Chapter 16: Dog Man Paraded and Humiliated

Xie Zhi walked with Jiaojiao all the way to the school and locked the door to his office.

His mind was filled with the disgusting look in that man’s eyes. The thought of his wife being coveted by others stirred a murderous intent in him.

But seeing the girl’s disappointed expression, he wasn’t sure what to say. After a long silence, he said sincerely, “Jiaojiao, don’t go to Yang Mei’s house alone anymore. If you need to see her, take me with you.”

Xu Jiaojiao raised her downcast gaze, looking as fragile as a small animal. “If you weren’t with me, I really don’t know how scared I’d be. Husband, I’ll definitely go with you if I want to see Yang Mei.”

“She has a wound on her back; she’s likely often beaten. If we can help, we should.” Xie Zhi continued, his tone changing.

“How did you know?”

“She touched her back while walking, and her face looked bad.”

After speaking, he looked at the sad girl and patted her smooth cheek, coaxing her, “Alright, stop thinking about it. You must be hot after running around. Use the fan.”

Then he turned on the squeaky fan and took a bag of raspberry leaves wrapped with raspberries from his drawer—a gift from a student.

Xu Jiaojiao opened her mouth to take the berry that Xie Zhi offered. The sweet taste washed away her earlier frustration, and her eyes squinted happily. “So I won’t be able to pick mushrooms anymore.”

“I’ll go with you on Friday; I have no classes that afternoon.”

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “Alright.”

Xie Zhi leaned down to kiss her cheek, his gaze intense as he whispered, “Will you go home, or wait for me to finish class?”

Xu Jiaojiao twirled idly. He would be teaching all afternoon, and that was way too long. She wasn’t sure where to go.

After thinking about it, she decided to find Hong Yan. It was almost two o’clock, so Hong Yan should be done by now.

“Husband, I’ll go play with Hong Yan and share a few raspberries with her.”

Xu Jiaojiao’s big, watery eyes blinked adorably, making it impossible to resist.

Xie Zhi raised an eyebrow, his slightly disheveled bangs adding a touch of rebelliousness to his otherwise calm demeanor. He glanced at the time. “Alright.”

Xu Jiaojiao smiled, stood on tiptoe, and kissed his cheek sweetly. “You’re so good, husband.”

Then she darted off, not giving him a chance to respond. Xie Zhi was almost driven mad by how endearing she’d been these past few days. How could she be so cute? Watching her leave, he murmured darkly, “Jiaojiao, you have to stay like this; otherwise, even I don’t know what I might do.”

Xu Jiaojiao had just left the school when she spotted a few men dragging a man toward her. Squinting and widening her eyes, she still couldn’t see clearly. It seemed she was indeed a bit nearsighted; how embarrassing.

Tapping into the typical curiosity of a Chinese person, she sauntered closer, pretending to casually observe.

As she got nearer, she realized that the man being dragged was Sheng Jie. Her eyes widened. Just a day ago, he had been so arrogant, but now he looked utterly terrified.

As a crowd gathered around, one of the men raised his voice, “Come and see, everyone! This man is Sheng Jie, who ate for free at the state-run restaurant! Come and take a look!”

Xu Jiaojiao instantly understood, and a faint smile appeared on her face as she settled into her spectator role.

Sheng Jie’s hands were tied with hemp rope, and he kept his head down, avoiding everyone’s gaze. It wasn’t until he heard the man’s shouting that his body began to tremble slightly.

In a pitiful voice, he pleaded, “I’ll pay, I’ll pay. My home is just ahead. Why are you humiliating me like this?”

The man sneered. “Oh, acting all high and mighty in the restaurant, as if you were some big shot. It would be fine if you had money, but since you didn’t, you still dared to act like a lord. I’ll make sure the whole village sees what kind of person you are today.”

The skinny, dark young man shouted even louder, “Come look, everyone! Sheng Jie from your village is a freeloader!”

His shouting, combined with the fact that villagers were already heading to work, quickly drew a crowd.

Even elderly women in their sixties came out, chatting with the other men and women, gossiping away like machine guns.

“Oh, isn’t that Sheng Jie? Someone should call his mother!”

“They went to get her. Wang’s daughter-in-law already went.”

“I say, Sheng Jie, if you don’t have money, why eat at the state-run restaurant? You and your widowed mother have it hard enough as it is.”

Hearing their words, Xu Jiaojiao shifted her gaze to Sheng Jie. His face alternated between red and pale, and she felt utterly satisfied.

Perhaps because she had taken on the character of the female supporting role in the novel, her emotions were fully tied to the character. When she felt relieved, so did Xu Jiaojiao; when she felt distressed, Xu Jiaojiao was equally affected.

“Xu Jiaojiao—it was all because of Xu Jiaojiao! She didn’t pay for me!” Sheng Jie’s voice suddenly rose, and his eyes were filled with resentment.

Xu Jiaojiao: “…”

This man was shameless. What did this have to do with her? How dare he! She was about to curse him out when a familiar voice interrupted.

“You went to eat by yourself; why should Jiaojiao pay for you? Instead of working hard to earn work points like a man, you only know how to take advantage of others. If you don’t hurry up and harvest the corn field allocated to you, what will the village pigs eat?”

“When the New Year comes, and everyone doesn’t get their share of meat, I wonder how you’ll explain that.”

Her father continued, effectively turning Sheng Jie’s laziness into a matter of collective interest. Each household’s meat supply was limited, and everyone was counting on fattening the pigs to enjoy a good meal.

With his words, most of the villagers’ expressions darkened. Wang’s daughter-in-law mocked, “If you can’t handle it, Sheng Jie, leave. My husband wants to pick corn anyway.”

“Out of sympathy for your mother’s situation, the village assigned you a light job, and yet you and your family turned out to be nothing but lazy good-for-nothings.”

“Exactly!”

“Comrades, let’s take him to his house. The villagers need to get back to work,” Xu Jiaojiao’s father smoothed things over.

The men chuckled, respecting the village leader’s word. After all, their goal was achieved.

“Let me tell you, today’s wages also need to be accounted for. Otherwise, we’ll see you in the police station.” The skinny, dark man threatened.

Sheng Jie’s mother hurried over, only to find her son bound and surrounded by people. Her stout frame barged in, shoving people aside to try and free him. But the men holding Sheng Jie weren’t about to let that happen and pushed her down.

She promptly fell back on her old tactics, lying on the ground and wailing. “Oh, my son! Let go of him! My son!”

Xu Jiaojiao watched in amazement. Now she understood why sometimes people feared shamelessness even more than reason. In the modern era, people were too ethical. When faced with injustice, one should cry and shout, drawing as much attention as possible.

She nodded subtly as she observed Sheng Jie’s mother rolling and wailing, completely shameless. If she had learned to act this way, she wouldn’t have been unfairly fired by her company without a single penny. She should have gone to cry, shout, and even hang a banner.