Chapter 131: Rare Treatment

After all, Zhou Dahu was the village chief, so he thought things through more thoroughly than the others. Once he understood the situation, his expression turned ugly. He looked earnestly at Bai Xi and said, “We... we don’t have that much money.”

“Could you perhaps—”

Before he could finish, Bai Xi interrupted him.

“That’s none of my concern.” Her childish voice spoke the most unreasonable words, and her smiling eyes curved into crescents as she carried her infuriating act to the very end. “Since you have enough strength to bully the people of Niu Luo Village, you must also have enough strength to earn money and compensate us.”

“Three days. You have three days. If you don’t bring the money over within that time, don’t blame me for being rude.”

With that, Bai Xi lightly patted Xiao Hei on the head, signaling for it to turn around. She was preparing to lead the people of Niu Luo Village home.

The moment Little Six saw this, he immediately shoved away the boy who had pushed him, glaring at him. Then he and Little Shanzi followed the group with smug expressions, each carrying a watermelon and huffing and puffing as they went.

Little Shunzi hurried over and asked Little Shanzi and Little Six what had happened. After making sure neither of them was hurt, he patted them both on the shoulders and offered a few words of comfort. After all, it was thanks to Little Six and the others buying time that they had been able to wait for the adults from the village to arrive.

“Oh, right. I’m young, so I don’t have much patience.” After Xiao Hei turned around, Bai Xi seemed to remember something. She made it stop, then turned her head toward Zhou Dahu and the others. “You wouldn’t want wild beasts coming to your door when the night is dark and the wind is high, would you?”

The moment those words were spoken, the people of Xia Xin Village who had been planning to shirk their debts all shuddered. They could only watch in silence as the people of Niu Luo Village departed, unable to say a word for a long while.

“Great-Auntie, you’re really letting them off just like that?” Little Shitou hurried over when no one was standing too close to Bai Xi and asked, “Weren’t you going to have Xiao Hei...”

Xiao Hei was clearly right there.

The moment Chen Daliu heard this, he strode over, smacked Little Shitou on the head, and barked, “Go stand somewhere else! You brat, what do you know? Great-Auntie says what she says. If you’re so capable, why don’t you go beat them up yourself?”

Great-Auntie had only been using Xiao Hei to frighten the people of Xia Xin Village into behaving. Surely she was not actually going to let a tiger loose on them and hurt someone. That would damage Great-Auntie’s good fortune, and she was not that sort of person.

“Uh...” Little Shitou scratched his head. Clearly, Great-Auntie had just said she was going to have Xiao Hei teach the people of Xia Xin Village a lesson.

Bai Xi shot him a glance and said blandly, “It’s too sunny.”

“If you don’t mind the sun, you can stay behind and curse them out yourself.”

Little Shitou immediately shook his head.

As if that were possible. Great-Auntie had already left, and none of the villagers were staying behind. If he remained there alone, wouldn’t he simply be asking for a beating?

When Chen Daliu heard Bai Xi complain about the sun, he immediately called for people to break off large leaves and thin branches from the roadside. Working together, they quickly made a crude leaf canopy more than a yard wide. It had six supporting poles in all, three men holding each side, creating a patch of shade over Bai Xi.

At first, they had considered having the men take off their clothes, but the weather was hot, and aside from the women, the men were wearing only a single thin shirt.

Using a shirt that had already been worn to shield Great-Auntie’s head would have been an act of outrageous disrespect.

Bai Xi raised her head. Blinding sunlight shone ahead of her, while above her head the villagers had raised a sheltering canopy of shade. She could not help smiling.

To be honest, the thing was rather ugly. When had Bai Xi ever used something so crude and unsightly?

Yet she smiled with genuine happiness. The villagers’ sincere smiles and concern were enough to make up for everything else.

At that moment, Bai Xi rode atop Xiao Hei, while six men divided into two groups held the improvised sunshade over her. Behind her and on either side followed a line of villagers carrying hoes, axes, shoulder poles, and nine-pronged rakes.

Seen from a distance, they truly looked a little like an ancient emperor traveling in procession.

Of course, ancient emperors did not travel in such shabby fashion. Nor did they ride white tigers.

“Great-Auntie, you must be tired.” Only now did Chen Daliu ask, “But what brought you here?”

When he had set out, he had specifically instructed everyone not to alarm Great-Auntie. After all, Niu Luo Village had few people, and if a fight broke out, they would certainly be at a disadvantage. How could they allow Great-Auntie to be frightened?

If Little Shunzi and the others had known what their village chief was thinking, they would surely have rolled their eyes. Great-Auntie could punch through an entire tree, and she was the one who had directed them to roast snakes for food. How could she possibly be so easily frightened?

Bai Xi cast him a sidelong glance. “I couldn’t come? If I hadn’t, you would have been beaten so badly that I wouldn’t have recognized any of you.”

“No, no, Great-Auntie. That’s not what I meant. I only meant that you must have had a hard journey, and I wonder who could have dared disturb you.”

Bai Xi replied lazily, “I’m Great-Auntie. Is there anything happening in the village that I don’t know about?”

As she spoke, a smug expression appeared on her face. “You all passed beneath my tree house in one great cluster after another. How could I not have known?”

The first sentence made her sound mysterious and formidable, while the second revealed the reason so successfully that everyone understood at once. Unlike the cold and domineering way she had acted toward Xia Xin Village, Bai Xi’s proud little face now made her look even more adorable and innocent.

Everyone burst out laughing.

“Great-Auntie, did you really ride Xiao Hei all the way here?” Little Six had just handed his watermelon to Little Shunzi to carry. After catching his breath a few times, he hurriedly asked out of curiosity.

A watermelon was no small thing—it weighed more than twenty pounds. Although some of the adults in the village had wanted to help carry them, the boys had refused. These were offerings for Great-Auntie, and naturally they had to carry them back themselves. Only then would their sincerity be clear.

At his question, Bai Xi casually rubbed Xiao Hei’s head, not caring in the least that she might ruffle its smooth fur. She answered lazily, “Of course. Xiao Hei runs very fast.”

The moment she finished speaking, someone immediately asked worriedly, “Great-Auntie, you didn’t fall along the way, did you?”

Xiao Hei had been striding along proudly and steadily, but upon hearing this, it turned its head and let out an aggrieved growl.

How could you underestimate Lord Xiao Hei? How could I possibly let my master fall?

Underestimating me was one thing, but how dare you underestimate my master—your Great-Auntie?

Only Bai Xi could understand Xiao Hei’s words. Amused, she reached out and pinched one of the sharp teeth it had bared. “All right, who are you trying to scare?”

The person who had asked the question happened to be holding up one side of the canopy right beside them. If Xiao Hei frightened him into falling, wouldn’t she be exposed to the sun?

The villager Xiao Hei had warned froze for a moment, but he was not particularly frightened. Great-Auntie was there, after all, and Xiao Hei was on the side of their village. There was nothing to fear.

“Great-Auntie, will the people from Xia Xin Village pay us?” Little Shitou took the opportunity to ask.

The people of Xia Xin Village had no shame at all. They had even brazenly snatched the watermelons, so they certainly would not be willing to pay compensation.

Bai Xi raised an eyebrow. With a faintly amused smile on her round little face, she asked, “If you were in their place, would you pay?”

Hmph. If they refused, she would simply send Xiao Hei to their door to collect the debt!

Xiao Hei seemed to understand Bai Xi’s meaning as well. Hot air burst from its nostrils, and it snorted proudly.

Lord Xiao Hei was no pushover!