As Pei Yao spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, and she vividly described to everyone how Zhang Niangzi was beaten on a daily basis.
Pei Yao had only heard Zhang Niangzi mention a few times that Qi Dayong always beat her, but she didn't know many of the details.
However, Pei Yao had seen many videos of domestic violence before, so she could roughly connect the things Zhang Niangzi had experienced to what she thought.
Coupled with Pei Yao's tears falling so easily, everyone immediately felt sorry for Madam Zhang.
I knew that Madam Zhang was having a hard time, but I didn't expect it to be this difficult.
Granny Wang and several other women who were easily moved to tears also wiped away their tears, just like Pei Yao.
However, some people, not wanting to miss out on the drama, shouted that words alone are not enough.
"How did you know that Qi Dayong hit Zhang Shi?"
"Exactly, there's no evidence. You can't just rely on your own words."
There was even a rather lewd man shouting, "Take it off and let us see if it's real. We can't be convinced just by talking."
Chen Fang glared coldly at the man who had spoken.
As a woman, Zhang Niangzi naturally couldn't directly lift her clothes and expose her wounds, especially since there were many men in the crowd.
Pei Yao looked at the group of men shouting with a cold smile.
Fortunately, almost all the women in the crowd were on Zhang Niangzi's side.
Zhang Niangzi had calmed down a lot by now, and she looked at Village Chief Liu.
She glanced at the three children beside her with swollen eyes from crying, touched their heads as if she had made up her mind, and then broke free from Yunniang and the others.
"Zhang Niangzi, what are you doing?" Yunniang looked at Zhang Niangzi with some concern.
Zhang Niangzi, her face deathly pale, turned back and smiled at Yunniang and the others:
“Madam, Miss Pei, you have already helped me so much. I will take care of the rest myself.”
Yunniang wanted to say something, but Chen Fang tugged at her hand and shook her head.
As if she had made up her mind, Zhang Niangzi got up and limped over to Village Chief Liu.
Village Chief Liu glanced at Zhang Shi, opened his mouth as if to speak.
However, before Village Chief Liu could speak, Zhang Niangzi knelt down directly in front of him.
Village Chief Liu immediately frowned: "Zhang, what are you doing? Get up and speak."
The villagers were all staring at Zhang Niangzi, unsure of what she was up to.
Yunniang looked at Zhang Niangzi with eyes full of heartache.
Zhang Niangzi knelt before the village chief, her head drooping limply. Her voice was low and choked with sobs: "Village chief, I want to ask you for a favor."
Village Chief Liu's furrowed brows remained unchanged: "Whatever it is, get up first."
Madam Zhang shook her head, refusing to get up.
"Village Chief, only you can help me. Please, do me justice." After saying this, Zhang kowtowed three times to Village Chief Liu.
After speaking, Zhang raised her head, her eyes already brimming with tears, large tears rolling down her cheeks as she spoke.
Qi Dayong saw this and felt a sudden surge of tension. He yelled at Zhang Niangzi, "You stinking woman, get back here right now! Don't bother the village chief, or you'll lose face!"
Zhang Niangzi acted as if she hadn't heard Qi Dayong's words, not even giving him a glance.
However, her gaze hardened because of Qi Dayong's words.
She raised her hand and slowly rolled up the clothes on her wrist, revealing the wound on that section of her arm.
The village chief immediately turned his head away.
"Zhang, what are you doing?" the village chief asked in a deep voice, turning his head away.
Women in this era were conservative and generally wouldn't easily expose their skin to men, let alone in front of so many people.
Zhang Niangzi's actions at this moment showed that she was gambling everything and no longer cared about anything else.
Therefore, many men would instinctively turn their heads away when Zhang Niangzi exposed her arms.
However, there were also those who wanted to see a bargain, such as Zhang the Widower, who was looking at Zhang the Widow with shining eyes.
Granny Wang glared at him with disgust and pushed him away, saying, "You old fool, turn your head away right now. You're looking at everything, aren't you afraid of getting a sty?"
Widow Zhang was inexplicably scolded, and naturally he was indignant, angrily saying to Granny Wang:
"You old woman, why are you bothering me instead of your husband? You're just being nosy and meddling in other people's business."
Wang Po's fighting spirit was no joke; upon hearing what Zhang the widower said, she immediately became furious.
A war between the two is about to break out.
They started pointing at each other and cursing.
He had no interest in Zhang Niangzi's affairs anymore.
When everyone saw the numerous wounds on Zhang Niangzi's arms, some of which had even begun to fester and fester due to lack of timely treatment.
They were all startled and gasped.
"Madam Zhang, were all these things done by Qi Dayong?" A young woman who had recently married asked in disbelief.
Madam Zhang nodded.
"Is Qi Dayong some kind of beast? How could he treat you so cruelly?"
"It's one thing for Qi Dayong to be a bit of a rascal to us on ordinary days, but you're the mother of his three children! How could he possibly do this to us?!"
As he spoke, the man turned around and glared at Qi Dayong, who was not far away, with obvious disgust.
Someone nearby couldn't bear to see Zhang Niangzi like this.
I went over and helped her pull her clothes down, only to find that despite the cold weather, Madam Zhang was dressed very thinly, wearing only thin layers of clothing.
It looks thick, but it's actually not warm.
Everyone knows that Zhang Niangzi often goes to Liangshuijing Village to work.
The Pei family paid a decent wage, and Zhang worked very hard.
Logically speaking, life shouldn't be this bad, but Zhang Niangzi doesn't even have a warm coat.
After Zhang Niangzi straightened her clothes, she continued to say to the village chief, "Village chief, fellow villagers, besides these wounds that you can see, there are many other wounds, all inflicted by Qi Dayong on a daily basis. I'm not just saying this for nothing. If anyone doesn't believe me, they can come with me into the inner room to take a look."
Although the village chief did not look directly at Zhang Niangzi's wound, he could roughly guess what it was from the descriptions of the people around him.
Moreover, he practically watched Qi Dayong grow up, and Qi Dayong's current behavior is almost no different from his father's back then.
They're not exactly the same, but there's really not much difference.
"Zhang, why did Qi Dayong hit you?" the village chief asked.
“Qi Dayong started beating and scolding me frequently after Xia was born. I admit that I am useless and cannot give the Qi family a son, but the child is still his own. He not only dislikes the three children, but sometimes he even beats the child along with me when he beats me.”
Zhang Niangzi became increasingly distressed as she spoke, so emotional that she could barely utter a complete sentence.
Even Village Chief Liu couldn't help but soften his heart at this moment; that was his own flesh and blood.
Even though girls are worthless, they are still your own children. Even if you don't treat them well, you shouldn't abuse them.
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