Chapter 14

But she wouldn’t stop. “Shut up? Zhang Zhi, how dare you yell at me? When you married me, you said you’d treat me well! And don’t forget, your son is from my belly!” She began hitting and kicking him, releasing all her frustrations in front of everyone.

Zhang Zhi tried to defend himself but could barely get a word in as she continued. Finally, the captain intervened, raising his voice. “That’s enough! Speak properly.” Startled, Ding Yushu stopped and, with a pitiful look, pointed at her bruises, demanding compensation.

Tian Jiao had been watching from the start. She quietly walked over to Li Mizhen and tugged her sleeve, whispering, “Grandma, she hit Second Uncle too. And Second Uncle is your son!”

Li Mizhen kept her face cold. She looked down at the little girl, who was just as tall as her waist. Her expression softened a little, and she whispered, “She’s a smart girl.”

Tian Jiao smiled and stepped back again.

Zhang Rui, who knew what Tian Jiao had told his mother, gently pulled her aside. “Alright, don’t say any more. Your grandma isn’t easily fooled.”

Li Mizhen had a good temper, but she also had a bottom line. Ding Yushu usually stayed out of trouble because she had two cards to play: Zhang Zhi and Dabao. But things were different now.

Why did these three grown men, Zhang Rui, Zhang Zhi, and Zhang Dagen, listen to her so much?

It was all because of a lesson learned in the past.

Sure enough, the next moment, Li Mizhen stepped forward. She looked at Ding Yushu, pointed to her son, and said slowly, “He is my son. You hit him like this—don’t you think you should pay for it? Let’s see who’s hurt more here. I hit you three times. Once for stealing eggs, and twice for your stuttering. Even though the child cried until his face was red, I didn’t make a big deal of it. Do you really think I don’t know how often you’ve hit my son?”

She looked sharply at Zhang Zhi. “Tell me! How many times did she hit you? Just this month alone.”

Ding Yushu was caught off guard and squeezed Zhang Zhi’s arm. “Don’t say it!”

Realizing her mistake, she quickly added, “I didn’t hit you. Don’t say that!”

But Zhang Rui dashed her hopes. He shook her hand off with a straight face and rolled up his sleeve, showing where her nails had scratched him.

“Many times. Just in the last month, she’s caught me almost every night. My face is always bruised, and everyone in the village has seen it.”

He wasn’t exaggerating. In the past month, there have been constant arguments at home. Their one-year-old son Dabao often woke her up crying. She would pinch him, and if she couldn’t sleep, she wouldn’t let him sleep either.

Things only got worse when Tian Jiao came. Ding Yushu hated having another mouth to feed. Even though she gave her the same portion of rice, she still felt she was being taken advantage of. She tried to drive the girl away and even hit her the day they arrived. And that was just the beginning.

Zhang Zhi realized why people had pitied him.

He had been proud of marrying a beautiful wife, but now he understood. People probably knew better than he did. But he had never thought about divorce, so he just accepted it. What else could he do?

Ding Yushu’s face went pale with anger. She glared at Zhang Zhi, who returned her look with a cold, distant expression. “We can split up, but don’t think about anything else!”

Ding Yushu was speechless. She rolled her eyes and fainted.

–

The commotion ended because she fainted, but it was clear the family had to split up.

Only the Zhang family would split.

Zhang Zhi was in shock. He never thought things would come to this, and he felt a deep sense of guilt.

While Ding Yushu was still unconscious, he explained everything to the team leader. He agreed to give 50 yuan, and from then on, he would give his parents 60% of his monthly wage, including Dabao’s living expenses.

Zhang Zhi earned five yuan a month, so he would give three yuan.

Zhang Rui set the 60 percent to avoid future disputes with Ding Yushu. This way, if Zhang Zhi’s salary increased, they wouldn’t have to renegotiate.

Before Ding Yushu woke up, the agreement was signed. Zhang Zhi’s household was moved out of Old Zhang’s home, with only Dabao staying.

This was the main condition. If Dabao couldn’t stay with her, Li Mizhen would not agree to the split.

Zhang Zhi even borrowed an empty house in the village while she was unconscious. With the help of Zhang Rui and some villagers, he quickly moved his things.

In just an hour, the room he once occupied in the Zhang house was empty, and the home fell silent.

Tian Jiao and Dabao watched it all, feeling sad.

They were family. How did it come to this?

Tian Jiao didn’t like how Ding Yushu always looked for a way to take advantage, but she never imagined it would go this far.

Zhang Zhi returned after the move was done.

Tian Jiao felt a bit nervous and whispered, “Second Uncle.”

Zhang Zhi smiled and gently ruffled her short hair for the first time. “Jiao Jiao, could you help Grandma take care of Dabao more? He’s still young, and he can get into trouble easily.”

He worked hard to support his family, so he only saw his children briefly in the evenings. Now, with the family divided, he’d see them even less.

But he didn’t plan to raise his son himself; he knew Ding Yushu couldn’t handle it all on her own.

Tian Jiao smiled and nodded seriously. “Yes! I will!”

“Dad! Bubble…” Just as Zhang Zhi kissed his son goodbye, Dabao, who had been playing, suddenly shouted and blew bubbles with his saliva.

Zhang Zhi stood there, looking stunned.

Tian Jiao blinked, not sure why he was suddenly so excited.

Dabao had only called out randomly, and it was clear he wasn’t fully aware.

The next moment, Zhang Zhi joyfully hugged his son and kissed him, saying, “Dabao, call me daddy! Say it… daddy…”

Dabao replied, “Dad, poof…”

Zhang Zhi was overjoyed. Hearing his son call him “daddy” seemed to erase all the sadness and worry he had felt. He proudly showed off his son to everyone nearby: “Hey, Dabao can call me daddy now! Come look…”

“Mom, Dad, look, Dabao can say daddy now…”

“Uncle San, Dabao called me daddy! Isn’t it great?”

Tian Jiao rubbed her cheeks, smiling as she watched everyone get excited. Then, she whispered, “Tian Dao Daddy, when will Jiaojiao call you daddy?”

Tian Dao didn’t reply, but Tian Jiao didn’t mind. She knew Tian Dao was very busy, and it was nice that he occasionally visited her now that she was in the mortal world.

She continued to ask quietly, “Tian Dao Daddy, were you excited when Jiaojiao first called you daddy?”

She remembered the time she learned what “dad” meant and called him that, only to get a slap that made her feel wronged for days. She was eventually comforted, but she couldn’t recall Tian Dao’s face back then.

She expected silence, but to her surprise, a cool male voice replied in her ear, “No, they are mortals; they’re different from me.”

Amused by the proud tone, Tian Jiao laughed. She already made up for that old incident but was still curious. “Then how did you feel? Tell Jiaojiao~~~”

But Tian Dao was silent.

He thought back to the tiny child he once held in his palm, her small voice and shining black eyes lighting up whenever he teased her.

One day, she suddenly called him, “Dad!”

Tian Dao was so startled he nearly dropped the prisoner he was holding. The chains slipped, the prisoner managed to free himself, and thousands of prisoners escaped in that single moment.

Though Tian Dao was the Heavenly Dao, it took a lot to retrieve them because they weren’t ordinary beings.

Furious, he spanked the child. After bringing the prisoners back with much effort, he realized she refused to call him “dad” again for a long time. He regretted it so much he wanted to punish the prisoners daily.

The thought still annoyed him.

The clear sky darkened over Old Zhang’s house, which had started to calm down. Dark clouds quickly gathered, and heavy rain poured, making the sky look gloomy.

Why was it raining?

It shouldn’t be raining today, should it? Was Father Tian Dao angry?

…

The rain came and went, leaving the air sweeter and bringing a sense of peace over Old Zhang’s house. After it ended, Zhao Xiaohua peeked out from her yard and waved. “Jiaojiao, come play in the water~~~”

Tian Jiao’s eyes sparkled. She called out to Zhang Rui, who was busy, and dashed outside.

She hadn’t gone to school since noon, so she’d been waiting until everyone finished classes. When school was out, her friend came to play with her.

Outside, a few children greeted her: “Jiaojiao, I heard your family’s splitting up. That’s great.”

Tian Jiao pouted. “What’s so good about it?”

Her grandparents and second uncle were unhappy. Only her dad was a little glad that the Second Aunt was gone.

Zhao Xiaohua said, “When there are fewer people, it’s quieter. I’d get my own space. My mom wants to split up our family too, but my dad won’t let her.”

Zhou Dazhu nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I still share a room with my brother and sister. They always hit me!”

Tian Jiao blinked. She couldn’t fully understand, but it did seem nice that, from now on, no one would always make trouble or be unhappy at home.

Thinking about it, she smiled brightly, her round face lighting up as she held Zhao Xiaohua’s hand. “Sister Huahua, where are we going?”

Zhao Xiaohua lifted her chin proudly. “We’re going to our secret spot. After it rains, there might be crabs or small fish there. If we catch them, we can have a feast!”

Tian Zhuangzhuang shyly raised his hand, “I… I can catch loaches too.”

“Wow!” Tian Jiao was thrilled. She loved the thought of snacks, especially crabs, fish, and loaches. Holding her face in delight, she said, “I’ll let you catch them all!”

Zhao Xiaohua and the others glanced at each other in confusion. This little sister was adorable. Didn’t she realize they’d have to work hard to catch them?

But they just smiled and pulled her along, saying, “Come on! When we get there, you dig a hole nearby to hold what we catch.”

Zhou Dazhu had new clothes on, but the water from the rain was already soaking them. He complained, “Slow down; everything’s wet, and my clothes are soaked…”

The children ran on, laughing, as Tian Jiao picked up her pace, energized by the idea of snacks and pulling her friends along.

Finally, they reached a decent-sized river. She had never been here before and was about to shout in excitement when she saw a familiar, thin figure being pushed into the river by someone’s arm.

A moment later, a tall figure appeared by the large willow tree.

Tian Jiao’s eyes narrowed slightly. It was Sun Hong.

Without wasting a second, she ran forward quickly. The main thing now was that a child had fallen into the water, and no matter who it was, they needed help!