Chapter 75 I'm going to make you pay!

Jia Dongxu was dressed warmly.

He just pretended to yell "Ouch!"

But his thoughts had already drifted far away.

Looking at the lewd expression on his face, Jia Zhangshi...

He spat out a curse: "You spineless coward!"

She sat down as well, and stared blankly into space.

But in those eyes, it seemed as if a vast ocean was shimmering and crashing.

At this very moment, our protagonist is completely unaware...

Someone has already set their sights on him.

He was being relentlessly pestered by Xu Damao, who wanted to continue playing mahjong.

The two brothers retrieved a lot of slingshot bullets from the snowdrift in the front yard.

Xu Damao pestered his father to get even more.

We have plenty of ammunition now.

In the evening, He Daqing returned home from get off work at the factory.

Chen Shuxiang told him everything that had happened during the day.

Upon hearing this, He Daqing immediately rolled up his sleeves, ready to go to the Jia family to settle accounts.

Chen Shuxiang grabbed him tightly.

I explained how the old lady handled the situation.

He Daqing then suppressed his anger and refrained from directly confronting them.

As soon as Jia Laonian returned home, he sensed that something was amiss.

Upon seeing Jia Zhangshi's still swollen face, he immediately asked:

"Did you go out and cause trouble again today?"

"No, no."

Jia Zhangshi felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze.

"No? Then what happened to your face?"

"I fell by accident, is that not allowed?"

"Old Jia, can't you wish for anything better for us, mother and child?"

Jia Zhangshi remained stubborn and refused to admit it.

"You wretched woman, can't you give me a break for once?"

Jia Laonian directly exposed her lie.

"If you were so capable, would my daughter and I have to put up with this kind of humiliation?"

Jia Zhangshi immediately became upset and started complaining on the spot.

"Sigh... never mind, I'll go cook, I'm hungry."

Jia Laonian was struck where it hurt by a single sentence—

He joined the factory even earlier than Yi Zhonghai.

They can earn twelve silver dollars a month now.

He only had six pieces.

It's not that he's unwilling to work hard, it's just that he doesn't have much skill or talent.

It's one thing if the skills are bad.

If only I could be as eloquent as Xu Wangcai...

Life will be much easier then.

But what can you do when he's just a naturally taciturn person?

The Jia family had just finished eating.

Jia Zhangshi was still washing the dishes in the kitchen.

Suddenly, there was a series of urgent knocks on the door.

Who is it?

Jia Laonian and Jia Zhangshi exchanged a glance.

Only then did Jia Laonian speak up and ask.

"I am He Daqing!"

"Brother Qing, what brings you here so late?"

When Jia Laonian heard it was He Daqing, his heart skipped a beat.

He glared at Jia Zhangshi before responding.

"Come to my house with me, my mother-in-law has something to tell you."

"it is good."

After delivering the message, He Daqing turned and left.

Listening to the footsteps gradually fading away,

Old Man Jia launched into a tirade against Madam Jia Zhang:

"You damned woman, is this what you call 'nothing'?"

If there was nothing wrong, why would they come knocking on our door?

"If our family gets kicked out of the compound, you can go back to your parents' house!"

"Old Jia, you've really grown some guts, huh? You actually want to divorce your old mother?"

Dream on! If you dare write a letter of divorce, I'll take Dongxu and leave right now!

"Once I remarry, you can expect your son to call someone else 'Dad'!"

With a crisp "snap",

Jia Zhangshi received a solid, heavy slap across the face.

"You...you...you're really going to drive me crazy!"

I'll settle the score with you properly when I get back!

After saying that, Jia Laonian slammed the door and left.

Jia Dongxu, that coward, is hiding his head and playing the ostrich again.

Seeing this, Madam Jia roared angrily on the spot:

"Your father hit me, and you didn't even try to stop him?"

"I've wasted my life raising you all these years!"

"I...I dare not, I'm afraid Dad will beat me too."

Jia Dongxu answered timidly.

"Useless thing, why is my life so miserable!"

Jia Zhangshi opened her mouth and burst into tears on the spot.

With a heart full of trepidation, Jia Laonian arrived at the He family's house.

After knocking and entering the house,

The old lady was sitting upright in the chair in the main hall.

"Grandma, what can I do for you?" Grandpa Jia asked cautiously.

"Didn't your stupid wife tell you that?" the old lady retorted coldly.

"No...that woman said she didn't cause any trouble," Jia Laonian answered honestly.

"Hmph, that idiot dared to slander my grandson as a thief and even tried to hit him. What do you think I should do?" the old lady said sternly.

Old Jia sighed inwardly, "How could I have married such a troublesome woman!"

But he dared not not reply, so for now he could only adopt a very humble attitude.

"Grandma, whatever you say, we'll do, just don't kick our family out of the yard," Grandpa Jia said, bowing deeply.

"If you're willing to accept the punishment, then starting tomorrow, your family will move to the back house in the front yard. I won't charge you much rent, just fifty copper coins."

Grandpa Jia's face turned deathly pale instantly, but he still cautiously probed, "Grandma, please have mercy! That outbuilding is cold in winter and hot in summer, and it's not well-ventilated. Besides, how can the three of us fit in there?"

"Can't fit everyone? That's easy. One dollar, and I'll rent you two rooms in the back row."

"Grandma, could we not move?" Grandma Jia still wanted to negotiate a little more.

"What, you want to bargain with me? You don't have to move it if you don't want to." The old lady's tone was somewhat sarcastic.

Old Jia was overjoyed and was about to express his gratitude—

The old lady's next words instantly plunged him into an icy abyss.

"If you're not going to the back room, then get out of here. My courtyard can't accommodate your whole family," the old lady said coldly.

"Move! Move! We'll move tomorrow!" Old Jia readily agreed.

"There's one more thing I need to remind you of in advance."

"Please speak, please speak, I'm listening carefully."

"From now on, your family is not allowed to enter any part of the courtyard or beyond. Otherwise, don't blame this old lady for being ruthless."

"Yes, yes." Old Jia suppressed his frustration and anger, bowing and nodding repeatedly.

Of course, this anger was not directed at the deaf old lady—he wouldn't dare do that even if he had ten times the courage.

"Alright, go ahead and move out as soon as possible. My old lady doesn't want to see those two scoundrels from your family in the Central Courtyard anymore."

Old Jia didn't dare to talk back, lowered his head, turned around and walked out of the He family's house.

"Old lady, we should have just kicked them out," He Daqing said through gritted teeth.

"Well, let's just consider it a good deed for the pillar and the rainwater," the old lady sighed softly.

"What if they dare to cause any more trouble?"

"Then don't blame me for being impolite. If they refuse to move, just throw them all out."

"Okay, I understand!" He Daqing replied in a muffled voice. It was inconvenient to take action in the courtyard, but he had already planned in his mind that after they moved out, he would find someone to deal with this family properly; these days, it was common for a person or two to go missing outside, and it would save him from having to worry about their revenge in the future.

However, he didn't believe a word the old lady said about accumulating good karma. This old lady was no ordinary person; otherwise, the mother and daughter would have been bullied to the bone long ago, and how could they have waited for him to come and get married and live in such a spacious courtyard?

The only reason he could think of was that the old lady wanted to keep an eye on outsiders—the courtyard was too big, and the front yard had always been empty. If outsiders lived in the courtyard, it would be easy to notice any movement; if it was just their family left, how could they take care of everything?

After leaving the He family's house, Jia Laonian returned home in a rage, slammed the door shut, rolled up his sleeves, and walked towards Jia Zhangshi.

Jia Zhangshi was leaning against the kang (a heated brick bed) in a daze, plotting how to extort money from He Yuzhu, when suddenly the light went out, and then her hair was grabbed hard. Before she could react, "slap, slap, slap, slap"—

A series of slaps landed hard on her face, leaving her stunned and only able to instinctively scream "Ah, ah!"

When she recovered and tried to struggle and resist, her husband, Jia Laonian, held her firmly on the bed and made her unable to move.

Then, the broom handle came crashing down on him, the sounds of "crack, crack" mingling with screams of pain.

"Old Jia, you hit me again! I'll fight you to the death! Waaaaah... Dongxu, come save me! Your father is beating me to death! Waaaaah!"

"You good-for-nothing Jia Laonian, all you do is beat your wife! I can't live anymore, I can't live anymore!"

"Jia Dongxu, you useless piece of trash, just standing there watching! Your father almost beat your mother to death!"

"Old Jia, you wait for my brother to come. You hit me today, and I'll make you pay tenfold, no, a hundredfold!"

"Old Nian, please, please stop hitting me... Waaaaah, it hurts so much..."

"Old man..."

As expected of Jia Zhangshi, who was thick-skinned and had a loud voice, her shrill howls echoed throughout the entire central courtyard.

But Jia Laonian hit harder and harder, until the broom handle in his hand broke before he stopped.

Jia Dongxu was so frightened that he hid in the corner of the kang (a heated brick bed), curled up and trembling.

By this time, Jia Zhangshi had been beaten so badly that she could only lie on the kang (a heated brick bed) groaning. Jia Laonian picked up his pipe, filled it with tobacco, and lit it with a "snap".

Only Jia Zhangshi's intermittent groans and sobs remained in the room, along with the flickering firelight and wisps of smoke rising from the tobacco pipe.

Jia Laonian, a man who was usually honest but ruthless when he got angry, didn't speak until he finished a pipe: "Zhang Ruhua, do you know why I hit you?"

"You heartless bastard, wait until I recover, I'll make you pay!"

"I'm asking you a question. Do you even know why I hit you?" Old Man Jia got up and walked to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), leaning down to stare intently at Madam Jia.

Madam Jia's eyes darted around and avoided his gaze, and Jia Laonian immediately understood that she knew the reason.

Old Jia said slowly, "Since you know, do you know what the consequences will be?"

Jia Zhangshi shook her head, which was swollen like a pig's head.