Chapter 348: with translation of chapter title

The situation at the scene.

It exceeded Bangeng's expectations.

The neighbors doubted it without saying so, and even Jia Zhangshi, who always regarded Bangeng as the apple of her eye, felt a faint suspicion about Bangeng's words.

This is a bit like something out of the Arabian Nights.

Liu Guangtian, squatting at the wall's base, could explain the past.

Young and curious about everything, he especially cannot forget this matter between men and women.

Shazhu, squatting at the wall's base, also makes sense.

As a longtime friend of Xu Daming, their feelings are solid; it's appropriate to joke a bit on the wedding night, and outsiders really can't say anything.

Bangeng pointed out that Liu Guangtian and Shazhu were loitering by Xu Daming's wall base.

Jia Zhangshi believed his words.

The problem is that Bangeng didn't just point out Shazhu and Liu Guangtian; he also kept saying that Yan Fugui had loitered by Xu Daming's wall base.

The Siheyuan's San Daye, a man in his fifties who already has great-grandchildren, brought Shazhu and Liu Guangtian together to loiter by Xu Daming's wall base.

It spread.

He's not afraid of losing face, is he?

Jia Zhangshi instinctively warned with her eyes; Bangeng doing this would lose face for the Jia Family.

Bangeng must have been seeing his grandmother not believe him for the first time; he stood there dumbfounded.

Even more unexpected for the Thief Saint.

The surrounding neighbors seemed to sense something from Jia Zhangshi's face, each turning into a moral judge, loudly criticizing Bangeng.

"This Bangeng kid is really good-for-nothing. Before, he'd steal chickens and dogs in the courtyard, and the neighbors, out of years of being fellow residents of the same big courtyard, couldn't be bothered to argue with him. I never expected this kid to grow bolder and bolder; at such a young age, he actually imitates adults by loitering by others' wall bases, and it's the wall base of his younger aunt and her husband."

"Loitering by the wall base is just loitering by the wall base; if caught, just apologize and no one will make a fuss. But this kid, he denied it outright and even tried to put the blame on the people who caught him. He doesn't think: how could San Daye, at his age, possibly do something like loitering by a wall base? This is typical of speaking without thinking."

"Starting to loiter by others' wall bases at thirteen or fourteen, in a few years he might really end up, as the teacher said, spending a few days in jail."

Jia Zhangshi's face changed dramatically.

The neighbors' words were like sharp needles.

They turned her into a hedgehog.

Thinking that Bangeng might go in, Jia Zhangshi's heart felt a sinking pain.

He went in.

How will he marry a wife?

How will he take over the post?

Yagangchang definitely won't hire someone who's been to jail.

The Jia Family's hopes were also dashed.

She stepped forward, pushed through the crowd, came up to Bangeng, and pointed at him while giving him a stern scolding.

"Bangeng, do you want to anger Grandma to death? Can't you give Grandma some peace? Why don't you ever learn?"

A gnashing tone.

It showed Jia Zhangshi's anger.

Loitering by the wall base is just loitering by the wall base; the key is that he was caught red-handed, causing an uproar that let the neighbors enjoy the spectacle.

"Staying up late not to sleep, imitating others by loitering by the wall base." The fact that loitering by the wall base got him caught red-handed, Jia Zhangshi felt embarrassed to say it out loud, and instead said, "You say you went to the toilet—is this your toilet?"

"Jia Zhangshi, educating Bangeng now is really too late; even if you wake up, it's already delayed. If it were our child, we'd have already greeted him with a feather duster at such a young age—learning to eavesdrop on walls, you've rebelled against us."

"At Bangeng's age, you can't say otherwise—you have to hit him; no beating, no talent; no beating, no ability."

The neighbors added fuel to the fire.

It stimulated Jia Zhangshi.

Jia Zhangshi, who had always been reluctant to strike Bangeng, took from a kind neighbor the feather duster specially fetched from indoors for her to discipline Bangeng, hesitated a few dozen seconds, then waved the feather duster and swung it at Bangeng's buttocks.

Even though Jia Zhangshi pulled back some force when swinging the duster, the thorn-made feather duster still gave Bangeng's buttocks considerable harm.

The instant the thorn touched Bangeng's buttocks, a burning whip-like pain shot from the struck buttocks along his meridians throughout his body.

Bangeng's body jumped up a few times on the spot.

He also cried out in pain from his mouth.

"Ay! Ouch!"

A hero doesn't suffer immediate losses.

Bangeng won't just stand there foolishly letting Jia Zhangshi's feather duster swing at his buttocks.

Moreover, he had received a glance signal from Jia Zhangshi indicating to strike.

He started moving his steps to escape.

Bangeng underestimated the neighbors' humanity; Jia Zhangshi's rare lesson to the Thief Saint was such a grand scene that one must watch it through, and cannot let this show end halfway.

In all four directions, no matter which way Bangeng tried to break out, the neighbors enthusiastically blocked his escape routes in advance.

Moreover, some neighbors, fearing Jia Zhangshi couldn't hit Bangeng, took advantage of the night's cover, grabbed Bangeng who wanted to play hide-and-seek with Jia Zhangshi, and shoved hard at the broom Jia Zhangshi was waving.

Wanting to run but can't.

Left to take the beating.

Bangeng is really anxious.

He probably wanted to quickly shift blame, spouting nonsense without restraint, pushing all responsibility onto Jia Zhangshi.

He truly is Qin Huairu's eldest son—good deeds are his own, bad deeds are all his grandmother's fault.

"Stop hitting me; I came to loiter by Xu Daming and Qin Jingru's wall base only because I listened to your words."

This melon.

The more you eat, the bigger it gets.

The more you eat, the more excited you get.

Everyone thought Bangeng had figured out on his own how to squat by the wall, but they didn't expect there to be another story behind this; from Bangeng's words, it sounded like Jia Zhangshi taught him to do that.

Otherwise, Bangeng wouldn't have publicly revealed this.

Looking at Jia Zhangshi's dazed expression, it was because she didn't expect Bangeng to publicly expose her tricks, leaving her so stunned.

Everyone forgot to make a move.

Qin Huairu standing aside, not knowing whether she had been driven to excessive depression by Jia Zhangshi over the years, or wanted to seize this opportunity to vent the resentment in her heart, following Bangeng's words, she slapped a big basin of feces onto Jia Zhangshi's head.

"Mom, it's not me as your daughter-in-law saying this, but why do you teach Bangeng everything? In recent years, our family's circumstances were limited, and Bangeng, half-grown, was eating us poor; the rations weren't enough. I had no choice—I let Bangeng go to the eastern household to get some sweet potatoes, to the western household for some cabbage hearts, and share them with Xiao Dang. I said nothing; who let me, as a daughter-in-law, be incapable of feeding two children? The neighbors looked down on me, but I had no alternative—we just had to fill our stomachs."

Qin Huairu's tone.

Became hurried.

The words used to blame Jia Zhangshi.

Also became rich and colorful.

From complaining that Jia Zhangshi taught Bangeng petty theft, all the way to accusing her of teaching him hooliganism.

In the neighbors' eyes, a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old urchin learning to squat by the wall has the potential to become a hooligan.

The timing of Qin Huairu's reprimand of Jia Zhangshi.

The choice was just right.

"Times are good, we're not hungry, we're not lacking mouths, yet you teach Bangeng to squat by the wall—one is his uncle-in-law, the other his aunt. If this gets out, how will outsiders view Bangeng? How will they view our Jia Family? When Bangeng grows up, how will he marry? How will Xiao Dang marry into a family? Is it really as San Daye said—that sending Bangeng away would put your mind at ease? Bangeng is the Jia Family's sole male descendant; you don't feel sorry for him, but I, as his mother, do."

As the Jia family's strongest white-eyed wolf.

Bangeng, from Qin Huairu's words,

Found a glimmer of a way to survive.

He knew he had to find a scapegoat for the wall-squatting incident, otherwise, as Qin Huairu said, his reputation would be ruined, he couldn't get a shift at Yagangchang, and he wouldn't be able to marry.

Using Jia Zhangshi's own words to describe it.

My old lady is just waiting for Bangeng to marry and have children.

If that's the case.

Helping Bangeng bear the blame is also appropriate; besides, Bangeng squatting by the wall isn't for himself, it's to vent Jia Zhangshi's anger.

The thief saint had no psychological burden in pushing the responsibility onto Jia Zhangshi's head.

"Grandma, you weren't just scolding Xu Damao and Qin Jingru in our house, calling them white-eyed wolves, saying that seeing our Jia Family in such dire straits, they cold‑bloodedly refused to help, not holding our poor relatives in their hearts. You also said Xu Damao isn't human and Qin Jingru isn't a thing. On the joyous day of their wedding, outsiders didn't invite us for drinks, and as Qin Jingru's relatives, we Jia Family members weren't invited to Xu Damao's banquet—this is looking down on our Jia Family. A wedding so stingy, with no candy, melon seeds, or peanuts given to our Jia Family—this marriage surely won't last; who knows when they'll divorce."

Jia Zhangshi's brain.

Buzzing nonstop.

She, for the first time, looked at her obedient grandson with a scrutinizing gaze.

She just pushed her own grandmother out without a second thought, feeling no guilt at all.

"You also said tomorrow we'd invite Xu Damao and them for dumplings, buying only half a catty of pork but telling outsiders it's two catties, claiming that once they eat our Jia Family's dumplings we'll have an excuse to take things from Xu Damao's house. You also said Xu Damao and Lou Xiao'e have been married for years without children, just like Yi Zhonghai—doomed to die out. You said our Jia Family should take advantage of this moment to get closer to Xu Damao and them, so that when they both die, everything in Xu Damao's house will become ours."

The scene fell silent, not even a sparrow's chirp.

The neighbors didn't even dare to breathe.

Everyone was intently observing the development of the situation.

Truly, his words were shocking.

On the day Xu Damao married Qin Jingru, Jia Zhangshi was already at home scheming with Bangeng about how to bleed Xu Damao dry.

This old hag.

She sees truly far.

Not even a bit of thought went into lying to Bangeng.

With such clear logic, without an adult teaching him, a thirteen- or fourteen-year-old Bangeng might not necessarily be able to say it.

"Grandma, you said Qin Jingru and Xu Damao don't give our Jia Family face, so I should call them aunt and uncle-in-law to the neighbors' faces, but behind their backs call them bastards. You said you're old, and when it's dark at night, otherwise you'd have me squat by Xu Damao's wall to listen where they keep their things—you gave me this task, saying that as soon as I find out where Xu Damao's stuff is, you'll buy me a can."

The scene filled with the sound of people sucking in cold air.

Some people were startled by Bangeng's words.

Some people were frightened by Bangeng's actions.

Whether it's words or actions, they all reflect two characters.

Human nature.

The neighbors all saw how Jia Zhangshi treated Bangeng, protecting him as if he were a treasure they feared to melt in their mouths or scorch in their hands.

The painstaking effort.

But they got this cruel reality in return.

Among the onlooking crowd.

The person who felt it most deeply was not Jia Zhangshi, nor Qin Huairu, but Shazhu, who had been standing there all along as if nothing had happened.

Seeing the scene stirred his emotions.

Bangeng's beastly conduct as a white-eyed wolf caused Shazhu to involuntarily recall certain memory clips—specifically, the bloody fact of him being driven out of his home by Bangeng in his previous life.

"Bangeng, I'm your foolish father, and I've always been good to you—you can't treat me like this." Half‑paralyzed Shazhu, using his only movable hand, gripped the doorframe tightly, pleading toward the Jia family white‑eyed wolf who wanted to drive him out: "I am your foolish father."

"I bear the surname Jia, you bear the surname He—what right do you have to call yourself my father? I have a father; his name is Jia Dongxu, who passed away decades ago."

"Bangeng, I married your mother Qin Huairu; you are Qin Huairu's son, aren't you my son? Since you were seven or eight, I've been bringing you meals from the cafeteria, all the way until you grew up, got you a wife, found you a house—what have I done to disappoint you, Bangeng? To disappoint the Jia family? For all I've done for the Jia family, shouldn't you call me Dad?"

"You're just a big idiot who supports my mother, yet you have the nerve to call yourself Dad. If you truly regarded me as your son, you'd just scramble out of the Jia family—go anywhere, as long as you don't die in our Jia family."

"This is my home; you're telling me to go where?"

"Your home?" Bangeng's face showed a mocking smile as he pointed to the three courtyards—front, middle, and rear—saying, "If you say this is your home, why does the property deed bear my name, Bangeng? Even if it were yours, that was in the past; now these houses all belong to me, Bangeng, and the property rights are mine."

Bangeng, you really don't feel any old affection at all?

Shazhu, don't pretend you're so noble just because you said it. You looking after us three siblings isn't out of goodwill—it's just because you have designs on my mother Huairu. Out of respect for my mother's face, I'm politely asking you to leave; otherwise I'd just slap you away.

White-eyed wolf.

I am a white-eyed wolf, what are you, Shazhu? Isn't the skill of picking locks and opening doors all taught by you? As for why you taught me these things, you don't know it in your heart? You allow yourself to scheme against me, but not allow me to scheme back against you? Bangeng pointed at the Siheyuan before him, stimulating Shazhu, "You probably don't know, a big boss wants to invest to buy this courtyard—do you know how much he's offering? One hundred million! Speaking of which, I, Bangeng, should still thank you, hahaha!"

In memory.

Bangeng's arrogant laughter.

It made Shazhu's eyes red.

His fists clenched involuntarily.

Suddenly.

A gentle voice of concern sounded in his ear.

Weiguo's dad, are you alright?

Following the sound, he looked over.

To his surprise, it was his wife Yu Li.