Gu Xingdong had just stopped the person when he looked up and saw Chen Baozhu rushing over. His eyes suddenly became sharp, and he kicked Chen Baozhu directly in the chest.
The seemingly casual kick sent Chen Baozhu flying four or five meters away. He rolled several times on the ground before hitting the wall and finally stopped himself.
As Chen Baozhu was kicked away, the Chen family courtyard seemed to be muted. Grandma Chen's shouting stopped, and Chen Mancang and Zhang Chunhua were both gaping, looking at the scene with disbelief.
"Baozhu!" Grandma Chen was the first to react, rushing towards her eldest grandson.
Chen Baozhu was her lifeblood. Seeing him lying on the ground, Grandma Chen felt as if her heart was being twisted.
Zhang Chunhua also reacted and quickly ran to Chen Baozhu's side. She struggled to help him up from the ground, asking with concern, "Baozhu, are you alright?"
Chen Baozhu managed to stand up, feeling a dull ache in the spot where Gu Xingdong had kicked him. Blood rushed to his head, and his vision swam with stars.
Seeing his pained expression and trembling legs, Chen Lishu couldn't help but ask in a small voice, "Will there be any problems?"
Gu Xingdong reached up and touched the top of her head. "Don't worry, I have a good aim." It wouldn't break any bones, but he would definitely suffer a bit.
Seeing her son in so much pain that he couldn't speak, Zhang Chunhua looked up at Gu Xingdong with fury. "Gu Laosan, Baozhu is your brother-in-law. How could you be so ruthless with him?"
Gu Xingdong remained unmoved. "I can be even more ruthless."
Seeing Zhang Chunhua's face turn purple with anger, Chen Lishu barely managed to suppress a smile.
Zhang Chunhua was now furious but dared not speak. Gu Xingdong's ruthless kick had shown her his ferocity. If she angered him further, they would only suffer more.
Gu Xingdong took two steps forward and looked at Grandma Chen. She shivered involuntarily under his dark gaze. "What, what do you want?"
Gu Xingdong curled his lips and said, "Don't worry, after all, Lishu and I still have to call you Grandma."
Hearing this, Grandma Chen secretly breathed a sigh of relief. But before she could fully relax, she saw his gaze fall on Chen Baozhu, and he casually tutted, "Tsk, brother-in-law, your physique doesn't seem to be very good, does it?"
Grandma Chen was stunned. What did he mean by that? Chen Lishu chuckled and chimed in, "Xingdong, as a brother-in-law, if he's not good enough, you should train him well."
Train him well?
That one kick had already taken half of her grandson's life. If he were to kick him a couple more times, would her grandson still be alive?
"Chen Lishu, you little brat, how could our Chen family have given birth to such an ungrateful child like you! You might as well just take my life!" Grandma Chen thumped her chest, but in her heart, fear was already growing uncontrollably.
"Lishu, what happened that day was your Grandma's fault. People get confused when they get old. Tomorrow, no, in a while, I'll have your eldest sister-in-law buy some things, and we'll go see your mother and apologize to her."
Chen Mancang realized that Gu Xingdong was not someone to be trifled with. If they continued to hold on, who knew what else he might do.
When Grandma Chen heard that she had to apologize, she immediately jumped up and exclaimed, "You want me to apologize to that surname Wu? Not a chance!"
"Mom!" Chen Mancang, seeing that Grandma Chen still didn't understand, raised his voice in anger. "Do you want to see your eldest grandson get into trouble?"
With her eldest grandson's safety at stake, Grandma Chen instantly deflated like a punctured balloon, her voice muffled in her throat.
"All of you remember this. If I ever find out that anyone is plotting against my family again, I will risk my life to pursue it to the end!"
Chen Lishu glanced at the people in the courtyard and then, with a final word, turned and left with Gu Xingdong.
...
"You two are back?" Li Xiulan was working when she saw them enter. She stopped what she was doing and asked with concern, "Lishu, how is your mother?"
"She's not in serious condition. The doctor said she needs slow recovery."
Li Xiulan nodded. "Pesticides are too potent. She suffered a lot this time and needs good care."
Thinking of something, Li Xiulan looked up and asked again, "Have you two eaten at this hour? We didn't have any leftovers this morning. How about I make something for you?"
Seeing her about to put on her shoes to get off the kang, Gu Xingdong quickly stopped her. "Mom, no need. We ate in town before coming back."
Hearing that they had eaten, Li Xiulan let it go. "You must be exhausted. Go back to your room and rest. I'll call you when it's time for dinner."
Gu Xingdong nodded and went back to the room with Chen Lishu.
"Are you still angry?" Gu Xingdong asked, seeing that she seemed a bit unhappy the whole way back.
Chen Lishu shook her head. "I just feel a bit stifled. I feel like this fire in my heart hasn't been let out."
She felt that people like Grandma Chen should be beaten up to relieve her anger.
Gu Xingdong raised an eyebrow and smiled, suggesting, "How about you hit me a couple of times to vent your anger?"
Chen Lishu gave him a glare. "You didn't provoke me, and I'm not an unreasonable person."
"It's okay, you can be unreasonable with me," Gu Xingdong said as he took her hand and placed it on his chest. "How about here?"
"Where else would you find someone so eager to be beaten?" Chen Lishu pulled her hand away but couldn't. She had no choice but to hit him, but she didn't use much force.
Gu Xingdong clutched the spot where she had hit him and feigned pain as he lay down on the kang. Chen Lishu, pulled by him, unexpectedly fell into his arms with him.
"Good girl, just close your eyes and sleep it off,"
Gu Xingdong's deep, magnetic voice sounded from above her. Chen Lishu, as if obeying, nestled into a comfortable position in his arms.
"Xingdong, do you think having sons and daughters is really that important?"
Wu Chunmei always felt inferior because she couldn't have a son, which was why she was suppressed by Grandma Chen and Zhang Chunhua her entire life.
"What if I also can't have a son?"
"Don't overthink it," Gu Xingdong said, turning to kiss her forehead. "Don't worry, as long as it's from you, I'll love it even if it's an egg."
Chen Lishu couldn't help but hit him. "You're the one who should lay eggs."
"Heh..."
As sleepiness overtook her, Chen Lishu gradually closed her eyes.
When she woke up again, Gu Xingdong was no longer by her side. She glanced outside, noticing that the sky was overcast, as if it might rain at any moment.
She raised her hand to check the time and found that it was already past four in the afternoon. She got up and pushed open the door, only to find everyone else there.
"Fortunately, we got back in time. Otherwise, we would have been caught in the heavy rain outside." Gu Xingye wiped the raindrops from his face. As soon as he finished speaking, large raindrops began to fall densely from outside.
The rain came down fast and hard. In a short while, the courtyard was steaming.
By evening, after the family had dinner, the ditch outside the courtyard had been leveled by the rainwater, and the courtyard had accumulated a large pool of water.
"The rain is really heavy this year. If it continues like this, some people's houses might be in trouble," Li Xiulan said with emotion, looking at the water flowing from the eaves.