A soon as these words were spoken, the faces of those aunties turned awkward.
Weren’t they all trying to coax Lady Jiang into settling the marriage, to forge a connection with Scholar Song? Besides, the Wang Family is wealthy now. Visiting them every day ans tea, snacks, and chats without end; who wouldn’t want to drop by, say a few nice words, and leave sowhat full?
Of course, behind their backs, they laughed at Wang Yonggui and Lady Jiang, thinking they were lucky indeed.
He was nothing but a hooligan living outside, with his parents and brothers having to help support his wife and children. Lady Jiang was like a soft clay that couldn’t be supported but now they all managed to hold their heads high thanks to the luck brought by the maid of the Wang Family.
There was a bit of jealousy in all these backhanded comnts.
No one expected Old Granny Zhang to expose everything to their faces today; they felt ashad to stay longer, so they left with fake smiles and excuses.
Over there, Lady Jiang was dumbfounded, drenched half from a basinful of water that inevitably found its way onto her. Now, soaked from head to toe, with water dripping from her hair, she stood there in an unsightly state, too scared to move.
For days, Jinhua was kept indoors by Lady Jiang, forced to endure those idle won’s daily chatter on how Jinpan had excelled, how she herself could marry into a good family; her ears had beco calloused from hearing it.
She had privately advised Lady Jiang not to let these people in, but for so reason, Lady Jiang had beco obsessed, refusing to listen.
Jinhua was worried; her own mother seed to have forgotten that the granny and the old aunt were still at ho.
Unexpectedly, the granny had stord over.
Hearing the commotion, Jinhua ca out of the house, not daring to breathe, only pulling Jinshao and Jinpan to stand close to the wall.
Old Granny Zhang was already yelling into the back courtyard for soone: "Laosi, go call Laosan back! If he’s unwilling to co back, break his leg and drag him back—"
Jinhua and Jinpan shivered, knowing their granny was truly angry.
Even Lady Jiang, after being drenched with cold water and hearing her mother-in-law’s words, had her muddled head cleared. Her legs went weak, and she knelt before Old Granny Zhang, trembling and unable to speak.
Seeing this, Jinhua almost moved to speak for her, but when she stepped forward and saw her granny and old aunt looking over, she stopped. Especially seeing Wang Yongzhu without her usual gentle face, rather looking stern and unsmiling, made Jinhua quickly retract her outstretched leg and stand quietly, not daring to move.
The commotion was so loud that not only Wang Yongping and Liu Xiaoqiao in the back were disturbed, but even the Wang Yongfu’s father and sons from the main room, hearing Old Granny Zhang’s voice, hurried over, not knowing what happened.
Seeing Lady Jiang drenched and kneeling on the ground, who didn’t understand? No one dared to speak.
Wang Yongping quietly responded and went out to find Wang Yonggui.
Old Granny Zhang coldly snorted: "Today none of you leave, all of you stand right here. I will have words once Laosan is brought back!"
Everyone instinctively stood a bit straighter, even little Jinshao, although young, knew how to read expressions. Seeing his siblings pressing against the wall, he too stood against it, not daring to move.
Being young though, he didn’t stand long before sitting down with a thump, wanting to cry, but looking around, he did not dare to let the tears out.
Wang Yongzhu noticed, gestured for Jinhua to pick Jinshao up, and took a piece of candy from her pocket, giving it to Jinshao.
Receiving the candy, Jinshao giggled and tried to jump into Wang Yongzhu’s arms.
Wang Yongzhu was busy today; she only patted his head and sent him to sit aside and enjoy his candy.
As for Wang Yongping, going out was unnecessary, he just headed to the village entrance; Wang Yonggui would surely be there.
Sure enough, a crowd surrounded Wang Yonggui with flattery; although Wang Yonggui was secretly pleased, he was modestly saying so humble words, but his pride was obvious, making him appear sowhat pretentious to onlookers.
When notified by Wang Yongping to go back, he was reluctant: "What’s so urgent to be done now? I was planning on getting back later—"
Wang Yongping initially wanted to save face for his third brother but seeing his lack of tact, straightforwardly said: "Mother said, if you refuse to return, I should break your leg and drag you back—"
The heated blood in Wang Yonggui’s head suddenly cooled down, shivering at the thought: "I’ll go back now, go back right now—"
No more small talk; he dragged Wang Yongping back ho, asking all the way: "Did sothing happen at ho?"
Wang Yongping walked on in silence, ignoring him, and the brothers quickly arrived ho.
Entering the courtyard, seeing Lady Jiang kneeling on the ground, his own mother holding a fine bamboo rod sitting on a chair, and his sister looking at him with a half-smile, Wang Yonggui’s legs turned to jelly.
He hadn’t opened his mouth yet when Jinhua and Jinpan, standing behind their mother and sticking to the wall, signaled him frantically with cut-throat expressions.
Wang Yonggui felt the situation was wrong, cautiously speaking: "Mother? What do you want with ?"
Old Granny Zhang sneered: "Oh, the esteed uncle of the graduate returned, didn’t he? If we hadn’t sent for you, you’d surely have forgotten your way back ho, huh?"
Wang Yonggui chuckled foolishly, rubbing his hands as he moved beside Old Granny Zhang: "Mother, what are you talking about? Aren’t you laughing at your son—?"
"Smack—" In no ti, Old Granny Zhang swung a bamboo rod right across Wang Yonggui’s face, leaving an instant blood mark.
Wang Yonggui staggered, let out a yowl, and jumped up: "Mother, what happened? Why did you hit my face?"
Old Granny Zhang’s hand didn’t stop; her strikes with the bamboo rod were relentless, hitting Wang Yonggui as he jumped around, crying out in pain.
After all, Old Granny Zhang had a serious illness once; though she’s recovered, she hasn’t yet fully regained her strength, making mild attempts at nourishing her body. So, she wasn’t as strong as before.
Having whipped only a dozen tis, her legs began to falter, unable to keep up with Wang Yonggui.
Wang Yongzhu thodically stepped forward, rolling up her sleeves: "Mother, take a rest. Let hit on your behalf—"
Old Granny Zhang nodded, handing the bamboo rod to Wang Yongzhu, reminding her: "Hit him hard. If you don’t whip out the water in his brain and bring his soul floating in the sky down, don’t stop! Don’t be soft on the bamboo rod; I’ve prepared a dozen of them. You could keep hitting until tomorrow!"
Hearing this, Wang Yonggui didn’t even dare to run, joking that if his mother whipped, he’d have a reprieve. If his sister did, it would be life-threatening.
Imdiately, his heated blood cooled, his head no longer heated, he painfully walked to Old Granny Zhang’s front, knelt down, and with a woeful face cried: "Mother, sister, don’t hit anymore! I admit my mistake, isn’t that enough?"
Old Granny Zhang sneered: "What did you do wrong?"
Wang Yonggui...
The hell did he know what was wrong! But since his mother and sister were ready to deal with him, he must be at fault!
He stamred, unable to speak, Wang Yongzhu lightly tapped the ground with her bamboo rod, hitting exactly where the cobblestone cracked with a few lines...
Reviews
All reviews (0)