Chapter 352 - 350: Dare Not Make a Sound

Chapter 352: Chapter 350: Dare Not Make a Sound

At Xu Banxian’s house.

Xu Banxian came to his senses the moment Zhang Damei threw him into the courtyard.

He had no choice but to wake up. It hurt too much. It was cold... His clothes were soaked, and he shivered as the night wind blew over him. He struggled to get up, but found he was too clumsy and just couldn’t manage it.

Xu Banxian lay sprawled with his face pressed against the ground, feeling the bone-deep, deathly chill of the concrete courtyard floor.

His padded cotton jacket and pants were thick, but their thickness only made his suffering worse. He had already wet his pants earlier, and after that—

For the first time, he didn’t feel proud of being one of the few families in the village who could afford a concrete courtyard like this. Instead, he was filled with immense regret.

’If it were just a dirt yard, it wouldn’t hurt this much—’

And then there was his stupid wife. There was a perfectly good drainage ditch, but instead of pouring water there, she always had to splash it all over the courtyard, leaving the ground soaking wet. And now? It just made his predicament worse. His padded jacket had absorbed the water, and the cold became increasingly unbearable. But no matter how much it hurt, he didn’t dare cry out. He was afraid that brute hadn’t gone far. What if the man heard him, came back, and gave him another beating?

So Xu Banxian held it in. He watched as a light quietly flicked on inside the house, but no one came out. He grew furious. He endured it for as long as he could, and when he finally thought enough time had passed, he started to groan, keeping his voice low. "It’s me! Hurry up and help me up."

"Old man, why is it you? You scared me! I thought a thief had gotten into our house." The first to run out was Xu Banxian’s wife, Xia Baoying. She had opened the door and rushed out upon hearing his voice, and she cried out in alarm at the sight of his wretched state.

"Dad? Who did this to you? That son of a bitch! Didn’t dare to face us openly, so they resorted to a sneak attack! Tell me who it was! I’ll go find them! I don’t believe a few of us brothers can’t also beat him until he’s looking for his teeth on the ground—" His eldest son and daughter-in-law, who lived with him, also ran out. Seeing Xu Banxian’s miserable state, his son, Xu Cai, froze for a second before stomping his feet and starting to curse in a coarse voice.

Xu Banxian’s daughter-in-law, Lin Meilan, followed behind without a word. Hearing her husband’s loud shouting, she quietly lowered her head and pursed her lips. ’Just one look at my father-in-law’s condition tells the whole story. He must have been caught swindling money or women, and someone from the victim’s family came looking for revenge.’

’Go settle the score?’

’How naive.’

’Even if the person admitted to beating him, would our family really dare to reason with them or press the issue?’

’Heh, didn’t something like this happen a few years ago? And what was the outcome? He got beaten for nothing, and we still had to hide the real reason from everyone.’

In her opinion, this time would probably be no different.

Sure enough, just as the thought crossed her mind, she heard Xu Banxian hiss in a low voice, "Both of you, shut up! Keep it down." Lin Meilan secretly pursed her lips again. Xia Baoying and Xu Cai seemed to realize something as well, looking at each other before falling silent. For a moment, the scene froze.

Xu Banxian waited for a long time, but no one moved. They all just stood there stupidly, without a single person showing the sense to come over and help him up. He couldn’t help but roar in shame and anger, "What are you all standing around like idiots for? I can’t get up on my own! Isn’t anyone going to hurry up and give me a hand?"

As if waking from a dream, Xia Baoying and Xu Cai rushed over together. They pulled and dragged Xu Banxian to his feet. Getting closer, they could see his miserable condition more clearly. His face was covered in purple bruises. The two of them sucked in a sharp breath and didn’t dare to speak loudly anymore. Xia Baoying asked in a small voice, "What on earth happened?"

"Why are you asking so many questions?" Xu Banxian glared, clearly unwilling to say more. "Get me a basin of hot water to wipe myself down and a change of clothes."

Seeing his displeasure, Xia Baoying didn’t dare to ask any more questions and backed down sheepishly.

This time, Lin Meilan was quick on the uptake. "I’ll go get the water." She turned and headed for the kitchen.

When it came to getting near her father-in-law, she avoided it if she could, and even if she couldn’t, she still tried. In any case, she refused to get too close to him. Whenever her husband wasn’t home, she would even lock her door from the inside just to take a nap. ’That dirty old man. Don’t think I don’t know about the shady, unspeakable things he does secretly in that "fortune-telling" room of his.’

--

「The next day.」

Zhang Wei Qiang and his group arrived even earlier than expected.

"Why the rush? You must have set out so early! It’s so cold out, wouldn’t it have been better to sleep in a little longer?" Wen Xiu was the first to hear the commotion. She came out to open the door and chided them gently.

"Perfect timing. We rushed over for breakfast, which saves me and Little Sis the trouble of cooking," Lin Qin said with a smile, pointing at Zhang Su and Zhang Kai. "Ma, you have no idea. As soon as you’re not home, Little Sis and I have a hard time. You’ve spoiled everyone’s appetite with your cooking. When they have to eat what we make, they turn up their noses and raise their eyebrows at everything. Nothing but complaints. Especially from these two little brats." She used them as an excuse to flatter Wen Xiu in a roundabout way.

Wen Xiu’s face instantly bloomed into a wide smile. "That’s just because you two are out of practice."

"Of course we’re out of practice! I’m so blessed to have a mother-in-law who dotes on me so much. You’re even more reluctant to let me work than my own mother was. When people talk about us, they aren’t envious that our family has money or that I married a good man. They’re more envious that I have such a wonderful mother-in-law." Lin Qin went over and hugged Wen Xiu’s arm, her sweet words making Wen Xiu beam with delight.

Life at home had gotten better, but what made Wen Xiu even more content was that her eldest daughter-in-law was getting better and better at sweet-talking her, and more willing to do so. Even though she knew that ninety percent of what Lin Qin said wasn’t true, she couldn’t help but feel happy, grinning from ear to ear.

Zhang Wei Qiang, Song Yong, Zhang Su, and Zhang Kai all stood to the side, smiling without a word.

Zhang Minzhen joined in the fun, complaining to Wen Xiu, "Ma, can you not be like this? You’re getting more and more biased. All you see is Sister-in-law now. Can you even see me anymore? People are going to think she’s your real daughter, and I’m just some distant relative—"

"Go on, get out of here. Between you and your sister-in-law, of course I dote on her more. She married into our family, so she’s one of us. You’re already married off, so don’t think you can come back and fight for favor," Wen Xiu said with a grin, unapologetically twisting the knife in Zhang Minzhen’s heart. Zhang Minzhen’s face fell, and she looked at her mother with a wounded expression. "I said you were biased, and you just admit it? Aren’t you supposed to console me?"

Those words—

Everyone burst out laughing. Lin Qin was particularly smug. "Hmph, in your dreams. It’s not just Ma. Even your own daughter is closer to me, her auntie, these days. You’d better just stay quietly behind me. Don’t even think about getting ahead of me. If I’m in a good mood, I might show you some affection. Otherwise, hmph hmph—"

"Big Brother, Sister-in-law is bullying me," Zhang Minzhen immediately tattled to Zhang Wei Qiang.