In Xu Family Village, most people only knew a few of the commonly seen generational rankings.
For example, the "Wei" generation, the "Tong" generation, and the "Guang" generation.
That was because the older generations were either already dead or had little presence in daily life, while the younger generations mostly hadn't even been born yet.
Xu Tongdao and Xu Tonglu were clearly from the "Tong" generation.
Their names were fairly traditional—the second character of their given names directly indicated their generation.
People like Xu Jinshan, on the other hand, belonged to those whose names didn't include a generational character.
Xu Hengbing was twenty-seven years old this year. His home was at the village entrance, but on the opposite side of the drainage channel.
He wasn't old, but his generation was high.
He belonged to the "Heng" generation.
In Xu Family Village, people of this generation were generally elderly.
What did that mean?
It meant his family line wasn't thriving. For example, Xu Hengbing himself—his father had him late in life. Xu Hengbing was only twenty-seven, yet his father had already been dead for three years.
"Qiankun lasts long; Heng, Wei, Tong, Guang shine on…"
Xu Hengbing was only ten years older than Xu Tongdao, yet his generation was two levels higher—this alone explained a lot.
If nothing unexpected happened, Xu Hengbing would likely also struggle to marry and have children, and his family's lineage would probably fall even further behind.
Why?
Because Xu Hengbing wasn't good-looking. He had a fierce face and a bad temper.
His family was poor to begin with. After his father passed away, his elderly mother couldn't control this rebellious son at all.
For the past three years, Xu Hengbing had never done anything proper.
Drinking, gambling, and brawling—whether he visited brothels or not wasn't clear, but the other three, he had all of them covered.
His family wasn't well-off either—just three earthen houses.
Earlier, when Xu Tongdao had made a scene at Xu Jinshan's place across the river, Xu Hengbing had heard the commotion and gone over to watch as well. Now he had just returned home.
The light rain had just stopped. The air outside was fresh. Xu Hengbing sat under the osmanthus tree in front of his house, smoking, his eyes half-lidded as he leered at the young women and newly married wives washing clothes in the river across the way.
His old mother sat not far away shelling soybeans, and he had no intention of helping.
As he was nearly finished with his cigarette, he saw Xu Tongdao—the one who had just caused trouble at Xu Jinshan's—walking toward him with an umbrella in hand.
Xu Hengbing's thick, unruly eyebrows immediately knitted together. He curled his lips in disdain, flicked the ash from his cigarette, and spat a thick wad of phlegm heavily onto the ground right in front of Xu Tongdao.
He stared provocatively at Xu Tongdao as he stopped walking.
Xu Hengbing was a well-known village hooligan—thick-skinned and hard to deal with. Xu Tongdao knew this very well.
In the original timeline, among those who frequently harassed his sister Ge Yuzhu was this lifelong bachelor, Xu Hengbing.
If he had any choice at all, Xu Tongdao wouldn't even want to look at this man, let alone have anything to do with him for the rest of his life.
But Xu Tongdao still came.
For the same reason as before—establishing authority.
He needed to let the entire village know that Xu Tongdao was not someone to be messed with. Only then would his mother, brother, and sister have an easier time in the village going forward.
Even though he knew very well that Xu Hengbing was far harder to deal with than Xu Jinshan, he still chose to clash with him once.
Lowering his gaze to the phlegm spat at his feet, Xu Tongdao's face grew cold. He had a feeling that today, a fight was unavoidable.
Xu Hengbing was ten years older, taller, and stronger than him. In Xu Tongdao's memory, Xu Hengbing had been in many fights and was never known to lose.
Although Xu Tongdao had plenty of fighting experience in his previous life, with his current seventeen-year-old body, he couldn't be certain he would win.
But that didn't matter.
Even if he lost, he had to make Xu Hengbing understand that Xu Tongdao was not easy to bully.
So—
Xu Tongdao raised his head coldly and met Xu Hengbing's gaze. "Xu Hengbing! You took two sacks of rice from my house. Are you returning them or not?"
Xu Hengbing sneered, took a drag of his cigarette, tilted his head slightly, and shot Xu Tongdao a sideways look. He spat out two words, crisp and clear:
"Not returning."
By now, many men, women, and children had gathered nearby to watch.
They had just seen Xu Tongdao make trouble at Xu Jinshan's place earlier. When they noticed him heading toward Xu Hengbing's home, plenty of villagers had already been watching from afar. Now that he had stopped to confront Xu Hengbing, those who loved a good spectacle quickly crowded over.
Xu Hengbing's mother was a thin, short, honest-looking woman. Seeing her son about to clash with Xu Tongdao, her brow furrowed tightly. She stood up, no longer in the mood to shell soybeans, and worriedly tried to persuade him.
"Xiao Bing, you're all from the same village. How about… you just return the rice to Xiao Dao's family?"
"None of your business! Shut up!!"
Xu Hengbing snapped his head around and barked, then turned back, craning his neck as he stepped closer to Xu Tongdao. With a ferocious sneer, he said, "I'm not returning it. What can you do about it? I'm not a soft egg like Xu Jinshan. If you've got the guts, hand me a knife too—let's see if I dare stab you!"
Truth be told, Xu Tongdao really didn't dare.
Because he judged that a lawless bachelor like Xu Hengbing truly would dare to go that far.
"Are you sure you won't return it?"
Xu Tongdao's expression didn't change as he confirmed coldly.
Xu Hengbing stepped closer again, pointed at Xu Tongdao with the hand holding his cigarette, and sneered. "I'm definitely not returning it. Go ahead—try calling the police!"
Calling the police was the threat Xu Tongdao had used earlier on Xu Jinshan.
It worked on Xu Jinshan, but it clearly didn't work on Xu Hengbing.
"Xiao Bing, don't do this… you're all from the same village…"
Xu Hengbing's mother couldn't help but try again.
Xu Hengbing suddenly turned his head and roared impatiently, "Shut up!"
At the instant he turned away—
The cold-faced Xu Tongdao's eyes sharpened. He suddenly made his move.
The umbrella in his right hand snapped upward and lashed viciously across Xu Hengbing's neck.
"Smack—"
The blow sent Xu Hengbing stumbling. Before he could even turn back, Xu Tongdao lunged forward.
His left hand grabbed Xu Hengbing's right arm. His right hand discarded the umbrella, and punch after punch smashed into Xu Hengbing's face.
Xu Hengbing screamed in pain, his cries mixed with vicious threats. His mouth was fierce, but his body was in utter disarray.
Beaten back step by step by Xu Tongdao's full-force assault, he staggered clumsily until, amid the crowd's shocked cries, he fell sideways into the muddy ground with a splash.
Xu Tongdao pressed the advantage without mercy, straddling Xu Hengbing and continuing to rain down punches, beating him until he had no strength left to fight back.
At this moment, Xu Tongdao was ruthless.
Even when he heard Xu Hengbing's mother rushing over in panic to pull them apart, he didn't immediately stop.
He wanted Xu Hengbing to remember this beating.
Only when several men finally rushed in to break it up was Xu Tongdao forcibly pulled off.
By then, Xu Hengbing's face was bruised and swollen, his body curled on the ground in a miserable heap, unable to get up for a long while.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup