Song Shi’an had already gotten up and stood behind the main hall’s front door the moment Granny Cao’s stinky shoe flew sideways off the dining table.
With Jiang Chun’s explosive temper, how could she possibly swallow this anger? A full-on physical brawl was inevitable.
To avoid “getting splashed with blood,” he decisively chose to leave the table.
Facts proved his guess was completely correct.
It was just that the beating lasted a bit too long, so much so that he couldn’t hold on anymore and had to stretch out a hand to grip the door bolt to steady his body.
Jiang Chun scanned the main hall a full three times before finally spotting Song Shi’an.
Seeing him clutching the door bolt with both hands, looking like he was on the verge of collapse—just like a little white flower in the cold wind, so pitiful as to stir people’s compassion.
She hurried forward to support him.
“Already full from being pissed off, we’re not eating this meal at your place!”
Jiang Chun threw down these words, then helped Song Shi’an and started walking out.
Jiang Xi quickly caught up to try and persuade her: “Chun-niang, it’s broad daylight and you’re going back on an empty stomach, what kind of sight is that? Might as well eat lunch before leaving?”
“No need.”
Jiang Chun refused with an iron-clad tone.
What a joke—that table of food was already meager to begin with, not to mention the one single meat dish had been “cultured” by Granny Cao’s stinky shoe. Over her dead body would she eat it.
The group had just reached the doorway when a familiar figure staggered and wobbled their way over.
The person wasn’t anyone else—it was Jiang Chun’s uncle-in-law, Wang Bo.
Wang Bo reeked of alcohol, and mixed in with the alcohol stench was a strong, pungent smell of face powder. There were also several bright red lipstick marks stamped on his face and neck.
It was obvious he had gone to drink flower wine. [花酒 – literally “flower wine,” a euphemism for drinking and seeking the company of prostitutes]
And in this town, there was only one private establishment where one could drink flower wine—that was at Matchmaker Wang’s place.
Don’t be fooled by both of them having the surname Wang. In fact, the two families had no blood relations at all—not even remotely.
Jiang Chun already couldn’t stand that dirty thing Matchmaker Wang, who wanted to become her stepmother. Seeing Wang Bo in this state, her anger boiled over again.
She stood still on the spot, glancing at him sideways, and spoke in a sharp, sarcastic tone: “Yo, isn’t this my good ol’ Uncle Wang?”
Wang Bo lifted his blurry eyes, took a closer look at Jiang Chun, then slurred: “It’s the eldest niece of the Jiang family, what brings you here?”
Before Jiang Chun could answer, Granny Cao heard her son’s voice and, as if having found her backbone, shuffled out in her slippers.
Then with a “plop” sound, she sat herself down at the door threshold, slapping it as she wailed:
“Son, your mother got beaten by that little cheap hoof! Quick, stand up for your mother! At this age, your mother still got slapped in the face. I’ve got no face to see people anymore…”
Jiang Chun, completely unbothered, butted in: “I say, Granny Cao, don’t go slandering people. When did I ever hit your face?”
She had only hit her upper arm and butt, even pinched her waist, but hadn’t so much as touched a finger to her face.
When hitting people, don’t hit the face—sometimes not to preserve dignity, but to leave no evidence.
Upon hearing that his dear old mother got beaten up by a little girl, the “filial son” Wang Bo immediately began rolling up his sleeves.
He viciously shouted: “You little wild hoof, you dare to hit my mother? Watch me beat you till your whole face blossoms [满脸开花 – idiom meaning beaten black and blue]!”
Jiang Chun helped support Song Shi’an and took a few steps back, placing him at the shadow wall where he wouldn’t be affected.
Then she also began rolling up her sleeves.
Anyway, she had already beaten up Granny Cao, this elder relative by marriage, so it didn’t matter if she gave her uncle-in-law Wang Bo a good beating too.
Since she came all the way here, might as well, right?
Wang Bo, a good-for-nothing who only knew how to eat, drink, and whore around every day, how could he be a match for Jiang Chun?
The two had just faced off when Jiang Chun raised her hand and slapped his shoulder, instantly slapping him to the ground.
She did it so fast even she was shocked.
She knew Wang Bo was trash, but didn’t think he was this trash.
“Ah! Son, are you okay? Ah! Son, wake up, don’t scare your mother!” Granny Cao screamed like a hen, shrieking to the point that Jiang Chun’s ears hurt.
Jiang Xi was scared out of her wits, thinking Wang Bo might really have been beaten into something bad by his niece. She immediately rushed over and squatted beside him to check on him.
Only to be pushed to the ground by Granny Cao in the next second.
In the following instant, Jiang Chun kicked her in the upper arm, directly kicking her to the floor.
She said coldly: “You just promised not to torment my eldest aunt anymore, and now I haven’t even left your house yet, and you’ve already started hitting my eldest aunt again. Do you take me for dead?”
“Ah… it hurts… it hurts so much…” Granny Cao clutched her arm and howled like a pig being slaughtered.
Wang Bo, who had been pretending to be dead on the ground, heard the commotion and stopped pretending. He rolled over and jumped up, reached out and grabbed Granny Cao’s other arm, then started shaking her violently: “Ma, are you alright?”
Granny Cao got shaken until her head was spinning, and her wailing got stuck in her throat.
Thankfully, Jiang Chun flew over with a kick and knocked Wang Bo down to the ground, “rescuing” her.
Jiang Chun took a step forward, kicking Wang Bo in the butt as she cursed: “You dog thing, living off my aunt by relying on her to run a shop and weave cloth to feed you, spending all day either drinking or sneaking off to Matchmaker Wang’s house to mess around. You sit there and watch your old mother torment my aunt and do nothing, even laying your hands on her and yelling at her—has your damn conscience been eaten by a dog?
“And you even dared to think about hitting me, her niece? I see you’ve eaten a bear’s heart and a leopard’s gall!”
“Today I’ll let you know how many eyes Lord Horse King has [马王爷有几只眼 – idiom meaning “I’ll teach you a lesson you won’t forget”]. I must beat you until you can’t take care of yourself anymore!”
“Anyway, you’re a useless bum living off free meals—whether you’re standing or paralyzed makes no difference. At least if you’re paralyzed, you can’t go out messing around, and you’ll save my aunt some silver too.”
Wang Bo got both beaten and cursed. After all this tossing around, most of his drunkenness had sobered up.
Realizing that just now he actually wanted to hit Pork Beauty Queen Jiang Chun, his forehead broke out in cold sweat.
Just last year, when a rascal in Qingyan Town tried to harass her, he and a few rowdy friends went to watch the fun, only to witness her nearly break all three legs of that guy.
If that guy’s parents hadn’t come to beg for mercy, she would’ve really gone all in.
After all, her uncle Zheng Tu was someone with real influence, doing business with restaurants and wealthy families.
Not only was he a local tyrant in Hongye Town, he was well-connected even in the whole Hongye County.
Even if she had broken all three of that rascal’s legs, with Zheng Tu pulling strings for her, at most they’d have to pay a bit of silver.
Her family’s meat stall could sell off one whole fat pig every day—they simply didn’t fear not having the money to pay compensation.
If she really beat him into a cripple, he’d probably just have to swallow the misfortune himself. There’d be nowhere to reason it out.
Wang Bo immediately chickened out, begging for mercy in a groveling tone: “Niece, good niece, don’t hit anymore, your uncle-in-law knows he was wrong, don’t hit anymore, one more hit and your uncle-in-law’s going to get broken!”
This kind of light and airy begging, Jiang Chun completely ignored, continuing to kick him in the butt, one kick after another.
From time to time, she’d also take a moment to land a few kicks on Granny Cao’s butt as well.
Wang Bo, after all, was someone who always mixed in the marketplaces. Seeing this, he immediately began to swear oaths and curses: “Good niece, spare your uncle-in-law, your uncle-in-law will never bully your aunt again. If I break this promise, may I fall drunk into a river and drown, and after death turn into a scabby toad covered in sores!”
Granny Cao was so frightened she couldn’t even continue wailing. She rushed to cover his mouth: “Son, don’t go saying such unlucky things! What if it really comes true?”
Her husband, Wang Dali, had drowned in the river after drinking too much—she couldn’t bear to hear such words.
Jiang Chun “tsk”-ed in her heart. This Wang Bo really was a coward. Just to avoid a beating, he even dared to swear such a venomous oath.
Wasn’t he afraid he’d end up like his dad, drunkenly falling into the river and drowning?
Even so, Jiang Chun still didn’t let him off so easily. She coldly snorted: “Matchmaker Wang’s heart isn’t in the right place—on one side shouting all over town about wanting to marry my dad and become a concubine to fill the room, and on the other side fooling around with you. Who knows what kind of evil schemes she’s cooking up in her belly.”
“From now on, you’re not allowed to associate with her again, even less allowed to go to her house to drink flower wine. If I find out, I’ll break your three legs, make it so you can only lie paralyzed on the kang like a useless person who can only breathe!”
She, as a niece, actually meddling in her uncle-in-law’s bedroom affairs—this was completely improper by all standards.
But Wang Bo didn’t even dare to let out a fart. He bobbed his head like pounding garlic: “Yes yes yes, uncle-in-law will never associate with Matchmaker Wang again, won’t go to her house to drink either. Niece, you can rest assured!”
Jiang Chun stopped kicking, but still threw down a fierce line: “I’ll spend money to hire a few idle men to keep an eye on you. If you dare try to fool me, you’re in for it!”
As she spoke, she turned her head toward Granny Cao and coldly snorted: “And you!”
Granny Cao flinched and didn’t make a sound.
Jiang Chun yelled, “Did you hear me?!”
Granny Cao instantly replied: “Heard it, heard it.”
Song Shi’an: “……”
Was she training dogs?
This person really strutted her power today in the Wang household—punching Granny Cao and kicking Wang Bo, showing off plenty of authority.
Maybe a bit too much authority. Even Wang Yin’er, who claimed to have quite a bit of face among the legitimate daughters of wealthy households in the county, only dared to hide behind the shadow wall to peek, not daring to come forward and intervene.
Such “knowing the current situation makes one a wise man” behavior—no wonder she managed to stand out among a bunch of servant girls.
But the sense of discord was even stronger.
The Jiang Chun of the previous life, while also someone who would break into a full brawl at the slightest provocation, had never waded into the muddy waters of Eldest Aunt Jiang’s household.
On Jiang Chun’s side, after giving the Wang family mother and son a fat beating, she turned to scold Jiang Xi, who was slumped on the ground.
“Eldest Aunt, it was one thing when you didn’t have anyone to back you up, but now you’ve got your niece to support you. From now on, you’re not allowed to swallow your grievances anymore. If anyone bullies you, go to the meat stall to find me—I’ll help you get justice.”
Jiang Xi’s eyes flooded with tears, crying uncontrollably.
But Jiang Chun did not allow her to indulge in weakness. She raised her voice and asked: “Did you hear me or not?!”
Jiang Xi shuddered from fright, and reflexively copied Granny Cao’s line: “Heard it, heard it.”
Jiang Chun: “……”
Three feet of ice is not frozen in one day [冰冻三尺非一日之寒 – idiom meaning deeply rooted issues take time to resolve]. For Eldest Aunt Jiang to immediately stand up for herself was probably not something that could be done overnight. At worst, she’d just pay more attention to the situation at the Wang family’s place in the future.
Anyway, it wasn’t some troublesome matter.
Once things had come to an end, she quickly walked to the shadow wall, supported Song Shi’an by the arm, and headed toward the mule cart parked at the entrance.
Jiang Xi scrambled up and jogged out to see them off.
Just as Jiang Chun was about to lift the whip to drive the mule, Jiang Xi suddenly, as if compelled by some ghost, blurted out: “There are no wrong parents under heaven [天下无不是的父母 – common saying implying parents are always right]. Chun-niang, try to persuade your father when you get back, be more filial to your grandmother.”
Jiang Chun’s willow-shaped brows immediately shot up. She raised a fist toward Jiang Xi and said: “Eldest Aunt, if you don’t want me to beat you up too, then stop saying such muddle-headed things.”
Her grandmother Li-shi had forced her father Jiang He to leave home with nothing but the clothes on his back. If not for him learning how to slaughter pigs from his father-in-law, their family would probably still be living in the broken ancestral shrine in the village.
When Jiang Mother was seriously ill, not a word or crumb of concern came from the old house—forget a meal, they couldn’t even get a sip of water.
If Jiang Xi hadn’t later heard about it and run back and forth to help, Jiang Mother probably wouldn’t have made it much longer.
Jiang Xi moved her lips, wanting to say something more, but afraid her niece would really flip out, she finally only squeezed out: “Be careful on the way back.”
—
Jiang Chun didn’t go home at all. She drove the mule cart straight to a noodle shop, went in and ordered two bowls of noodles—one meat, one vegetable.
Just as the two were eating, they saw Jiang He rush over in a hurry, carrying a pig-killing knife.
As soon as he saw the two of them, he fired off the question without preamble: “Chun-niang, I heard someone say you fought with your uncle-in-law—are you alright?”
Song Shi’an answered blandly: “She’s not the one something happened to.”
Jiang Chun turned her head and glared at him.
Hearing his son-in-law’s words, Jiang He finally let out a breath of relief.
But in the next second, his heart jumped back up again, and he anxiously asked: “You didn’t mess your uncle-in-law up too badly, did you?”
Jiang Chun didn’t answer this. Instead, she asked him: “Dad, are you still eating? I’ll get you a bowl of shredded pork noodles?”
“How can I have the mind to eat right now!” Jiang He glared at her and urged: “Hurry up and tell me—you didn’t beat your uncle-in-law too badly, did you?”
Seeing that his daughter only had her head down and was shoveling noodles in without a word, he turned to ask Song Shi’an: “Son-in-law, you tell me—your uncle-in-law, is he okay?”
Song Shi’an swallowed down the noodle broth in his mouth and replied coolly: “He’s fine. Limbs are still mostly intact.”
What does “limbs are still mostly intact” even mean?
Jiang He was speechless. This son-in-law of his couldn’t even speak clearly.
He stomped his foot: “I’m going to your aunt’s house to check for myself!”
“Don’t go.” Seeing her father worked up, Jiang Chun quickly stopped him and said: “Don’t worry, Dad. I only gave Granny Cao and Wang Bo a casual beating, didn’t go all out.”
If she had gone all out, with her strength, one kick and Wang Bo’s leg would’ve snapped in two on the spot.
Jiang He: “???”
What? Even the old lady in-laws got beaten too?