When Yuan Chun arrived at the village committee office, there were three layers of villagers outside. When they saw her, they automatically made way.

"Yuan Chun, you’re finally here. If you hadn’t come, I would have gone back to cook for my grandson," Grandma Li said with a smile.

Yuan Chun was caught between laughter and tears, "It’s not a big deal. You would hear about it after your meal anyway."

"It’s more exciting to see it with your own eyes than to hear from others."

"Exactly, Yuan Chun, what’s the matter? I heard that Second Cui is causing trouble for you again?"

"What’s up with that Second Cui lately? I heard he even beat his older and younger brothers some time ago, showed off at home, and wasn’t even afraid of his parents. But after a few days, he got a beating from his sisters-in-law’s and brothers-in-law’s brothers, and went back to his cowardly self."

"Hahaha... Brave for just three days."

"How does a coward like him dare to keep troubling Yuan Chun?"

"He must be sick. Wasn’t there a rumor before that Second Cui’s daughter had gone mad? Then people said she got better. Maybe Second Cui’s daughter inherited his madness. If the daughter is crazy, how can the father be fine?"

"As for that lunatic, we shouldn’t let him into our village again. If he comes, we’ll beat him up."

"Yes, if he comes to our village again, we’ll beat him out. This lunatic came to beat Yuan Chun this time; who knows who he’ll attack next time? I heard it’s said that hitting people when you’re mad isn’t even punishable."

...

The villagers were talking animatedly.

When Yuan Chun walked into the village committee office, she saw several cadres inside. The captain stood up and handed her ten yuan and a basket of twenty eggs, "This is the compensation from the Cui family. They have promised that Second Cui will never come to Red Star Village to trouble you again."

Yuan Chun accepted the money and eggs, "Thank you, Captain. Thank you, everyone. Sorry to trouble you with my issues."

"It’s no trouble. You’re one of us. Your matter is our concern too. With us cadres here, we won’t let outsiders bully our villagers."

Even with these words, Yuan Chun still took out a big bag of fruit candies she had brought from her space, gave each village cadre a handful, and handed out two candies to each of the onlooking villagers.

The villagers happily praised her, holding onto their candies, and cheerfully went back to prepare lunch.

Yuan Chun, carrying the eggs, also returned home.

As soon as she entered the yard, Ya Ya and Sanqiang hugged her legs.

Ya Ya said, "Mom, I’ll go up the mountain with you to collect firewood tomorrow. I’m really good at it and can gather a lot of firewood."

"Mom, I also want to go collect firewood with you. If any bad guys bully you, I’ll chase them away. Mom, I’m really strong now," Sanqiang said, waving his little fist, thinking of himself as the fifth strongest in the world.

The first, second, third, and fourth strongest, of course, were his mom, older brother, second brother, and sister.

"Hahaha, my little one is amazing. Mom didn’t teach you in vain. But, you’re still too young to protect me, wait till you’re bigger, then you can beat the bad guys and protect mom."

Yuan Chun gave the small basket to Ya Ya to carry, then picked up Sanqiang and headed to the kitchen, "We got twenty eggs for nothing today. We’ll make chive and egg dumplings tonight."

"Mom, I’ll go to the backyard to cut some chives."

Ya Ya put the eggs in the cupboard, grabbed a blunt kitchen knife, and happily ran to the backyard garden.

Sanqiang slid off from Yuan Chun, "Mom, I also want to go to the backyard to cut chives."