Chapter 188: Borrowing a knife to kill 1

“Then I’ll leave first. You can stay here and drink slowly!” Yu Xiangnian said angrily.

Dong Ju was surprised and also a bit disappointed.

She had seen how good Cheng Jingmo was to Yu Xiangnian; he treated her as if she were made of the finest porcelain.

How could he be acting like this after just a few drinks?

Seeing Yu Xiangnian stand up to leave, Dong Ju and her mother were unsure whether to persuade Cheng Jingmo to leave or to ask Yu Xiangnian to stay.

Dong Ju decided to mediate, “Sister-in-law, Brother Jianwa wants to chat with my mother. Let him talk for a while. I’ll take you home first.”

Yu Xiangnian glared at Cheng Jingmo but didn’t say anything.

Dong Xingwang stood up and said, “It’s late, and it’s unsafe for two women to walk home at night. I’ll see Sister-in-law home!”

“Don’t!” Yu Xiangnian raised her hand. “Later, when it’s just Cheng Jingmo and Dong Ju at home, you’ll suspect something is going on!”

Dong Xingwang forced a smile and said, “Sister-in-law, that was my mistake before. Brother Jianwa and Dong Ju are not like that!”

Dong Ju had similar concerns and said, “Sister-in-law, I’ll accompany you with Dong Xingwang, and let Brother Jianwa and my mother stay and chat at home.”

Dong Ju went to get a flashlight from the room but found it wouldn’t light no matter how many times she tried the switch.

“It’s probably the bulb that’s burned out,” Dong Xingwang said irritably. “You walk this path every day. How can you manage without a flashlight?”

Dong Ju replied, “I can manage, but Sister-in-law might have trouble.”

Yu Xiangnian said, “It’s fine. I’ll follow you.”

Without another glance at Cheng Jingmo, Yu Xiangnian followed Dong Ju and Dong Xingwang out of the main room.

Cheng Jingmo, mildly intoxicated, kept his head lowered but continued to watch Yu Xiangnian with his peripheral vision.

Dong Xingwang, also quite drunk, walked unsteadily, swaying slightly.

Outside, Yu Xiangnian looked up at the sky.

The night sky was overcast, with no stars visible, and a faint crescent moon intermittently peeking through the clouds.

Dong Ju supported Yu Xiangnian’s arm. “Sister-in-law, take it slow.”

Yu Xiangnian complained, “It’s really dark tonight.”

Dong Ju said, “It looks like it will rain later. The crops in the fields are waiting for this rain!”

Yu Xiangnian, who knew that Ping County was dry and had little rainfall, agreed, “No wonder.”

“Is it very rainy where you’re from?” Dong Ju asked.

“Quite a lot.”

As Dong Ju helped Yu Xiangnian, the two women chatted softly.

Dong Xingwang, feeling agitated and wanting to vent his frustrations, struggled to keep his composure. He kept telling himself: Wait, wait, wait to hit hard!

Dong Xingwang clenched his fists and staggered forward.

At Dong Ju’s house.

As soon as Yu Xiangnian and the others left the courtyard, Cheng Jingmo looked up.

His previously hazy, drunk eyes now showed no signs of inebriation.

Dong Ju’s mother, hitting her knee with her fist, scolded, “Brother Jianwa, this is unacceptable. Your wife came with you; how can you let her leave first?”

Cheng Jingmo’s gaze fell on her knee. “Auntie, what happened to your knee?”

Dong Ju’s mother sighed, “It’s an old problem.”

Since two years ago, when Dong Xingwang broke her leg, her knee had been painful and limped whenever it rained.

Cheng Jingmo asked, “Have you seen a doctor?”

Dong Ju’s mother lowered her eyes and murmured, “What’s the use? If my bones are dead, so be it. I just can’t stop worrying about Dong Ju and her mother!”

Cheng Jingmo said, “Auntie, it will get better. I went through tough times before, but I made it through.”

Dong Ju’s mother shook her head in despair. “As long as that man is at home, we won’t have any good days.”

Cheng Jingmo stood up and said, “Auntie, I’ll come back to visit you in a few days. I need to head back now.”

“Ah, ah,” Dong Ju’s mother waved her hand. “Go on, go on. Make sure to comfort your wife properly.”

Yu Xiangnian had walked this path many times with Cheng Jingmo, and always at night.

Although it was very dark tonight, Yu Xiangnian could still use visible landmarks to judge their location.

She suddenly clutched her stomach and said, “Dong Ju, my stomach hurts. I need to use the bathroom.”

Dong Ju was taken aback.

Dong Xingwang, a few steps ahead, turned around with an impatient tone. “There’s no toilet here. Just wait until you get home.”

Yu Xiangnian doubled over, clutching her stomach. “I can’t hold it anymore!”

“You guys wait for me up ahead. I’ll take care of it in the fields!” She pulled her arm from Dong Ju’s grasp and said urgently, “You wait at that corner ahead. I feel embarrassed to relieve myself with you so close.”

The fields were on both sides of the road. Yu Xiangnian jumped into the field and urged Dong Ju and Dong Xingwang, “Go further away!”

Dong Ju had no choice but to walk ahead. She walked alongside Dong Xingwang, who was grumbling, “Damn it! This woman, always so troublesome!”

Dong Ju kept her head down, knowing that with Dong Xingwang drunk, it was best to remain silent. Any comment could lead to a beating.

But her silence didn’t earn her Dong Xingwang’s mercy.

A violent man looking to hit someone wouldn’t care whether she spoke or not.

Dong Xingwang raised his hand and delivered a heavy slap to the back of Dong Ju’s head. “I’m talking to you!”

Dong Ju felt a “boom” in her head and saw stars. She groaned, covering the back of her head, and ran forward in fear.

Dong Xingwang jogged after her, and just as they reached the corner, three figures suddenly appeared.

By the time Dong Ju realized what was happening, Dong Xingwang was on the ground, entangled somehow, while the three figures were beating him with sticks.

Dong Xingwang rolled on the ground, shouting something, but it was muffled by the covering. Dong Ju only heard a jumble of noises.

In a panic, Dong Ju wanted to call for help but found her voice trapped in her throat at the moment she tried to speak.

A terrifying thought flashed through her mind: if Dong Xingwang were killed, she wouldn’t have to endure this life anymore!

In the next second, she turned and ran!

“Bro, that bitch ran away!” one man said. “She must have gone to get help!”

“Don’t mind her. Keep hitting him!” Another man swung a wooden stick at Dong Xingwang.

Dong Xingwang lay motionless on the ground, silent.

The three men continued to beat him frenziedly, cursing, “Aren’t you so tough!”

“Dare to go against us!”

“If you’re so capable, get up and fight!”

“…”

As they continued, one man said, “Bro, he’s not moving. He wouldn’t be dead, would he?”

“Run!”

The three figures dropped their wooden sticks and fled quickly from the scene.

Dong Ju had never experienced anything like this before. As she ran, she was in a state of confusion.

At one moment, she hoped Dong Xingwang was dead, and the next, she reassured herself that he wasn’t dead, just experiencing a taste of what it felt like to be beaten!

She ran all the way back home.

Dong Ju’s mother, seeing her panicked expression, asked, “Dong Ju, what’s wrong?”