?” Luo Shui, having calmed her anger, smiled at Han Ying as she spoke.

“She hit my son! Why can’t I hit her back?” Han Ying retorted furiously, spitting flecks of blood as she yelled.

Luo Shui shrugged. “It was just a little scuffle between children. Why would an adult interfere? Don’t you have any sense of propriety?”

Han Ying was instantly silenced, the words she used to morally blackmail others now turning against her.

On the sidelines, Jiang Hongzhi watched as his wife and son were struck, but dared not utter a word.

Qin Mu flexed his shoulders and asked coldly, “Why did you do it?”

Jiang Yang pouted stubbornly, “I was just playing a joke, trying to scare them. They weren’t holding on to the railing and fell by themselves—how is that my fault?”

“Say it again—it’s not your fault. Go on, try it.” Yaya stood before him, hands on her hips, exuding a fierce and commanding presence.

Jiang Yang, still cowed from her earlier blows, immediately shrank back, his face twisted in a miserable grimace.

“Enough, enough, nothing serious happened. Kids are young and don’t know any better. There was no real harm done, so let’s just let it go.” Jiang Hongzhi stepped forward, trying to smooth things over.

“You call pushing someone down a mountainside ‘no real harm?’”

“Or perhaps, Jiang Hongzhi, I should let your whole family try it for yourselves?” Qin Mu clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes cold and sharp as blades as he stared Jiang Hongzhi down.

Jiang Hongzhi’s mouth twitched, and he unconsciously took several steps back, a chill prickling his spine and sweat beading on his brow. In all his years in business, even facing the most powerful tycoons, he had never felt such dread.

Just as the standoff threatened to escalate, Old Master Jiang approached.

“Jiang Zheng and his family have returned. Enough quarreling—let’s head down the mountain to greet them.”

“Yes, yes, let’s go welcome Zheng and his family,” Jiang Tao quickly chimed in.

Han Ying, reacting at once, scooped up Jiang Yang and hurried down the steps, paying no mind to his continued tantrum. They all understood—Qin Mu’s darkening expression brooked no further delay, and to linger would be to court disaster.

“Brother Mu, are we really going to let those beasts walk away just like that?” Yaya fumed, indignant.

Such lawless, brazen behavior—if left unpunished, it would disgrace the entire Wanglong Village.

“Let everyone gather first. The Jiang family’s old debts—today is the time to settle them all.” Qin Mu gazed after the retreating, disheveled figures, recalling how, ten years ago, the whole Jiang clan had treated him as a disgrace. The three eldest of his generation had never spared him their fists and kicks.

Qiu Shuxia comforted Luo Shui and Jiang Zheng, while Qin Mu, with nothing else pressing on his mind, strolled down the steps.

There, at the foot of the mountain, Wu Mu awaited him, accompanied by several officers bearing star insignias on their shoulders.

“General Qin, on behalf of everyone in the Southern Military District, we wish to pay our respects to you at the start of the new year.” The leading major general saluted Qin Mu.

Their visit was partly to offer formal apologies for the events of several days prior, and partly to once more meet this legendary figure of the armed forces.

Qin Mu surveyed them with the bearing of a seasoned commander reviewing his troops, then gave a subtle nod.

…

Inside the ancestral house of the Jiang family, a father and son sat composedly, awaiting the hurried return of the others.

“Cousin Zheng, it’s been too long!” Jiang Tao stepped forward to greet them.

Jiang Zheng, with his square, dignified face, was the only son of the eldest branch of the family. He’d entered officialdom in the city at an early age, recently promoted to section chief—a source of great pride for the family. Though he’d never personally bullied Qin Mu, he had always sat by indifferently whenever Jiang Tao and Jiang Yao tormented him.

“Uncle, what happened to your family? Why do you look so disheveled?” Jiang Zheng asked, cradling a cup of hot tea and frowning at the sight of the wounds on Han Ying and Jiang Yang’s faces.

“It was that wild bastard!”

“My son was just playing a little joke, but that brute attacked him and even called someone else’s child a bastard! Look at my poor boy—his face is ruined, it breaks my heart!” Han Ying gnashed her teeth in fury.

“So, it’s that wretch. Who would have thought, after ten years, he’d become so arrogant as to lay hands on the Jiang family?” Jiang Zheng snorted coldly.