“Sis, you haven’t eaten yet, right? Perfect timing—I’ll go cook first. We can eat and talk slowly later!” Tang Ximian turned to fetch the food. There was a little leftover stir-fried pork with green beans and some rice, so she simply added water to make porridge, heated up the flatbread, and sliced some pickles.
Chu Jiangrong indeed hadn’t eaten all day. From noon till now, her stomach had been growling with hunger, and she was feeling faint from starvation.
“Here, eat this!” Tang Ximian handed over a fried egg dipped in sauce. “Big sis, don’t be afraid. Whatever happened, we’ll talk it through slowly. Our Chu Family won’t let them bully us!”
Xu Guangfen snapped sharply, “What did I teach you before? How could you let Lu Dazhuang hit you? What did I say earlier?”
“Mom, big sis is hurting. Speak gently!” Chu Jiangchuan also felt heartache for his sister. She had raised him since childhood, and their bond ran deep.
“And you’re defending her!” Xu Guangfen felt she was about to die from anger. “Before the wedding, I told you—most of the Lu Family are no good! Lu Dazhuang and Lu Erhu, those beasts, are anything but decent!”
Chu Jiangrong stuffed the egg into her mouth in two bites. Tang Ximian hurriedly passed her water. “Sis, slow down!”
“Hiss…”
Perhaps the movement was too abrupt, Chu Jiangrong gasped sharply in pain.
Tang Ximian’s face darkened. She abruptly pushed up Chu Jiangrong’s sleeve—beneath the loose clothing lay shocking patches of blue and purple bruises, along with some old scars…
“Sis…” Chu Jiangchuan’s eyes filled with murderous intent. “Let’s go confront them right now!”
“Let her rest first. We’ll deal with it after a good sleep!” Tang Ximian pulled Chu Jiangchuan aside. “Come help me serve the food.”
Once in the kitchen, Tang Ximian lowered her voice. “Big sis must get a divorce tomorrow. Domestic violence in marriage only has zero times or countless times!”
“I know. We’re definitely going to confront them tomorrow!” Chu Jiangchuan’s expression was grim. “We’ll prepare the bride price money first and return it to them!”
Back then, they had only given fifty yuan as a symbolic bride price, which had always been held by the old lady—no one had taken it.
After the meal, Tang Ximian and Chu Jiangchuan returned to their room, soaked their feet, gave each other massages, and prepared for bed.
Chu Jiangchuan suddenly remarked, “It really has improved a bit. I can walk for a while now without constant pain like before.”
“Placebo effect!” Tang Ximian lifted her face with a laugh. “It can’t be that fast!”
“Mianmian, has big sis always been…” Chu Jiangchuan couldn’t finish, “I really want to kill him!”
“Don’t do anything reckless! Big sis has many pinch marks. She never mentioned it before, but it probably wasn’t Lu Dazhuang who did those—most likely the old lady of the Lu Family! Men usually use their fists; the marks on big sis’s face are from him. The child is still with them. We must take the child away first!”
Though Tang Ximian’s face remained calm, her words seemed to grit through clenched teeth.
Tomorrow, she would make those bastards pay!
Both lost in their thoughts, they fell asleep.
Early the next morning, Chu Jiangrong had already prepared breakfast. After a quick bite, everyone headed to the Lu Family.
Lu Dazhuang had expected only Chu Jiangrong to show up, but when he saw Chu Jiangchuan and the whole family with her, he immediately knew trouble had come.
He chuckled awkwardly, “Well… Jiangchuan, uh… this must be your wife…”
Bam!
His greeting was met with a sudden punch from Tang Ximian. “Get lost!”
Chu Jiangchuan swiftly pulled the child behind him, shielding the boy.
“How dare you hit my son!” Old Lady Lu exploded, her eyes bulging as if about to pop out.
The moment she charged forward, Xu Guangfen sprang into action.
She grabbed Old Lady Lu by the hair and slapped her wrinkled, shar-pei-like face repeatedly: “How dare you bully my daughter! I’ll fight you to the death!”
“Mom!” Chu Jiangrong rushed over to protect her mother.
Chu Jiangchuan was blocked by Lu Erhu: “You crippled bastard, why are you causing trouble in my house! Your sister can’t even bear a child—she deserves it!”
Tang Ximian shot to her feet, kicked away the advancing Lu Dazhuang, and punched him in the head. Lu Dazhuang screamed and collapsed unconscious.
In her previous life, she had trained in countless martial arts—maybe not enough to go professional, but handling these thugs was child’s play!
She turned to Lu Erhu: “What did you call him?”
Lu Erhu’s eyes roamed lewdly over Tang Ximian’s face: “Called him a crippled bastard! Hey sister-in-law, you look like a virgin! What’s wrong, can’t the cripple satisfy you? Maybe I should help—”
Smack!
Tang Ximian rewarded him with a resounding slap: “Say that again!”
Before Lu Erhu could process what happened, he was slammed to the ground.
Chu Jiangchuan had never seen Tang Ximian like this, staring in shock at the woman tearing through the room.
“Motherfucker! How dare you harass me! So desperate to fuck? Go fuck your mother! How dare you insult my man! I’ll kill you!”
Her fists rained down madly on Lu Erhu, blood gushing from his nose, teeth loosening.
“Let go of my son!”
Old Lady Lu finally broke free and shoved Tang Ximian away.
Chu Jiangchuan caught his wife, quietly slipping her a… willow branch?
Tang Ximian gripped the branch and charged again: “You old hag too!”
Anyone who insulted Chu Jiangchuan would be beaten into silence!
Swish-swish-swish!
The slender willow branch whistled through the air, lashing countless bloody welts across Old Lady Lu’s body!
Just then, the village chief burst in with others.
“Stop fighting! We’ll call the police!”
“Call them!” Chu Jiangchuan roared. “Lu Dazhuang and his mother beat my sister—call them now! We’ll file for divorce while we’re at it!”
Xu Guangfen, face scratched and hair disheveled, collapsed wailing on the ground: “Oh heavens above—my poor daughter! I can’t go on! I might as well die right here…”
Tang Ximian: “…”
I’ve never seen such drama, but I’m utterly stunned!
Damn!
Is this what they call psychological warfare?
“You’re from the Chu Family, right? What exactly happened?” The village chief smiled placatingly. “Dazhuang’s wife, don’t you think this mess is unnecessary? We’re all family here!”
Chu Jiangrong hugged her child, resentment choking her into stiff-necked silence.
Tang Ximian tossed the willow branch aside with a scornful laugh: “What are you implying? That my sister deserved their beatings? This is domestic violence—it’s illegal! Even at the police station, we’re in the right!”
Xu Guangfen scrambled upright: “My daughter is divorcing your family!”
Old Lady Lu saw things with remarkable clarity: “So be it, divorce it is! If we don’t divorce, she’ll just hold my son back from finding a proper wife! She gave birth to a useless girl, and a sickly one at that! Give us back the fifty-yuan betrothal gift!”
Tang Ximian glanced at Chu Jiangrong: “Big sister, did you hear that? You’re holding them back! Which means… they’ve probably already found a replacement. They hit you hoping you’d divorce—who knows, they might already be rolling in the sheets together by now! If you don’t leave soon, they’ll probably show up at your door carrying their love child!”
“HA HA HA HA!”
The crowd burst into raucous laughter.