Chapter 440: Forced Kinship

"Pah, pah, pah!" Shen Xiangdi immediately cursed, "Don't talk nonsense! My second sister didn't!"

Only by defending her second sister like this could she feel a little less guilty in her heart.

Shen Dazhuang rested for a moment, then continued to beat her.

Shen Xiangdi didn't dare to intervene herself, so after thinking about it, she ran off to find her eldest sister.

Her eldest sister, Shen Laidi, washed dishes for people at a restaurant in Huaiyang, and because she was diligent, both the boss and the boss's wife liked her very much.

"Xiangdi, why did you come over at this time?"

Shen Laidi had just finished working and, while wiping her hands on her apron, handed her a piece of pork liver that a customer had left behind and didn't eat.

Shen Xiangdi didn't eat it, but squeezed the pork liver in her hand, "I'm going back to give it to Second Sister to eat."

"Oh! Has Xiangdi grown up?" Laidi touched her head with relief, "You still haven't said, why are you here now? Is something wrong at home?"

"Eldest Sister," Shen Xiangdi began to cry, "hurry home, Second Sister is about to be beaten to death by Dad!"

Shen Laidi's expression turned stern, "What's going on? Isn't today the day Shen Chi comes back? Why is Dad beating Pandi again for no reason?"

"I, I, it's my fault," Shen Xiangdi told her eldest sister about how she had repeated what she heard.

Shen Laidi immediately slapped her across the face.

"From the time we were small until now, how many beatings has Pandi blocked for you from Mom and Dad? How could you tell Mom and Dad those things?"

After hitting her little sister, Shen Laidi hurried to run home.

Her second sister had a stubborn temper; no matter how hard she was beaten, she wouldn't say a single soft word, so she had to get back quickly.

When she returned, Shen Dazhuang was indeed still beating Pandi. Pandi's top had been beaten to shreds, and half of the girl's shoulder was exposed.

"Dad! Stop hitting her!"

Since she started working and earning money, Shen Laidi had gained a bit of a voice in the house; she came up to grab the wicker switch, and Shen Dazhuang stopped as he went along with it.

The good show paused, and the neighbors returned to their own homes.

Shen Chi only felt it was noisy.

He didn't like these three older sisters, and from the bottom of his heart, he couldn't feel close to them.

He understood even less why they were always so disobedient.

If they were as obedient as he was, would Shen Dazhuang still beat them?

Really, one after the other, they were all asking for a beating.

He only cared about his own affairs.

Before going to sleep, he tugged on Wang Dani's hand, "Mom, I want a pair of new sneakers."

A look of difficulty flashed across Wang Dani's face, "What's wrong? Are the cloth shoes Mom made for you not fitting?"

"Cloth shoes are too old-fashioned. All my classmates wear sneakers and sports shoes, and they all look down on me!"

He still remembered one time after class when his foot was stepped on by Jiang Sinian, and Jiang Sinian apologized to him.

Even though he knew he was wearing good shoes, he had actually stared at his cloth shoes for quite a while; it was obvious he looked down on cloth shoes.

When Wang Dani heard that his classmates looked down on her son, she immediately felt very uncomfortable in her heart.

This wouldn't do!

"Buy them!" She gritted her teeth, "Son, you go to sleep first, I'll go discuss it with your dad."

Shen Dazhuang also wanted his son to wear sneakers; his son was the face of their Shen family, so even if there was no way, he had to find a way to make his son wear them.

Thinking of the thoughts that unfilial daughter had harbored today, Shen Dazhuang became angry.

Her wings were truly hardened; once she grew up, she thought about leaving this home.

It seemed this home could no longer hold her.

"Doesn't she not want to stay in this home?" Shen Dazhuang said to Wang Dani, "Just find someone and marry her off! No other requirements, I want three hundred yuan for the bride price."

Which meant that anyone, old, weak, sick, or disabled, would do; as long as they gave him three hundred yuan, they could marry his daughter.

These words were overheard by Shen Xiangdi again.

She tossed and turned on the straw bedding for half the night before whispering, "Second Sister?"

Shen Pandi was in pain all over; she opened her eyes in the darkness, not wanting to pay her any mind at all.

This younger sister was also a liability.

If she had known earlier, she should have just left quietly by herself without revealing a single bit of news.

"Second Sister, I'm sorry," Shen Xiangdi apologized quickly, "but I really have something I want to tell you. I overheard Mom and Dad saying they want to marry you off for a three-hundred-yuan bride price, and they aren't picky about who."

Shen Pandi quietly clenched her fingers.

She had to leave this home.

Wang Dani was very efficient and soon found someone willing to pay the three-hundred-yuan bride price.

This person was from Huaiyang City, and his parents were both dual-income employees; logically speaking, his family conditions were very good, but this person was disabled.

And it wasn't just an ordinary disability; he had a black mole growing on the left side of his face.

When he was young, the mole wasn't that big, but as he grew older, the mole had now merged with his left cheek, looking extremely horrifying.

Normal families wouldn't be willing to marry their daughters off to him, which was why he had been delayed until now.

So the two families quickly reached an agreement. Shen Dazhuang collected the three hundred yuan, and his son would finally be able to wear new sneakers; let's see who would dare look down on his son in the future!

And that family was also very satisfied with Shen Pandi, planning to hold a few simple wedding banquet tables and consider the marriage done.

The eldest sister tried to persuade Shen Pandi, "Actually, that man just looks scary, but his family conditions are good. You might live better after marrying over there than you do at home."

If it weren't for the fact that Shen Dazhuang and Wang Dani couldn't bear to part with her, their old workhorse, she would have wanted to be married off quickly herself.

Shen Pandi gazed at the small hole in the tattered roof, feeling herself to be small, humble, and pathetic.

She didn't want to marry.

Shen Xiangdi said with a look of martyrdom, "Second Sister, if you really don't want to marry, I'm willing to marry in your place!"

The matter was stirred up by her loose tongue, and besides, she also wanted to escape the fiery pit that was the Shen family as quickly as possible.

As for whether other places were also fiery pits, she could no longer concern herself with that.

Shen Pandi still did not speak.

It was just that on the day before she was to be married off, she was exceptionally sensible and obedient, helping to cook and even taking the initiative to pour wine for Shen Dazhuang.

"Sure enough, girls become sensible once they get married! Good, good. You aren't marrying far away; I don't ask for you to be rich or noble, just come back and visit your mother and me often in the future."

When Shen Dazhuang was in a good mood, he would occasionally say a few human words.

"Dad is right."

Shen Chi watched the scene of family harmony and felt very happy; if only she had been this obedient sooner.

But the next day, when the person whose face was half-covered in black moles came to the door to collect the bride, Shen Pandi was nowhere to be found.

The two families started a ruckus.

Shen Chi still felt no great waves in his heart; he tucked the fifty yuan Wang Daniu had given him into his pocket and went to buy sneakers.

The styles and designs of sneakers available now were very limited, and he looked at two pairs in a row without being very satisfied.

"Do you have that kind, white, with soles that look very bouncy?" He wanted the kind on Jiang Sinian's feet.

"Are you talking about sports shoes?" The shop assistant glanced at his faded, washed-out clothes. "Those aren't something an average person can afford. Our little shop doesn't have them; you'll have to go to the department store."

Shen Chi felt a bit hurt by such a disdainful look; he clutched his fifty yuan and walked out, and then he bumped into a woman.

"Shen Chi? My son, is it really you?" Li Xuan hugged him without explanation and initiated a forced reunion, "Wuwu, all these years, Mom has missed you so much."

Shen Chi was startled and pushed her away, "Holy crap! Who are you, lady?"

Could she be some kind of old pervert? His mother said he was so handsome that he didn't know how many young women and wives would be pining after him.