Zhou Yang did not feel that these leading men were cruel.
In his previous life, he had returned from killing enemies on the battlefield and had long since witnessed countless lives and deaths, his own hands having taken the lives of countless enemies.
The leader and several others repeatedly tortured Zhou Zhiguo.
Every blow they landed carefully avoided Zhou Zhiguo's fatal spots.
Zhou Zhiguo rolled on the ground, screaming in agony!
Zhou Yang had never felt so exhilarated.
These men were simply acting out everything he had in his heart upon Zhou Zhiguo's body.
After watching for a while, Zhou Yang saw that these men had beaten him almost enough.
The leader grabbed Zhou Zhiguo by the neck and hoisted him straight into the air.
"I'll give you one last chance. If there's a next time, what you'll be missing is this thing on your neck."
With that, he slammed Zhou Zhiguo down onto the ground.
Zhou Zhiguo felt a warm wetness in his crotch.
He had actually scared himself so badly he pissed his pants!
Zhou Yang finally could not hold it in anymore, tilting his head back and roaring with laughter.
Zhou Zhiguo, however, dared to feel angry but didn't dare to speak.
Seeing that it was about enough, Zhou Yang turned around and left the place.
Returning home, Zhou Yang cleaned up and went to bed early.
Seeing Zhou Yang bring back tiger meat, Zhou Daniu opened his mouth, but in the end didn't say a word, letting it all turn into a long, heavy sigh.
Early the next morning, Zhou Yang gave a mighty stretch and got dressed to get out of bed.
He came outside and looked at the chunk of tiger meat with a focused gaze.
After pondering for a moment, he figured he could just go to the restaurant in town to sell it for some money.
Then he could buy some good items to subsidize the household expenses.
Zhou Yang fetched a sack, used a butchering knife to carve off another portion of meat from the tiger carcass, and stuffed the whole lot into the sack.
By this time, his parents had already gone to the fields, so Zhou Yang set off right away.
The journey to the town had some distance to it, and it took Zhou Yang a few hours to successfully arrive.
Transportation back then was not developed, and villagers going to the market relied entirely on their own two legs.
Fortunately, Zhou Yang had long since grown accustomed to such conditions.
Back in his previous life, when they spent day after day dodging the enemy in the wilderness, life had been far harsher.
This bit of pain was nothing.
Arriving at a restaurant that looked relatively decent, Zhou Yang walked right in, carrying his sack.
The boss was lazily letting out a yawn. Seeing that Zhou Yang's clothes were thoroughly worn, he blinked his heavy eyelids and said lazily,
"We don't allow begging here. Go beg somewhere else, and don't blame us for being rude when we throw people out."
"Boss, I'm not here to beg. I hunted some game and I'm here to sell goods."
As soon as the boss heard the word "game," his eyes instantly lit up, and his previous lazy demeanor vanished in a flash.
Indeed, there were plenty of these raggedly dressed Mountain Foragers who could bring in plenty of top-tier goods. The boss rubbed his palms together and took the sack from Zhou Yang.
Opening it up, the boss frowned as he stared inside, his eyebrows instantly shooting up in shock, his jaw nearly dropping to the floor.
"This... this is... a big cat?"
"Mmm."
Zhou Yang nodded slightly and said indifferently,
"Hunted it myself. Fresh goods."
"Good, good, good!"
The boss instantly burst into hearty laughter.
Although tigers that could actually be hunted were few and far between under normal circumstances, his establishment was still a well-known restaurant in this town, so he certainly had that bit of discernment. Instantly, he began negotiating the price with Zhou Yang.
After several rounds of back-and-forth, the manager could also tell that Zhou Yang was no simple-minded brute with a well-developed physique and a vacant head; he had a very clear understanding of market conditions.
Knowing he couldn't pull a fast one on Zhou Yang, he figured it was better to make a friend instead.
Since he could hunt a tiger, there surely wouldn't be any problem with other, more premium game in the future.
The manager readily offered a price higher than the market rate, and Zhou Yang felt a surge of joy in his heart, quickly agreeing to the deal.
While handing over the money, the manager casually asked Zhou Yang a few questions.
It was then that he learned this tiger had been hunted by Zhou Yang all by himself.
The boss didn't completely disbelieve it. He didn't know the specifics of Zhou Yang's family background, but if he had a decent hunting rifle, coupled with his own sharp mind and capable skills, there was indeed a genuine chance he could hunt down a fierce tiger.
When they parted ways, the boss waved his arms vigorously.
"Brother Zhou! If you get any more heavy-duty goods in the future, you can look for me! I guarantee you won't lose out!"
Zhou Yang smiled and replied in kind.
In truth, even he hadn't expected to sell it for so much; based on his understanding, it was indeed priced well above the market rate.
Zhou Yang understood what the boss truly meant.
After coming out, Zhou Yang knitted his brows and pondered for a moment.
In his previous life, his parents had lived in utter poverty.
In this life, he ought to properly reward them.
Right away, Zhou Yang walked over to a decent-looking shop and started browsing.
The goods here were of the relatively superior sort. If it had been the Zhou Yang of before, he wouldn't even dare to touch them, but now things were different.
His money pouch was bulging, and his confidence had grown as well.
Zhou Yang looked around earnestly when suddenly he heard a familiar voice.
"Yo, isn't this Zhou Yang? How do you even have the nerve to come here!"
Zhang Laoliu's cheap sneer rang out. Zhou Yang turned his head and met Zhang Laoliu's pimple-covered face.
"Did my coming here affect you? Is this shop yours?"
Zhou Yang's tone was flat, his hands naturally tucked into his pockets, as he had no desire to get into an excessive dispute with Zhang Laoliu right now.
"Whether this shop is mine or not doesn't matter. But you, Zhou Yang, looking around here left and right—if you accidentally break something in people's shops, I'm afraid selling you off wouldn't even cover the cost! Hahaha!"
As he spoke, Zhang Laoliu looked toward his mother.
"Ma, don't you think so?"
"That's right, Zhou boy, if you're willing to apologize to us, it's not completely out of the question for us to treat you to something."
Zhang Laoliu's mother twisted her mouth, mocking Zhou Yang.
Zhou Yang's gaze grew cold, and just as he intended to stop talking, an unexpected burst of laughter came from a shop assistant nearby.
"Boss Zhang, what's the point of talking to a person like this? If he breaks something and can't pay, our boss will deal with him."
Seeing that everyone viewed him this way, an unnamed fire inside Zhou Yang seemed to meet oil, instantly bursting into a blazing inferno.
Without offering any explanation, Zhou Yang pressed his lips tightly together, glared, turned around, and walked toward the clothing section.
Comparing the sizes and seeing that one was about right for his mother, he reached out and took it down.
"Hey, buddy, don't go damaging things!"
The assistant hurried over and shouted.
Ignoring him, Zhou Yang turned and headed straight for the shoe section.
After picking out a pair of good quality shoes that would fit Zhou Daniu well, Zhou Yang turned around to select some candy.
The assistant followed closely behind Zhou Yang, filled with bitter regret.
Why on earth had he run his mouth and said those things to Zhou Yang?!
What if Zhou Yang really ended up breaking something?!
Just as the assistant's face was twisted into a tight knot, Zhou Yang stopped.
He grabbed a bag of candy and handed the items in his hand to the assistant.
"How much?"
Zhou Yang asked indifferently.
The assistant was startled, just about to say, "Do you even have money?"
When Zhou Yang pulled out a money pouch—a bulging one at that.
With his throat feeling dry, the assistant quoted a price, and Zhou Yang didn't hesitate, paying the bill on the spot.
The assistant was dumbfounded, and a second later, hurriedly lowered his head to apologize.
"I'm sorry, Boss Zhou! This little one was blind and failed to recognize a towering figure. I'll bag this up for you right now."
"This... how is this possible!?"
Zhang Laoliu cried out in astonishment from the side.