Meddling in Others' Affairs

Zhang Zhuzi ignored Mrs. Tang's thoughts; he suddenly realized that Mrs. Tang had selfish intentions toward him.

Zhang Zhuzi hadn't thought much about the source of the silver before, just feeling like he might have gotten lucky or had fortune fall from the sky. Now he knew it was because his wife had secretly hidden it from him.

"Tsk tsk, Mrs. Tang, you’ve got some nerve, hiding money behind your husband's back, and so much of it! If I hadn’t accidentally found that silver, I’d still be in the dark thanks to you, you stinky woman! What were you planning? Having a wild lover on the side and running away? I think you don’t want to live anymore!" Zhang Zhuzi said as he pinned Mrs. Tang to the ground and punched her hard twice on the back.

Mrs. Tang screamed out in pain from being hit. Now the secret about the silver was exposed, as well as the false accusation that Yuanbao had stolen the silver.

Zhang Zhuzi hit Mrs. Tang ruthlessly, as if he wanted to kill her.

Mrs. Tang curled up on the ground, covering her head, crying out pitifully to the village chief, "Village Chief, please save me! Zhang Zhuzi is going to beat me to death!"

The village chief stroked his beard and shook his head, "Mrs. Tang, it’s not that I don’t want to help you, but how many times has this happened? When you were beaten before and came to me for help, I scolded Zhang Zhuzi, but you turned your back on me, denied knowing me, and accused me of meddling, even standing at my door cursing for a long time. I dare not intervene in your husband beating you anymore."

Other villagers had also been tricked by Mrs. Tang like this. She would act pitiful and seek help when beaten, but if anyone helped her against her husband, she’d turn around and team up with Zhang Zhuzi to blame them. Some villagers who tried to stop Zhang Zhuzi from beating Mrs. Tang even got injured, and Mrs. Tang demanded medical fees from them afterward.

After several rounds of this, no one in the village wanted to get involved in Mrs. Tang and Zhang Zhuzi’s affairs anymore.

Everyone didn’t dare to provoke them, but could they avoid them?

So now everyone was just eating popcorn, watching Zhang Zhuzi beat Mrs. Tang as she screamed.

However, Zhang Zhaocai beside them couldn’t bear to watch anymore. He originally thought it was only natural for his father to beat his mother and didn’t think anything was wrong, but after Lingdang scolded him, he started noticing other families in the village and realized only his family beat their wives like this—and it was looked down upon.

Lingdang was also watching the scene in the crowd, and Zhang Zhaocai felt especially ashamed looking at Lingdang.

He thought for a moment and, for the first time ever, rushed into the crowd to stop his father. "Dad, stop hitting her. Look, Mom can’t even stand up."

Mrs. Tang lay on the ground, groaning, half-opening her swollen eyes to look at her son.

Zhang Zhuzi, in the heat of the moment, was displeased at his son’s interruption and shouted at Zhang Zhaocai, "You little brat, mind your own business! Your old man is beating your mother, what’s it got to do with you? Get out of here, or I’ll hit you too!"

Mrs. Tang, protecting Zhang Zhaocai, struggled to get up and shielded him behind her, her speech slurred, "Don’t hit our son. Zhaocai is your only son. What if you hurt him?"

Zhang Zhuzi snorted, pushed Zhang Zhaocai aside with a slap, then slapped Mrs. Tang again across the face, cursing, "You wretched woman, you think you’re the only one who can have children? I’ll tell you, I’ve found a young and beautiful new wife to bear me sons! I don’t care about you ugly woman and your son anymore!"