blenderwars Chapter 52 Young Man Beats Mother-in-Law
Chapter 52 Young Man Beats Mother-in-Law
Wang Lili's finely drawn eyebrows furrowed tightly, her eyes darting between Li Xianglian and Zhao Gang before finally settling on Zhao Gang's deathly pale face.
Women have a natural intuition, especially when faced with a mess that comes knocking on their door.
Her hand, which was protecting her stomach, tightened, and her voice became sharper: "Gangzi, what did she call you just now? Was it from the letter? Didn't you say you were an only child, that your parents died early, and that you only had a distant cousin left?"
Cold sweat dripped down Zhao Gang's forehead as if he had just been pulled out of the water.
He frantically wiped his face, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, and tried to grab Wang Lili's hand: "Lili, don't listen to this crazy woman's nonsense! This...this is one of our poor relatives, not very bright, suffers from chronic mental illness, and comes out to extort money! I'll get rid of them right now!"
As he spoke, he turned his head, his once gentle and refined face instantly contorting into a ferocious expression. He lowered his voice and growled at Li Xianglian, "Li Xianglian! Do you fucking want to die? Don't you know where you are?! Get out of here with this bunch of beggars! I'll give you money when we get back! Money, isn't that enough?!"
"Snapped!"
A crisp slap cut off the surrounding chatter.
It wasn't Li Xianglian who did it, it was Niu Guihua.
This old shrew is usually a tyrant in the village, how could she stand this insult?
Especially seeing Zhao Gang's attitude of treating them like trash and kicking them out, coupled with that "beggar" comment just now, it ignited her powder keg.
"Bullshit!"
Niu Guihua used all her strength in that slap, knocking Zhao Gang's gold-rimmed glasses off and leaving five red, swollen finger marks on his fair face.
She jumped up and down, cursing, "Zhao Gang! You heartless ingrate! You're an only child? Your parents died early? Then what's this old man behind me? Is he a zombie crawling out of the graveyard? My daughter is your lawfully wedded wife, how come she's a madwoman? How come she's trying to extort money?"
Zhao Cuifen had been hiding behind the car wheels, pretending to be dead, thinking it would be too embarrassing to show her face. But when she heard that Zhao Gang had cursed her to death just to appease that little vixen, her heart ached as if it had been stabbed.
This was her own son, whom she cherished like the apple of her eye! To support his schooling, she toiled in the fields until her back was bent, and what was the result? He died?
She shakily crawled out from behind the cart, tears and snot streaming down her face, and rushed forward, not caring about being dirty, grabbing Zhao Gang's leg and wailing:
"Gangzi... my son! How could you curse me like that! I'm your own mother! You've been blinded by greed! I haven't even closed my eyes yet and you're already holding a funeral for me?"
That shout was like pouring a bucket of cold water into a frying pan; the entire entrance to the supply and marketing cooperative was in an uproar.
In those days, there was no television to watch, so the performances at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative were even more exciting than the open-air movies shown at the commune.
It was already rush hour, and people who were buying groceries, picking up their kids, or going home from get off work all swarmed around it.
The crowd was packed in layers, completely blocking the already cramped entrance.
Even the old man guarding the gate held his chipped enamel mug and tiptoed to peek inside, afraid of missing a single word.
"My goodness, I never would have guessed! This Zhao clerk is always all smiles and speaks so softly to everyone, but behind their backs he's such a scoundrel?"
"That's right! At the last Lei Feng commendation ceremony, he even went up there wearing a big red flower and gave a speech, saying something about 'respecting the elderly and caring for the young being traditional virtues.' Bah! He doesn't even recognize his own mother, what virtues is that!"
"Oh my, look at that concubine, her belly's already showing, she must be five or six months pregnant! This is illicit sex! If this happened in our workshop, she'd be fired already!"
"That old lady was crying so hard, it wasn't acting. That Zhao Gang is so heartless! He'd abandon his own mother and wife just to climb the social ladder? We can't afford to associate with someone like him anymore; he might sell us out without us even knowing!"
Those spittle-like words, those words that pierced his back, were like countless steel needles, stabbing into Zhao Gang's heart again and again.
He felt like a skinned frog, naked and exposed to the blazing sun.
His most prized possessions—his uniform, his identity as a supply and marketing cooperative cadre, and his soon-to-be-acquired deputy director position—were all trembling and crumbling at this moment.
Wang Lili finally realized what was going on.
Although she sometimes acts like a spoiled princess, she's not stupid.
Looking at the old woman on the ground clinging to Zhao Gang's leg, crying and wailing, her features were practically identical to Zhao Gang's.
Looking at Zhao Gang's guilty and almost wet-cloth-like appearance, she felt dizzy and wanted to throw up her breakfast.
"Zhao Gang!"
That scream was truly piercing, so loud it broke the voice.
Wang Lili abruptly shook off Zhao Gang, who was trying to pull her away. Her long, sharp fingernails scratched several bloody marks on the back of his hand. "You bastard! You lied to me? You dared to lie to me! You said you'd never been married! You said you'd spend your life with me! You not only have a wife at home, but you're pregnant before you tell me this?"
She's the daughter of a government official! Her father is in charge of finance! She's been pampered like a phoenix since she was little! When has she ever disgraced herself like this?
If this gets back to the compound, and people say that Wang Lili was blind to have married a country bumpkin with a wife and children, and even got pregnant with his child, becoming a slut who broke up someone else's family, how could she ever face anyone again? Where would her father's face be?
"Lili! Lili, let me explain!" Zhao Gang, ignoring the pain in his face and hands, was truly anxious. He desperately tugged at Wang Lili's sleeve. "That's all in the past! It was a feudal arranged marriage! You know the situation in the countryside, I was forced! I had no feelings for her! We barely even held hands! You're the only one in my heart!"
"No feelings?"
Li Xianglian, who had been silent all along, took a step forward at this moment.
She remained calm and composed.
Although she wore tattered clothes patched upon patched, and had no face cream or eyebrow makeup, the sheer coldness emanating from her was enough to force Zhao Gang, dressed in polyester, to take a step back.
"Zhao Gang, aren't you afraid of biting off more than you can chew when you say that?"
Li Xianglian reached into her bosom and pulled out a red cloth bag.
She had brought it with her before leaving home; inside was the old but still intact marriage certificate.
She slowly and methodically lifted the layers of red cloth.
"No feelings involved? Did you sleepwalk to get this marriage certificate?"
She thrust the marriage certificate in front of Zhao Gang's face, her voice soft but clear, carrying throughout the entire room.
"If there were no feelings involved, would you let your mother throw all your used underwear and socks at me to wash? If there were no feelings involved, would you not send a single penny home for three years, yet you'd be wearing leather shoes, a watch, and keeping a mistress in the city?"
"Zhao Gang, when you said that, did a stray dog steal your conscience? Oh, I forgot, you can even curse your own mother to death. Your belly is full of black-hearted cotton, where would you find such a precious thing as conscience?"
The surrounding crowd erupted in even greater commotion.
"Good heavens, not sending money home for three years? Is he even human?"
"Exactly! Look at that wife, she's as thin as a stick, and look at this man, all slick and shiny. How can he be so heartless!"
Zhao Gang was driven to the brink of despair. Those mouths and those eyes were like knives.
His mind was buzzing, and the string of reason snapped with a "pop".
All pretense, all decorum, were fed to the dogs at this moment.
"Shut up! You jinx! Shut up!"
Zhao Gang was furious and embarrassed, and the veins on his forehead bulged and throbbed.
He raised his hand and slapped Li Xianglian across the face with all his might.
As long as he shuts this woman up and drives away these poor bastards, he can explain to Lili and keep his job!
"What? You're resorting to violence just because you can't win an argument?"
Before Li Xianglian could move, Niu Guihua, like a mother hen protecting her chicks, shifted her body and thrust her 160-170 jin (approximately 80-95 kg) of fat forward.
"Bang!"
Zhao Gang's slap didn't land on Li Xianglian; instead, Niu Guihua's bump sent him tumbling down on his backside.
The sole of his big leather shoe left a black mark on the ground; he looked utterly pathetic.
Niu Guihua sat down on the ground, truly a master of tantrums, slapping her thighs and wailing, "Someone's been hit! Someone's been killed! The head of the supply and marketing cooperative is going to beat my mother-in-law to death in the street! Is there no law? Is there no justice?! They're bullying us country folk who have no one to back us up! Everyone, please be the judge!"
This move was a fatal blow.
The group of middle-aged women and aunties who were watching the commotion were usually the most disgusted by such bullying of the elderly, weak, women and children, and their sense of justice surged up at this moment.
"This is outrageous! A grown man hitting his mother-in-law?"
"This is tantamount to rebellion! Arrest him! Take him to the police station!"
Several young people, bursting with a sense of justice, even rolled up their sleeves, ready to rush forward.
Zhao Gang slumped to the ground, looking at the excited crowd, at Wang Lili's eyes that seemed to want to devour him, and at Li Xianglian's calm face that was frightening.
He suddenly realized that today's events were not accidental; it was all a setup!