Chapter 22 No one can touch his woman

He took Sun Lanhua directly to find Wang Laizi.

At that moment, Wang Laizi was crouching down, sneaking around next to Widow Zhang's chicken coop.

He didn't get anywhere with Jiang Wanqiu yesterday; instead, that woman injured his manhood, and it still aches faintly there. He went back to Zhao Hui to ask for some liquor, but was turned away again.

Today I stumbled upon this widow's house, intending to take two eggs home, boil them, and eat them to nourish my fertility.

He reached into the henhouse, touched a warm egg, and a smug smile appeared on his face. Suddenly, a huge force tightened around the back of his neck, and he was lifted off the ground!

Wang Laizi's feet left the ground, and he was so frightened that the egg in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

Before he could even see who it was, he was punched in the face.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Those fists were like iron hammers, pounding into his stomach and chest, dislocating his internal organs. Zhao Wenchang didn't say a word, his eyes were frighteningly red, and he grabbed Wang Laizi as if he were beating a broken sack, each punch carrying the ferocity to beat him to death.

Wang Laizi was beaten until he curled up in a ball, a metallic taste rising in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. He wanted to beg for mercy, but the fists fell like raindrops, making it hard for him to even out his breath.

"Stop! Stop right now!"

"Wenchang! If you keep fighting, someone will die!"

When the men who had come to watch the commotion saw that things were getting out of hand, they rushed over and tried their best to pull Zhao Wenchang away. But he was incredibly strong, and it took three or four strong men to barely manage to pull him off Wang Laizi.

"Let me go!" Zhao Wenchang's chest heaved violently. His fists, honed in the army, carried a murderous aura that was no joke.

Wang Laizi lay sprawled on the ground, whimpering like a dead dog.

He covered his face, which was swollen like a pig's head, and looked at Zhao Wenchang's murderous eyes. Terrified, he crawled on the ground, crying and shouting, "No...don't hit me! Brother Wenchang, I was wrong! I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!"

He pointed to the distance and cried out, his voice trembling with sobs, "It was Zhao Hui! That bitch Zhao Hui sent me there! She said that if I... slept with that woman from the south in your family, she would give me that bottle of good liquor that her father had been keeping for years! I... I didn't do anything with that woman!"

The moment those words were spoken, the entire room fell silent.

The onlookers exchanged bewildered glances, their faces filled with shock. Zhao Hui? That delicate village chief's daughter? Could she really do something so heinous?

Sun Lanhua sensed something was wrong and knew things were going badly.

Yesterday, she visited Zhao Hui's house, and it was Zhao Hui who told her that she saw Jiang Wanqiu and Wang Laizi exchanging glances, and asked her to help spread the word in the village so that Zhao Wenchang could see the woman's true colors.

Could it be that I've been used as a pawn?

Zhao Wenchang stared intently at Wang Laizi with his unfathomable eyes, seemingly trying to discern the truth or falsehood in what the other man was saying.

Finally, Zhao Wenchang slowly nodded and uttered a single word: "Good."

Then, he stepped forward, grabbed Wang Laizi by the collar, pulled him up from the ground, and ignoring the other man's crying, shouting, and swearing, strode towards Zhao Hui's house.

The commotion here was so great that someone with a quick mind immediately went to call Zhao Weimin, who was still in the commune, back.

Zhao Wenchang kicked open the gate to Zhao Hui's courtyard.

Li Xiujuan, who was at home, was startled by the commotion and rushed out. Seeing the scene, especially Wang Laizi being dragged along, she asked in surprise, "Wenchang, what are you doing?"

Zhao Wenchang said coldly, "Let Zhao Hui come out."

"Oh dear, that probably won't work." Li Xiujuan quickly waved her hand, looking troubled. "Xiao Hui has a fever, and she's delirious from the fever. Last night, for some reason, she went up on the roof and stayed up in the cold wind for half the night, and now she can't get up today."

Since the woman couldn't get out, he grabbed Wang Laizi and forced his way into the house.

"Hey, Wenchang, you can't just go in like that! Be careful not to scare Xiaohui!" Li Xiujuan tried to stop her but couldn't.

Zhao Wenchang entered the room and threw Wang Laizi under the kang (a heated brick bed) where Zhao Hui was lying.

On the kang (heated brick bed), Zhao Hui heard the noise and slowly sat up. Her hair was disheveled, her face was pale, and she looked quite ill.

She looked around the room, still groggy, and asked blankly, "Brother Wenchang... Sister-in-law... what's wrong?"

She had actually heard the commotion outside a while ago and had a bad feeling. But she knew that the more dangerous the situation, the less she could panic.

As soon as Wang Laizi saw Zhao Hui, he flew into a rage, pointing at her and yelling, "You bitch, stop pretending! What are you pretending for! Yesterday you were the one who ordered me to do bad things, and now you're denying it?!"

Zhao Hui looked bewildered, her big, watery eyes full of innocence. She turned to Zhao Wenchang, who had a dark expression on his face, and asked pitifully, "Brother Wenchang, what is he saying? I don't understand." As she spoke, she coughed twice to match his expression.

Zhao Wenchang took a step forward, but hadn't spoken yet.

Wang Laizi shuddered in fright, thinking he was about to be beaten again, and quickly blurted out, "It was her! She was unhappy because you married a new wife! She forced me to lay a hand on that woman from the south!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Li Xiujuan finally understood what was going on. She rushed over and grabbed Zhao Wenchang's arm, saying urgently, "Wenchang, don't believe him! Don't you know what kind of person Wang Laizi is? He never tells the truth! How could our Xiaohui do such a heinous thing!"

Zhao Hui's tears came easily, large tears rolling down her cheeks. She looked at Zhao Wenguan, her eyes full of hurt: "Brother Wenchang... you doubt me because of this scoundrel's words? You come here to confront me?"

She gave a bitter laugh, her voice trembling: "Fine...fine! I did it all, okay! I'm shameless, I'm heartless! I'm not human, I don't want to live anymore!"

As she spoke, she suddenly flipped off the kang (a heated brick bed) and slammed her head against the wall inside the room!

"Xiao Hui!" Li Xiujuan cried out in surprise and hugged her tightly.

Just when things were in complete chaos, village chief Zhao Weimin finally ran in, panting.

"Stop it, all of you! What are you doing!" he shouted, grabbing his daughter as he turned to Wenchang and said, "Wenchang! There must be some misunderstanding here! What's your relationship with Zhao Hui? You grew up together, do you not know what kind of person she is?"

Zhao Weimin glanced at Wang Laizi on the ground, then at Zhao Hui who was crying uncontrollably, and made a decisive decision: "We can't just listen to Wang Laizi's side of the story! Men, lock Wang Laizi in the village office's woodshed! I'll interrogate him! Wenchang, don't worry, I'll definitely give you an explanation. I absolutely won't let your wife be bullied for nothing!"

Zhao Wenchang stared at Zhao Hui, who was trembling in Li Xiujuan's arms, his eyes dark and unreadable.

Then, he turned to the crowd still watching the commotion in the courtyard: "Let me make this clear today. Jiang Wanqiu is a person of impeccable character. Anyone who dares to smear her or spread rumors about her, whether they are men or women, I, Zhao Wenchang, will treat them all equally and will not let a single one of them go!"

As Wang Laizi was dragged away by two militiamen, he was still cursing obscenities: "Zhao Hui, you slut! You'll die a horrible death! You lied to me... You wait, I'll..."

As the people in the courtyard gradually dispersed, Zhao Weimin glanced at Zhao Hui as he left, his eyes inexplicably filled with complex emotions.

Zhao Hui lowered her head, not daring to look at him, and buried her face in her sister-in-law's arms guiltily.

"Wenchang, don't go yet," Li Xiujuan said again. "I still have something to tell you."