Chapter 8: The Great Beauty An Nuan

Chen Dabao walked out of Liu Fugui’s house, feeling his stomach empty as the sky gradually darkened. He turned and headed toward his own home. The crowd gathered at the village chief’s gate dispersed, seeing that the spectacle was over.

"Brother, are we just going to hand over our house, land, and money like that?" Li Youcai asked, looking deeply resentful once the others had left.

"Then what do you suggest I do?" Liu Fugui’s face was grim. Being pushed around by a kid like Chen Dabao today was intolerable. If he didn't suppress this troublemaker, how could he continue to throw his weight around in Peach Blossom Village? However, Chen Dabao had suddenly become remarkably capable, and he needed to carefully plot how to deal with him.

"Brother, have you forgotten? Chen Dabao has an uncle!" Li Youcai’s eyes flickered as he suddenly spoke.

"That's right! How could I have forgotten about him!" Liu Fugui slapped his thigh, his eyes lighting up.

Chen Dabao did indeed have an uncle, though not a blood relative—he was a cousin of Chen Dabao’s late father. When Chen Dabao’s parents first passed away, this uncle had shown up once, also coveting the money and the house. However, this uncle lived in town and looked down on Chen Dabao’s family, having long since cut ties with them. The villagers had used that reason to chase him away back then, leading to a loud confrontation that almost turned into a brawl. Now, however, they could certainly make use of him. Liu Fugui, his face still dark, immediately began plotting with Li Youcai and Liu Dafu.

Meanwhile, Chen Dabao was walking home. Passing a vegetable patch, he picked two cucumbers. Looking up to see the lights flickering in a small courtyard in the distance, he suddenly thought of a woman: An Nuan.

An Nuan was someone Chen Dabao had met during his college years, two years his senior. One night in the city, while Chen Dabao was returning to campus, he saw two men dragging An Nuan toward a car and rushed in to save her. Later, after graduating from medical school, An Nuan heard that Chen Dabao had been beaten into a state of mental deficiency, so she applied to be the resident village doctor and came to Peach Blossom Village. She had been there for over a year, trying every possible method to cure him. Now that Chen Dabao was no longer simple-minded, he felt he had to go and tell her.

"Sister Nuan!" Chen Dabao called out as he reached the courtyard.

"Dabao, come on in, the door isn't locked!" An Nuan’s languid voice drifted from inside.

Chen Dabao pushed the door open and stepped in. He saw An Nuan with her back to the door, leaning over the edge of a large wooden tub, her long, waterfall-like hair draped and floating on the water. She was sitting in the tub, her fair, beautiful back translucent and crystalline, like a piece of flawless white jade. Good heavens, An Nuan was bathing.

Chen Dabao felt a rush of heat in his nose and nearly sprayed blood.

"Dabao, what are you standing there for? Help me scrub my back!" An Nuan turned her head lazily, revealing a face of stunning beauty—her eyebrows were like ink paintings, her skin whiter than snow.

"Oh!" Chen Dabao bobbed his Adam's apple and replied dully, preparing to help her scrub her back. He was a fool, after all, and understood nothing; over the past year, An Nuan had often asked him to help her with this.

Just then, the door that had been closed behind him was kicked open.

"Well, well, you pair of adulterers! It isn't even dark yet, and you're already trying to mess around!" Two burly men, reeking of alcohol, barged in with fierce expressions.

An Nuan let out a startled cry and quickly submerged herself, looking behind Chen Dabao in a panic. Chen Dabao stood in front of her and turned around quickly, his expression darkening. The two men who had barged in were none other than Zhao Dapao and Zhao Erpao. The Zhao family had three brothers—Dapao, Erpao, and Sanpao. These three had once been local bullies. Two years ago, Zhao Sanpao went to the city, found a "big brother," and began working as a bar manager. Zhao Dapao and Zhao Erpao had ridden his coattails, eating and drinking well in the city, rarely returning to the village. No one expected them to be back today, let alone breaking into the village clinic.

"Zhao Dapao, Zhao Erpao, what do you think you're doing?" An Nuan asked, trembling with indignation. As an outsider with a somewhat mysterious background, even Liu Fugui didn't dare offend her. Moreover, as a doctor whose treatments were always effective, she was highly respected by the villagers. Normally, no one dared to harass her, which was why she hadn't locked the door. She never imagined these two would dare to break in.

"Dr. An, we brothers aren't here for much. Since you wanted someone to scrub your back, why don't we do it for you? We can scrub the outside, and then we can help you scrub the inside, too!" Zhao Dapao said with a lecherous grin.

"You shameless men! Get out now, or I'm calling the police!" An Nuan’s face flushed with anger as she shouted.

"Calling the police? Our village is behind the mountain ridges, twenty miles from town. It's already dark; do you expect those cops to climb mountains all night to get here?" Zhao Dapao said dismissively. An Nuan’s heart sank; she knew he was right. Who would risk walking mountain paths at night? Unless it was a major crime, they wouldn't come until morning, or perhaps not at all.

"Hehe, Dr. An, we brothers are much better than this big fool. Let us keep you company tonight, and I promise you'll be satisfied!" Zhao Dapao leered and reached out to shove Chen Dabao aside. He didn't care about a "big fool."

"Eh?" Zhao Dapao tried to push, but Chen Dabao didn't budge. He looked at Chen Dabao in surprise.

"Zhao Dapao, who did you say you were going to satisfy?" Chen Dabao’s face was cold. He grabbed Zhao Dapao’s hand, his grip like an iron shackle.

"You little brat, let go!" Zhao Dapao’s expression turned savage. He tried to pull his hand back but couldn't, so he swung his other fist toward Chen Dabao’s face.

"Snap!"

"Ah!"

Chen Dabao, his face cold, twisted his wrist with force, snapping it. Zhao Dapao screamed in agony and collapsed to his knees. "My hand! My hand!"

"Big brother!" Zhao Erpao cried out in shock and rage. He clenched his sandbag-sized fist and charged at Chen Dabao, aiming a punch at his face.

"Get lost!" Chen Dabao caught Zhao Erpao’s fist, backhanded him with four sharp slaps, and then delivered a kick to his stomach that sent him flying out the door.

"Brother, let's go!" Zhao Erpao hadn't expected Chen Dabao to be so fierce. Holding his swollen face with one hand and supporting his brother with the other, he turned and fled in a panic, disappearing into the night.

"Dabao, are you... are you cured?" Before Chen Dabao could turn around, he heard a splash behind him as An Nuan stood up from the tub, her eyes filled with excitement.