That bastard finally got his retribution!
In fact, Madam Zheng had thought more than once in her heart that it would have been better if that scoundrel had died cleanly. That way, no one would come to disturb the lives of her and her daughters. But every time she saw him, fear gripped her heart.
Her daughters were even more afraid!
They didn’t dare to resist even a little. Otherwise, that brute would only become more addicted to hitting.
Sometimes, if she dared to resist, he would take it as revenge and beat her daughters.
Because he knew that her daughters were her weakness. As long as it involved them, she would surely beg him for mercy.
While hitting, he would also curse:
“Useless things! I gave birth to so many, and they’re all worthless! What use are you to me!”
Every time Madam Zheng heard him insult his own daughters like that, her heart felt like it was being cut with knives. These were flesh from her own body!
He didn’t care, but she did.
Sometimes, she even wished she could go head-to-head with him, to die together with that bastard. But when she thought that if she died—or if she killed someone and got caught and sent to jail—her three daughters would have no one to care for them!
Wouldn’t their future be even more miserable?
Whenever she thought of this possibility, Madam Zheng reminded herself to endure while being beaten!
Endure for a moment, and the storm would pass.
She refused to believe that heaven could be so blind. Could such a person live recklessly forever? With his temperament, drinking and causing trouble, perhaps one day, he would even be beaten to death by the local thugs in town.
She had to be patient and survive.
After all, he was older than her, and if she endured, eventually, he would die before her!
As long as she survived, her daughters would still have a home.
Unexpectedly, this time, heaven really heard the cries in her heart, took pity on her hardships, and truly took the life of that brute!
She was genuinely grateful.
Although her heart was full of joy, she still had to maintain composure on her face. Otherwise, if others saw her so happy at her husband’s death, they would surely gossip. Her daughters would still need to marry in the future; their reputation could not be ruined.
Madam Zheng followed the Yamen officials and ensured that Wang Daniu’s accidental death was properly handled. Then they allowed her to take the body home.
Just looking at this man made her feel disgusted, and she certainly had no attachment to his corpse.
On the way back, she found a desolate hillside, took a worn mat, wrapped the body, dug a hole, and buried him there.
After doing all this, Madam Zheng felt a deep sense of relief!
Even walking back home, her steps were much lighter than usual. She had finally escaped that man’s clutches. From now on, no one would ever hit her or her daughters again.
Relying on her own hardworking hands, and with her three daughters growing older and able to help, their lives would only get better.
Without that man, life had hope again.
Fortunately, Wang Daniu had few relatives in Xinghua Village. He had fled here with his parents during a famine, and she had been taken in by his parents as a child bride along the way. Although Wang Daniu was several years older than her, his parents had treated her well.
She was young then and didn’t understand much—she only knew that following them, she had food to eat and wouldn’t starve.
Wang Daniu had never beaten anyone before, but after his parents died, no one could control him. That was when he became lawless and cruel.
Therefore, with Wang Daniu dead, Madam Zheng would not arrange a funeral, and no one would say anything.
First, because the Wang family had almost no relatives or friends in this village—they were non-local residents who had fled together, and their friends and relatives had scattered in all directions.
No one knew where anyone had gone.
Second, because Wang Daniu’s character was so poor that no one in Xinghua Village liked him.
Everyone knew he beat his wife and despised him as a cowardly man who bullied women. He was also a drunkard, lazy, and spent his days wandering aimlessly in town.
Such a man’s death was actually a blessing for Xinghua Village; otherwise, who knew what trouble he might have caused in the future.
Therefore, in everyone’s hearts, they were happy for Madam Zheng.
At least, they knew that Madam Zheng herself was a good person.
Except for being a little weak, there was really nothing to criticize.
When Lu Zhaozhao received the news, she was in shock for quite a while before she could react.
She was truly stunned; she never expected such a thing to happen. After all, she had just cursed him yesterday, hoping he would die soon.
But unexpectedly, so soon, Wang Daniu was dead!
She heard that he had drunk too much and fallen into a ditch, hitting his head on a rock. Quite a coincidence.
It seemed that when someone was unlucky, even drinking water could cause trouble. How else could it be such a coincidence that he just happened to hit his head on a rock in the ditch?
However, this was good news for Madam Zheng and her daughters.
They no longer had to worry about divorcing; they could finally live their small, peaceful lives.
Gu Yan saw Lu Zhaozhao’s expression and felt something strange, because he had also heard what she said yesterday.
He found it unbelievable. This little girl, her words were like golden proclamations!
Such a thing was possible!
Although Wang Daniu’s death seemed unrelated to her, he couldn’t help but think it was incredible!
Wang Daniu often got drunk, and he had walked the roads of Xinghua Village for who knows how many years without incident. Yet, right after Lu Zhaozhao said that, he died!
Perhaps she truly had something special, some kind of fortune?
Thinking this, Gu Yan recalled life after Lu Zhaozhao had come to his home. It seemed to have improved countless times compared to before. Just yesterday, they had eaten such delicious pork-crackling buns—a thing he wouldn’t have dared to imagine three months ago.
Moreover, life seemed to be getting better and better.
All of this came from her!
Yet, he had never heard that the Lu family had any great fortune before.
It didn’t make sense, really didn’t make sense.
If she truly had particularly good luck, it should have benefited her own family, not his. After all, he had only just bought her back not long ago.
Now, there was no real bond between them.
After thinking this over for a while, Gu Yan shook his head, dismissing these unreliable thoughts.
Forget it. What use was it to think about this here? None at all. He only knew that Lu Zhaozhao genuinely cared for the two children—and that was enough.
Being able to feed the two little ones good meals and dress them in clean clothes meant he had not failed his elder brother and sister-in-law.