Chapter 151: The Brats
Ning Xiyue, carrying a small medical kit on her back, was pulled over to the scene.
It wasn’t just any place — it was the same spot where the wedding had taken place yesterday, right in front of the homes of Wang Big Mouth and Li Cuihua.
As soon as she arrived, Ning Xiyue had a rough idea of what must have happened.
The place was in chaos. A large crowd had gathered, and maybe because there were too many people, Ning Xiyue hadn’t yet seen the group of children.
But she could hear them.
“Make way, make way! Doctor Ning is here!”
The aunt who had dragged Ning Xiyue there shouted loudly.
The crowd ahead parted, opening a path for Ning Xiyue and Li Xiuxiu, who followed behind her.
Ning Xiyue waved her hand and said, “Everyone, spread out a bit. Don’t crowd so close.”
Aunt Qiuju started calling out to maintain order: “Do as Doctor Ning says — step back!”
Once she got inside, Ning Xiyue saw that the group of lively children from two hours ago were now all listless — some were lying on the ground, some half-sitting, some crying and wailing.
Each of them had injuries of varying degrees. Luckily, none of them seemed seriously hurt — the worst were just more cuts and scrapes than the rest.
Their parents stood nearby, offering half-hearted scoldings, pretending to discipline them.
Some parents were in the middle of a heated argument — the target of their fury was the bedraggled Li Cuihua. It was obvious that her entire family had become the punching bag of the situation.
Little Goudan stood in front of Uncle Anguo, wiping away tears. When he spotted Ning Xiyue, his eyes lit up. He ran over pitifully and tugged on her sleeve.
“Sis, please save them.”
He was spotless — no injuries at all, perfectly fine.
“Don’t worry, Goudan.”
Ning Xiyue patted his head and went over to start applying medicine to the other children.
Goudan stood next to her, watching quietly as she treated his friends.
Li Xiuxiu had already learned how to help with this, so she joined Ning Xiyue in applying medicine.
While doing so, Li Xiuxiu asked the kids,
“Xiaogangzi, what big heroic deed did you all do today? Tell us.”
Xiaogangzi was a skinny, dark-skinned boy, quick and clever — like a little black monkey.
He was the leader of the group, the grandson of the brigade leader, and the one with the most scrapes. Ning Xiyue was treating him first.
Xiaogangzi lifted his chin proudly, raised his hand, and shouted a slogan,
“We were doing the people a service, getting rid of evil! That family are traitors — we’re heroes, the little heroes of Daliu Brigade!”
“Little hero, could you put your hand down a bit so I can finish applying the medicine? Then you can keep being a hero.”
Ning Xiyue smiled helplessly as she dabbed a cotton ball soaked with medicine on his wounds. His spirit was certainly impressive — no doubt he was the leader.
Aunt Yangliu frowned as she watched her mischievous grandson acting cocky even while injured and shouted,
“Zhang Xiaogang, behave yourself! Stop talking and put your hand down so Sister Xiyue can treat you!”
Zhang Xiaogang quickly calmed down. Sensing the signs of his grandmother’s anger, he became obedient at once and placed his hand properly before Ning Xiyue.
“Sister Xiyue, sorry to trouble you.”
Then he whispered up at his grandmother, “Granny, don’t be mad.”
The boy certainly knew how to read the room.
Aunt Yangliu was helpless when it came to her grandson — when he was obedient, he was like a treasure; when he wasn’t, he could drive you mad.
While treating the other kids, Li Xiuxiu questioned her nephew:
“So, little hero, how did you get those wounds?”
Zhang Xiaogang didn’t feel embarrassed. He considered his injuries a badge of honor and answered proudly,
“Fell off a wall.”
Li Xiuxiu teased, “Impressive. I never managed to mess myself up like that.”
“All right, Xiaogang, make sure you don’t get medicine on your clothes. We’ll deal with them later.”
“Okay. Thanks, Sister Xiyue.”
After finishing with Xiaogang, Ning Xiyue moved on to the other children, gently asking them where they were hurt.
Each child thanked her before explaining how they’d gotten injured — and eagerly recounted what they had done.
At that point, each of them was talking animatedly, even competing over who had done the worst.
“Sister Xiyue, I caught two bugs to scare the bad lady.”
“I caught four.”
“I put a frog in her bowl.”
“I made her cry.”
“I bit her leg.”
…
One by one, they proudly confessed their misdeeds, and Ning Xiyue couldn’t help but sigh.
These weren’t little angels — they were little devils. She’d been too naive, misled by their innocent behavior before.
To children, everything was black and white. They’d probably overheard some talk from the adults and decided to band together for today’s “mission”:
“Be little heroes. Punish the bad guys.”
Call them bad, and they did have a reason. Call them good, and they still did bad things.
After finishing treating the kids’ injuries, the shouting outside grew louder — now it had escalated into a full-on brawl.
Mixed in with the chaos was a child’s crying — she recognized the voice. It was Goudan.
Ning Xiyue panicked and looked around. Goudan wasn’t beside her. She pushed through the crowd and saw him crying in Uncle Anguo’s arms, covered in mud but seemingly unharmed.
He must have been fine — she breathed a sigh of relief.
Aunt Huaihua, upon seeing her precious grandson shoved into a roadside ditch by the furious Li Cuihua, flew into a rage. She charged forward and tackled Li Cuihua to the ground, beating her.
“Li Cuihua! I’ll fight you! I’ll beat you to death for bullying my grandson! He was just standing there doing nothing — how dare you touch him, you old hag!”
The freshly treated children, upon seeing their friend bullied, were instantly filled with righteous fury. Forgetting the fresh medicine on their wounds, they all rushed over to help Aunt Huaihua beat Li Cuihua.
“Sigh.” Ning Xiyue shook her head. “All that medicine wasted.”
Old Wu and Wu Dazhuang tried to rush over to break up the fight, but they were blocked by the children’s parents, unable to reach them.
Aunt Huaihua’s action sparked the rest of those who harbored resentment toward Li Cuihua — they all piled in.
Ning Xiyue even noticed yesterday’s “victims,” the bride Wang Fenglan and Wang Big Mouth, join in — they landed several hard blows and even kicked her once.
Li Cuihua was beaten unilaterally.
The brigade leader, seeing the injuries on his grandson, was furious and heartbroken. He only called for a stop once Li Cuihua was thoroughly beaten.
By then, Li Cuihua was lying on the ground, barely conscious. The rise and fall of her chest was the only sign she was still alive.
The brigade leader frowned deeply and turned to Ning Xiyue.
“Yue girl, could you check on her?”
Ning Xiyue: …
She didn’t want to. That woman was practically an enemy. And she held grudges.
“Fine.”
Ning Xiyue crouched down and lifted Li Cuihua’s eyelids.
“Nothing serious. A single needle will wake her up.”
Why did people always like to fake unconsciousness?
She pulled out a set of silver needles from her bag, selected a long, thin one, and inserted it into the philtrum under Li Cuihua’s nose. Just as she was about to insert another, the “unconscious” Li Cuihua groaned and woke up.
“See? All better.”
It’s always the pain that wakes them.
Once Li Cuihua woke, Ning Xiyue stood up and left her alone. As for her other injuries — that wasn’t her problem. The brigade leader had only asked her to check, not to treat.
Satisfied that Li Cuihua wasn’t in danger, the brigade leader finally relaxed.
The children had started the whole mess, so he didn’t scold Li Cuihua.
Instead, he turned to the group of kids standing before him and said sternly,
“There’d better not be a next time.”
The children were smart enough to understand. Heads hung low, they listened obediently.
“Mm.”
“All right, everyone disperse.”
After speaking, the brigade leader turned and gave Wu Laogen a long, deep look before leaving with Aunt Yangliu and his grandson.
Wu Laogen, catching that look, took two steps back. Suddenly, he remembered something the brigade leader had said earlier. The conflicted look in his eyes slowly hardened — as if he had made a decision.
The other parents left with their children too. Before leaving, they took Ning Xiyue and Li Xiuxiu with them — heading toward the health clinic.
The kids’ wounds needed to be treated again.
After reapplying medicine to the group and returning from the clinic to the educated youth compound, Ning Xiyue heard from Chen Yechu that after they had left, Wu Laogen had forcibly dragged a crying Li Cuihua into town — to file for divorce.
