Chapter 7, Uncle 28

The onlookers had dispersed, leaving only a few individuals lingering. Among them was an older man who Chen Jie knew by name as Chen Erba, an elder of his own clan.

His leg bore some disability, and he made his living by weaving bamboo baskets.

According to family hierarchy, he should respectfully call him Uncle Erba.

Daqian was a nation established by foreigners, hence they enforced a policy of servitude on the local people. One of the most critical aspects of this policy was that Han people weren't allowed to have their own names and were instead required to use numbers as substitutes, much like animals were tagged.

For instance, Chen Jie, who was originally called Chen Jiusi.

Uncle Erba leaned on a stick, his movements not particularly agile, as he approached Jiusi and said, "Jiusi, you were too impulsive. It's not like the days when your great-uncle was alive. By fighting Lu San's wife like this, given Lu San's temperament, he will inevitably come looking for trouble with you."

"That Lu San is tall and strong, and he's also close with the Fishing Guild. You've provoked him, and I'm afraid you won't be reaping any good outcomes."

After hearing this, Chen Jie pondered for a moment and replied, "Mhm, I understand, Uncle Erba."

Uncle Erba, hearing this response, added, "Alright, as long as you are aware of the situation. Regarding today's matter, I will try to find a way to keep Lu San from troubling you."

Finishing his words, Uncle Erba patted Chen Jie on the shoulder and continued, "You should just take care, stop gambling, and live a good life with Yunjin."

With that, he limped away.

After Uncle Erba left, the few remaining individuals gradually departed as well, but not without commenting that Chen Jie had been rash today, and by provoking Lu San, there would be no good days ahead for him. The village people were all aware of the kind of troublemaker Lu San was.

Once everyone had gone, Chen Jie looked towards Su Yunjin, who stood rooted to the spot. Their eyes met, and there was an awkward moment between them.

Chen Jie spoke first to break the ice, "Are you okay?"

Su Yunjin replied, "No, no problem."

Chen Jie simply said, "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 found himself a clay pot.

He fetched a bucket of well water from the well in the courtyard and began deftly skinning and cleaning the rabbit.

Meanwhile, Su Yunjin just stood in the courtyard, slightly stunned. Chen Jie's handling of today's situation had completely caught her off guard. She had expected to be severely humiliated by Mrs. Lu Qin, but instead, her husband had forcefully stood up for her. She couldn't deny the pleasant feeling of being protected.

"Hey, Yunjin, heat up the pot. Do we have any bean oil or vegetable seed oil at home? Find it. Today, we're going to stew rabbit meat."

Hearing this, Su Yunjin was momentarily taken aback before noticing Chen Jie processing the rabbit. After a brief pause, she walked over to him and said, "About hitting Lu San's wife today, it won't cause you any trouble, will it?"

Chen Jie, hearing the words, looked up at Su Yunjin, who felt uncomfortable under his gaze, touching her face thinking there was something on it.

Chen Jie finally spoke up, "There's no trouble. He's just a fallen man who bullies the weak and fears the strong."

Chen Jie truly wasn't afraid of someone like Lu San, because the original memories of this body revealed that Lu San hadn't actually trained in any martial arts. He had only been able to intimidate the original Chen Jiu because he was taller and larger.

However, Chen Jie felt no fear. Before his transmigration, he had experienced combat on the battlefield, frequently fought, and hence had a wealth of fighting experience. Most importantly, he had the fortune of learning self-defense and counter-attacking from Chen Hegao for a few days.

This had granted him significant prowess in unscripted combat.

As such, he wasn't concerned about any supposed retaliation from Lu San. If Lu San were a trained martial artist, perhaps he would consider other strategies.

Like arranging an accident on the road where Lu San might be looking for trouble, or maybe setting a rolling stone trap, or even poisoning him...

With a little thought, there was always a way.

But for Lu San, there was no need.

Chen Jie continued to skin the rabbit and remove its internal organs, no longer paying any attention to Su Yunjin.

Seeing that Chen Jie was ignoring her, Su Yunjin hesitated for a moment before returning to the house to clean the wild vegetables she had dug up today.

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

He was merely curious, watching as Chen Jie skinned the bunny, thinking to himself, "The bunny looks so delicious!"

But he didn't dare approach; Chen Jie had truly scared him.

And so, the entire yard fell into silence.

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

An elderly-looking wife confronted him, saying, "With your bad legs, you still wander around. Today you didn't weave baskets, leaving only Hu Zi to do the work."

Hearing this, Uncle Erba replied, "Things are a mess at Jiu Si's house. I thought to check on it. Our great uncle has been good to our family; we can't just ignore it."

"Care, care, that damned gambler Jiu Si has gambled away our great uncle's large estate. How much can your frail body earn? Can you even fill the bottomless pit he's created?"

Uncle Erba also sighed and said, with the wife sighing in response, "It's just that I feel sorry for that girl Yunjin. Tell me, that shrew from the Lu San Family didn't make things difficult for Yunjin, did she?"

Uncle Erba said, "It got tough; I wanted to intervene, but Jiu Si came back."

"Ah, that murderer, did he join outsiders in bullying Yunjin again?" the wife demanded, her eyes wide open.

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

"What!" The wife's eyes widened in shock, and she quickly asked, "Did that murderer change his ways?"

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

Immediately after, the wife said, "That's bad! With Lu San and his wife being ruffians and a shrew, if Jiu Si has provoked them, won't that bring bad luck?"

Worried, Uncle Erba furrowed his brow and said, "At home, take out that fifty cents."

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

Uncle Erba looked at the wife and said, "Just take it out if I tell you to."

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

"Hey, you foolish woman, you don't listen anymore, take it out."

Suddenly Uncle Erba barked angrily, his expression very stern. Despite being slightly disabled, when truly angered, even Aunt Erba dared not oppose him.

Uncle Erba then limped with his cane to the courtyard, where he saw a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy weaving baskets with rattan, deftly trimming the branches with a small knife with expertise.

"Hu Zi, go get five jin of sorghum rice for your Jiu Si; his family's out of grain."

"Alright, Dad," the young man replied, standing up. The sunlight shone on his body, his bronzed skin looking very robust, the result of long-term bareback basket weaving.

The young man got up and went into the house, followed by the sound of the wife's scolding from inside.

"Still need grain, we don't need to live these days, you two ungrateful people, just use that money and grain to fill that bottomless pit..."

As Uncle Erba sat where he weaved his baskets, hearing the wife's scolding from inside the house, he picked up rattan and began to weave, muttering to himself, "We can't just not care..."