Xia Huai'an's headlamp was solar-powered. After four hours of exposure to sunlight during the day, it could reach full charge, providing up to eight hours of illumination at night in low-light mode, though only one hour if kept on high-intensity mode.
However, a portable power bank could be used to charge both his phone and the headlamp.
Meanwhile, a foldable solar panel could recharge the power bank, meaning electricity was practically never a concern.
According to the time displayed on the phone, Xia Huai'an and Yufang had set out at six in the morning, and a little past ten, the two of them returned to Zushang Village.
Just as they reached the foot of the mountain, seeing a crowd gathered around the entrance of the Xia Family home from a distance, Yufang instantly grew tense.
"Eldest Brother, someone is here!" Yufang blurted out anxiously.
"I see them! Let's go check it out first!" With that, Xia Huai'an first laid a large bundle of oak branches by the edge of the field, then helped Yufang hoist her bamboo basket, grabbed her hand, and strode quickly toward the Xia Family home.
As they drew near, they saw three or four ruffians pulling and shoving Xiaomao around. Blind Mother Xia lay on the ground, hugging one man's leg and refusing to let go, while Xiaomao cried loudly. Around them, seven or eight villagers stood watching and pointing.
"Stop right there!" Xia Huai'an shouted in a thunderous voice. He rushed forward, kicked one of the men who was pulling Xiaomao into the air, and then pulled Xiaomao over, sheltering her behind him.
He could tell these men were mostly village bullies and scoundrels who only dared to prey on an orphan and helpless widows, which was why the surrounding villagers showed no great fear—they probably just didn't want to get involved in trouble.
If these were formidable, powerful figures, the villagers wouldn't dare stand around and point like this; they would have hidden away long ago.
"You bastard is looking for—" one pockmarked ruffian yelled in fury.
Xia Huai'an whipped out his dagger and pressed it straight against the speaker's throat, instantly choking back the ruffian's unfinished word.
Law-abiding folks fear the unruly, and the unruly fear those who have nothing to lose. With a sharp blade at his throat, the ruffian's eyes suddenly cleared.
Xia Huai'an's physical conditioning placed him at the T0 tier throughout the entire Xiaoyu Township, and with a lethal weapon in his hand, the sense of oppression he exuded was simply too overwhelming for the ruffians, leaving none of them daring to retaliate for the moment.
"Brother, don't be rash! We're just collecting a debt. Paying back what you owe is only natural and right! Since they couldn't pay up, we were just taking this little girl as collateral!" The pockmarked ruffian squeezed out a smile.
"Collecting a debt? What debt?" Xia Huai'an asked, pressing the dagger a fraction closer.
Instead of answering, the pockmarked ruffian sized Xia Huai'an up and said, "Brother, are you the new husband the Xia Family took in? Take my advice, brother—the Xia Family owes my older brother a hundred taels of silver. If you marry into the family, this debt falls on your shoulders. Don't be a fool, brother! With your looks and build, any kind of woman is within your reach. Why tie yourself down to the Xia Family?"
"Bullshit!" Xia Huai'an cursed. "I am the Xia Family! I am Xia Huai'an, childhood nickname Damao. Xia Ping'an is my second brother, and Xiaomao is my third sister. Now tell me, when did my Xia Family ever owe you silver?"
"Damao?" The pockmarked ruffian froze.
Xia Huai'an swung his left hand and delivered a fierce slap across the pockmarked ruffian's face.
"Is my childhood nickname something a piece of trash like you can just blurt out?"
Dazed by the blow, the pockmarked ruffian felt a chill on his neck and didn't dare fly into a rage.
One of the pockmarked ruffian's companions chimed in, "Your family refuses to pay your debts and now you're resorting to violence and beating people! Aren't you afraid Constable Cheng will drag you off to jail?"
Xia Huai'an let out a cold snort. "You claim my Xia Family owes a debt. Who borrowed it, and where is the proof?"
"Of course we have an IOU! Would peasants like you understand it? Brother Cheng, show him the IOU. If he dares to tear it up, the rest of us can all bear witness and send him straight to prison!"
The ruffians were somewhat intimidated by Xia Huai'an's fierce aura and dared not challenge him directly, so they tried to use the yamen to pressure him.
At these words, the pockmarked ruffian pulled an IOU out from his tunic.
Xia Huai'an snatched the IOU, glanced over it, tucked it into his own pocket, and then dealt the fellow another heavy slap across the face.
"You spawn of a beast, my second brother clearly only borrowed ten taels of silver! It's written as plain as day: a one-year term, thirty percent interest, due at the end of this year! And here you open your mouth and demand a hundred taels, trying to bully the orphans and widows of my Xia Family just because they can't read!"
"Report this to the officials!" Xia Huai'an shouted to the surrounding villagers. "These beasts are bullying us villagers who can't read, turning ten taels into a hundred, coming here to throw their weight around before the due date, and attempting to seize a citizen's daughter in broad daylight! If I don't get these fraudsters and local bullies locked up, I'll take your family name!"
"This IOU is material evidence, and everyone in our village is a living witness!"
The surrounding villagers instantly buzzed with excitement. Few country folk were literate, and nothing infuriated them more than being cheated and taken advantage of in such matters. Now, seeing Xia Huai'an dismantle the pockmarked ruffian's plot, they applauded and cheered, and a few even seized the opportunity to kick the ruffians.
The pockmarked ruffian's face turned ashen. He never imagined the Xia Family would suddenly acquire an eldest brother who was not only powerfully built but also literate. He had thought taking down three orphans and widows of the Xia Family would be effortless, only to stumble hard here.
If this were reported to the authorities, even with his older brother looking out for him in the yamen, a lenient sentence would still certainly include a severe beating with heavy paddles.
A round of paddles from the yamen was enough to kill a man or at the very least leave him half-dead!
Without hesitation, the pockmarked ruffian dropped to his knees before Xia Huai'an, pleading incessantly, "Big Brother Damao, I was blind and mistook the person. Please, Big Brother Damao, spare me! This humble one will never dare come back again!"
By this time, Yufang had helped Mother Xia to her feet and said, "A few days ago, they snatched away our new bedding and several other items from the house, claiming it was collateral for the interest."
Hearing this, Xia Huai'an grabbed the pockmarked ruffian by the collar, hoisted him up with one hand as if he were a mere chick, threw him heavily to the ground, and followed up with a kick!
The pockmarked ruffian let out a miserable scream and couldn't pull himself up for a long while.
His three companions didn't dare step forward—partly because they were in the wrong, and partly because they feared Xia Huai'an, who stood six feet tall, weighed over two hundred pounds, and wielded a sharp blade.
"Return everything you stole from my Xia Family. Shortage of even a single item, and I'll cripple an arm as interest!" Xia Huai'an commanded.
"We'll get them right now, we'll go fetch them immediately!" The pockmarked ruffian dared not refuse.
He tried to scurry off, but Xia Huai'an grabbed him back with one hand.
"You stay right here. The moment they bring the things back, I'll let you go," Xia Huai'an said.
His tone was calm, yet the pockmarked ruffian and his cohorts dared not object.
The pockmarked ruffian obediently squatted beneath the tree, while his companions, feeling as though they had been granted a reprieve, scrambled away in panic.
The pockmarked ruffian lived in the neighboring village, just two or three li away. Thus, before long, those fellows carted back numerous items from the west side of the village using a donkey-drawn cart.
Bedding, chests, clothing, and even earthenware jars, pots, and pans—there were easily twenty or thirty pieces in total.
These items were mostly brand-new, precisely the goods the Xia Family had prepared for the upcoming marriage.
"Yufang, take a close look. Is anything missing?" Xia Huai'an asked.
After checking through everything, Yufang replied, "It's all here."
Xia Huai'an sighed inwardly. Yufang was too honest and kind-hearted; she hadn't caught on to his hint.
Right then, if Yufang had insisted that a thing or two were missing, Xia Huai'an could have made an issue of it and taught the pockmarked ruffian another thorough lesson, especially since the fellow was already in the wrong.
When people come to loot your home, they certainly don't leave behind a signed receipt. If you say they stole it, they stole it, and they had no choice but to spit it back out!
"Didn't they say there were also two egg-laying hens?" Xia Huai'an asked. "Were they killed and eaten by this fellow?"
Yufang blinked, failing to grasp Xia Huai'an's intent, and didn't dare answer right away.
Mother Xia, however, caught on at once and quickly chimed in, "That's right! Damao, the laying hens Mother raised laid eggs every day, and we relied on them to get by! These villains stole the chickens too!"
Mother Xia only mentioned that the chickens had been stolen without specifying whether it was done by mountain bandits or the pockmarked ruffian, not a single word out of place.
Xia Huai'an turned to the pockmarked ruffian and asked, "Did you steal the chickens or not? Shall we go report this to the magistrate and let him judge the case?"
The pockmarked ruffian understood instantly that he was going to take a loss today. If they reported it to the authorities, he might avoid paying for the chickens, but he would still not escape a severe beating with the paddles.
Gritting his teeth, he said, "The two chickens were already eaten. At market price, a chicken is worth one tenth of a tael of silver; I'll let you deduct two tenths of a tael from what you owe later."
Xia Huai'an shook his head. "Business is business! When the silver my second brother borrowed from your older brother falls due, I will return the principal and interest in full, down to the very last coin. But the two tenths of a tael of silver you owe me must be paid right now!"
Not daring to object, the pockmarked ruffian fished two tenths of a tael in broken silver from his tunic and handed it over to Xia Huai'an with extreme reluctance.
Xia Huai'an accepted the silver openly, returned the IOU to the other man, and said, "When the Xia Family does things, we settle accounts clearly. What is owed to your brother—thirteen taels of principal and interest combined—will be repaid in full at the end of the year, not a single coin short. But if anyone tries to ride roughshod over my Xia Family, they can ask the blade in my hand first!"
With that, Xia Huai'an slashed his knife toward the thick tree looming right above the pockmarked ruffian's head, cleaving clean through a branch as thick as a grown man's arm with a single blow!