After being jilted, the entire neighboring village was filled with deep regret.

Chapter 9 Settlement of Accounts
"Absolutely! My future son-in-law can't be bullied like this." Su Chunlin rubbed his hands together, ready to make a big splash.

The next day, he personally went to Ximen Village.

Ding was chatting with a group of women at the village entrance when she saw Su Chunlin quickly pass by. She froze for a moment, then jumped up on the spot, shouting, "Su Chunlin, you heartless bastard, you dare to come to our village! You stop right there!"

Su Chunlin saw Ding Shi from afar, but he didn't want to argue with her, so he slipped away so quickly.

Ding was surprised that the more she called out, the faster Su Chunlin ran. She concluded that he was guilty and immediately gave chase.

Su Chunlin arrived at the Mo family's house and saw Mo Laotian as soon as he entered. Without saying a word, he rushed forward and punched Mo Laotian.

Ding, who had followed, screamed in fright.

When Mo Laotian's wife and daughters heard the news, they came out and, seeing that Mo Laotian had been beaten, they all grabbed their weapons and rushed over.

Su Chunlin grabbed Mo Laotian's collar angrily and roared, "Shen Ping is dead, that's true! But Liu Laosan and I are still alive. Shen Yi isn't an orphan with no one to back him up!"

Upon hearing the name Shen Yi, Mo Laotian's wife and daughter's angry expressions instantly turned into guilty ones.

It took Guan a while to compose herself before stepping forward to reprimand him, "No matter what, you can't hit people! Besides, we've already explained things to Shen Yi and given him a bag of grain. He didn't cause trouble before, but now he's here. Does he think we didn't give him enough? Isn't that going too far?"

Mo Chunxiang nodded vigorously in agreement with Guan Shi's words, and shouted loudly in dissatisfaction, "I insisted on breaking off the engagement. So what if I don't like him? If you have any problems, come at me, don't come to my parents!"

As she spoke, Mo Chunxiang rushed over and used all her strength to pull Mo Laotian behind her, looking as if to say, "What can you do to me?"

Su Chunlin had come with a purpose, but upon hearing such words, he was furious. He shouted at Mo Chunxiang, "What are you doing meddling in adults' conversation? Do you even know what arranged marriages are? You have both parents, yet you have no manners at all! How can a bag of grain repay the debt your father owes to someone for saving his life?"

Mo Chunxiang had never been scolded to her face before, and when she saw Su Chunlin's fierce appearance, she was so frightened that she burst into tears.

Guan was heartbroken. Like a protective mother hen, she stood in front of Mo Chunxiang and forcefully pushed Su Chunlin away. "What business is it of yours! You're calling my daughter ill-mannered? Even if my daughter is ill-mannered, she's still better than the stupid daughter you raised!"

Su Chunlin was furious. He threw Guan Shi aside and shouted at Mo Laotian, "Men's affairs are none of a woman's business. Mo Laotian, I'm here today, you have to give the Shen family an explanation. Otherwise, I have nothing to lose and I'll go to town tomorrow and make a big scene, so you, Mo Laotian, will be famous throughout the surrounding area!"

"You're shameless!" Guan almost fainted from anger.

Mo Laotian's face turned pale. Knowing that they were in the wrong, he ignored his sore cheek and asked Guan to take Mo Chunxiang back to the house before politely welcoming Su Chunlin into the house.

Seeing that Su Chunlin was about to run away, Ding rushed out and stopped him. "Stop! My son said that your stupid daughter injured him! You must give me an explanation for this!"

Su Chunlin squinted and stared intently at Ding Shi, showing no sign of panic, but his gaze made Ding Shi feel uneasy.

She instinctively backed away, but the thought that this was Ximen Village emboldened her. "Don't think I'm afraid of you just because you're a man! Anyway, if you don't give me an explanation today, you're not leaving Ximen Village!" Su Chunlin suddenly burst into laughter. "What? You want to arrest me?"

Mo Laotian quickly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Brother Chunlin, don't be angry. We are all honest and law-abiding country folk. We don't do anything illegal."

Upon hearing this, Ding snorted twice in resentment, but showed no intention of backing down.

Su Chunlin chuckled dismissively and said, "I found it strange that so many teenagers came to your village that day. Later, my son said that Xiong Dao led a group of people to beat him up, and many people saw it. You can't deny this! I originally didn't intend to pursue this matter because he got his comeuppance. But since you insist on making trouble, then we'll report it to the authorities and let the town official handle it. If Xiong Dao's injuries weren't caused by my daughter, I definitely won't let this go!"

His fierce and resolute demeanor truly intimidated Ding and Mo Laotian.

Mo Laotian made a decision immediately and impatiently chased Ding away, "Alright, the situation that day was already chaotic. You've asked so many families but haven't gotten any answers. You think you can make the Su family girl take responsibility just because of your son's words? What kind of pipe dream is that! Besides, the Su family girl doesn't do any work. How could she have the strength to hurt your son like that? You're not even using your brain when you're looking for someone to interrogate her!"

Ding was unwilling to accept this, but she knew that the man of the house was not there and that she would not gain anything by staying any longer, so she could only leave in a huff.

After Ding left, Su Chunlin stood with his hands behind his back, glanced calmly at Mo Laotian, and said thoughtfully, "I'm here today, so I'll have you pass on a message to the Xiong family. Our Su family doesn't cause trouble, but we're not afraid of trouble either. My elder brother isn't without connections in the county. If the Xiong family can really produce evidence that my daughter injured Xiong Dao, I'll accept the debt! If they can't produce any and still dare to lie outside, don't blame me for going up against them! It's a good opportunity to settle both old and new scores."

Mo Chunxiang and her daughter, who were eavesdropping inside, exchanged a glance, feeling frustrated, angry, and helpless.

Old Mo chuckled twice and nodded repeatedly, "Brother Chunlin, about Shen Yi's matter..."

Su Chunlin waved his hand and said to himself, "It's your problem that you didn't raise your daughter well. I'm not here today to hear your grievances. Who in a respectable family would just break off an engagement like that? That bag of grain can at most be considered your family's apology to the Shen family for breaking off the engagement. Can it make up for the life-saving grace from back then?"

"No, no, absolutely not!" When the matter from back then was brought up, Old Mo looked embarrassed, but his attitude in admitting his mistake was still quite sincere.

Seeing him like this, Su Chunlin's anger finally subsided a bit. "Since you can't, just remember it for now. Everyone is having a hard time right now, and you can't repay it even if I ask you. I'll ask you one last time, are you really not going to go through with the marriage between the Shen and Mo families?"

Mo Laotian's eyes were filled with struggle. At this moment, a sound came from inside the room. Mo Laotian sighed helplessly and nodded heavily, "It's not getting married!"

"Then you'll regret it!" Su Chunlin turned and left in a huff, not even giving Mo Laotian a second glance.

As soon as he left, the Guan mother and daughter immediately ran out of the house.

Mo Chunxiang stomped her foot and gritted her teeth, pointing in the direction Su Chunlin had left and cursing, "If it weren't for my eldest brother, second brother, and Xiong Kai all going to the Canglan River to fetch water, how could he be so arrogant! I'm so angry!"

"That's right! Don't worry, Xiang'er, his daughter is an idiot. She must have known that Xiong Kai broke off the engagement with his daughter and immediately started to discuss marriage with you, so she came to cause trouble. She said she was standing up for Shen Yi. Bah! Is he that kind? If he really wanted to repay the favor, why didn't he marry his daughter to Shen Yi?" The more Guan thought about it, the more she felt that she had guessed correctly.

Even Mo Laotian looked as if he had just realized something, and the pent-up frustration in his heart suddenly dissipated.

(End of this chapter)