They had indeed heard the commotion coming from Old Fourth’s room earlier. But just as Old Fourth had said, his wife had been wronged today and had just taken out her dowry. Letting her vent a little wasn’t a big deal, so they all hid in their rooms and didn’t come out.
Who would have thought that this Second Girl would suddenly change her ways? Not only had she dared to defy them at the lunch table at noon, now she even dared to lay hands on her Fourth Uncle—this was outrageous!
Old Madam Shen shot Old Shen a look. Old Shen understood at once, turned and went outside the kitchen, pulled two arm-thick wooden sticks from the woodpile, and handed one to his wife, Zhang Guihua.
Old Master Shen charged in first. The moment he stepped into Old Fourth’s room, what he saw was Shen Baizhi gripping the newly married daughter-in-law by the throat and slapping her viciously across the face.
Shen Baizhi’s ferocity made his steps falter for a moment, but Old Fourth gave him no chance to retreat. Holding up his arm, he cried helplessly like a child:
“Dad, look at my hand—my hand is broken!”
“Shen Baizhi has gone crazy, she’s really gone crazy! She actually dared to hit us this hard. Hurry and save Yumei—my son can’t have anything happen to him!”
Seeing the miserable state of the couple, Old Master Shen had originally planned to wait for Old Shen to arrive before dealing with this wretched girl. But when Old Fourth mentioned a grandson, he hesitated. After all, no one ever had too many grandsons.
“Second Girl, stop it! Who gave you the nerve—”
As he spoke, he stepped forward to separate them. Shen Baizhi merely swept her arm casually, and Old Master Shen was sent flying by a tremendous force, landing hard on the ground.
Old Shen had just stepped through the door when he saw his father sitting on the ground, clutching his lower back and crying out. His rage flared instantly. Raising the wooden stick in his hand, he swung it straight at Shen Baizhi.
Shen Baizhi had been watching them closely all along. She had never learned any fighting techniques and couldn’t pull off fancy evasive moves. All she could rely on now was her sheer brute strength.
She seized the moment, grabbed the stick Old Shen swung at her with both hands, and yanked hard. Old Shen was forced to let go.
Before he could even react to his suddenly empty right hand, the stick that had just been in his grip swung straight at his backside. He didn’t even have time to dodge before it smashed down hard on his butt.
Since growing up, he hadn’t had his butt spanked in decades. Now he felt both intense pain and burning humiliation.
“Second Girl, I think you’ve really gone too far!”
As he spoke, he snatched the stick from Zhang Guihua’s hands and swung at Shen Baizhi again, all while shouting for reinforcements:
“Bailin, Baishu, hurry and go call your Second Uncle and Third Uncle back!”
Even with a weapon in hand, Old Shen’s strength was insufficient. His stick was knocked aside again and again by Shen Baizhi, and his backside took hit after hit.
Even the two elderly Shen parents and Old Fourth inside the room were occasionally “caught in the crossfire” and took a blow. Shen Baizhi ultimately held back against the pregnant Tang Yumei—she had no intention in this life of burdening herself with another death on her conscience.
Seeing that there was no room to maneuver inside and nowhere to escape, Old Shen seized an opening and fled the room.
Shen Baizhi hurried after him. Only then did the people left inside exchange fearful glances. They hesitated—should they shut the door and hide now, or go outside together to help Old Shen subdue that wretched girl?
Strange as it was, where had that girl gotten such terrifying strength? Even Old Shen couldn’t beat her. No one had ever heard of her being strong before…
The room fell temporarily quiet, but the courtyard was a different story. With Old Shen darting around wildly, everyone in the yard—including the children—was “accidentally injured.”
Shen Baiwei, in particular, was Shen Baizhi’s primary target. She tried to hide inside the house, but Shen Baizhi deliberately blocked her path.
She hadn’t yet figured out how to make her truly suffer, but beating her up first to collect some interest was perfectly fine.
Shen Baisu pressed herself under the window, eyes shining as she watched her sister display her might. Her scalp tingled—it was simply exhilarating! She really, really wanted to turn into the wooden stick in her sister’s hands…
It seemed that all her past squabbling had been far too restrained. This—this was how it should be done…
Before long, Second Shen and Third Shen, along with their wives, came running into the courtyard, panting. On their way back from work, they’d heard their two children say something had happened at home—that Second Girl was beating people—so they rushed back.
At a glance, Second Shen saw that it really was his own daughter chasing after his elder brother with a stick. Feeling he hadn’t taught his daughter properly and had caused his brother to be beaten, he shouted loudly:
“Shen Baizhi! Stop right now! Hurry up and apologize to your Uncle!”
Seeing Second Shen return, the elderly Shen couple thought that no matter how crazy Shen Baizhi was, she’d have to listen to her father. So they both gathered their courage and came out.
“Second Son, just look at the daughter you raised—she actually dares to lay hands on her elders…”
Old Shen, seeing reinforcements finally arrive, hurriedly ran to hide behind Second Shen. Surely this wretched girl wouldn’t dare beat even her own father!
Unfortunately, Shen Baizhi now recognized no kin at all. Her muddleheaded parents were no exception—she beat them just the same. In this life, the only family she acknowledged was Susu.
And so the courtyard erupted once more in chaos—chickens flying, ghosts wailing. This time, aside from Tang Yumei and Susu hiding inside the house, not a single member of the Shen family escaped. Every one of them ended up with their backside blooming in pain.
To keep anyone from running out, Shen Baisu risked getting hit herself and ran outside the front gate, locked it from the outside, then climbed back in from the chicken coop in the backyard and hid again in her own home.
This one-sided beating was immensely satisfying for Shen Baizhi. Apart from Old Fourth’s arm—which she’d broken at the very start by accident—after that she exclusively targeted people’s butts. With a whole courtyard full of people, whoever she hit counted.
The entire family had their backsides battered and swollen. Let’s see if they’d still have the nerve to go out and accuse her of beating people. Even if they did, she didn’t care—she could even enjoy hearing the Shen family become a laughingstock.
Only when Shen Baizhi was finally tired did she stop, her eyes cold and sinister as she stared at the Shen family huddled in a corner of the courtyard.
Old Madam Shen nudged Second Shen. Summoning his courage, he said:
“Baizhi… did you suffer some kind of grievance at the Lin family?”
Though he felt his daughter’s behavior today was utterly rebellious, having been beaten scared him out of shouting or scolding her again. Instead, he thought she must have been provoked badly for her temperament to change so drastically.
Shen Baizhi sneered. So people really were bullies to the weak and fearful of the strong. Back then, they’d treated her and her sister with cold words and harsh faces; now they even knew how to come up with excuses for her.
Old Madam Shen was furious. She had wanted Second Shen to discipline this wretched girl—what kind of question was that? But she didn’t dare do it herself either.
This wretched girl was really something else today!