When Bai Jiu saw Wang Qiuyue, she didn’t say a word. She stepped forward and delivered two slaps. "You bitch, I’ll teach you to steal someone else’s son! Let’s see you try it again!" SLAP! SLAP! The two slaps hit Wang Qiuyue so hard she couldn’t tell left from right.
"What are you doing?" At this moment, Gao Tiezhu came over. Seeing his wife being beaten by an outsider, he showed a bit of spine.
"Try laying a hand on me! If you dare hit me today, I’ll lie at your doorstep and won’t move. You think you can bully me because my man isn’t here, right? Come on, hit me!" As she spoke, Bai Jiu thrust her face forward.
Bai Jiu didn’t believe he would dare to strike.
"Hmph, you gutless coward. No wonder your wife wants to adopt someone else’s child. A whole family of useless trash."
After cursing Gao Tiezhu, Bai Jiu’s anger still hadn’t subsided. She shoved Wang Qiuyue to the ground. "You bitch, have all the good things I’ve done for you gone to the dogs?
"How dare you covet my son! Take a look in the mirror and see if you’re worthy. I’ll beat you to death, you ungrateful wretch!"
Two slaps were far from enough. Bai Jiu mounted her and started swinging, her fists raining down on Wang Qiuyue with a THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.
Wang Qiuyue might not have reacted at first, but now she understood perfectly—Bai Jiu had found out what she said to Zhengyang.
"Am I wrong? Have you ever treated your son well? Zhengyang has never lived a good day with you. You don’t deserve to be a mother! Since you don’t cherish this son, you might as well give him to me!" Wang Qiuyue, finally snapping back to her senses, began to fight back. As she struggled, she hurled insults.
"No matter how unworthy I am, I gave birth to him! If you’re so capable, give birth to one yourself! If you can’t, don’t go scheming for someone else’s son. With the way you are, only a useless coward like Gao Tiezhu would still want you. Any other family would have kicked you out ages ago, you barren hen!"
Normally, Bai Jiu would never say such things. But for a shameless woman like Wang Qiuyue, no amount of suffering could offset her sin of coveting Zhengyang.
"Shut up, shut up!" Wang Qiuyue’s maternal family was poor. If she were truly sent back, what awaited her would be hell.
If Gao Tiezhu hadn’t taken a liking to her back then, she wouldn’t have the good life she had now. This was exactly why she endured such great grievances at home. Her maternal family simply didn’t treat her like a human being. If she went back, there would only be endless chores until she was sold off to exchange for rations for her brothers.
The argument between the two women was overheard by Gao Tiezhu’s mother. She, too, joined the fray.
"You shameless thing! You actually thought about adopting a son for my boy! You bitch, why don’t you just die? I’ll teach you to adopt! Take this!"
Gao Erniang’s blows were much heavier than Bai Jiu’s. Seeing her join in, Bai Jiu simply stood up.
"Hmph, can’t give birth yourself so you scheme for someone else’s. If you’re so capable, why don’t you adopt all the sons in the village? I hope you choke on your greed.
"Earlier, you were complaining to me about how terribly the Gao family treats you—how they never let you eat your fill, how you have endless chores every day, and even how your man is useless in bed. Now it seems like not a single word out of your mouth was true."
As a modern woman, and a married one at that, Bai Jiu wasn’t too shy to speak her mind. Sure enough, Gao Tiezhu’s eyes turned red when he heard her words.
"Damn it! You bitch, how dare you say I’m useless." Gao Tiezhu shoved his mother aside, walked straight up to deliver two kicks, and then dragged Wang Qiuyue toward their room.
Wang Qiuyue must have realized what was coming, as she kept screaming for help. "Brother Tiezhu, it’s not like that, it’s not! Please let me go, let me go! I’ll never do it again!"
With the couple’s door shut tight, the people outside lost their desire to keep fighting.
Bai Jiu patted the wrinkles out of her clothes. "Auntie, I don’t mean to criticize, but if you can’t afford to feed a daughter-in-law, you shouldn’t have brought her into the family. She goes around telling everyone the family starves her, and she constantly covets other people’s things. It’d be better not to have a daughter-in-law like that at all."
Before leaving, Bai Jiu made sure to throw one last wrench in Wang Qiuyue’s gears. Her anger was finally vented. Whether Wang Qiuyue lived or died after this had absolutely nothing to do with her. No one would ever be allowed to bully her or her family. Whoever dared to break ground on her head, she would shovel dirt onto their grave.
"You were stupid enough to be tricked! What does that have to do with me? If you have no business here, get lost. You’re no saint yourself," Gao Erniang said, clearly displeased with Bai Jiu. What mother-in-law would ever like a daughter-in-law like this?
"Heh, whether I’m a saint or not is another matter, but in your family, there isn’t a single decent person." With that said, Bai Jiu walked out of Gao Tiezhu’s front gate.
Even when she was far away, she could still hear the commotion from Gao Tiezhu’s house. Gao Erniang’s screeching insults were practically music to her ears. She wondered if the couple inside would hit the jackpot accompanied by those curses.
Having let out her foul mood, Bai Jiu felt the very air had become fresher. It would have been even better if she hadn’t run into a disgusting nuisance on her way back.
"A good dog doesn’t block the road. Step aside." Looking at the person blocking her path, Bai Jiu’s good mood instantly vanished.
"Watch your mouth! You’re a dog, your whole family is dogs!" Gao Yulan glared at her third sister-in-law, anger bubbling up. She had heard Bai Jiu entered the village and wanted to come over and show off the new shoes her mother had bought for her, but she never expected to be cursed at the moment Bai Jiu opened her mouth.
"That’s right, my whole family is dogs, and that includes you, you little mutt. Can you get out of the way now?" Bai Jiu truly felt that Old Mrs. Song had raised this daughter to be completely useless. What a joke.
"Hmph." Gao Yulan scoffed, but she didn’t step aside. Instead, she lifted her foot. "Look, don’t my new leather shoes look pretty?" A boastful smile appeared on her face.
Bai Jiu really didn’t want to talk to an idiot. In the dead of winter, with the snow outside almost covering her insteps, she was wearing thin leather shoes. Wasn’t she afraid her feet would freeze off?
"They look great. Just like you, the skin is pretty thick." After saying that, Bai Jiu tried to walk past her.
But some people were just completely blind.
"Don’t go! Why are you running away? Do you like them? Do you want to try them on?
"Mother spent twenty yuan to buy these leather shoes for me. She said I should wear them to visit relatives during the New Year. You’ve never seen anything like this in your entire life, have you? Come on, I’ll be generous and let you try them on."
Gao Yulan grabbed Bai Jiu with an arrogant expression, stopping the woman who had taken away her third brother’s money.
Bai Jiu felt that today was truly an auspicious day to leave the house, otherwise how could another punching bag have delivered herself to her doorstep?
"Alright, take them off." Bai Jiu stopped in her tracks. She was wearing plenty of layers anyway, so she wasn’t cold in the slightest. She just didn’t know if this fancy girl could handle it.
How could Gao Yulan sincerely let her try them on? She merely wanted to show off.
"I can’t take them off by myself. Squat down and help me," Gao Yulan said, extending a hand, expecting Bai Jiu to support her and bend down to take off her shoes.
Bai Jiu could no longer hold back. It would be a crime against heaven not to beat someone like this.
"Damn you! I’ll help you take them off! Off! Off..." Bai Jiu stepped up and unleashed a barrage of punches.
"Ah! What are you doing?" Gao Yulan shrieked immediately after being hit. "You dare hit me, Bai? I’m not done with you!"
But how could Gao Yulan be a match for someone who worked outdoors all year round? In just a few moves, Bai Jiu blocked all of her flailing and returned the blows with interest.