Chapter 14: The Shameless Wang Lao Liu

Page 1 of 3

After an afternoon’s work, most of the weeds in the fields had been cleared. Another two hours tomorrow should be enough to finish the rest. Next, they would focus on repairing the courtyard wall and roof, and fencing off a vegetable garden.

Tong Chuxue briefly explained her requirements to the men. Old Wang immediately assured her, “No problem, lass. Just leave it to us. We’re used to this kind of work. We’ll make sure everything is sturdy and sound.”

Xu Jinniang was delighted. “Then I’ll have to trouble you gentlemen.”

After everyone had left, Xu Jinniang said to Tong Chuxue, “I was worried that Old Wang had only come on someone else’s behalf and might not do a good job. I never expected him to work so hard. He must be a decent man after all.”

Toward evening, Wu Zhenzhen brought Tong Chuxue some vegetables. Knowing that there was no vegetable garden at the Tong household and that they had been relying mainly on wild greens to stave off hunger, she could not bear to stand by and watch. After obtaining the village headman’s permission, she had picked some greens and radishes and brought them over.

Tong Chuxue cherished this timely kindness. She was genuinely struggling at present; this was no time to put on airs and refuse people out of politeness.

Yet she seemed to have had extraordinarily good fortune that day. Everyone in the village who knew her had brought vegetables over one after another. Besides Wu Zhenzhen, there was Lin Chunyan and several others.

Looking at the vegetables piled across the ground, Tong Chuxue joked, “Wonderful. We won’t need to buy vegetables for the next ten days or half a month.”

With a broad smile, Xu Jinniang picked out a handful of tender greens to cook for dinner. “There are still more good-hearted families than not in our village. Look—even Old Wang brought over a whole basketful.”

Tong Chuxue’s eyes flickered. “Old Wang brought some too?”

“Of course.” Xu Jinniang pointed toward one of the piles. “All of those are from him. You happened to be busy inside at the time, so he left them in the courtyard and departed soon afterward.”

“Mother…” Tong Chuxue tugged at Xu Jinniang’s sleeve. “I have a feeling…”

Late that night.

Outside the old Luo family house, a furtive figure crept through the darkness. He had already surveyed the area during the day. The earthen wall outside the house was somewhat high, making it difficult to climb over directly.

Somehow, Old Wang had found a discarded wooden ladder. He leaned it against the wall and climbed straight into the courtyard.

That part went smoothly.

When he reached the door, he took a short length of a smoking pipe from his pocket, slipped it through the crack beneath the door, and gently blew several times. Wisps of white smoke drifted from the end of the pipe.

After roughly the time it took for half an incense stick to burn, Old Wang cautiously tried pushing the door.

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

The door was not locked from within and opened with ease. Old Wang’s heart leaped, but he still lightened his steps as he entered the room. On the large bed, the quilt rose high in one place. Old Wang quietly crept toward it.

The thick darkness concealed the malicious smile on his face.

He took a coil of hemp rope from his waist, chuckled lecherously, and whispered, “Little girl, I’ve come! Don’t worry—I won’t mistreat either you or your mother!”

As he spoke, he reached out to bind the hands of the person on the bed.

Just as his hand was about to make contact, a heavy blow struck him on the head, and Old Wang lost consciousness on the spot.

Tong Chuxue stood inside the room with a club in her hand. She tore off the cloth covering her face and, still unsatisfied, struck him again.

Xu Jinniang shuddered whenever she thought of what had just happened. If Chuxue had not sensed danger beforehand, who knew what might have occurred that night?

Who would have guessed that Old Wang, who appeared so friendly on the surface, was secretly harboring such intentions?

Xu Jinniang looked down at Old Wang. “Chuxue, what do we do now?”

Tong Chuxue was troubled as well. Old Wang was not particularly large, and she had intended to dump him behind the mountain, but she had not expected that even the two of them together would be unable to carry him.

She could hardly call anyone over in the middle of the night. If they disturbed the neighbors, it would damage both her reputation and Xu Jinniang’s.

After much deliberation, Tong Chuxue took the rope Old Wang had brought, looped it beneath his armpits, and together, mother and daughter dragged him to the middle of the village’s main road.

Xu Jinniang had thought that would be the end of it. She never imagined that Tong Chuxue would set down the rope and begin unfastening Old Wang’s clothes. Alarmed, Xu Jinniang hurriedly slapped her hand away and scolded, “What are you doing, girl? Don’t you know you’re still an unmarried maiden? If you start taking a man’s clothes off like that, will you ever be able to marry?”

Tong Chuxue was helpless. She only wanted to teach Old Wang a lesson he would never forget, so that he would remember it well. “Mother, why don’t you do it, then?”

The remark nearly made Xu Jinniang faint with rage. If the night had not been so quiet that she dared not raise her voice, she might have beaten her daughter herself. What on earth had gotten into the girl? She was becoming bolder and more reckless by the day. If this continued, sooner or later she would cause a serious scandal.

In the end, Xu Jinniang, still seething with anger, reached over and undid Old Wang’s belt herself.

Tong Chuxue knew that she had truly infuriated her mother. She obediently followed behind her, shrinking into herself like a tortoise retreating into its shell.

The following morning.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

A scream shattered the tranquility of dawn, followed by a woman’s furious shouting. “Which heartless bastard did this? It’s barely morning, and someone’s already humiliating people! Lying in the road without even wearing his trousers—does he have no shame?”

Several nearby households poked their heads out through their gates and immediately spotted Old Wang lying on the ground.

His belt hung loosely, his entire chest was exposed, and his trousers had slipped down considerably. Just a little farther and the sight would have become wholly indecent.

Someone with sharp eyes recognized him as Old Wang.

At that moment, Old Wang was also awakened by the curses ringing in his ears. The instant he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by a crowd. Following everyone’s gaze, he looked down at his own disheveled state and immediately panicked. His hands trembling, he hurriedly fumbled with his clothes, not daring to utter a word before scrambling and rolling his way back home.

To be lying in the middle of the main road at dawn, dressed in such disarray—however one looked at it, it resembled a man caught in an illicit nighttime affair. The village gossips soon began speculating about which lover Old Wang had met the previous night. Several households that were usually close to him became entangled in the rumors, and their furious members descended upon the Wang household to make a scene, severing all ties with him.

As for Old Wang being beaten and cursed by his wife after returning home, then remaining indoors for half a month with a head swollen like a pig’s—that was another story.

Meanwhile, the repairs to Tong Chuxue’s house continued.

She had long been dreaming of building a toilet and a bathing room. At first, she had even wanted to install an underfloor heating system inside the house, but there were still too many expenses ahead. Besides, doing that in an earthen-brick house would be difficult and would require a professional construction crew.

By comparison, partitioning off two small rooms to serve separately as a toilet and a bathing room was much simpler.

Given the limited conditions, Tong Chuxue had them partition off a small space inside one room for a chamber pot, with a bucket of water beside it for washing hands.

It was the first time the men had ever seen such a troublesome arrangement. In their understanding, chamber pots belonged beneath the bed, and washing one’s hands after using one was far too particular.

Tong Chuxue paid no attention to what they thought. This design was already the greatest compromise she could make.

Ultimately, the root of the problem was that she had no money. Without funds, every undertaking was hampered. She would have to find a way to make money.