Going to Take the Train
For a moment, the stepmother’s entire body froze. It took a full five seconds before she reacted.
“Ah!!”
A heart-wrenching scream tore from her mouth.
With a loud clatter, she knocked the spittoon to the floor.
At this moment, the stepmother’s hair clung tightly to her face, making her look utterly disheveled.
“Husband, wuwu!! You just stood there watching me get bullied!”
Seeing his beloved woman mistreated, the scumbag father glared with reddened eyes and scolded Jiang Taohua: “You jinx, I should have strangled you the moment you were born! You’re nothing but trouble—raising you is worse than raising a pig!”
“Had enough cursing?” Jiang Taohua stepped closer to them, one step at a time.
Her fierce glare made the scumbag father shudder involuntarily.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, the scumbag father straightened his back and stared directly at Jiang Taohua. “I’m your father! What’s wrong with scolding you a few times? If you dare hit me, that’s treasonous defiance!”
Jiang Taohua sneered at this. Her words were utterly devoid of warmth: “Don’t try to guilt-trip me with morality. Not only am I treasonous, I’m also ready to uphold justice by punishing my own kin.”
As she spoke, she shoved one of the stinking shoes into each of their mouths.
These shoes had been thrown into a garbage heap, unwashed for who knows how many years. The smell was unimaginable—practically a biochemical weapon. The scumbag father and stepmother were so overwhelmed by the stench that tears streamed down their faces involuntarily.
Jiang Taohua walked behind them and kicked each of them in the back. They stumbled forward and fell to their knees.
“You two will kneel here for two hours, and you’re not allowed to take the shoes out of your mouths. If anyone dares to get up… well, the stick in my hand isn’t just for show.”
With that, Jiang Taohua entered the bedroom and retrieved rice and steaming hot dishes from her storage space. The storage space kept food fresh, and the previous Host had collected many prepared dishes stored inside. Jiang Taohua was immensely grateful to him.
With all kinds of meat and vegetable dishes, even if she never cooked, she could eat for five or six years.
After finishing her meal, she opened the window to air out the smell and heard a commotion coming from the living room.
She walked out of the bedroom and saw the scumbag father and stepmother twisting the doorknob, clearly planning to escape.
“It’s already dark outside. Where are you two going?” Jiang Taohua’s demon-like voice sounded behind them, causing their bodies to stiffen instantly.
Oh no, they hadn’t knelt for the full two hours. Would they be beaten?
Jiang Taohua’s voice suddenly turned gentle, as if coaxing them: “Are you two very hungry?”
At that moment, hunger overpowered reason. The scumbag father and stepmother nodded eagerly.
Jiang Taohua smiled even more brightly. “Great! Today, I’ll treat you to bamboo shoots stir-fried with pork.”
The scumbag father and stepmother couldn’t help but wonder: When did this wretched girl become so kind-hearted? She’s even treating them to a meat dish.
But the next second, by the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Jiang Taohua’s stick mercilessly struck the two of them.
Her beating style was chaotic and unrefined, relying purely on brute strength.
Red marks crisscrossed the bodies of the scumbag father and stepmother.
The pain was so intense they wished they could die on the spot. As the saying goes, “wild punches can defeat a master.” Eventually, Jiang Taohua grew tired from hitting them, while the scumbag father and stepmother lay on the floor, looking utterly defeated.
Their bodies were covered in shocking streaks of blood, every pore screaming for relief, and their stomachs growled loudly from hunger.
Jiang Taohua gave each of them a kick and said with dissatisfaction, “You really can’t take a beating, you two good-for-nothings!”
The scumbag father and stepmother hated her to the bone, wishing they could cut her into a thousand pieces.
System 001 suddenly spoke up to remind her, “Host, your father and stepmother often embezzle and steal from the factory at their workplace. If you report them, they’ll lose their jobs and housing.”
That was a good idea, but the scumbag father and stepmother couldn’t be sent to jail just yet. She was quite skilled at beating people up now and could vent more anger on behalf of the original owner. She’d report them right before leaving.
The scumbag father and stepmother felt like they were living in hell these past few days. Every day, they either endured hunger or suffered Jiang Taohua’s random beatings and insults. Life had truly become unbearable.
They tried telling their colleagues and neighbors, but everyone just shook their heads, refusing to believe them.
Who didn’t know that Jiang Shan and his wife often closed their doors at home to abuse Jiang Taohua?
As for their daughter, who was as thin as a bamboo pole, being able to abuse both of them one against two—no one would believe that even if it were shouted from the heavens.
Seeing that no one believed them no matter how much they talked, the two simply gave up. Later, they started counting down the days until Jiang Taohua would leave, hoping she’d hurry up and go to the countryside. Only after she left would everyone have a good life.
They waited anxiously, and finally, the day came when Jiang Taohua was set to leave.
The scumbag father and stepmother had no intention of seeing her off at the station. They had sneaked out early to avoid her.
This was exactly what Jiang Taohua wanted. She stored the bicycle in the yard and all the valuable items in the house into her storage space.
This included all the pots, pans, bowls, dishes, rice, flour, grains, and oil from the kitchen.
Carrying a small bag, she stepped out of the house and spotted the scumbag father and stepmother hiding in the crowd. She walked straight up to them and said, “Dad, Mom, I’m leaving. Honestly, I’m a little reluctant to part with you.”
If she had more time, she would have loved to spend a few more days “interacting” with them.
As Jiang Taohua approached, the two instinctively trembled—a conditioned reflex from being beaten too often.
They desperately wished she would leave quickly so they wouldn’t have to endure beatings and hunger anymore.
But Jiang Taohua wasn’t about to let them have their way. She had left a big “gift” for the scumbag father and stepmother.
After half a month of recuperation, Jiang Taohua had gained seven or eight pounds. She was no longer the sallow, emaciated girl from before, and the beginnings of a beauty could already be seen.
By the time she arrived at the station, the Jiang family was in an uproar.
The neighborhood office had come to notify them that their youngest daughter, Jiang Nuan, was to be sent to the countryside. Upon inquiry, they learned that Jiang Taohua had signed her up.
The scumbag father and stepmother were furious, cursing Jiang Taohua’s ancestors for eighteen generations. They hugged their beloved youngest daughter and wept bitterly. It was all too sudden—they hadn’t prepared anything for her.
So, they decided to give her more money to take with her, hoping to spare her from hardship. But when they went to the hiding spot in their bedroom, they found the money box empty, with all the money gone.
Before they could even process this, two police officers were already waiting at the door. They said they had received reports from the public that the couple had been stealing from the factory and needed to take them in for investigation.
The scumbag father and stepmother were taken away, leaving Jiang Nuan to go to the countryside empty-handed, without a single cent.
None of the three would have imagined that what awaited them next was endless suffering.
As soon as she boarded the train, Jian Mingyue accurately found Jiang Taohua’s seat, as if she had a tracking device installed.
She blushed as she glanced at the young man sitting beside Jiang Taohua. He was handsome and impressive, dressed in the fashionable green military uniform of the time, clearly coming from a distinguished family.
Jian Mingyue stomped her foot, pouting as she complained, “Taohua, how could you just leave on your own without waiting for me?”
Was it her imagination, or did this wretch seem to be growing more and more beautiful?
Jiang Taohua sneered mockingly, “Why should I wait for you? Are your eyes stuck in your seat? It’s not like you don’t know the way!”