Chapter 4

When Jiang Weimin got off work and came home, he saw Li Chunhua unconscious and Jiang Fei’s face full of holes. Jiang Yaozu tearfully rushed forward to complain, “Dad, second sister hit Mom and eldest sister, and even dumped the pig’s feet.”

Jiang Fei said, “Dad, you better go take a look. All our furniture is gone.”

The furniture was gone? The stingy Jiang Weimin, without caring whether Li Chunhua was dead or alive, turned to confront Jiang Ci. But before he could settle the matter, he stepped on a nail and the pain nearly knocked him out.

“Damn it, I’m not leaving until I get this straight.”

He knocked on the door for quite a while before it finally opened.

To his surprise, Jiang Ci had a distressed look on her face. Jiang Weimin didn’t hesitate to start yelling: “Shameless thing, you hit your mother and emptied the house?”

In the original story, Jiang Weimin was a moral hypocrite — submissive outside, violent at home. Li Chunhua took advantage of the original Jiang Ci, and Jiang Weimin often resorted to domestic violence. Especially towards Jiang Ci, who was like a punching bag. Jiang Ci looked at the man in front of her — short and aggressive. Even though she knew boxing, her body wasn’t strong enough. Considering the physical disparity between men and women, Jiang Ci decided to use her wits.

She opened the door and let Jiang Weimin in. As expected, he launched into a tirade.

Jiang Ci pretended to be aggrieved and said, “It was my sister who tried to get someone to rape me first.”

There were several families living in that building, and soundproofing wasn’t good. Rape was a serious accusation in those times. Afraid of being embarrassed if overheard, Jiang Weimin quickly stepped inside and shut the door, exclaiming, “What did you say?”

Jiang Ci didn’t bother arguing. She politely invited him to sit down, brought out a bottle of liquor and a box of peanuts, saying, “Dad, have a drink, let’s talk slowly.”

Jiang Weimin, a drunkard, couldn’t resist the liquor. He even forgot the pain in his foot and eagerly took a sip. “Wuliangye?”

Jiang Ci nodded. “My husband left it, specially for you.”

Despite his love for drinking, Jiang Weimin had a poor tolerance. After a few sips, he started babbling nonsense. “You worthless girl, go get all the furniture back!”

Jiang Ci sneered inwardly but smiled on the outside: “Okay, I’ll go get it.” She turned to the kitchen, picked up a long rolling pin, and struck Jiang Weimin hard on the back of the neck. With a “thud,” he collapsed to the ground.

Now that he was unconscious, Jiang Ci had an easier time. She tied him up securely, gagged him, blindfolded him, then soaked a basin of chili water and fetched a rattan switch. She whipped him soundly.

“Ow!” Jiang Weimin woke up from the pain. He couldn’t see anything and couldn’t struggle. Before long, the pain knocked him out again.

Jiang Ci rested for a bit. After regaining her strength, she dumped the basin of chili water all over him.

The stinging pain woke Jiang Weimin up once more. His skin was burning and raw, and he howled in agony. Jiang Ci beat him again until he passed out, his skin broken and bloodied.

She shut the door, went to the bedroom to check on her daughter. The baby seemed hungry and started waving her arms when she saw her mother.

Jiang Ci nursed the baby. Once full, the little one played for a while and fell asleep. Jiang Ci tucked her in, padded the surroundings with pillows for safety, then went back to check on Jiang Weimin. Though he looked bloody, the wounds were superficial. He was simply drunk and passed out from the pain.

Jiang Ci untied him, dragged him downstairs, and loaded him onto a tricycle in the stairwell. She dumped him at the foot of the Jiang family’s apartment building and tied him to an electric pole.

“See if you dare hit anyone again,” she snorted, then turned and walked away.

Jiang Fei pinched Li Chunhua’s philtrum until she woke up. Li Chunhua immediately shouted about her missing furniture.

Jiang Fei said, “Mom, Dad went to deal with that bitch Jiang Ci. He’ll definitely get the furniture back.”

Li Chunhua nodded. “Quick, take me to the hospital. My arm hurts.”

“Okay.”

The mother and daughter went to the hospital to have the arm reset. While there, Jiang Fei also had her face checked. Just then, their coworker Zhao Qing came over to ask what happened. Full of grievances, Li Chunhua started badmouthing Jiang Ci to Zhao Qing.

Zhao Qing also had a daughter — pretty and well-educated, a high school graduate. She used to compare her daughter with Jiang Ci, saying looks weren’t enough and Jiang Ci was only good for housework. But Jiang Ci ended up marrying a military representative — who, as it happened, lived right next door, and whom Zhao Qing had her eye on.

Zhao Qing’s daughter, though a high school graduate, hadn’t settled into a job, and multiple blind dates had gone nowhere. Now, the revolutionary committee was pushing her to go to the countryside. Zhao Qing had used connections to delay it, hoping to marry her off and avoid rural hardship.

Because of this, Zhao Qing hadn’t spoken to Li Chunhua for six months. She only felt better once the military man had left.

As they chatted, a nurse rushed by pushing a patient.

Zhao Qing curiously asked what was going on.

The nurse hesitated, then whispered something in Zhao Qing’s ear. Zhao Qing’s expression changed instantly. “Something like that happened?”

The nurse nodded and quickly wheeled the patient into the operating room.

Li Chunhua curiously asked what was going on. Zhao Qing said, “Some man got… slashed.”

“Turned into a eunuch?”

“They sent him for emergency treatment. If it can’t be fixed, then yeah, he’ll be a eunuch.”

Li Chunhua, who had been feeling down, perked up with the gossip and clicked her tongue. “People nowadays, really… even slicing someone like that.”

Jiang Fei couldn’t resist gossiping either. “Mom, what happened?”

Li Chunhua said, “You’re just a girl, don’t ask too much.”

At that moment, a pale-faced middle-aged woman came rushing through the hallway. She grabbed Li Chunhua and asked, “Where’s the operating room?”

Li Chunhua guessed she was the family of the injured man. “Second floor, around the corner,” she replied.

The woman nodded. Her eyes landed on Jiang Fei, flashing with fury. But she hurried away, thinking of her husband’s condition.

Jiang Fei recognized her too — it was Bai Niu’er, the wife of Director Sun. Because Sun had been too close with several female workers, Bai had caused a scene at the factory more than once. She was from the countryside, hefty and strong, and she often beat those women black and blue.

Jiang Fei had counted on this — she hoped Director Sun would assault Jiang Ci and Bai Niu’er would then beat her up.

But now Sun was in the hospital? Could it be?

Before Jiang Fei could figure it out, Bai Niu’er rushed down from upstairs, grabbed Jiang Fei by the hair, and slammed her head against the wall.

Jiang Fei screamed in pain, “Let go! Let go!”

Li Chunhua rushed to help her daughter. “You dare hit my daughter? I’ll rip your mouth apart!”

“You’re her mother?” Bai Niu’er shoved her aside, gritting her teeth. “Your daughter seduced my man. Today I’ll teach her a lesson!”