The atmosphere tensed in the blink of an eye. Captain Sun Dazhuang made a timely appearance, standing in the middle and calling out the decision-makers from each family. "Chen the Second, what are you going to do?"
Chen Mingliang's father felt like he had lost a lifetime's worth of face. He had already beaten and cursed his son, but what more could be done at this point?
"The wedding is off. My Chen family has wronged your An family."
An Ning wanted to speak. 'Sorry' was the most useless word; she wouldn't accept it.
But before she could speak, her mother, Lin Cuihua, tugged at her arm. Then her father, An Sancheng, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
"Second Brother Chen, this isn't something that can be finished with a simple apology. My daughter has been strung along by your family until now, and for you to pull a stunt like this on her wedding day is like throwing the An family's face on the ground and stomping on it."
"Then what do you want?"
Chen Mingliang's father looked at An Sancheng with the attitude of someone with nothing left to lose.
An Sancheng glanced at An Ning before speaking again. "Compensation, for my girl's future dowry. And the Miao Family, too. My daughter didn't suffer that injury on her head for nothing."
While Chen Mingliang's father was still squatting on the ground silently, Chen Mingliang himself refused to accept it.
He pulled Miao Xiaohua up and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Compensation? On what grounds? Your An Ning is just a fool and a mute! The fact that I was willing to marry her is a blessing your family should be burning incense for!"
"I love Miao Xiaohua, and I'm going to marry her!"
Beside him, Miao Xiaohua gazed at Chen Mingliang with a touched expression, nestling against him like a delicate bird.
An Ning's gaze was fixed on the two of them, as if confirming something.
'Confirmation complete. A pair of idiots. Correct.'
Before anyone could react, An Ning charged forward.
A flying kick landed squarely on Chen Mingliang's chest.
Simultaneously, she precisely grabbed Miao Xiaohua's hair with one hand. Just as Chen Mingliang went flying backward, An Ning's other hand landed with a sharp SMACK across Miao Xiaohua's face.
"First the beating, then the compensation!"
Realizing that could be misinterpreted, she immediately added, "You're the ones who are paying!"
An Ning's swift and decisive actions shocked everyone.
But what followed...
"Damn it! You dare insult my little sister! I'm gonna beat the hell out of you."
The An family's eldest brother, An Guoqing, swung his arms and charged at Chen Mingliang, followed closely by the second brother, An Guoming.
The eldest brother went for his upper body while the second grabbed his legs, and Chen Mingliang was instantly taken down. The youngest brother, An Guoping, ran over with a cloth shoe he'd just taken off and started slapping him with it, finding any open spot he could.
The scumbag Chen Mingliang was no match for three grown men. Beaten to a pulp, he started wailing. He tried to act tough at first, but soon he was just screaming, "Stop hitting me! Stop!"
An Ning was suddenly thrilled. 'Teacher said that people who fight together are good comrades-in-arms, sworn brothers even!'
This fired her up even more. Swinging her arm in a full arc, she delivered several more slaps. With a few SMACKS, Miao Xiaohua's ears were ringing and her head was fuzzy.
But even so, she was still shouting, "Ming Liang! Stop hitting Ming Liang!"
Hearing Miao Xiaohua shout disgusted An Ning. She switched from her palm to her fist. With one punch, Miao Xiaohua let out a howl, spitting out two teeth flecked with blood.
The scene instantly devolved into chaos.
"Second Brother Chen, this is a fight between the kids! Why are the adults getting involved?"
An Ning's parents instantly blocked Chen Mingliang's parents. Behind them, Uncle An and his family blocked the Miao Family.
'Are you kidding? The An family is in the right, and we have the upper hand. We can't let you mess this up.'
"Aiyaaa... The An family is bullying us! Captain..."
Chen Mingliang's mother collapsed onto the ground, wailing and wiping her tears. Captain Sun Dazhuang, standing in the middle, took a deep breath and roared, "All of you, stop this instant!"
An Ning, who had been enjoying the fight, took a moment to tilt her head. Consulting her memories, she knew that Sun Dazhuang was the top leader in the village and could not be offended.
'Teacher said, when you lack power, you must lay low.'
"Eldest Brother, Second Brother, Little Brother, stop fighting. Let's let the captain uphold justice for us."
After speaking, An Ning casually tossed aside Miao Xiaohua, whose hair she was still holding. She stood up straight and proper, and said very politely to Sun Dazhuang, "Captain, please speak."
Captain Sun Dazhuang glanced at Miao Xiaohua, who was lying on the ground, her face a mess, with blood at the corner of her mouth. Then he looked at An Ning, who had an obedient expression on her face, her hands clasped in front of her as she waited for him to dispense justice. It gave him a headache.
However, a judgment still had to be made.
He first looked at the Chen family and said, "When your family arranged the engagement with the An family, didn't you know what An Ning was like? Since you knew, what's the point of spouting all that bullshit now!"
"What you did was inhuman. You should pay the compensation. If you don't pay, you can just fight it out with the An family. I won't get involved! If someone gets killed, I'll just call the police. At worst, I'll quit being captain!"
After speaking to the Chen family, Sun Dazhuang turned to the Miao Family, his gaze even more hostile.
"Same goes for you! You injured An Ning; there's no reason you shouldn't pay. Don't give me any useless excuses. Your daughter deserved that beating. It's the same for you—if you don't pay, then fight it out with the An family!"
At the captain's mention of fighting the An family, many people in the crowd suddenly took a step forward. They were all surnamed An. An was a major surname in Shili Gou, and if you traced the family lines, most of them were related somehow.
Usually, they all got along as fellow villagers. But when it came to a fight, well, sorry, they were all surnamed An.
How could the Chen and Miao families dare to fight the An family? Both families had fled famine in the previous generation and had married locals to put down roots. The Chen family's engagement to An Ning had also been arranged with this in mind.
In the end, the Chen family reluctantly compensated An Ning with two hundred yuan. As for the betrothal gift, it had been waived when the marriage was discussed, as both families felt they knew each other well enough not to bother with such formalities. Who would have thought things would turn out this way?
The Miao Family paid one hundred yuan. They had to take the beating and just suck it up; there was nothing anyone could say.
An Ning's mom collected the money and firmly stuffed it into An Ning's arms, saying, "Daughter, you keep this yourself."
"Right, it's all for my daughter's dowry," An Ning's dad said. He then cupped his fists to the crowd to express his thanks.
"We owe everyone a lot for today. We've got plenty of candy at home. Everyone, take a piece or two to sweeten your mouths."
As soon as An Ning's dad finished speaking, her second brother, An Guoming, and youngest brother, An Guoping, came over carrying a plate of candy, handing out one or two pieces to everyone they saw.
It wasn't much, but the matter had been resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
An Ning's eyes followed the plate of candy. She was curious if it was refined from crops. In the interstellar age, all they had was industrial chemical saccharin, which wasn't recommended for human consumption.
"What are you staring at, daughter? Let's go home."
Lin Cuihua came to pull An Ning along, but An Ning didn't move. "I'm waiting for the candy to sweeten my mouth," she said.
Lin Cuihua was amused by An Ning's words. She pulled her along and said, "We have some at home."
An Ning nodded obediently, looking like a completely different person from when she was fighting. Clutching the small cloth pouch with three hundred yuan, she walked home with Lin Cuihua. Trailing behind them was the village doctor, who had been there for a while but hadn't been able to get a word in edgewise.
After getting home, before An Ning had a chance to observe her surroundings, she was pushed down onto a stool to have her wound checked. After examining it, the village doctor said:
"It's nothing serious. The wound isn't deep. It'll heal over time."
"That's wonderful!" Lin Cuihua then asked, "But An Ning can talk now, and she's not slow anymore. What's going on?"
The doctor didn't know either, but he guessed, "It was probably that knock on the head. As for how it healed her, I'm not sure. The brain is a complicated thing."
"If you're still worried, you can take her to the city for another check-up."
"Yes, yes, that makes sense." Lin Cuihua had just been anxious and wanted to ask. The doctor left some anti-inflammatory medicine and departed, with Lin Cuihua personally seeing him out.
Sitting on the stool, An Ning clutched the money and looked around her new home with curiosity.
'So this is the Ancient Earth Era, with actual crops?'
'Why is everything I see a little different from what Teacher taught me?'