As Shen Zhihuan spoke, she took a step forward, startling Old Mrs. Qian so much that her face turned pale, and she shrank back awkwardly.

"You...you little brat, don't do anything reckless!"

Shen Zhihuan sneered, and the crowd that had been so arrogant and gossipy just moments before fell silent the moment her gaze swept over them.

Chen Zhihuan spoke slowly, but his tone carried an invisible pressure.

Shen Zhihuan glanced at Grandma Sun, intentionally or unintentionally.

"As for who is the ingrate and who is bullying whom, anyone with eyes can see that from the newspapers."

"As for the person who just said that they would drug their children because they were dissatisfied with them, if you were dissatisfied with your boss at work tomorrow, would you also drug him?"

"You're dissatisfied with the country, yet you still want to be a spy, a traitor?"

Shen Zhihuan squinted at Old Lady Lü.

"Then you'd better be careful. Our unlucky Xie family specializes in catching spies."

Shen Zhihuan looks gentle and kind, but her firepower is terrifyingly strong.

The surroundings were completely silent.

The old woman choked so hard her face turned green, but she couldn't refute it and could only grind her teeth in place.

Inside the house.

When Wang Yulian thought about that newspaper, she realized that not only the people in the tenement courtyard could see it, but the entire capital city could see it.

She felt her face burning, as if she had been rubbed on the ground.

If people find out that the vicious sister in the newspaper is her daughter-in-law, what will they think of her?

Wouldn't that turn her spine into a sieve?!

She grew angrier the more she thought about it, her face turning from white to red, then from red to purple, and she clenched her teeth so hard they made a grinding sound.

"I've lived this long and never been so humiliated!"

She grabbed the teacup on the table fiercely, and then hurled it at Shen Ling, who was standing not far away.

Shen Ling instinctively dodged, and the cup just grazed her ear before flying past, missing her.

She patted her chest, but before she could even feel relieved, Wang Yulian's anger flared up, and she went berserk, grabbing whatever she could find and throwing it at her.

Broom, dustpan, bamboo basket hanging on the wall...

One by one, things rained down on Shen Ling like a storm.

"You bitch, you deadbeat liar!"

"I knew you were no good even before we got married. I don't know what kind of spell you cast on my son to make him choose you as his daughter-in-law!"

Wang Yulian was furious, but she didn't dare to yell too loudly, for fear that outsiders would hear and laugh at her.

His voice was suppressed, like that of a wild beast whose throat had been cut, yet it still screamed wildly.

Shen Ling had nowhere to hide, so she could only tightly protect her head, moaning as she was hit.

"Mom, don't hit me, ah—!"

Before she knew it, Shen Ling's wails grew louder, and she immediately sensed something was wrong.

Looking up, Wang Yulian's bloodshot eyes widened even more.

There was nothing left to throw away, so she grabbed the sole of her shoe, pulled Shen Ling's hair, and slapped her mouth.

"Who told you to call me that? I'm not your mother! Your mother is that dead country woman in the newspaper who's already been arrested!"

"If you ever dare call me 'Mom' again in public, I'll slap your mouth shut!"

Shen Ling was slapped until her face was covered in tears, and her mouth was visibly swollen and red.

She couldn't take it anymore and tried to explain while crying.

"Mom...no, Aunt Wang, that's not how it happened. It was all my parents' doing. It's all a misunderstanding. It has nothing to do with me..."

"Bullshit! The police have already taken him away, you still want to lie to me!"

Wang Yulian didn't believe a word of it, and kept trying to make up for the embarrassment she had just lost outside by taking it out on Shen Ling a hundredfold or a thousandfold.

Shen Ling cried out, struggled, and became increasingly out of control.

Wang Yulian was furious, so she took off her other shoe and stuffed both shoes into her mouth.

Instead of hitting her in the face, she changed her approach and started kicking her while pulling her hair!

"I'll teach you to cry, you shameless woman, how dare you marry into my family!"

"I can tell you clearly know what your parents did, which is why you're in such a hurry to get a marriage certificate with my son!"

"You've ripped off my family like this, I'll make you pay!"

If Shen Ling hadn't already argued with Gu Yuchuan, she would have beaten this woman unconscious right now and thrown her back to her parents' door!

Unfortunately, what's done is done, and the neighbors all know about it. Now it's too late to regret it!

Wang Yulian was so angry she felt like her lungs were about to explode. She grabbed Shen Ling's hair and kicked her repeatedly, each kick harder than the last.

Shen Ling was kicked so hard she couldn't even cry out. Clumps of hair fell out, and every inch of her skin, from her scalp to her body, was burning hot.

From beginning to end, Gu Yuchuan sat on the side, as if it were none of his business, watching coldly without saying a word.

Finally, when Wang Yulian was tired from beating her, she went to the inner room to drink water and rest. Shen Ling struggled desperately to get up and crawled over to grab Gu Yuchuan's ankle as if grasping at a straw.

Her face was covered in tears, and she looked up at him with the most pitiful eyes.

"Brother Chuan, please plead with Mom for me! If this continues, I'll be beaten to death."

"I really didn't know anything about this. It was all my parents' idea. They did something terrible. If it really comes to this... if it really comes to this, I'll cut ties with them, okay?"

Shen Ling was crying and sniffling, and as she spoke, she kept spraying blood and saliva onto Gu Yuchuan.

Gu Yuchuan's lips twitched, and his brows furrowed so deeply they almost pressed down on his eyelids.

Why did he marry such a thing just so he could control her?

If I had known, I should have married Shen Zhihuan.

At least she's good-looking, doesn't cause trouble, and can be a free doctor for her family.

Gu Yuchuan thought about it, and his gaze toward Shen Ling became even more disgusted.

Won't this kind of woman lead his son astray?

Shen Ling was still crying and pleading, but Gu Yuchuan had lost his patience. He suddenly pulled his ankle back, his tone icy.

“My mom knows her limits, she won’t beat you to death.”

These words were like a bolt from the blue.

Shen Ling was stunned for a long time, then suddenly understood.

"Brother Chuan, are you also afraid that Mom will beat you?"

Has she hit you before, like she did to me?

Shen Ling burst into tears even harder.

"How could she do this? We're such a tragic couple..."

Gu Yuchuan: ...

He really wanted to kick this woman unconscious.

Before anything could be done, the door to the side hut was suddenly opened.

Lele was woken up from her afternoon nap. She rubbed her eyes and came out, looking at the mess in front of her.

"Dad, what happened?"

Wang Yulian had rested enough and was about to turn back to continue playing when she saw Lele standing in the room as soon as she entered.

Gu Yuchuan gave her a wink, signaling her to control her emotions in front of the child.

Wang Yulian held back, not immediately hitting her, but instead pointed her finger at Shen Ling's head and cursed her viciously, word by word.

"You idiot, you bastard! In the old society, even if I sold you to a brothel, nobody would want you!"

"What man haven't you seen in your life? You pounced on my son the moment you saw him. I should have just killed you back then, otherwise all this mess wouldn't have happened today!"