Chapter 501 - Chapter 501: Chapter 488: Denying Till Death

Chapter 501: Chapter 488: Denying Till Death

Of all people, they had to encounter someone who regarded that wretched girl as a lifesaver. Weren’t they just tossing a chicken to a weasel?

Zhao Ziping could be described as thoroughly frustrated.

Zhao Sanke and Zhao Liu, standing off to the side, were also glaring at Zhao Ziping.

There wasn’t a problem to begin with, but because of Zhao Ziping’s excessive chatter, sticking to the others with irrelevant topics, they unnecessarily ended up getting beaten up. They were bruised all over, and it seemed that they would have to ask Zhao Ziping for some compensation for medical treatment once they got back home.

And now, seeing how the three brothers didn’t seem to want to cause more trouble, why weren’t they hightailing it out of there? What were they waiting for?

Zhao Sanke reached over and tugged Zhao Ziping’s sleeve, hinting him to leave quickly.

Zhao Ziping, however, she shook his arm off and got up from the ground, “Fine, you three rascals. I spoke nicely to you, guided you, and you beat the three of us without cause or reason. What kind of logic is that?

“You harm others and then spout nonsense. Do you realize that I am the nephew of Zhao Jiazhuang’s village chief? Be careful, or I might take you to the authorities so that they can properly teach you a lesson.”

Previously, he was afraid that these men lived dangerously, people who had seen bloodshed, so he didn’t dare act impulsively. But now that they knew that these three were decent working people, there was nothing to fear.

“You got beaten up because you were planning to kidnap Manager Zhuang and had ill intentions. We, three brothers, were just eliminating a threat to the people. If we go to the county government office, you might be the one getting punished. We might even get praised by the county magistrates,” Hu San sneered.

“Ill intentions?”

Zhao Ziping laughed coldly, “What evidence do you have that we had ill intentions? We were just wandering around this place, your accusations are baseless. You’re trying to frame us to escape punishment, right? You two agree, right?”

Zhao Sanke and Zhao Liu were initially taken aback, but then quickly nodded their heads, even giving Zhao Ziping a thumbs up.

Denying to the death, what an excellent strategy.

Seeing Zhao Ziping blatantly lying, Hu Er became irritated, “Hey, you brat, so now you’re denying it? You said it yourself just now, were our ears deaf? Moreover, in this freezing winter, the sky is already so dark, yet you three are hanging around near Manager Zhuang’s house. Are you saying you don’t have any ulterior motives?”

“I didn’t say anything like that just now. You were just trying to frame me.”

Zhao Ziping retorted, “As for us hanging around here, who said that we can’t wander around at night? Who has made a rule that we can’t wander around here? I can wander anywhere I want. Even if we were wandering around the County Government Office, the county magistrate wouldn’t be able to find any fault with us.”

Upon hearing this, Hu Er and Hu San looked at each other, at a loss for words.

However, Hu Da, rubbing his chin and staring at Zhao Ziping, only spoke after a long while, “You just said that we have no evidence of your ill intentions or of your plot against Manager Zhuang?”

“Well, that makes things easier. Tell me, what evidence do you have to prove that we caused your injuries?”

Zhao Ziping had not expected this response and was taken aback.

Hu San chuckled upon hearing this, “Exactly, what proof do you have that you were beaten up by us? It seems to me that you must have been beaten up by someone else and couldn’t find the culprit, so you decided to frame whoever you happened to run into.”

“Let’s stop wasting time with this person. He’s very annoying, wicked and cruel, and his heart is probably pitch black. He won’t learn a lesson unless he’s taught one,” one of the men said.

Hu Er brandished his fist, “Anyway, like Brother said, he has no proof that we hurt him. We might as well finish the job, beat him up a little more to vent our anger.”

They had already vented much of their anger from the previous beating, but hearing this brat’s words ignited their frustration. With nowhere to channel their frustration, they figured they might as well direct it towards the source of their annoyance!

Zhao Ziping’s face went pale when he heard this.

Zhao Sanke and Zhao Liu were taken aback and quickly tried to reason, “Gentlemen, all this was Zhao Ziping’s idea, we were merely duped into following along. If you want to beat anyone up, beat him alone…”

“Saying you have nothing to do with this, even though you followed along with his schemes?” Hu San snorted in disdain, “Don’t talk nonsense. Are you trying to fool us? Do you think we’re fools to believe your nonsense?”

“No more excuses. With your lack of loyalty, you definitely deserve this beating.”

If you stick together through thick and thin, that’s worthy of respect. But when things get dangerous and you only think of saving yourself, you become even more contemptible.

The three Hu brothers smirked and cracked their knuckles as they closed in on Zhao Ziping and his companions.

Cries of agony and thumping sounds of fists echoed across the empty wasteland.

If it were spring or autumn, these sounds might have drawn the people of Enji Village out to investigate. Unfortunately, it was winter and dinner time was just over. Everyone had burrowed into their warm beds and no one wanted to come out and check where these faint noises were coming from.

Moreover, the cold wind was howling, whistling through the rooftiles and window slits like a guard on watch. Amidst this, the wailing and pleading were drowned out, and nothing seemed amiss.

After about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, the Hu brothers felt thoroughly relieved, finally ceasing their beating. Feeling satisfied, they rolled down their sleeves and began heading in the direction of Zhuang Qingning’s house that Zhao Ziping had pointed out earlier.

“After beating them for so long, these three should be alright, right?” Hu San asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry, I know my own strength. The injuries are superficial, no bones or tendons were damaged. It only looks bad, hopefully, it’ll teach them a lesson and prevent them from making trouble in the future”

Hu Da added, “These people need to be taught a lesson. Today they targeted Manager Zhuang, who knows who they’ll target next. It’s lucky that we crossed paths with them today, otherwise, it would be troublesome for Manager Zhuang to handle them on his own. If one day they bully others without anyone to stand up against them, wouldn’t that be letting these beasts have their way?”

“Big brother is right, we really did do the people a favor,” Hu Er said, straightening up.

Indeed, ever since they had been beaten into submission by Zhuang Qingning and started to earn money decently, they were now able to do good deeds by helping others and could finally hold their heads high as good people.

All thanks to Manager Zhuang.

Although Hu Da and Hu San didn’t say anything, they agreed with Hu Er’s statement. They felt even more convinced that meeting Zhuang Qingning was predestined, and the path ahead was divinely ordained.