Of course, he hadn’t gone so far as to seriously injure them. He deliberately targeted places that hurt badly but wouldn’t leave obvious marks.
The blows made his victims howl in pain, yet it was impossible to tell just how badly they had actually been hurt.
For a while, the entire Shen household was filled with the wailing and crying of Liao Chunmei and Li Guihua.
Shen Youyou’s expression was also extremely ugly. How could she possibly feel good about seeing her brother and father getting beaten?
Especially when she saw that the situation was completely one-sided, she nudged Wang Jiangang, who had been cowering beside her like a frightened quail.
“You. Go help!”
Wang Jiangang glanced at Gu Yanzhi’s fierce expression and immediately shrank his neck in fear.
He shook his head.
“I-I’d better not. When you get right down to it, your brother really was in the wrong. His mouth is just too filthy!”
Why would he curse a young girl for no reason?
Besides, Shen Niannian was such a beautiful girl. Compared with Shen Youyou beside him, the two were cousins, but they weren’t closely related by blood. Shen Youyou looked somewhat like Liao Chunmei. Her eyes were fairly round, but her nose was a little flat and lacked Shen Niannian’s refined, straight bridge. Her mouth was also larger, unlike Shen Niannian’s small, cherry-like lips. And when it came to their skin, Shen Youyou had a slightly wheat-colored complexion. Compared with Shen Niannian, the difference was like that between a white swan and an ugly duckling.
Seeing his eyes repeatedly drifting toward Shen Niannian, Shen Youyou became increasingly furious.
It was one thing for her to suffer humiliation in the Wang family, but Wang Jiangang was completely useless. He was lazy, cowardly, and all he ever did was try to smooth things over.
If she hadn’t been thinking about his future—about how he would eventually be able to start a large company—she truly wouldn’t have wanted to marry him.
At that moment, someone apparently became worried that the situation would get out of hand and went to fetch the village chief.
Seeing the state of the Shen household, Shen Youtian hurriedly shouted, “Stop!”
Only then did Gu Yanzhi stop. He dusted off his clothes and stood up.
Everyone saw the village chief approaching with bags and bundles of things, while the village chief’s wife was carrying a huge basin of steaming, fragrant braised pork.
The basin was so large that it was almost the size of a washbasin. Who in the village had ever eaten such a huge basin of meat?
The aroma was especially irresistible, wafting straight into everyone’s noses.
Seeing the village chief arrive, Shen Jinzhong hurried forward several steps.
“Oh, Village Chief, what brings you here?”
Shen Youtian gave him a cold look.
“Take a look at what your household has turned into. If I hadn’t come, wouldn’t someone have ended up dead?”
But the moment Li Guihua saw the village chief carrying so many things, her eyes became glued to them.
Especially when she saw the enormous basin of meat in the village chief’s wife’s hands.
She immediately went forward with a broad smile.
“Oh, Village Chief, you could have just come without bringing anything. Why did you bring so many things? And look at that huge basin of meat you even brought!”
As she spoke, she waved toward Liao Chunmei behind her.
“What are you standing there like an idiot for? Hurry up and take the things!”
Liao Chunmei had completely forgotten about her son and husband. She rubbed her hands together and walked over.
“Oh, Sister-in-law, you’re really too kind. Just give them to me!”
Just as she reached out her hand, Ma Yuhua immediately moved the basin aside and rolled her eyes.
“Who told you I was giving it to you? Do you have any idea what you’re looking at? This meat, and all these other things, were brought by Niannian and her husband. Seeing that her father’s leg was injured and you people weren’t even taking care of him, the two of them hurriedly took Dajun to the health clinic. They were worried they wouldn’t make it back in time for the meal, so they specifically asked me to help stew the meat for them!”
Only then did everyone understand.
So all these things had actually been brought by Shen Niannian and Gu Yanzhi?
Some villagers who had seen them at the entrance of the village also chimed in.
“That’s right, what the village chief’s wife said is true. I saw them at the village entrance just now. That young couple had bags and bundles of things with them, and there was even a huge piece of well-marbled pork hanging from the handlebars of their bicycle. They also had two bottles of Moutai!”
“That’s right, I saw them too!”
“What Moutai? Isn’t that the liquor that only high-ranking city officials can afford to drink?”
“I heard it’s more than ten yuan a bottle! And it’s not something you can simply buy even if you have money. The supply and distribution are controlled by the state through the supply and marketing cooperatives. There’s only a fixed amount available!”
“Good heavens! More than ten yuan a bottle? Two bottles would practically be an entire month’s salary! The Gu family really dotes on their daughter-in-law. They’re actually willing to spend that much money?”
“That’s not all! Niannian even bought her father a woolen vest. I’ve seen them at the department store before. One of those costs more than twenty yuan!”
“My goodness! That’s incredible!”
“Looks like the Gu family really does adore Shen Niannian! Just the gifts they brought for her return visit today must be worth nearly a hundred yuan!”
As they listened to everyone’s discussion, Liao Chunmei, who had been feeling smug just moments earlier, now looked at all those things and then thought about what her own daughter and son-in-law had brought.
She immediately felt bitter.
The Wang family was just too stingy. Couldn’t they have bought more things for the return visit?
Just look at that woolen vest. Even she wanted one!
Shen Jinzhong’s gaze also landed on the two bottles of Moutai the village chief was carrying.
His murky eyes shifted.
He really hadn’t expected Gu Yanzhi to be willing to buy such expensive liquor for his father-in-law!
He had only ever heard of this kind of liquor. People as poor as them in the countryside had never even seen anything like it.
He had dreamed of smelling it at least once.
“So Niannian brought these things for Dajun? Then they’re for the Shen family. Third son, hurry up and take them!”
Shen Sanzhu, who had been hiding in the back all this time, suddenly perked up at the sight of the good stuff.
He cheerfully ran forward.
“Coming, Dad!”
But Shen Youtian didn’t hand them over either.
“Wait!”
“These things were all brought by Shen Niannian and Gu Yanzhi. The decision about what to do with them should be theirs.”
With that, he placed all the things in front of Shen Niannian and Gu Yanzhi.
Ma Yuhua also happily carried the basin inside and placed it in Shen Dajun’s room.
But when she came back out, her expression was genuinely unpleasant.
“I’ve really never seen anyone treat guests like this. Liao Chunmei, do you people even have any heart?”
She pointed toward the room and angrily said, “Your Youyou and Niannian both came back to their parents’ home on the same day. Youyou and her husband can openly sit in the main room and eat with everyone, while Niannian and her husband can only eat in Dajun’s room. And the worst part is, if I hadn’t gone in there, I wouldn’t even have known what you prepared for them!”
“You gave them a basin of what? Braised potatoes? And a few hard, dry wild-vegetable cakes?”
Liao Chunmei’s face became awkward after being called out so bluntly.
She hurriedly explained, “What are you talking about, Yuhua? That’s not just braised potatoes. It’s chicken stewed with potatoes! There really is meat in it. Everyone knows what our circumstances are like. Being able to eat meat at all is already a good thing!”
Hearing this, the other villagers nodded one after another.
But Ma Yuhua couldn’t help snorting coldly. She nodded and said, “Yes, yes, there was meat. I saw it. One chicken head, two pieces of chicken-neck meat, and one chicken foot! You really know how to serve up a portion!”