Chapter 168: Asking for Trouble

On the other side, Zhang Xiaobao stood staring at the tightly shut door, grinning foolishly for a long while before finally snapping out of it.

When he saw his mother next to him, he looked at her with disdain and complained,

“Mom, you really don’t take care of yourself at all. Your face looks like it’s been licked by a bear. Just look at her—so fresh and pretty!”

Li Guifen pinched her philtrum hard again.

Seeing her rolling her eyes like she was about to faint, Zhang Xiaobao grew annoyed.

“Look at you! Can’t even take a little criticism!”

Afraid he’d keep going and give her a heart attack, Li Guifen hurriedly changed the subject.

“Enough with this nonsense. What do we do now? Your sister-in-law won’t come out, and we can’t just knock on the door forever. Are we supposed to starve to death here?”

Zhang Xiaobao thought for a moment, then looked up. “Let’s go upstairs and find her lover! She’ll have to come out then.”

Li Guifen hesitated. “Will that even work?”

She knew perfectly well that her daughter-in-law wasn’t actually involved with that guy upstairs. She’d just made it up to put her down. But Zhang Xiaobao was convinced there was something going on.

Before Li Guifen could say anything else, he was already striding upstairs, and she had no choice but to hurry after him.

When they reached the 15th floor, they found their way blocked by another door in the hallway.

Zhang Xiaobao snorted. “These people are so weird. Isn’t a security door for your own apartment enough? They have to put another one in the hallway? So much trouble!”

Li Guifen replied, “City folks are cautious. Always afraid someone will come knocking to cause trouble.”

Zhang Xiaobao remembered the two punches Zhao Ping’an had given him before and warned,

“Don’t start anything. If we lose a fight, it’ll be hard to deal with later. We just need to make a scene so they can’t get any peace. Then they’ll go find Chu Peipei themselves—she won’t be able to keep pretending nothing’s happening.”

Li Guifen nodded. “Definitely no fighting. In this heat, if you get into a fight and end up like your dad with heatstroke, that’d be a real mess.”

With their plan settled, the two started banging on the door.

“Zhao Ping’an, come out!”

“Don’t pretend you’re not home—I know you’re in there!”

“Adulterers! You murdered my brother and stole our family’s property! Give me back what belongs to me!”

Inside, Hu Cuilan had been putting up with them for a long time. Before, they’d just curse when they saw her, or make a racket downstairs. Now they actually dared to come up and shout at her door!

Enough was enough.

Hu Cuilan put down the rabbit she was feeding, grabbed her crossbow with a fierce look, and muttered, “Bastards!”

Zhao Ping’an hesitated. “Mom, Peipei…”

Hu Cuilan cut him off firmly. “Don’t worry, I’m just going to teach them a lesson. Peipei doesn’t care about them anyway—there’s no love lost.”

As she spoke, she took a blue bottle of liquid from the cabinet and dipped all her arrows in it.

The two outside were still shouting when they suddenly heard the door inside being unlocked. They thought someone was finally coming out.

They exchanged a glance, growing even more arrogant.

See? This tactic works! It didn’t take long to force them out!

They braced themselves, but instead of the steel door opening, a small round hole appeared.

Hu Cuilan’s voice rang out: “Today, your auntie’s going to teach you two filthy loudmouths a lesson!”

A sharp whoosh followed, and an arrow struck Zhang Xiaobao in the shoulder.

Li Guifen screamed, but before she could even worry about her son, another arrow hit her in the shoulder too.

Mother and son were terrified.

“M-murder! They’re killing us!!”

Just as the words left his mouth, another arrow whizzed past Zhang Xiaobao’s ear, leaving a bloody scratch on his face.

Zhang Xiaobao had only ever gotten into harmless scuffles with kids in the village—he’d never seen anything like this. He was so scared he nearly wet his pants.

The two of them scrambled away, tumbling down the stairs in a panic.

Arrows kept flying after them, each of them getting hit once more before they finally disappeared from sight.

Hu Cuilan shut the shooting hole and snorted. “Dumb as rocks and twice as cowardly!”

Back inside, Zhao Ping’an asked, “How’d it go?”

Hu Cuilan replied, “Don’t worry! I didn’t aim for the head or heart. The arrows just hit non-lethal spots.”

Zhao Ping’an gave her a thumbs up. “Mom, your marksmanship’s really improved!”

Hu Cuilan rolled her eyes. “I’m not stupid. Stuck at home all day practicing with the crossbow—of course I’ve gotten better!”

She put the little bottle back in the cabinet and smirked. “Those two idiots are in for a world of pain!”

Zhang Xiaobao and his mother staggered down to the 13th floor.

Li Guifen’s old bite wound from Fugui still hadn’t healed, and the bones Annan kicked still ached. Now she had fresh injuries and could barely run, falling far behind her son.

Zhang Xiaobao, young and scared out of his wits, ran like the wind and soon reached apartment 1301.

He slammed the door shut behind him, panting heavily.

By the time Li Guifen, limping and exhausted, made it back, all she saw was a cold, closed door.

“Son, open up! I’m not inside yet!”

But Zhang Xiaobao was too terrified to care about her—he even locked the door again.

Outside, Li Guifen could only bang on the door anxiously. “Xiaobao, let Mom in! What if those bad people come after me?”

After a long while, hearing nothing else outside, Zhang Xiaobao finally opened the door.

The first thing he said was, “Mom, help me get this arrow out! I can’t pull it out myself!”

The last two arrows Hu Cuilan shot had hit them both right in the butt.

Now, each of them had two arrows stuck in them—one in the shoulder, one in the backside.

Li Guifen had been furious at being locked out, but when she saw her son’s condition, worry took over and she hurried to check his wounds, not even caring about her own injuries.

“Don’t move, Xiaobao. Let Mom take care of it!”

It took them ages to finally pull the arrows out and stop the bleeding with their clothes.

Zhang Xiaobao lay face-down on the couch, whining, and absentmindedly touched his face—only then did he realize he’d been scratched.

He immediately panicked. “It’s over! My face is ruined! The girl on the 14th floor will definitely hate me now!”

Li Guifen had lost so much blood these past few days that her lips were white.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and tried to comfort him. “She won’t hate you. Scars make a man more attractive. A little scratch won’t take away your handsomeness.”

Zhang Xiaobao covered his face. “You’re right…”

Years of his parents’ brainwashing and no one in the village daring to cross the local bully had left him convinced he was outrageously handsome.

“Remember to help me propose soon. It’s rare to meet a woman worthy of me.”

Li Guifen was speechless. After all that trouble, they hadn’t gotten a single bit of supplies, and he still had the energy to think about marriage!

She was about to say something when she glanced at his wounds—and noticed something odd."