Wang Cui’e grabbed Shen Baozhong by the ear and hauled him to his feet.
“Ow, ow, Mom! What are you doing? It hurts! It hurts!”
Shen Baozhong knelt on the ground, clutching Wang Cui’e’s wrist with both hands and howling like a wounded animal.
Wang Cui’e slapped him across the face, knocking him to the ground.
“You little brat! I can’t tell whether you’re stupid or just plain malicious! You took the wheels off the donkey cart, so what is Shen Meng supposed to use to haul firewood back from the mountain? If she can’t bring back firewood, what are we supposed to burn for cooking?!”
Shen Baozhong sat on the ground, covering his face and sobbing.
“Mom, I just wanted to teach that little brat a lesson! She beat you, me, and Baozhu yesterday. Are we just going to let that go?!”
“And you think you’re in the right?” Wang Cui’e slapped him again. “Are you teaching her a lesson, or are you punishing the whole family?! Your grandparents care about their dignity. Yesterday, when we didn’t have any firewood to cook with, they refused to let us go out and borrow some. They’d rather go hungry all day and survive on a few pieces of pastry! If you want to go hungry again today, then by all means, keep taking that cart apart!”
“Mom…”
The donkey shed and the courtyard where the donkey cart was kept were right next to the kitchen and woodshed courtyards.
Shen Meng and Bai Jinxin could hear Shen Baozhong’s cries and Wang Cui’e’s scolding perfectly clearly. The two happened to be heading outside, so they slowly wandered over to the gate of the neighboring courtyard to watch the commotion.
Wang Cui’e was so furious that she pointed straight at her own son as she scolded him.
“You broke the donkey cart, and now Shen Meng can’t bring back the firewood. Who’s going to take the blame for that, her or you? You can’t even think things through properly!”
“Your grandfather, your father, and your older brother are all going out to sea today on empty stomachs. Your grandmother’s leg and back were chilled yesterday, and she spent the entire night in pain. They’re all already furious. If you break the donkey cart and Shen Meng can’t bring back the firewood because of you, just wait and see if they don’t skin you alive!”
Shen Baozhong crawled over to Wang Cui’e’s feet and tugged on the hem of her skirt as he cried.
“Mom, Mom, listen to me! We can still gather firewood without the donkey cart! Back when our family couldn’t afford a donkey cart, didn’t we just carry the firewood home on our backs?”
Wang Cui’e thought about it for a moment before slapping her thigh.
“My son has a point! We’ve only had a donkey cart for a few years. I used to go up the mountain myself to gather firewood and carry it back bundle by bundle!”
The moment Shen Baozhong heard this, he stopped wailing.
“Mom, didn’t they say the Sea Goddess bestowed some kind of divine power on that little brat? Then let her carry it back! If she’s so strong, she can carry the firewood herself!”
Shen Meng had long since had enough.
She shook off Bai Jinxin’s hand and charged into the courtyard.
“Shen Baozhong, you little bastard! Watch your filthy mouth, or I’ll rip it right off your face!”
The moment Shen Baozhong saw Shen Meng, he immediately lost his nerve and hid behind Wang Cui’e. Wang Cui’e instinctively shielded her son.
Shen Meng slapped Wang Cui’e’s hand away, grabbed Shen Baozhong by the collar, and yanked him in front of her.
Then she slapped him three times in rapid succession.
The side of Shen Baozhong’s face that hadn’t even finished swelling from yesterday immediately became swollen and red again.
After the third slap, Shen Meng released her grip on his collar and sent him tumbling to the ground.
Shen Baozhong lay sprawled on the ground without moving for a long while.
Wang Cui’e panicked and stumbled over to him.
“My son! My precious son! Wake up!”
“Shen Meng!”
Wang Cui’e turned around and pointed at Shen Meng, but Shen Meng immediately slapped her hand away.
“Shen Baozhong, watch your mouth from now on! If I hear you talk like that even once, I’ll beat you every time! Your mother, your sister, and even the Sea Goddess are women. Are they all ‘good-for-nothings’ too?”
After years of practicing martial arts at Shang Hong’s home, Shen Meng had become thoroughly familiar with her own strength. She also knew how to control the force behind her attacks. She knew Shen Baozhong wasn’t seriously injured. At most, he’d be seeing stars and feeling too dizzy to get back on his feet.
“Wang Cui’e, if you and your son can behave yourselves from now on, we’ll stay out of each other’s way. But if you cause trouble again, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
Wang Cui’e shrank back for a moment, but soon stiffened her neck again.
“Hmph! You’re only acting so arrogant because you’re strong. I refuse to believe you can keep throwing your weight around forever!”
Just then, Shen Baozhong climbed back to his feet and started throwing another tantrum.
“Mom, she hit me! You can’t just let this go!”
Wang Cui’e was about to speak when Shen Fukang walked into the courtyard.
He looked at the scene before him without revealing the slightest emotion.
“Grandpa is looking for you,” he said to Shen Baozhong.
Those words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Shen Baozhong’s anger, instantly extinguishing his bravado.
No matter how long Shen Meng would be able to act so arrogantly, he certainly didn’t dare act arrogant now.
Wang Cui’e kicked Shen Baozhong.
“Why are you still standing there? Go!”
Shen Baozhong clutched his backside and ran off in disgrace.
When Wang Cui’e reached the courtyard gate, she turned around again. She pointed at Bai Jinxin, then at Shen Meng.
“You two just wait! This isn’t over. I’ll settle the score with you sooner or later!”
After saying that, Wang Cui’e was afraid Shen Meng would chase after her and beat her too, so she turned around and ran away as fast as she could.
“I didn’t realize she’s such an agile fat woman!” Shen Meng said with an exasperated laugh.
“Xiaomeng, give me a hand and help me put the wheels back on,” Shen Fukang said.
“Okay.”
Shen Meng went over and helped hold up the cart while Shen Fukang skillfully reattached the wheels.
Once they were in place, Shen Fukang carefully inspected the entire cart from top to bottom and then hitched the donkey to it.
“Dad said Eldest Sister-in-law should go up the mountain with you. The second branch of the family will take care of the chores at home.”
Shen Fukang handed Shen Meng the reins and whip, then reminded her, “Go early and come back early. Don’t stay out after dark, and don’t go too deep into the mountains.”
“Okay.”
Shen Meng nodded.
She couldn’t help thinking that if Shen Fukang were living in modern times, he’d only be a middle school student, yet he already carried himself like a little adult.
Shen Fukang then said to Bai Jinxin, “Eldest Sister-in-law, I’m off to school.”
With that, he left.
Although Shen Fukang had said that Bai Jinxin no longer needed to worry about the household chores, she still couldn’t bring herself to leave the five hens she had been raising unattended.
She cleaned the chicken coop, collected the eggs, and replenished the chickens’ food and water. Finally, she washed the freshly collected eggs and put them in the kitchen.
Only then did Bai Jinxin join Shen Meng and leave the house in the donkey cart.
There was a gate leading directly outside from the courtyard beside the donkey shed.
The moment Shen Meng opened it, she froze.
More than twenty women and children were gathered outside.
The woman at the front, who looked to be in her early thirties, smiled warmly when she saw them come out. She stepped forward and gently took Bai Jinxin by the arm.
“Cousin-in-law, we heard yesterday that you and Meng’er were going up the mountain to gather firewood, so we came here first thing this morning to wait for you.”
Shenjiazhuang was a small fishing village. The able-bodied men all went out to sea to fish, so jobs like gathering firewood were usually done by women and children.
Shenjiazhuang was nestled between the mountains and the sea. The mountains behind the village weren’t isolated peaks either, but part of a vast, continuous mountain range.
The section of this mountain range near Shenjiazhuang was called Hushan. Hushan Town had been built at its foot, and the town contained sixteen villages, with Shenjiazhuang being one of them.
Hushan.
The name said it all.
There were tigers in the mountains.
That was why everyone went into the mountains to gather firewood in groups.
Relatives, neighbors, or villagers who got along well with one another would naturally form small teams and enter the mountains together. That way, if anything happened, they could look out for one another.