Chapter 7: Beating

Before Diqiu could react, the door was suddenly flung open, and a middle-aged woman with a waist as thick as a bucket stood in front of her, hands on her hips, glaring at Diqiu and spitting out a mouthful of saliva.

"What's this? You're still so young and already learning to be a little thief? How old are you? Already starting to steal people's things?" The woman scowled and spoke in a cold tone.

"What nonsense is Mrs. Tong talking about? Please think twice before tarnishing someone's reputation like this," Diqiu frowned.

"Reputation?" Mrs. Tong spat and sneered, "Oh, I didn't know that the offspring left by that wretched Haoshi still has any reputation."

Her loud shouting attracted the attention of the neighbors, who all got up from their beds to join in the commotion. Even though they didn't turn on the lights, the white snow in the dark night made the figures clearly visible.

Feeling annoyed and not wanting to cause trouble, Diqiu said, "If borrowing things is so disgraceful in Mrs. Tong's eyes, then Diqiu will not do so in the future."

"Who would lend you anything? Who dares to lend you anything? Don't you dare spew your saliva everywhere," she shouted, "We may not be as well-off as your family, but we don't need to resort to selling meat and our bodies to make a living. We may have to live in the village, but we can't afford your wealthy lifestyle!"

Her words were insulting, and even a saint would have been angered. Diqiu, feeling furious, said, "Since there's no borrowing of anything, Diqiu will leave. I hope I haven't caused trouble for Mrs. Tong's family."

With that, she turned to leave with her writing materials.

However, Mrs. Tong was shocked and shouted, "You little wench, how dare you leave? You stole something from our house and now you want to leave without explanation? I'll make sure you regret it!"

Before she could finish her words, she pounced on Diqiu, and her heavy body struck Diqiu's frail back. Unable to dodge the attack in time and with Mrs. Tong's weight of about 150 pounds, Diqiu felt a sharp pain in her back and fell to the ground.

Mrs. Tong didn't give her a chance to get up. She quickly straddled Diqiu and pulled her head out of the snow, grabbing her hair and mercilessly slapping her with her large palm.

"You little wench, why did you learn to seduce men like your wretched mother? My son, Runsheng, is so young, and you've already ensnared him? I won't let you get away with it today!"

With that, she continued to slap Diqiu relentlessly.

Having been thrown to the ground and unable to get up, Diqiu not only felt dazed but also endured the relentless slaps. Despite being an orphan since childhood, she had never suffered such humiliation. She gritted her teeth and tried to shake off Mrs. Tong's grip on her hair, but to no avail. Mrs. Tong's grip was like a vice, and she continued to slap her without any mercy.

The crowd quickly gathered, and some of them, unable to bear it, whispered, "Enough, she's been punished enough. Don't beat her to death, or we might end up in a lawsuit!"

"I want to beat her to death! I want to beat her to death!" Mrs. Tong's eyes were red with anger. She couldn't believe that her son, who had always been sympathetic, would steal a valuable inkstone and brush. She had sent her husband to take him back to school and had been waiting to catch the thief.

She couldn't care less about others, but she knew her son's compassionate nature. She had tolerated his previous small favors, but how could she allow him to be so reckless with such an expensive inkstone and brush? The thought made her even angrier, and she continued to slap Diqiu with all her might, cursing, "I'd rather beat her to death, so she won't become a shameless wench like Haoshi, a fatherless and motherless girl who has no shame!"

Gritting her teeth, Diqiu clenched her fists under Mrs. Tong's weight.