Chapter 275: He died while beating Bangeng

At first Jia Zhangshi could remain calm; even seeing Qin Huairu display an attitude of not stopping until she beat Bangeng into submission, she wasn't too panicked inside.

Even a vicious tiger does not eat its own cub.

No matter how much Qin Huairu resents him, Bangeng is still flesh that fell from her body.

The blood relationship is there.

She mistakenly thought that if Qin Huairu gave Bangeng a few hits to vent her resentment, the matter would be over.

Unconcerned, Jia Zhangshi even had the leisure to count how many times Qin Huairu had whipped Bangeng with a feather duster.

But as Qin Huairu's frequency of waving the feather duster gradually increased, Jia Zhangshi gradually couldn't keep up, and she lost that composure.

Visible to the naked eye, Bangeng's buttocks swelled up, and faint bloodstains seeped through his pants.

Bangeng is the mainstay of the Jia family.

If she keeps hitting him.

It is highly likely that Qin Huairu will whip him to death.

Jia Zhangshi began to panic a little.

Qin Huairu isn't just venting her anger; she's aiming to cut off the Jia family's root.

She sucked in a breath of cold air; as a mother-in-law, Jia Zhangshi had never before seen her own daughter-in-law so wildly beating Bangeng to the brink of death.

She can't keep hitting him.

If she continues like this.

Jia Zhangshi is very likely to lose a future incense of the Jia family.

Qin Huairu would also die young because of this.

If she beats Bangeng to death, Qin Huairu will have to pay with her life.

Jia Zhangshi doesn't want, at her age, to still go to the steel plant to work, earn money to support two money-losers, especially when one of those money-losers has no relation to the Jia family.

She rose to her feet.

Waving her hand.

She grabbed Qin Huairu's arm.

"Huairu, stop hitting him—look at Bangeng, you've beaten his butt all to pieces; you're his mother, if you ruin him you'll still have to take care of him."

"If I break him, I'll care for him for life; I'd rather he be paralyzed at home than let him go out stealing, get caught, and be beaten to death."

She glared.

She completely disregarded Jia Zhangshi.

"Get out of my way? Don't interfere with my educating my son."

"Even if you're educating him, you can't do it like this—look at Bangeng, he's like this." Jia Zhangshi pointed at Bangeng, whose buttocks were covered in fresh blood, and said, "I guarantee Bangeng won't steal anymore."

"What guarantee do you have? How can you guarantee it?"

Qin Huairu stared at Jia Zhangshi.

She said, word by word, words that pierced Jia Zhangshi's heart.

"A small thief steals needles, a great thief steals gold—this principle, as my mother-in-law, you couldn't possibly not know. How did you educate Bangeng? You told him we, the Jia family, are poor, that the neighbors have things, we go take them, saying it's a chance to do good deeds for the neighbors; because of your words, Bangeng stole cabbage from one family and sweet potatoes from another, brought things home, and you not only didn't educate him, you even said he did right—what kind of grandmother are you?"

Qin Huairu flashed a look of triumphant exhilaration.

From Jia Zhangshi's gaze she saw a faint trace of fear.

She thought about it a little.

She knew where Jia Zhangshi's fear came from.

It was Qin Huairu's earlier reckless beating of Bangeng that frightened Jia Zhangshi.

So you, this old thing, are also a bully who fears the strong and preys on the weak.

Qin Huairu suddenly wanted to cry.

She thought back.

Since she listened to Yi Zhonghai's nonsense and married into the Siheyuan, she has worked for the Jia family three hundred sixty-five days a year.

In the bitter cold.

Washing the Jia family's clothes in the courtyard.

Her hands froze until they were bright red.

Even so.

Jia Zhangshi and Jia Dongxu never appreciated Qin Huairu's efforts; especially after Jia Dongxu's death, Jia Zhangshi became even harsher—had she known she was bullying the weak, she wouldn't have ended up in this sorry state.

"Let's not talk about other courtyards; just look at our Siheyuan—how do other grandparents educate their grandsons and granddaughters? And look at you, Jia Zhangshi—how do you educate Bangeng and Xiao Dang?"

Jia Zhangshi was speechless.

She didn't know how to respond to Qin Huairu's questioning.

It was a case of unspeakable suffering.

She also knew she was wrong.

What's done is done; Bangeng has already been led astray by her, and it's too late to correct it.

Who let Jia Zhangshi all along think Bangeng was Yi Zhonghai's descendant, and, wanting revenge on Yi Zhonghai, deliberately teach Bangeng to steal?

All so that Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu could see what kind of character their chicken-stealing, dog-snatching son had.

With the passage of time.

Bangeng gradually grew up.

His appearance grew more and more like Jia Dongxu's.

Only then did Jia Zhangshi realize she had made a mistake—she had spoiled her own eldest grandson Bangeng, and, wanting to compensate him, she doted on him in every way; whenever anyone in the Siheyuan gave Bangeng a few words of advice, she would rush over to raise a ruckus.

"You call Xiao Dang a money-loser all the time; I know you favor males over females, always thinking Xiao Dang belongs to someone else's family, but Bangeng is the root of your Jia family—how did you educate him? You personally told him to go steal from neighbors, and even told him how to avoid detection before stealing, that if caught he must never admit it, and taught him lock-picking skills—don't tell me this isn't what you, as a grandmother, taught him."

Jia Zhangshi was taken aback.

This lock-picking skill.

It really wasn't her who taught Bangeng.

This should be Bangeng's own realization.

"Teaching to steal, teaching to pick locks—is this how you educate as a grandmother? You don't educate, I do, and you're still unhappy? What right do you have to be unhappy?"

He waved his hand.

The feather duster in his hand.

Once again, it fell on Bangeng's buttocks.

The already hoarse-from-crying Bangeng, when a sharp pain shot from his buttocks, instinctively let out a shout.

"It hurts."

"Bangeng, I'm asking you—did you do wrong?"

"I was wrong, I really was wrong, Mom—I don't dare anymore, I'll never dare again."

"Bangeng, don't be afraid to steal—Mom encourages you to keep stealing; next time we won't steal inside the courtyard, we'll go to the steel mill, to the finance department, warehouse, etc. —you can go steal there, it's fine, Mom won't stop you from stealing."

Jia Zhangshi felt a surge of chilling terror.

Even if she were even more stupid.

She also knows there are some places you can't go.

The steel mill's finance department, warehouse, and materials department are all critically important places. When Jia Dongxu was still alive, Jia Zhangshi had heard people say that someone stole a sack of semi‑finished aluminum ingots from the materials warehouse and ended up spending a lifetime imprisoned there. If Bangeng were to listen to Qin Huairu's words and go steal things in the steel mill, could Bangeng still have a good ending?

"Bangeng, you must not listen to your mother and go steal things in the steel mill, or I'll break you." Jia Zhangshi still felt reluctant to harm Bangeng, pointing at the frightened Xiao Dang beside her, she said, "I'll break your sister Xiao Dang's leg."

He turned his head.

Looking at Qin Huairu.

"Huairu, I know you're angry, but even if you're angry, you can't do this—you're Bangeng's mother; how could you let Bangeng go steal things in the steel mill?"

"Bangeng stealing things—isn't that what you taught? Either we don't do it, or we go all out."

The feather duster in his hand.

He threw it onto the table.

"Bangeng, listen to Mom; once the wound on your buttocks heals, go to the steel mill and steal things."

He waved his hand.

He grabbed the remaining eleven dollars Bangeng had left in his hand, ignoring Jia Zhangshi and Bangeng, and went back to the room to sleep alone.