The Cheng family originally came from Northeast China.
Back then, Old Master Cheng fled south with his wife and children to escape the chaos of war. In the end, they settled down in this seaside fishing village.
Cheng Guangyi’s parents had already passed away. Among the three siblings, the two brothers married local women, while their younger sister married into a neighboring fishing village.
Over the decades, the siblings expanded their family branches, each having many children. By now, the Cheng family was actually large and thriving.
The Yao family was also a big clan, but Yao Daqiang and his wife were poor at maintaining relationships, and their relatives were far from united.
So when Cheng Yuanxian led people toward the supply cooperative, almost none of the Yao clan relatives stepped forward to stop them. Most simply stood around watching the spectacle, pretending not to hear no matter how loudly Yao Daqiang and his wife shouted for help.
Unable to stop them, and with Yao Yulan’s desperate blocking proving useless, the Yao family could only watch helplessly as Cheng Yuanxian and the others left.
At last, Mother Yao completely lost control and began cursing hysterically.
“Cheng Yuanche, you crippled bastard! Broken-legged freak!”
“Who do you think you are? You’re nothing but a cripple my daughter rejected, and you still dare look down on her?”
“Pah!”
“Look at yourself — hobbling around with a damn walking stick, barely able to stand steady. What blind woman would ever fall for you?”
“You still want to hold a wedding today? Dream on!”
“Even if some blind idiot woman really agrees to marry you, I’ll ruin your wedding today even if it costs me my life!”
“You want to ruin my daughter’s job? Then I’ll ruin you! At worst we all perish together!”
Hands on her hips, Mother Yao jumped around furiously, spitting saliva everywhere as she pointed at Cheng Yuanche, hurling every vicious curse imaginable.
Yao Daqiang truly deserved to be called her husband.
When a grown man abandoned shame, he could be just as despicable. Red-faced and neck bulging with rage, he shouted at the surrounding villagers so loudly his voice nearly pierced the sky.
“All of you listen carefully!”
“The Cheng family are like stones in a cesspit — hard and stinking! Cursed by bad luck! Whoever gets involved with them ends up doomed!”
“They’re poor as dirt, drowning in debt. The old are sick, the young are crippled, and two nearly drowned feeding fish in the sea. The Cheng family must have committed unforgivable sins. Heaven itself is punishing them and making them die childless!”
“I curse that bastard Cheng Yuanche to remain a bachelor forever, without descendants, never finding a woman for the rest of his life!”
“And if some blind fool really wants him, then she’s trash matched with a cripple — a perfect pair!”
This husband and wife truly were a perfect match.
Even their talent for vicious cursing operated on the same level. They deliberately stabbed at the Cheng family’s deepest wounds, each insult nastier than the last.
Not only were the Cheng family furious beyond measure, even the neighbors could barely stand listening anymore.
Mother Cheng had originally been supported by her daughters.
But hearing those poisonous curses like “die childless” and “end your family line,” the final thread of calm and reason inside her snapped with a loud crack.
All the humiliation, rage, and resentment she had bottled up for so long exploded at once.
She violently shook free from her daughters’ support and charged forward like an enraged lioness, her eyes bloodshot.
“I’ll tear apart that filthy mouth of yours!”
Mother Cheng had spent years doing physical labor and possessed tremendous strength.
After slapping Mother Yao hard across the face, she grabbed a fistful of her hair and viciously clawed at her harsh-looking face with the other hand.
Caught completely off guard, Mother Yao screamed like a pig being slaughtered as pain shot through her scalp and bloody scratches appeared across her face.
“Yao Daqiang, help me! Help me!”
“Haiyang! Haibo! Hurry and save me! He Xiuhua’s gone crazy! Beat this lunatic to death!”
The two mothers instantly became entangled in a vicious fight.
Cursing, screaming, and sounds of scuffling erupted together into chaos.
Meanwhile, the men of both families weren’t idle either.
Yao Daqiang couldn’t even free himself because the furious Cheng Guangrong and Cheng Guangyi had already pinned him to the ground and were beating him up.
The four Yao siblings were kicked into the mud by the younger Cheng men, fists raining down on their faces so hard that all of them screamed in pain.
Earlier, the brigade leader had tried persuading everyone not to fight.
But the Yao family’s curses had been too vicious — even he couldn’t tolerate them anymore.
So now he simply stood there watching them get beaten.
Mother Yao was short and no match for Mother Cheng in a fight.
Very quickly, chunks of her hair had been ripped out, her face was covered in bloody scratches, and even her clothes had been torn apart.
She no longer looked human — just like a crazed old hag.
Yet despite being beaten so badly, her mouth still never stopped. She continued spewing curses and filthy insults nonstop.
“She deserves it!”
“This is exactly how people like her should be beaten half to death until they finally learn!”
Yu Dazui watched the scene with immense satisfaction, feeling as though the Cheng family was venting her own anger for her.
The other Yao relatives all exchanged uncertain looks.
At first, nobody wanted to take the lead in helping.
Eventually, the oldest elder among them stepped forward to organize people into breaking up the fight, but even then they still didn’t help attack the Cheng family.
“Dad, Mom, stop fighting already!”
Cheng Yuanche himself hadn’t participated in the brawl earlier.
Seeing how furious his parents had become, his heart ached terribly. Leaning on his crutch, he stepped forward to pull his mother away and called to his sisters:
“Big Sister, Little Sister, come help support Mom and Dad.”
The Cheng family had fought while overflowing with fury, so none of them held back.
With no outside help, the Yao family suffered badly.
Yao Yulan in particular had been beaten by Cheng Yuanyuan and the younger sister until she burst into loud sobs.
“What a joke. No matter how down my brother falls, it’s not your place to humiliate or despise him.”
“If your family keeps spewing filth from your mouths, I’ll beat you every time I see you.”
The Cheng family had five siblings.
The eldest, Cheng Yuanfeng, and second son, Cheng Yuanchi, were already married and each had two children.
The eldest daughter, Cheng Yuanyuan, was Cheng Yuanche’s twin sister, and the siblings were extremely close.
She had married years earlier. Her husband Wang Jianzhong came from another coastal brigade village nearby.
Last year, following his brother-in-law’s advice, Wang Jianzhong registered as a private businessman and began buying seafood at the docks. His business had done very well this past year.
During the Cheng family’s recent hardships, he had contributed both money and effort to help them. He got along very well with his three brothers-in-law and had come today to attend the wedding banquet.
Earlier, he had already accompanied Cheng Yuanxian to the supply cooperative.
“Yuanche, a woman like Yao Yulan isn’t worth marrying.”
“She may have a paying job, but she spends money recklessly, obsessively dresses herself up, is lazy beyond belief, and acts like a spoiled princess despite not being one. She’s not suitable for family life. It’s good this engagement ended.”
“Later, your sister will ask around and help find you a virtuous, family-oriented wife. As long as our whole family works together through this difficult period, better days will come sooner or later.”
Cheng Yuanche understood his sister’s good intentions and nodded.
“We’ll talk about that later.”
Cheng Yuanyuan knew he was hurting inside.
Seeing their mother still crying while wiping tears away, she comforted her:
“Mom, stop crying. Canceling this marriage is a good thing. Yao Yulan is a disaster. Marrying her would’ve brought no benefit to Yuanche at all.”
“You don’t need to worry about Yuanche being unable to find a wife. Believe in your son. He deserves a better woman.”
“She, Yao Yulan, was never worthy of my brother.”