14 Divorce is not that easy
◎Two years of imprisonment, eighty strokes of the cane◎
Zhuang Xue held two meat buns in her arms and thought of the young lady she had just met. The young lady was kind-hearted and must have seen through her suicidal thoughts from the beginning and asked her:
"Are you willing to divorce him?"
Are you willing?
Zhuang Xue didn't know.
The first time the man hit her, she also considered divorce, but since both her parents were dead, her brother and sister-in-law said, "What man doesn't gamble a bit?" "What man doesn't beat his wife? Wait until they have a child."
She was so young and naive that she really believed it.
The winter of the year I got pregnant was particularly cold, and the harvest in the fields was poor. The little food I found throughout the winter was taken away by my husband, who said: I need to do heavy work, so I will naturally eat more. It would be a waste for you to lie at home all day long.
At the beginning of the next spring, Zhuang Xueming was already five months pregnant, but she was very thin, and her belly was not much different from that of other women who were three months pregnant.
In spring, Zhuang Xue had to go to the fields to weed and apply fertilizer every day even though she didn't have enough to eat. It was really pitiful. Sometimes she was so hungry that she stuffed leaves and bark into her mouth.
After several aunties in the village found out, they often brought her some homemade mixed-flour cakes to fill her stomach when every household could not afford to eat.
Later, the man lost the bet again and went home in a rage. He kicked Zhuang Xue to the ground. It was the first time she lost so much blood, and the baby she gave birth to was as big as a kitten.
When giving birth, Zhuang Xue thought she was going to die, but she was not afraid. Isn’t death a relief?
She missed her mother and father, and didn't want to listen to her brother and sister-in-law and get married and have children early.
She remembered that when her mother was still alive, she followed her mother to the mountains to pick fruit. The fruit was so sour that it made her cry, and no matter how hard her mother tried to wipe it off, it wouldn't come off...
But God is so cruel.
But she didn't die.
But I can't get rid of it.
Perhaps it was because Zhuang Xue's childbirth was too miserable, or perhaps it was because the man had never seen so much blood, but in any case, in the few months after giving birth, Zhuang Xue finally had some good days.
There was no beating or abuse, and she could have a bowl of bean rice for every meal. The man also sincerely repented and promised her:
Never gamble again.
But the man's promise was as cheap as weeds in the field, and soon, Zhuang Xue was covered in wounds again...
When she thought of this, Zhuang Xue's tears rolled down her cheeks. She raised her hand and wiped them away, remembering what the young lady said:
"Why are you so stupid? It's clearly his fault, so why are you the one seeking death in the end?"
"If one has to die, it has to be him."
Yes, if I die, what will happen to my children at home? They are only six years old.
The young lady looked thin but was very strong. After she finished speaking, she stuffed the meat bun into her mouth.
The rich aroma of meat burst into her mouth. Zhuang Xue, who hadn't had a full meal for a long time, began to eat voraciously. Her empty stomach was filled with food, and she felt the long-lost joy.
Then came the regret that followed. How could I have been so greedy that I not only ate one of her meat buns, but also took two. She was kind-hearted, so how could I have been so shameless as to accept them? I didn't even know her name, her family, or where she lived!
But what’s the use of knowing it?
Even if I want to compensate, there are no buns to compensate for it.
Zhuang Xue sighed deeply and limped home. When she got home, her husband had not returned yet, and the two little ones were standing by the stove boiling water.
When she saw Zhuang Xue, the little girl picked up a broken pottery bowl from her side and said in a baby voice:
"Mom, drink some water."
Zhuang Xue's eyes warmed up. She took the ceramic bowl and pulled out the oil-paper bag from her bosom. She squatted down and said, "Chunhua, look what good things mother brought."
Xiao Chunhua sniffed, blinked her eyes, stretched her head to take a look, and said in surprise, "It's a meat bun!"
Shi Tou was standing aside in a daze. He had been hungry for three days and could only drink water to fill his stomach. His mother endured the hunger and picked many wild fruits to exchange for cakes.
Shitou swallowed his saliva. Meat buns! He had never eaten meat buns before!
"Try it quickly." Zhuang Xue handed the meat buns to Chunhua and Shitou.
Shitou took the bun and stuffed it into his mouth like swallowing a whole fruit. His cheeks were bulging and he ate it with relish.
"Mom, eat first." Xiao Chunhua swallowed and handed it to Zhuang Xue reluctantly.
Zhuang Xue shook her head, patted Xiao Chunhua's head, and said softly, "Mom has eaten."
Only then did Xiao Chunhua put the meat bun into her mouth with great care. The meat bun, which had been kept all the way, was still warm. A bite of it was fragrant, soft, warm, and delicious.
Shitou belatedly realized that something was wrong and quickly followed his sister's example, handing the remaining buns to Zhuang Xue: "Mom, eat it, Mom, eat it."
He reluctantly stretched out his tongue to lick the oil on the corner of his mouth, smacked his lips, and said with a righteous look: "Mom, eat quickly."
But before Zhuang Xue could say anything, the door was roughly pushed open and a thin man with shifty eyes walked in.
"Where did you get the buns?" Huang Sigou's face suddenly changed.
"Give me."
Xiao Chunhua, who was standing nearby, shook her head and said timidly, "These are the buns my mother bought for me."
Huang Sigou's face showed a trace of ferocity: "Give it to me!"
As he said this, he was about to grab it.
"What are you crazy about?! These buns are... I bought them for the kids!" Zhuang Xue couldn't stand it any longer and said angrily, "They haven't eaten in days. How dare you, as a father, snatch food from their mouths!"
"You? Where did you get the money?" Huang Sigou said as he slapped her loudly. "Bitch, get out of here!"
Red palm prints soon appeared on Zhuang Xue's face, and she stumbled to the ground. Xiao Chunhua was frightened and hurriedly handed the bun to Huang Sigou, crying with her mouth open:
"Don't hit my mother, don't hit my mother..."
Unexpectedly, when Huang Sigou raised his hand to take the bun, Shi Tou, who had been silent beside him, suddenly rushed forward and bit his palm viciously.
"You bastard! I'm your father! How dare you bite me!" Huang Sigou pushed the stone hard and it fell to the ground.
"Damn it! These are all good sons raised by you, a bitch! They even dare to bite their own father!" After saying that, he glanced at her viciously, spat at Zhuang Xue on the ground, snatched the bun from Xiao Chunhua's hand, and walked into the inner room.
Huang Sigou didn't want to hit the stone. If the stone hadn't bitten him, he wouldn't have wanted to hurt the relationship between father and son. Huang Sigou was still waiting for the stone to grow up and take care of him in his old age.
"Mom..." Xiao Chunhua hugged Zhuang Xue with tears in her eyes, her dry little face full of tears.
Shitou, who was standing beside him, clenched his fist and said angrily, "He's not my father!"
Zhuang Xue's tears seemed to have dried up. Looking at the two six-year-old children in front of her, she felt that she was a bad mother. Why did she marry this bastard in the first place?
Zhuang Xue gathered her scattered hair and vowed in her heart:
She wants a divorce!
Even if it means divorce, she will leave this man!
Ye Yunzhao, who had just arrived at the county government office, didn't know her answer. He walked in in a daze. The woman's arm injury was so severe that it was still vivid in his mind...
She suddenly saw Liu Mazi and immediately walked forward quickly.
"Liu Bantou, do you know the population situation in Lingnan County?"
Liu Mazi thought she was asking about the number, so he simply said, "There are 135 households in the West Township, and in the East Township..."
"Have you recorded the number of households that can't afford food?" Ye Yunzhao interrupted him and asked tentatively, "Or the number of households that were beaten?"
"No." Liu Mazi scratched his head, puzzled. "County Magistrate Ye, why are you asking this? What does the number of households beaten mean?"
"Is there a situation where a son beats his father or a husband beats his wife?"
"I've handled a few cases of sons beating their fathers in the past two years, but I've never seen a case of a husband beating his wife."
Upon hearing this, Ye Yunzhao paused. How could that be? Didn’t that woman live in Lingnan County and was beaten and injured by her husband?
"Do you know how to get a divorce?" Ye Yunzhao asked directly.
"Divorce?" Liu Mazi was stunned, secretly surprised: Could it be that County Magistrate Ye was already married? And now it has come to the point of divorce?
"It's not me." Ye Yunzhao saw some speculation in his eyes.
Liu Mazi lost his gossiping mood and said seriously, "Divorce is not that easy. Most of them are divorced."
"Divorce?"
"Yes, there are seven reasons for a woman to be divorced: unfilial to her parents, childless, adulterous, jealous, talkative, theft, and serious illness." Liu Mazi added, "Thus, a divorced woman often has a bad reputation, and neighbors and friends alike dislike her."
"What!?" Ye Yunzhao frowned in shock.
No wonder the woman refused to be divorced even after being beaten. These seven reasons for divorce were extremely damaging to a woman's reputation. Moreover, this wasn't the modern society we'd been in our previous life...
Perhaps he saw Ye Yunzhao's anger, Liu Mazi spoke hurriedly:
"But like the husband beating his wife you mentioned earlier, there is a solution."
"Even if the government sentences him to death."
A broken relationship? Ye Yunzhao guessed.
But if the government sentences someone to a righteous separation, will the person sentenced to that separation be willing to do so? Let’s not talk about others, just take the woman Ye Yunzhao met as an example. The one who was beaten was naturally willing to break up, but would the one who beat her easily give up the “punching bag”?
"What if someone doesn't want to break off relations?" Ye Yunzhao asked.
"Two years of imprisonment, eighty strokes of the cane."
Only then did Ye Yunzhao's face look a little better. The punishment of eighty strokes of the cane was extremely severe. If an ordinary person was struck with twenty strokes of the cane, he would have to rest for more than a month.
She calmed down and asked, "What kind of situation can be considered a righteous death?"
"Crimes of assault/homicide, adultery, and attempted murder can be punished with righteousness."
If that's the case, why didn't the beaten woman report it to the police?
"County Magistrate Ye, is there anyone who wants us to sentence him to death?" asked Liu Mazi.
"Today I saw a woman being beaten by her husband, but we separated so quickly that I forgot to ask her name." Ye Yunzhao wanted to say something but stopped, his eyes full of self-blame.
"That woman is short, dark, and thin. I only know she has two children. She's probably close to forty." Ye Yunzhao clenched his hands and said, "Please ask Liu Bantou to help find this person."
"Don't worry, County Magistrate Ye. I will do my best to find her." Liu Mazi saw that she looked dazed and said with concern, "County Magistrate, please take care of yourself. If there is any news, I will report it immediately."
Liu Mazi saluted and turned to leave, but Ye Yunzhao suddenly stopped him:
"Her husband is likely to have bad habits, such as prostitution, gambling, or stealing. You can check these people first."
【Author’s words】
P.S.: These chapters are the heroine's side story. Through Zhuang Xue's affairs, the heroine's new career will be opened up. Don't worry~
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