PDLP Chapter 64 Stinging
Chapter 64 Stinging
Qin Huairu's embrace instantly snapped Jia Dongjin back to his senses. He reflexively pushed the woman away, saying, "Sister-in-law, this won't do! What are you doing!"
Jia Dongjin had already recovered and was very careful to exercise, so he was much stronger than the average person. Qin Huairu was suddenly pushed out and stumbled into the door of the back room.
Amidst the crashing sound, Qin Huairu rushed out of the rear room and disappeared into the darkness.
Qin Huairu suddenly confessed her love, leaving Jia Dongjin in a state of utter confusion.
He was restless, so he went out for a walk to calm himself down.
As Jia Dongjin emerged from the public restroom, he suddenly heard crying nearby, and he couldn't help but walk over.
The crying was not loud, but a low sob, like a lament, containing unspeakable suffering and sorrow.
Undeterred, Jia Dongjin boldly approached and saw a woman squatting on the ground, her head against the brick wall, sobbing uncontrollably. Perhaps worried that her cries were too loud, the woman covered her mouth with her hand, only letting out sobs from the bottom of her heart.
Seeing someone approaching, the woman suddenly stood up and ran away.
Jia Dongjin opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
It was a tearful face filled with immense sorrow, despair, and pain. The woman was none other than Qin Huairu!
In his previous life, Jia Dongjin had read about Murphy's Law: when bread falls off the table and lands on the carpet, the buttered side always faces down.
"Murphy's Law" is a psychological effect proposed by Edward A. Murphy.
What is Murphy's Law? In its simplest form, it means that the more you fear something going wrong, the more likely something will go wrong.
The next day, Banggeng also suffered misfortune, and as the rumors spread, the flames finally reached the children.
"He caught a hornet's nest, his mother was having an affair, and the news spread like wildfire."
A boy of about ten years old shouted loudly, directing his followers to hold onto Banggeng, who was picking up vegetable leaves. Another older boy rolled his eyes, picked up a pair of broken shoes from the garbage heap, and hung them directly around Banggeng's neck. He then triumphantly directed the crowd to parade Banggeng through the alley.
Adults are role models for children. These little brats have seen this kind of thing many times and find it very amusing. Now that they finally have the chance to put it into practice, they are all super excited. Ignoring the fact that Bang Geng is crying with tears and snot all over his face, they dragged Bang Geng along half a street.
Because of their old grudges with the Jia family, Erdan, Yan Jiekuang, and others stood by and watched coldly without stepping forward to help. However, due to Director Wang's warning, they did not dare to step forward and make matters worse.
Finally, Yan Jiedi couldn't bear to watch any longer and secretly ran back to the courtyard to tell Jia Zhangshi the terrible news.
When Jia Dongjin returned home after repairing a radio at the street office, he had just entered the courtyard when he saw Banggeng lying in Qin Huairu's arms, crying his heart out. A group of neighbors had gathered around the Jia family's door.
He asked around and learned that two children had bullied Banggeng and accused Qin Huairu of having an affair. Jia Zhangshi had already gone to their door to demand retribution.
Without even having time to eat, Jia Dongjin picked up the straw, turned around, and left the courtyard to rush to support Jia Zhangshi.
"It's fine if you don't apologize, but the child's mother must also be paraded through the streets with her tattered shoes hanging up. What kind of behavior is this, bullying a widow?"
Jia Dongjin took the tattered shoe from Jia Zhangshi's hand and pretended to hang it around the neck of the child's mother, who was in the lead. The child's father stepped forward to stop him, but Jia Dongjin kicked him in the stomach, causing him to be unable to straighten up in pain.
This man had a sharp tongue, and he stubbornly insisted, "It's just a child's play, nothing serious. My wife isn't an unfaithful widow. If you dare hang up her slut, I'll fight you to the death."
"Oh, so your wife isn't a widow. That's easy, she'll be a widow once you die."
Jia Dongjin kicked the rapper to the ground again, then picked up a stick and made the men in the courtyard stop in their tracks.
"If anyone thinks it's okay to hang up their worn-out shoes, feel free to come up here, I, Jia Dongjin, will take them all."
"That's right, and Tie Dan's mother too, she'll be paraded through the streets with her tattered shoes hanging from her head, an eye for an eye!"
Having won the first battle, Jia Zhangshi also picked up a brick. Tie Dan was the child who hung the broken shoe on the stick. Tie Dan's father was a thin man in his forties, who was clearly no match for Jia Dongjin. He stood aside and dared not say a word.
Now that she felt more confident, Jia Zhangshi's eyes widened, and she clung tightly to Tie Dan's mother's clothes.
The mother and son were adamant and refused to budge. Jia Dongjin even resorted to violence, forcing the children's parents to apologize in public. Jia Zhangshi also demanded a huge compensation of 10 yuan from each family.
"Even if I don't lose money, I'll just parade my worn-out shoes around the streets!"
Jia Zhangshi insisted on being paraded through the streets, and Jia Dongjin, blinded by rage, was ready to fight to the death. No one was foolish enough to risk their life against Jia Dongjin. In this matter, the Jia family was in the right, and reporting it to the police would be useless. The old man in charge of the other party's courtyard knew he was in the wrong, and no matter how much he pleaded, Jia Zhangshi wouldn't budge.
The men from both families were old and no match for Jia Dongjin. Seeing the former street thug acting aggressively and unruly, they had no choice but to obediently lower their heads and pay up.
"There are other children as well, they must also apologize!"
Sure enough, having a big fist has its advantages. Jia Dongjin became ruthless and forced Tiedan to identify the remaining children one by one.
The last remaining accomplices, one by one, obediently apologized to the Jia family.
The child had gone too far. Jia Dongjin knew that Jia Zhangshi was angry and needed to vent her anger, so he did not try to persuade his mother to back down.
At this sensitive moment, the Jia family must not back down or shrink back, otherwise a group of people will pounce on them and tear them to shreds.
On the way home, Banggeng, who was sitting on Jia Dongjin's shoulders, said, "Uncle, be my dad. Once I have a dad, no one will dare to bully me anymore."
Bang Geng is absolutely right. Children may be small, but their ability to sense threats is no less than that of adults. They know all too well who they shouldn't mess with and who they can bully.
Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongjin remained silent.
The evening spring breeze blew by, threatening to shatter the glazed tiles in the hearts of adults.
Back at the Jia family home, Banggeng hugged Qin Huairu's neck again, and the mother and son cried again. Even Xiao Dang on the kang (a heated brick bed) started wailing, and Jia Zhangshi couldn't soothe him no matter what she did.
Jia Dongjin's eyelids twitched. He seemed to see an iron chain around a woman's neck, and a sharp pain pierced his heart and lungs.
Time seemed to freeze at that moment. Jia Dongjin couldn't hold the teacup steady, and scalding hot water splashed onto the back of his hand, but he was completely unaware. The burning sensation seeped into his veins through his skin, but it couldn't compare to the chill that surged from the bottom of his heart—a coldness that seeped from the depths of his soul, as if someone had suddenly thrown him into an ice cellar, making even breathing painful.
His heart began to pound wildly, not with excitement, but with fear. The pounding was as loud as a drumbeat, making his temples throb. His vision began to blur, and the noise around him gradually faded away, leaving only the woman's weeping and the child's weak gasps, like two blunt knives cutting into his nerves.
Jia Dongjin wanted to move, to rush over, to do something, but his legs felt as heavy as lead. He could clearly feel his fingers trembling—not just a slight tremor, but an uncontrollable, violent shaking that sent his entire body swaying. His mind was blank, filled only with the image of the chains, playing on repeat over and over again.
The woman was like a rose about to wither in a rainstorm, her small body curled up in the woman's arms, her face covered in dust and tear stains.
A strong sense of powerlessness gripped him.
Jia Dongjin stood rooted to the spot, like a bystander nailed to a cross, seemingly separated by an insurmountable chasm despite being so close. He wanted to scream, to roar, to tear this damned thing to shreds, but his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't utter a sound.