Hu Qiangzi was stubborn. No matter what methods Zhong Shi used—crying, making a scene, or threatening suicide—Hu Qiangzi insisted on not going to the academy anymore, but he would agree to all of Zhong Shi's other requests.
After calming down, Mrs. Zhong thought that if he wanted to be a waiter, then so be it. She had worked hard to support him all these years, so let him go and earn money to support him!
So, after that, Zhong stopped working and Hu Qiangzi took care of all the household expenses.
Hu Qiangzi's income from the inn was becoming increasingly insufficient to support his family's expenses, so after working there for three years, he regretfully left.
After that, he went fishing. He was quite lucky and earned a pretty good income. Although it was tiring and dangerous, he could still save a lot of money after deducting expenses each year. He gave half of the money to Zhong and kept the other half for himself.
Seeing this, Zhong had no choice but to accept her fate and began to arrange for Hu Qiangzi to find a wife. However, Hu Qiangzi was always unwilling and always looked down on the daughter-in-law she had chosen. He also came home less and less often.
With nothing to do, his adopted son being disobedient, and Liu the butcher's wife becoming pregnant, Liu the butcher, who had always been interested in Zhong, found an opportunity, and the two got together.
Hu Qiangzi discovered this and then threatened that if Butcher Liu went to Zhong again, he would rape his daughter.
Zhong was terrified. After Hu Qiangzi calmed down, she asked him if he really had his eye on Liu the butcher's daughter. If so, she was willing to break off her relationship with Liu the butcher.
Hu Qiangzi certainly didn't really have his eye on Liu the butcher's daughter; he just wanted to threaten Liu the butcher.
Zhong asked Hu Qiangzi, "You're not young anymore, surely you have a girl you like?" Hu Qiangzi said he did, but he didn't tell Zhong who she was.
One night, Zhong got up to use the restroom and heard Hu Qiangzi talking in his sleep, calling out for San Niangzi. Zhong was shocked.
After that, when Hu Qiangzi was not at home, Zhong would go to his room and look through his things, only to discover that Hu Qiangzi had been interested in Du Sanniang since he was thirteen or fourteen years old.
Hu Qiangzi had studied and his grades were quite good. If it weren't for the fact that the people at the academy often spoke ill of the Zhong family, he might have continued his studies. Even if he couldn't become an official, he would at least have been a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations).
It wasn't that Hu Qiangzi couldn't stand other people's gossip; he just didn't want Zhong Shi to be criticized. How much effort would it take for a widowed mother to raise a scholar? Their family didn't own any land or fields, and apart from Zhong Shi's embroidery work, they had no other source of income.
Moreover, Hu Qiangzi noticed that Zhong's eyesight was failing and he didn't want Zhong to strain her eyes because of his studies. So he chose to stop going to the academy and wouldn't go no matter what Zhong did.
Zhong harbored resentment towards Du Sanniang. She always felt that it was Du Sanniang's fault that Hu Qiangzi was disobedient, and that Du Sanniang had seduced Hu Qiangzi into being disobedient.
Hu Qiangzi had worked at the Qi'an Inn for three years. Du Sanniang had been very kind to them, and the people at the inn all knew them. As a result, Du Sanniang often came to the inn and knew exactly where and when people were at the inn each day, and how to enter without being discovered.
She easily brought Hu Qiangzi's head and arms into the room and locked the door.
She knows exactly where the keys are.
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