Chapter 12: Beating Up the Thugs

Wang Man heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Wang San storming toward her, full of rage.

With a quick motion from her slender legs, she yanked a stool up off the ground.

Gripping the stool leg with one hand, she pointed it at Wang San and said,
“You want to find out what this stool tastes like? Want me to help you with that?”

Wang San immediately slammed on the brakes. He knew he couldn’t beat her, but he didn’t want to back down completely either.

So he softened his tone and said,
“Man-niang, I already gave you silver yesterday. Can’t you just let me keep this bit of money?”

Wang Man raised her eyebrows lazily, unconcerned.
“Oh? Then think of it as a loan. I just counted—twenty-two copper coins.”

“Keep it in mind. I’ll pay you back once I have money.”

She finished with a smile that made Wang San’s hair stand on end—so much so that he didn’t dare make another move.

Wang Man didn’t waste any time.

She soon found Old Madam Wang Si next door, who raised over a dozen egg-laying hens. In a few days, she was planning to take them to town to sell.

After Wang Man explained her reason for coming, Old Madam Wang Si gave her forty eggs for thirty-seven copper coins.

Wang Man was overjoyed, thanking her again and again.

Back home, Wang Man didn’t rely on anyone else—she rolled up her sleeves and got to work herself.

It didn’t take long before a rich, charred fragrance began wafting through the air.

Wang San sniffed the air.
“Where’s that smell coming from? I’ve never smelled anything like that before.”

As he spoke, he glanced toward the kitchen. Confirming that the scent was indeed coming from there, he got up to go take a look.

He was suddenly grabbed by Madam Ma:
“A-San, you can’t go in there! Man-niang’s in the kitchen working on something. If you go in and interrupt her, she might beat you up again.”

Wang San hesitated for a moment, then decided not to go in after all.

Wang Man was thinking she could have Wang San go sell the eggs later, but the moment the thought crossed her mind, she dismissed it.

Given Wang San’s temperament, having him sell the eggs was completely unreliable. She’d better handle it herself.

With that in mind, she went into the house to look for a basket.

After rummaging around, all she could find was a worn-out basket, with a big hole at the bottom.

Madam Ma usually lined it with leaves to carry wild vegetables—that worked well enough. But for eggs? Definitely not.

She couldn’t have the eggs falling out before she even made it to town.

And besides, she was selling food—bringing them in such a shabby basket would ruin anyone’s appetite.

She might as well head to her eldest aunt-in-law Lu’s house to see if she could borrow a newer basket.

If not brand new, even one that was just slightly used would do.

As Wang Man walked off, Wang San seized the moment to dart into the kitchen. Sniffing the air eagerly, he lifted the pot lid.

When he saw the dozens of round, golden-brown eggs lying in the pot, Wang San’s eyes lit up, and his mouth instantly began to water.

Without thinking twice, he grabbed one and started eating.

It didn’t even cross his mind what consequences might follow after eating those eggs.

He devoured the first one in big gulps. He couldn’t really describe the flavor—he just knew one thing: delicious.

Then came the second one.

And just as he was about to dig into the third, he heard familiar voices calling from outside.

It was three small-time thugs who often ran around with him.

Whenever they couldn’t find Wang San elsewhere, they’d sometimes come by the house looking for him.

And this time, they had shown up at just the right moment.

Wang San, being the generous type, called out to them to join him in eating.

A true “blessings shared, burdens borne” kind of brotherhood.

At this moment, Madam Ma had also gone out and wasn’t home.

She had no idea what Wang Man had been working on. She only caught a whiff of that rich aroma earlier, never imagining it was eggs.

Wang Man had just returned, cheerful and holding a new basket in her hands, greeting neighbors as she walked into the courtyard. But something felt off.

Voices. Several of them.
She paused.
Guests?

Her brows furrowed. The voices were coming from the kitchen.

And that’s when it hit her—her eggs. The very ones she’d just roasted, meant to be sold at the market.

She rushed over and pushed the door open.

There they were. Four heads hunched over the pot, wolfing down her carefully roasted eggs like starving beasts.

She glanced into the pot—less than half left.

Her blood boiled.
Without a word, she grabbed the fire poker and stormed in.

WHACK!

“OW!”
Wang San yelped, clutching his arm.
“Wang Man, are you crazy?! Why are you hitting me again?!”

Wang Man didn’t respond. She was too furious. Every swing of the poker landed with deadly precision, making Wang San stumble around like a beaten rooster.

The three other boys—his usual good-for-nothing gang—bolted as soon as they realized what was happening.

“Sister-in-law, we didn’t know! He said we could eat!”

“I swear I thought these were leftovers!”

“My mom’s calling me, gotta go!”

In seconds, the kitchen was cleared. Except for Wang San, who was still dodging blows.

“I only ate two! Just two!” he yelled while scrambling behind the table.
But Wang Man’s eyes were cold.

“Two? You think I’m stupid? I had forty in the pot. Now there’s less than twenty! What did you do—inhale them?”

“I—I’ll pay you back!”

“You? Pay me back? With what?” she snapped. “Those eggs were my business! My only chance to make money!”

Finally, she lowered the poker with a heavy sigh and jabbed it into the floor.

“You’re coming with me tomorrow to the town market. You’ll carry the basket and shout for customers like a dog on a leash. And if you dare touch a single egg again, I’ll make you stand upside down at the town gate and drink boiling soup.”

Wang San gulped and nodded furiously. “Got it. I swear. Professional egg seller from now on.”

The smell of roasted eggs still lingered in the kitchen, but now it mixed with the scent of fear—and a little singed dignity.

The other three little thugs, seeing the commotion, rushed over to surround Wang Man, trying to snatch the fire poker from her hands.

Their mouths were just as filthy as their hearts:
“You damn brat! You looking to die?!”

But Wang Man? She wasn’t just anybody.

These thugs—none of whom knew the first thing about fighting—thought they could take something from her?
What a joke.

That fire poker in her hand might as well have been alive.
Every swing landed with frightening precision—on arms, backs, thighs—wherever it hurt most.

The three thugs, just like Wang San, were soon squealing in pain.

Four grown men flailing about in the courtyard, spinning like tops, and yet—
Not a single one could even touch the hem of Wang Man’s sleeve.

Realizing things couldn’t go on like this, the group exchanged a glance and silently reached the same conclusion—
Run!

Out in the open yard, they’d have more space to dodge and move.

But once again, they were wrong.

It wasn’t them who needed more space to fight—it was Wang Man.

The moment they burst out the door, Wang Man followed like a shadow. Her swings only grew fiercer with all that room to move.

The fire poker whooshed through the air like a dragon’s tail, and the wails that followed were nothing short of tragic.

The shrieking and howling coming from the house startled Auntie Ma Liu, who was chatting with Granny Wang Si next door.

She nearly tripped over her own feet as she rushed back toward the yard in a panic.

Granny Wang Si, hearing the ruckus, assumed Wang San had lost his temper again and was beating Wang Man.

Worried, she decided to follow, wanting to mediate before things got out of hand.

Thinking about her frail old bones, she figured—what if she tried to break up the fight and ended up getting shoved down? That’d be a real disaster. So, Granny Wang Si wisely called her daughter-in-law to come with her.

The ruckus from the house was getting louder and more alarming. Neighbors nearby heard it too and started hurrying over.

Everyone had the same thought in mind:

“We’ve got to stop Wang San! If he really ends up beating Wang Man to death, that poor girl—she’s already suffered so much.”

But what they saw when they arrived—

Left them stunned.

Their feet rooted to the ground, mouths hanging open, unable to utter a single word.

They hadn’t expected this.

It wasn’t Wang Man taking the beating—she was the one doing the beating.

At that moment, no one moved. Everyone just stood silently watching the spectacle.

Wang San was completely out of line; he deserved a good thrashing.

And as for the other three, they weren’t any better—they got exactly what was coming to them.

Those petty thugs, known for picking on the weak and fearing the strong, found that no matter how hard they tried to evade, they couldn’t escape. In the end, they had no choice but to drop to their knees and beg for mercy.

Didn’t they see that even Wang San had shrunk to the side, taking the beating without a word?
You think they’d still dare to resist? No way.

Wang Man was exhausted from all the swinging. She finally stopped, panting heavily.
With such a small frame, she thought to herself, I really need to train more. This won’t do.
She rubbed her throbbing head, pulled over a stool, and sat down.

Her cold gaze locked onto Wang San.
“Wang San, who told you, you could eat those eggs?”

Wang San sported a panda eye, and blood stained the corner of his mouth.
The black eye came from trying to snatch Wang Man’s stick—she punched him squarely for that.
The bloody lip? That was from him biting his own tongue while yelling.

Honestly, Wang Man had gone easy on them.
She gave them some dignity—her strikes were all to the body, never the face.

Wang San instantly realized the problem was those eggs. With guilt written all over his face, he hunched his shoulders and muttered,
“They just smelled too good… I couldn’t help myself.”

Wang Man’s glare could slice through bone.
“You couldn’t help yourself, so you ate all of them? Are you pigs?
So many eggs—and not a single one of you choked to death?”

As she spat out the words, she shot a vicious look at the three little thugs beside him.
The punks were so scared they didn’t even dare lift their heads,
just praying Wang San could somehow smooth things over so they could get the hell out.

Never again, they silently vowed.
Who would’ve thought the little wife Wang San brought home was such a monster?

Not even a group of grown men could beat her.

A she-tiger. A demoness. A walking disaster in human skin.