Chapter Eleven: An Apology and an Act of Contrition

“How about this, Xiao Ding, do you have any leftover wolf meat from last night?” Village Chief He asked Xiao Ding. In fact, he had been there himself the previous night, so he knew very well whether there was any meat left.

By now, Da Bao Tian and a few children had also gathered closer. Seeing the village chief step in to mediate, Da Bao Tian kept silent. When he heard the chief ask about leftover meat, he quickly replied, “Yes, yes, there’s still about twenty or thirty pounds.”

Xiao Ding glanced at Da Bao Tian, thinking to himself, I don’t know whether I’m the fool, or if my own father is the fool, announcing exactly how much meat is left.

“That’s good. Da Bao, you know Xiao Ding isn’t quite right in the head, and he struck several elders—such disrespect is a grave offense! Even if the injuries aren’t serious, cough, cough…” He shot a look at Er Bao Tian, whose face was swollen like a pig’s head, then continued shamelessly, “Though their injuries are light, striking your elders still calls for an apology and compensation. How about this: you take all the leftover wolf meat from your house and send it to your father and uncles as a gesture of apology, and have Xiao Ding offer his apologies as well. Let’s consider the matter settled—what do you think?”

Er Bao Tian and San Bao Tian had never divided the household and still lived under the old patriarch’s roof. Sending wolf meat to Old Man Tian naturally meant Er Bao and San Bao would get their share as well.

“Alright, I have no objection!” Da Bao Tian was the first to agree.

“And the two of you? How do you feel about it?” The village chief turned to Er Bao and San Bao.

“We…” The two exchanged glances, their faces long. They had come hoping to seize the entire wolf, yet not only had they failed, they’d received a beating instead. Clearly, taking the wolf by force was out of the question, and being beaten by a fool was not something they could complain about to anyone. Twenty or thirty pounds of wolf meat wasn’t much for such a large family, but it was still meat—better than none.

“Any objections?” The village chief saw their hesitation and thought they were still eyeing the whole wolf. His expression hardened as he said, “Look, your eldest brother was driven out and established his own household years ago—by rights, you’re separate families now. That wolf was killed by Xiao Ding at the risk of his life; it has nothing to do with you two. I’d advise you to give up on claiming the whole wolf.”

“We have no objections. We’ll go along with the chief’s decision,” Er Bao and San Bao said, disgruntled but knowing they were in the wrong. Coming to pick a fight and getting beaten—there was no way they’d be justified, even if it went to the county magistrate.

“Very well, that’s settled. Go home and tell your father, Tian Caishen, that this was my decision. If he’s not satisfied, he can come to my house and talk to me,” the village chief instructed them.

Old Man Tian’s real name was Tian Caishen. His father had wanted to name him “Tian God of Wealth,” but worried it would offend the actual God of Wealth, he changed “Shen” (god) to “Shen” (申). Yet as he grew up, everyone just called him “Tian God of Wealth” anyway.

Having settled the Tian family business, the village chief called out to the onlookers, “It’s over, everyone, disperse now!”

The gossiping villagers were still deep in discussion:

“That Tian fool really is a fool—daring to hit his own uncles!”

“Hitting his uncles is nothing—he once kicked his own grandfather to the ground with a single blow!”

“That ruthless? He really is a fool, doesn’t even recognize his own kin!”

“I’m telling you, we’d better not provoke that fool. When he loses his head, he doesn’t care about anyone!”

“Exactly! Even his two uncles and their sons—four against one—couldn’t handle him!”

“No surprise—if the fool can take on a wolf, what’s a person to him?”

“We’d better keep our distance. When that fool’s temper flares… tsk, tsk…”

Xiao Ding listened from the side, feeling a wave of sorrow wash over him. It seemed that for the rest of his life, the label of ‘fool’ would never be washed away.

Once the crowd had dispersed, the Tian family gathered together. They hadn’t had breakfast yet, despite the morning now well underway.

Originally, Zhao Laixi and his wife had planned to return to Luoyun Village after breakfast, but the day’s events had taken them by surprise.

Da Bao Tian, leaning on his crutches, looked at Xiao Ding, then at the wolf on the ground, and said to Zhao Laixi, “Laixi, in a bit, take Xiao Ding and bring the wolf meat to the old house. Make sure he apologizes to your grandfather and his two uncles. Explain to your grandfather that Xiao Ding didn’t mean to hit him—he was injured from fighting the wolf last night and wasn’t thinking straight.”

“Yes, Father,” Zhao Laixi replied.

“Go quickly and come back soon. After breakfast, you two can take the wolf into town to sell it. The sooner it’s out of our house, the better—people keep thinking about it,” Da Bao Tian added.

“We’ll be back as soon as we can,” Zhao Laixi promised.

At that moment, Madam Li had already brought out the remaining twenty or thirty pounds of wolf meat in a wooden basin and handed it to Zhao Laixi.

Tian Xiaofu and Tian Xiaozhu gazed longingly at the wolf meat, swallowing hungrily. Xiao’e, on the other hand, kept a cold, thin face and said nothing—she wasn’t yet over her anger. Xiaoya, though not as resentful as Xiao’e, still stood with furrowed brows, silent. Only Erniu stared at Xiao Ding with wide eyes, a mix of doubt, surprise, and excitement in her gaze.

Xiao Ding followed Zhao Laixi to the old Tian family residence at the village center, home to Tian God of Wealth as well as Er Bao and San Bao. From Zhao Laixi, Xiao Ding learned that besides his second and third uncles, he also had a fourth uncle, Si Bao Tian, and two aunts: Da Hua Tian and Er Hua Tian. By the names of the siblings alone, one could tell just how much learning Tian God of Wealth had acquired.

The courtyard of the old residence was quite spacious, with more than a dozen rammed-earth rooms—much better than Da Bao Tian’s house.

Upon entering, the first person they met was Grandma Zhou, a sprightly woman in her fifties, her hair streaked with gray but not nearly as elderly as one might expect.

Seeing Xiao Ding and Zhao Laixi, her face, which had been smiling, immediately darkened. But when she spotted the basin of meat in Zhao Laixi’s hands, her expression brightened at once.

“You’ve come to deliver meat?” Without waiting for an answer, the old lady snatched the wooden basin and hurried off to the kitchen.

“Grandma—” Zhao Laixi started to speak, but seeing her already gone, he raised his voice, “Grandma, we need the basin back!”

Hearing his shout, Tian God of Wealth emerged from his room. When he saw Zhao Laixi and Xiao Ding, his face darkened. “What are you doing here?”

It turned out that the second and third sons, ashamed, had slipped off to their rooms and hadn’t yet spoken to their father about the apology. Likewise, Tian God of Wealth, still embarrassed about being kicked by his grandson, hadn’t mentioned it to Grandma Zhou.

“Grandfather, we’ve come to apologize to you, my second and third uncles, and my two cousins…” Zhao Laixi said respectfully.

Tian God of Wealth snorted coldly, saying nothing. Suddenly, his eyes widened. “What did you say? What happened to your uncles and cousins?”

Zhao Laixi was puzzled—hadn’t his uncles said anything when they returned?

“My second and third uncles and the two cousins were beaten by my brother-in-law…” Zhao Laixi replied uncertainly.

“What?” Tian God of Wealth flared up, pointing at Xiao Ding and cursing, “You unfilial beast! I’ll beat you to death!”

He raised a hand, about to strike.

Xiao Ding was still debating whether to dodge when a voice called from behind:

“Stop!”