Chapter 438: The Widow's Final Act for Bangeng

Bangeng truly lacks any manly bearing.

To return to the city.

He actually disregarded his manly pride and directly knelt before Shi Jiahong.

Looking at the pitiful, obedient-grandson-like Bangeng kneeling before her.

Shi Jiahong laughed.

If kneeling could solve the problem, she would have knelt many times; I don't know whether to laugh at Bangeng's naivety or at the cruelty of reality.

She looked at Bangeng without saying a word.

She examined Bangeng for about a minute and a half.

She slowly expressed her attitude.

"If you want me to let you leave, it's simple: as long as you take me back to the city, I'll definitely help you settle things nicely; otherwise you'll spend your whole life in the village."

Her tone suddenly turned cold.

Carrying a hint of a chilling tone.

"You want to abandon me and return to the city to enjoy yourself; I advise you to give up that idea. What right do I have to let you return to the city to enjoy blessings while I'm out there farming with the children?"

Bangeng saw that even after he had knelt to Shi Jiahong, the widow still refused to give him a way out, and his suppressed anger flared to the extreme.

"Why are you being so fierce? Didn't you say you loved me before, that you'd do anything for me? Why, when it comes to letting me return to the city, do you refuse to lift a finger? Can't you give me a way to live? Or do you only feel satisfied when you've driven me to death?"

This threat.

It's simply pitiful.

It's truly not that Shi Jiahong looks down on Bangeng.

If Bangeng could disregard life and death, he wouldn't be in his current state; when Shi Jiahong first tried to entrap him with the 'fairy trap', he would have threatened to die.

He is simply not the type who sees through life and death.

"Hey, you're angry, aren't you? You really think I don't know what you're thinking? You just feel that I'm a widow with children, unworthy of a noble city person like you, and you want to sweet-talk me into deception. As long as I sign the divorce agreement, you, Bangeng, can fly high and free, but I still say: if you want to return to the city, bring me along; otherwise, forget it—I will be your retribution, Bangeng."

"If pushed too far, I'll fight you to the death."

"Fish die, net broken? I'm waiting."

"Just wait then." Bangeng suddenly recalled that night's events in his mind, without boasting about the gate's fence, he said: "That night I did nothing; I just drank a bit of alcohol, then passed out. It must be you, this vicious woman, who, in order to marry into the city, schemed against me and poisoned my drink."

"Poison? I admit I poisoned you, I admit I schemed against you—are you satisfied now?"

Shi Jiahong looked at Bangeng, probably guessing what he was plotting, and a hint of contempt flashed across her face.

"A fly doesn't bite an uncracked egg. Three people came with you; why weren't they schemed against, but you were? If you have no designs on me, how could I scheme against you? I'm busy making a living in the courtyard; who comes rushing to help me? Yet you whisper to me, saying I retain my charm, that I don't look like someone who's given birth, that I look even better than an eighteen-year-old maiden."

Bangeng was momentarily speechless.

He had no words to reply.

The words are rough, but the reasoning is sound.

If he had no designs on Shi Jiahong, she couldn't possibly have tied Bangeng up and shoved him into her bed.

Essentially, Bangeng first harbored a secret desire for Shi Jiahong, considering himself a city person superior to this country widow, Shi Jiahong.

He thought that even if something happened.

It would just be a matter of giving some money and goods.

Just like those people from the Yagangchang gave Qin Huairu money and goods back then.

But he didn't expect that Shi Jiahong would see through his scheming, go with the flow and launch a counter-scheme, forcing Bangeng to marry her.

"Bangeng, don't push all the blame onto me. When we were together back then, you certainly enjoyed it, reaped the benefits, and now seeing that you can't return to the city, you feel that bringing me along would embarrass you, so you want to kick me away. I, Shi Jiahong, have said my piece—don't even think about abandoning me and returning to the city alone."

Bangeng's head felt as big as a bucket.

He stared foolishly at Shi Jiahong.

For a moment he was at a loss.

Later, not knowing what happened, he apparently felt like a worthless snack, raised his hand, and fiercely slapped himself twice.

He also put some strength into it.

It was a tremendous force.

It left two clear slap marks on Bangeng's cheeks.

"Bangeng, I'll finally tell you a few things: I'm a widow with three children; face or no face, it doesn't matter—losing face is losing face, being unseen is being unseen. I know where you live, and you don't want me to sit with the children at the gate of your siheyuan, saying you cheated for money and beauty. When the time comes, will people believe you or me? You've earned the reputation of Chen Shimei; can the working women in the city still marry you? You're also a remarried man."

It's akin to locking the barn after the horse is stolen.

Just a few words.

It blocked all of Bangeng's retreat routes.

Let me say something without fear of being laughed at.

Bangeng actually did have such a plan.

Just thinking of the scene where Shi Jiahong sits with the children at the siheyuan gate loudly cursing him, Bangeng inexplicably feels a sense of desolation.

Women care about reputation.

Don't men care about reputation?

His expression bore a hint of impatience.

Hearing Shi Jiahong constantly mention the children made him even angrier, his fury blazing; if she didn't bring up the children, his mood would be somewhat better.

Shi Jiahong not only has children, but three of them: one son and two daughters.

Bangeng could easily imagine himself returning to the city, being pointed at and gossiped about by the neighbors, their spines tingling; they would surely whisper behind his back that Bangeng is a great fool.

His anger reached its peak.

Yet he dared not do anything to Shi Jiahong.

He simply got up from the ground, turned his head, and walked outward.

Shi Jiahong instantly flew into a rage.

Three days without a beating and they'll be tearing off the roof tiles.

You dare to give me a dirty look?

If it weren't for bringing the kids into the city, she wouldn't have gotten together with Bangeng, let alone schemed against him.

"Get back here, and you're still unhappy after I've said just a few words?"

Bangeng glared with his scarlet eyes, fiercely stared at Shi Jiahong, wanted to strike, but ultimately the thought of striking died out—he couldn't beat her and didn't dare to; if he moved against Shi Jiahong, he would surely be soundly beaten by her, and afterwards would continue to be beaten by her natal and marital families; he pursed his lips, threw down the words "I can't be bothered with you," and strode away from the courtyard.

Along the dirt road.

He returned to the original Zhiqingdayuan.

The vast Dayuan lay empty and deserted.

Bangeng's heart.

Suddenly he felt a wave of desolation.

Grief welled up from his heart.

Tears streamed from his eye sockets.

He regretted it.

He truly regretted it.

Why is everything turning out differently from what Bangeng had imagined? The people at Yagangchang keep getting entangled with Qin Huairu, and afterward they give him some meat dishes or plain mantou; why, when it comes to me here, do I have to sacrifice my whole life?

What gives him the right!

His crying had pretty much stopped.

He wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve, muttering for Qin Huairu and Jia Zhangshi to come save him.