“Are you scared?”

  Xiao Chaolai coldly asked. His slightly squinted eyes showed nothing but full of arrogance.

  “Scared?”

  Xiao Luo smirked and softly said, “Excuse me for being completely fearless. I just don’t want to make our relationship too awkward. We’re all from the same family and share the same bloodline. However, if you insist on making a scene, I’m totally down. I just hope that you can take on my anger when it falls on you!”

  Xiao Chaolai felt unreasonably insecure as he listened to Xiao Luo’s firm and calm response. The sense of calmness and leisure on Xiao Luo’s face seemed innate, which made him feel minor and insignificant. However, as he thought that he was backed by four of his brothers, he realized that he had no reason to hold fear toward Xiao Luo. He arrogantly laughed and yelled, “Fine, you do have some balls!”

  He turned around and walked toward his home. As he walked, he loudly shouted, “All of you better listen up, whoever tries to help Xiao Luo’s household in the future will mean that he or she will become the foe of Xiao Chaolai and his four brothers. Don’t you dare think about living a peaceful life in Luo Village!”

  An Yuan scoffed at Xiao Luo before she turned around and left.

  The people who were closer to Xiao Luo’s household were wryly smiling.

  Aunt Taoxiu worrisomely approached Xiao Luo and sighed. “Xiao Luo, why would you even provoke Xiao Chaolai? All five of them are nothing but complete jerks. You know better than anyone that they are not reasonable.”

  “Aunt Taoxiu, he was already stirring sh*t at my front door and even said that he wanted to bury my granny alive. If it was Brother Ping, he also would have gotten all worked up like me.” Xiao Luo smiled.

  Aunt Taoxiu deeply frowned and replied, “That’s right, but how could you act so recklessly toward him? It’s like you’re hitting a stone with an egg. It’s never wrong to endure for the sake of yourself.”

  “There ought to be a limit of how much I can endure, right?” Xiao Luo shook his head.

  Aunt Taoxiu sighed and said, “Child, I wish I could’ve convinced, but just remember one thing from me. If the five of them really come for you in the future, just call the police. Once the police have arrived, they won’t be daring enough to do anything to you.”

  Xiao Luo nodded and replied, “Hmm, OK!”

  When he was a toddler, Aunt Taoxiu used to hug him a lot. His most vivid memory of her was at her place having dinner with her son, Xiao Ping, on the same bench. Their mouths were stuffed full of greens. It was a mess to look at. Speaking of which, although Xiao Luo was two years younger than Xiao Ping, they had never grown distant during his annual return to the hometown.

  “By the way, when is Brother Ping coming back?”

  “He should be back by the Preliminary Eve. Ping usually comes back during that time. He will be back late.”

  Aunt Taoxiu smiled. “Are you brats keeping in touch during normal days?”

  \r \r \r

  Xiao Luo honestly answered, “Sometimes we chat online.”

  “You guys have been such good buddies since you were young. Don’t grow distant, even if you have grown up. You guys should keep in touch often. Even brothers who are related by blood grow distant if they don’t keep in touch at all.” Aunt Taoxiu sighed.

  Xiao Luo could not have agreed more and nodded. “That’s right. It should be that way.”

  The thought of Xiao Qiudong instantly entered his mind.

  ******

  It was nighttime. Xiao Luo called Zhang Dashan. He was complaining about his family constantly forcing him to go on blind dates. He had gone for two blind dates the day he returned, once in the morning and another in the afternoon. Neither of the women were his cup of tea, so he rejected them. Those two women, however, were very satisfied with him upon seeing him with a Range Rover. One of them even actively asked him out.

  “Isn’t that pretty good? It means you’re popular,” Xiao Luo joked.

  “For f*ck sake, she’s just eyeing my Range Rover,” Zhang Dashan said. “I’d never date a gold digger like her. Actually, I still think that Sister Huang is perfect. She’s pretty and demure. After I’m done with the New Year celebration, I’ll return to Jiangcheng and date her.”

  Xiao Luo grabbed a piece of spring roll. “Well, I wish you the best of luck.”

  He hung up and did not talk the rest of the night.

  In the afternoon of the second day, he went to Xiao Qiudong’s banquet per invite.

  Every household in the village sent a representative to attend the banquet. They were expected to present a red packet for the sake of tradition. The other banquet attendees were Xiao Qiudong’s relatives and friends. Those who came to the banquet were basically elderly and children as it was still some time away from the New Year celebration. Most of the youths who had ventured out for jobs were still working outside the village.

  Xiao Luo’s red packet contained 666. Three sixes represented that everything would take place smoothly according to their will.

  Xiao Luo walked up to Qiudong, who was chatting with his guests, and passed him the red packet. “Donggua, congratulations on having a child!”

  “Xiao Luo, my bro, you’ve finally arrived.”

  Xiao Qiudong smiled as he received the red packet. He put it in the inner pocket of his suit. He gave Xiao Luo’s shoulder a brotherly pat and said, “We’ve underestimated the number of guests today, and we couldn’t accommodate everyone. Bro, do me a favor by moving the dining tables over here from my uncle’s house next door. Thanks a lot.”

  “Hmm, OK!”

  Xiao Luo nodded and immediately agreed.

  Under Xiao Qiudong’s rally, a bunch of kids, who were about 7 or 8 years old, showed up. He gave every one of them a huge stash of candies and asked them to help Xiao Luo with moving the benches.

  So, Xiao Luo was like the big child amongst them. He led the kids next door to move the dining tables from the neighbor’s house. With Yijin Jing and the Constitution of King of Mercenaries, Xiao Luo would not have even broken a drop of sweat from moving just a dining table. However, just after he had positioned the table and was preparing to get seated, Xiao Qiudong appeared out of nowhere and patted him from behind.”

  “Oh, my bro, we’re severely understaffed for banquet servants. Why don’t you lend me a hand and get going to the kitchen and serve some dishes? Thanks a lot!”

  Before Xiao Luo could react, Xiao Qiudong left to enthusiastically tend to other guests immediately after he said those words.

  Xiao Luo was a little pissed off and thought, Was I invited to attend the banquet or serve at the banquet?

  He wryly smiled and decided to accept it. He put on an apron and went to the kitchen to help with serving the dishes. The rest of the guests were all seated and ready to dig in.

  “Luo, you’re back and helping Qiudong serve dishes. You guys are so close.”

  “Yep, Luo and Qiu were classmates since elementary school, and they lived pretty near each other. Of course, they would be close.”

  “Most of the dishes have been served. Luo, come get seated and dig in.”

  Since they were all from the same village, they all recognized Xiao Luo. Some uncles and aunts greeted Xiao Luo with great enthusiasm.

  Xiao Luo smiled and humbly replied, “Uncles and aunts, you guys should dig in first. I’m fine. Dongguo gave me some food beforehand.”

  “So, that’s it. You guys are so close.” An aunt smiled.

  An Yuan was seated near the dining table. She noticed that Xiao Luo was serving dishes and drinks. She immediately screamed, “Xiao Luo, we’re out of tea here! Bring a fresh pot here now!”

  Xiao Luo took a deep breath and adjusted his state of mind. He turned around to get some hot tea and delivered it to An Yuan’s table.

  When he was leaving, he could hear An Yuan’s sarcastic comment. “Indeed a good-for-nothing brat who can’t even eat at a banquet and needs to serve instead.”

  Xiao Luo was not someone who was easily angered, but he was genuinely feeling humiliated and enraged.

  The inner force in his body started to run uncontrollably. It had affected the air in the entire atmosphere. With him as the center, a hurricane was about to be formed. The dust on the ground was all blown into the air.

  “What’s wrong, Bro?”

  Xiao Qiudong was tending to other guests, but he came over in a hurry to check on Xiao Luo after seeing that his face was weird.

  Xiao Luo forced out a smile as he thought about their close relationships when they were younger. He quelled the fire within him and answered, “It’s nothing.”

  “If there’s nothing, then keep helping me with serving the dishes. Look at those tables. They’re all lacking a plate of fish balls. Go check up on the kitchen and see what’s wrong. You must not mess up the number of dishes!”

  Xiao Qiudong was not being courteous to Xiao Luo at all. He had stuffed so much food in his mouth that there was grease all over his mouth, and he could not stop burping. However, he still took Xiao Luo’s assistance for granted and was bossing him around.