This bastard of a man—he’d slept with her and then vanished. She’d searched for him everywhere without success, even shamelessly asking around.
Who would have thought she’d run into him now at the machinery factory?
Thinking of all the suffering she’d endured over the years, Jiang Shutang wished she could slice this bastard into a thousand pieces.
Just as she stood up to go demand an explanation, three middle-aged women suddenly burst through the cafeteria entrance.
Seeing Jiang Shutang standing there, they looked like starving wolves spotting meat, charging at her with gritted teeth.
Before Jiang Shutang could react, someone grabbed her by the hair.
“Jiang, you shameless slut! Hand over the Rou Piao you took from my husband!”
The one who struck was Aunt Wang, who worked in the same workshop as Jiang Shutang. Her husband was the workshop director, a man with a bit of authority.
But Jiang Shutang had never taken a single thing from Zhou Fuquan. Even when he eagerly offered things, she went out of her way to keep her distance.
Eventually, Zhou Fuquan saw there was no chance and shifted his attention elsewhere. Who would have thought that now his family had lost their Rou Piao, they’d come to accuse her?
In an instant, Jiang Shutang’s temper flared too. She already lived a miserable enough life—now she had to be falsely accused on top of it.
“I took your husband’s Rou Piao? Do you have proof? Just accusing me out of nowhere—whoever took your husband’s Rou Piao, may they die a horrible death!”
As she spoke, Jiang Shutang drove her knee into Aunt Wang. She was tall, with long legs to match.
Aunt Wang cried out in pain and quickly let go.
Jiang Shutang gritted her teeth. If she backed down now, even more people would come to bully her later. Hardening her resolve, she grabbed Aunt Wang’s hair in a tight grip.
“Can’t keep your own man in line, and when the Rou Piao goes missing you pin it on someone else? You think you can push me around because I don’t have a man at home?”
Aunt Wang hadn’t expected Jiang Shutang to fight back so viciously even while in the wrong, and she was taking a real beating.
The sharp pain radiating from her scalp made her shriek.
“What are you two standing there for? Hit her!”
The other two women snapped out of it and rushed in to help.
Four hands against two—Jiang Shutang was naturally no match for them. But she understood one principle: when fighting, pick one person and beat them senseless. Once you’d cowed that one, the rest would lose their nerve too.
So ignoring the fists raining down on her, she reached out and clawed several more scratches across Aunt Wang’s face.
In no time, the cafeteria descended into chaos. Everyone forgot about their meals and crowded around to watch the spectacle.
Gu Zhengnan hadn’t expected this turn of events. He thought to himself that the pitiable often had something hateful about them—if she hadn’t used her looks to swindle ration tickets, she wouldn’t be getting beaten.
Just as he was about to look away and continue eating, Jiang Shutang and the others tumbled over to his side.
Jiang Shutang’s face was scratched up too, her neck clawed raw.
So many people were watching, and not one helped. Grief welled up in her heart, but she was utterly helpless.
Beaten like this in front of everyone, while the root cause of all her suffering sat there calmly eating his meal—how could she stand it?
Jiang Shutang shot Gu Zhengnan a glare, then reached out and knocked his tray to the floor.
Gu Zhengnan could no longer maintain his composure. He stood up, took out a handkerchief to wipe the soup splattered on his clothes, and after a long moment, spoke.
“Comrades, let’s talk this through. Violence won’t solve anything.”
His lukewarm words only made Jiang Shutang angrier.
“You heartless bastard! You abandoned me and the children, didn’t spare us a single glance for six years, and now you won’t even lift a finger when I’m being beaten. Are you even human?”
The moment those words left her mouth, the surroundings fell into dead silence.
Everyone looked from Gu Zhengnan to Jiang Shutang, curiosity gleaming in their eyes.
“How is that possible? This is Engineer Gu Zhengnan—I heard he just came back from abroad, the youngest associate academician at the research institute. How could he have anything to do with a tramp like her?”
“Exactly, exactly. She probably saw he’s good-looking with a reputation and wants to throw herself at him.”
“…”
Listening to the chatter around her, Jiang Shutang finally learned the man’s name—Gu Zhengnan. How ridiculous. She’d borne this man three sons, and only now did she know his name.
Gu Zhengnan hadn’t wanted to get involved, but he’d thought it was pitiful that a woman like her was being beaten so badly, so he’d decided to say a few words.
He never expected this woman to be so shameless, splashing dirty water all over him.
Since when was he a heartless bastard? He’d never even touched a woman in his life—how could he have children?
Gu Zhengnan’s face darkened like the bottom of a pot, but his family upbringing wouldn’t allow him to resort to harsh words.
“Comrade, please don’t make wild accusations. I was only trying to help. Don’t drag innocent people into this.”
Jiang Shutang was in a sorry state at this point, her collar torn open.
Gu Zhengnan’s expression was stern, his gaze righteous, as if she truly had wronged him. For a brief moment, Jiang Shutang felt a flicker of doubt—but how could she be mistaken? That night, it was this man.
He’d taken what he wanted and now refused to own up to it.
“You seduced and abandoned me! Even if you look down on me, you can’t just ignore the three children. You should at least pay child support, shouldn’t you?”
Jiang Shutang no longer cared about saving face. Her pregnancy out of wedlock was hardly a secret anymore—she was already known far and wide as a tramp.
Since that was the case, there was no need for her to hide it from others, nor was there any need to save face for this man.
Gu Zhengnan’s eyes already held a hint of disgust. The thing he hated most in life was people of bad character, and whether male or female, he kept his distance from them.
Seeing that he couldn’t reason with Jiang Shutang and not wanting to stay there and be made a spectacle of, he never bothered to explain himself. He shot Jiang Shutang a glance and turned to leave.
Aunt Wang watched Gu Zhengnan leave and couldn’t help but sneer.
“You little slut, take a look at yourself. Do you really think someone like that would ever stoop to your level?”
Now that the two had separated, Aunt Wang felt a bit of trepidation. That woman was too ruthless—even if they outnumbered her, she’d still come out the worse for it.
Jiang Shutang hadn’t expected Gu Zhengnan to be so heartless, just dusting off his hands and walking away. The grievances she’d bottled up for years made her eyes well up with tears.
Just then, Zhou Fuquan came over. Seeing his wife had beaten Jiang Shutang like this, his heart sank with unease.
He had clearly given the Rou Piao to someone else, yet his wife had blamed Jiang Shutang without even checking the facts.
“Alright, stop making a fool of yourself here. Come home with me now.”
Zhou Fuquan grabbed his wife and shot her a look.
But Aunt Wang was completely unafraid. “How am I making a fool of myself? Isn’t it shameful that she seduces other men into giving her their tickets?”
Seeing them still pressing so aggressively, Zhang Xiaomai, who had been standing nearby, couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Enough, Aunt Wang. You keep saying Shutang took your family’s Rou Piao, but where’s your proof? You can’t just blame her for everything that goes missing in your house, can you?”
Zhang Xiaomai worked in the same workshop as Jiang Shutang, and the two got along quite well.
Zhou Fuquan, standing off to the side, tried to play it off. “Alright, alright, it’s just a bit of Rou Piao. Little Jiang’s family is struggling—what’s wrong with me helping her out?”
Jiang Shutang gritted her teeth so hard she could have ground them to dust. Even this man was wronging her here.
If things continued like this, would she have any way out at all?