After being separated from my family, I became a darling of the military region thanks to my medical

"stop!"

"lay down!"

Two voices rang out simultaneously. One was deep and muffled like thunder, the other clear and cold like shattered jade.

Gu Zheng swiftly reached out and grabbed Ye Zhu's wrist as he tried to ambush him with a stone. Ye Zhu felt as if his hand had been welded into iron pliers, half of his body went numb, and the stone in his hand slammed into his foot with a "thud".

"Ouch!" Ye Zhu cried out in pain, clutching his foot and jumping around.

"Are you crazy?" Gu Zheng frowned, seemingly casually kicking Ye Zhu in the butt. He held back seven-tenths of his strength, but the kick still sent Ye Zhu staggering several steps. "That's fighting, that's illegal! We're civilized people, why are we messing with thugs? It's beneath us!"

The villagers around them twitched at the corners of their mouths: "Who was it that just dislocated Zhao Shanhe's wrist like that? And now they're acting all civilized."

Ye Zhu rubbed his burning backside, looking aggrieved: "You were the one who started it..."

"I was acting in self-defense." Gu Zheng tugged at his military uniform collar with a righteous expression. "This is called assisting the local authorities in maintaining order."

Ye Zhen ignored the commotion and walked straight over, pulling the somewhat bewildered Ye Cheng aside. After checking him over thoroughly and confirming that not even a scratch had been made, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Her gaze shifted and landed on the girl named Zhao Xiuxiu.

In the chaos just now, the girl had scraped her hand on the back of the pickaxe handle while protecting Ye Cheng, and beads of blood were still oozing out. When she saw Ye Zhen looking at her, Zhao Xiuxiu awkwardly pulled her hand back into her sleeve, but her bright eyes were open and honest, without the slightest hint of evasion.

"Your name is Zhao Xiuxiu?" Ye Zhen took out a clean white handkerchief from the pocket of her wool coat and handed it to her.

"Hmm." Zhao Xiuxiu didn't take the handkerchief. Instead, she glanced warily at Gu Zheng, who was full of murderous aura, and whispered to defend her brother, "Don't hit my brother. He just has a foul mouth, but he's not a bad person at heart... He's just desperate because his family was poor."

"Poverty is not a reason to do evil." Ye Zhen shoved a handkerchief into her calloused hands without room for argument. "Wipe the blood off. How can a girl wear a ring if her hands are scarred?"

Just then, a series of hurried and heavy footsteps came from afar, accompanied by wheezing like a broken bellows.

"Stop it, all of you! This is outrageous!"

Zhao Dahai, the old village chief of Dahe Village, came running over, wearing a shiny old sheepskin coat, his steps uneven. When he saw his son kneeling on the ground groaning, the old man's face trembled with heartache.

But when he looked up and saw Gu Zheng's crisp four-pocket military uniform and the imposing jeep next to him, his seasoned intuition instantly told him—he'd kicked a hornet's nest.

"It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding, sir!"

Zhao Dahai's eyes darted around, and he rushed into the crowd, first slapping his son Zhao Shanhe, who had just gotten up, on the back of the head with a loud crack: "You bastard! Who gave you permission to bring people here to cause trouble? Apologize to the commander now! You don't want to live anymore!"

Zhao Shanhe covered his head, looking resentful, but under his father's murderous gaze, he could only groan and remain silent.

Gu Zheng sneered and ignored this clumsy attempt at self-inflicted injury.

He walked to the large millstone by the roadside, sat down with an air of authority, and his posture was more like that of a general in his command tent than at the edge of a village. He tapped the millstone with his long fingers and gestured with his chin toward the stone pillar opposite.

"Village Chief Zhao, right? Stop acting, the stage isn't even set up yet. Since we're here, let's sit down and have a chat."

Zhao Dahai blushed and awkwardly walked over to sit down. He habitually took out his pipe to light it, but after being swept over by Gu Zheng's cold, piercing gaze, he embarrassedly stuffed it back into his belt.

"Sir, this matter...sigh, it's our fault. But we had no other choice!"

As Zhao Dahai spoke, his eyes reddened. His acting skills were so good, it was a waste not to have him in a performing arts troupe. "Look at our Dahe Village, it was truly poor! The land was all saline-alkali soil; nothing grew. Before, everyone was poor, so we didn't really feel it. Now, the quarry next door in Heishan Village is full of big trucks and building new houses; they're about to be able to eat meat, while we can't even get a sip of soup… People's hearts are just so restless!"

"You think you can just grab things because you're aggressive?" Ye Cheng couldn't help but interject, veins throbbing in his neck. "That's what we earned with our own sweat and blood!"

"Yes, yes, you're right, Chengzi." Zhao Dahai wiped away non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes. "But Chengzi, have you thought about it? Your car passes by our area every day, kicking up dust. The old and young men are envious."

Just then, a string of curses came from afar.

"I'd like to see which bastard dares to bully us in Black Mountain Village just because we're nobody!"

Then, Wang Laocai, the village chief of Heishan Village, came running over, panting, carrying a pipe in his hand, followed by more than a dozen strong laborers from the village carrying shovels and hoes.

When Wang Laocai arrived at the scene and saw that Ye Cheng was alright, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then, when he turned around and saw the large group of people from Dahe Village, his anger instantly flared up.

"Zhao Dahai! You old bastard!" Old Wang pointed at Zhao Dahai, jumping up and down as he cursed, "You were already putting me down at the last commune meeting, and now you've taken advantage of my absence to bring people to block our quarry? Have you no shame!"

Zhao Dahai, the village chief of Dahe Village, was wearing a shiny old sheepskin coat. He originally wanted to come and play the victim, but after being scolded by Wang Laocai, his rogue nature came out.

"Wang Laocai, stop talking nonsense!" Zhao Dahai retorted, spitting as he spoke. "This road is on the edge of our Dahe Village's territory. Why should you get all the meat but not even give us a sip of soup? This isn't over until you give us an explanation!"

"An explanation? I'll give you a damn explanation!" Old Wang tucked his pipe into his belt, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "This road was built with funds raised by our village, and we quarried the stones ourselves. You're poor? You're poor because you're lazy! Last year when the relief grain came out, your bunch of lazybones took it and traded it for alcohol. Now you're jealous of us? Dream on!"

The two village chiefs, whose combined age was over a hundred, were arguing like two roosters with bloodshot eyes at the border of the two villages. The surrounding villagers were also indignant, their weapons creaking in their hands, and it looked like another fight was about to break out.

Gu Zheng watched the farce with a cold eye, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"Alright," Gu Zheng said calmly.

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried a chilling aura that sent shivers down one's spine.

Wang Laocai and Zhao Dahai instinctively shut up.

Zhao Dahai's eyes darted around, his expression instantly changing from fierce to pitiful. He cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Gu Zheng: "Sir, we're sorry you had to see this. But we had no choice! Sir, you're a high-ranking officer in the army, we dare not offend you. But the Qingyun River flows down from our Dahe Village, it's none of your business, is it?"

The entire room fell silent.

Zhao Dahai looked smugly at Wang Laocai's face, which had just changed color, and slowly said, "Your quarry needs water to wash the stones, and the villagers need drinking water. What if one day I accidentally dump a few buckets of manure into the river, or make all the little brats in the village urinate in the river every day and wash their maggot-infested diapers..."

"How dare you!" Old Wang was so angry his beard trembled. "Zhao Dahai, this is a despicable trick that will bring you nowhere to continue your lineage!"

"Hehe, this isn't illegal, is it? The police station can control everything, but what can they control about pooping and peeing?" Zhao Dahai was going all out. "Anyway, we have nothing to lose. At worst, we'll all just walk away. Let's see how you drink this water! How you wash these stones!"