Chapter 15: Violence is the wrong response.
“Using violence to suppress violence is wrong,” Minister Shen still tried to reason with them.
Xie Zhizhi's eyes darted around, as if she was considering the question very seriously.
"Yes, you're right."
"Idiot, you're having an affair, your whole family is having an affair!" Xie Zhizhi punched Wei Guihua repeatedly before finally kicking Wei Guihua away from where she was grabbing her hair.
Minister Shen: This young man…
Wei Guihua was kicked and beaten until she curled up on the ground, clutching her head and howling, "Xie Zhizhi, I'm going to sue you! I'm going to sue you!"
Upon hearing this, Xie Zhizhi raised her fist again.
Before she could even bend down, Wei Guihua let out a howl and shrank back into herself like a turtle, trembling and ceasing her cursing.
Xie Zhizhi blew on her fist and raised an eyebrow at Minister Shen, meaning: See, sometimes violence can solve problems.
Wen Jinzhou deliberately freed one hand to give Xie Zhizhi a big thumbs up.
Minister Shen: Today's young people...
"What is the relationship between the regimental commander's brother and you this week?" Minister Shen asked Xie Zhizhi, pointing to Xie Hongchao who was still being held down by Wen Jinzhou with one hand.
Xie Zhizhi raised her chin and said with a gloomy expression, "Unfortunately, he is not Zhou Lin's brother, but he is my own older brother."
Minister Shen and others were left speechless.
Their faces were filled with question marks.
"My elder brother? My elder sister-in-law?" Minister Shen looked at Wei Guihua, whose face was swollen like a pig's head, and then at Xie Hongchao, who was being forced to kneel on the ground with broken glass at his feet. His face was full of disbelief.
Xie Zhizhi nodded firmly.
"Yes, if it weren't for my elder brother and sister-in-law, how dare they take over Zhou Lin's and my house!"
"This..." Minister Shen and the others looked at the house behind Wei Guihua. "Didn't they say that Commander Zhou's child had no one to take care of him, so they specially asked my elder brother and sister-in-law to come and help take care of him?"
The onlookers nodded in agreement with Minister Shen's words, confirming that he was not lying.
That's how Xie Hongchao and Wei Guihua, this couple, introduced themselves in this compound.
Upon hearing this, Xie Zhizhi glanced mockingly at Xie Hongchao, who was kneeling there. "Xie Hongchao, is that Zhou Lin's son?"
An older woman asked curiously, "Isn't he Commander Zhou's son?"
"Isn't your surname Zhou?"
Xie Zhizhi raised her hand and pinched her waist hard.
The pain brought tears to Xie Zhizhi's eyes instantly. "Family scandals shouldn't be aired in public, but..."
Xie Zhizhi paused deliberately, making the onlookers' appetites soar.
An older woman immediately spoke up to advise, "Where do you get so much family scandal? It's just a fig leaf for unreasonable people."
“That’s right, you have to speak up if you have any grievances, otherwise you’ll have to suffer the same grievances again next time,” another older woman offered advice based on her own experience.
"Exactly, Yang, exaggerate to death. Why does a perfectly good person have to suffer like a mute eating bitter herbs?"
The older women took turns offering their advice.
Xie Zhizhi nodded with red eyes, choosing to expose her family's dirty laundry. "Grandpa, Grandma, since you all support me, I'm not afraid of losing face. Please listen to me..."
Xie Zhizhi spoke clearly and without taking a breath, recounting all the outrageous things the Xie family had done.
After saying that, Xie Zhizhi pinched herself hard again.
Xie Zhizhi: The flesh must be bluish-purple.
"Grandpa, grandma, I was so confused before!"
“I used to think that I was born to my mother and I grew up on her milk, so I had to be filial to her!”
“When we were at home, she would tell me to go east, but I wouldn’t dare go west; she would tell me to chase the dog, but I wouldn’t dare chase the chicken.”
"After I got married, she wouldn't let me sleep with my husband, so I didn't dare to."
The elderly folks watching the melon: Ahem...
"If you ask me to give all my men's allowance to my brother and sister-in-law to support their nephew, I'll give it all."
"If you let me give you the house so my nephew can go to school, I will."
"But...but human greed is insatiable!"
"They're now demanding that my husband get a job in the county government for my nephew who only graduated from elementary school, saying he can't do it, and that they want me to divorce him..."
Xie Zhizhi took out the handkerchief Wen Jinzhou had given her yesterday from her pocket, flicked it, and used her two delicate fingers to cover the lower half of her face. She stammered, "I have no education, no job, no children. Asking me to get a divorce is... isn't it forcing me to die?"
"I didn't want to, so my mom sent my older sister and nephew to my in-laws' house to beat me up, sob sob..."
Before the elderly folks could comfort her, Xie Zhizhi had already raised her head and asked passionately, "Do you all think I should resist?"
The older women all nodded in agreement: "Resist! We must resist!"
"That's outrageous!"
"Exactly! How can anyone do this? If you didn't know better, you'd think she was your own daughter, but if you didn't, you'd think she was your enemy!"
"That's right. No matter how biased you are, you can't be this biased. They're all your own children. How can you not let your daughter and son-in-law have children and instead help raise your son's children?"
"That's right, these two don't do any work all day, they're all supported by their brother-in-law... Pah!" Finally, an older woman couldn't help but spit in Xie Hongchao's direction.
Minister Shen stood with his hands behind his back, his brows furrowed, looking at Xie Hongchao who was still being held down by Wen Jinzhou, and said firmly, "People need face, trees need bark!"
“Even if your mother is old and confused, you are a young man and a father. Don’t you know how to set a good example for your son?”
"You're lazy and good-for-nothing, relying on your sister and brother-in-law to support you... You're shameless!"
After finishing his tirade, Minister Shen turned to Xie Zhizhi and said, "This is your brother and sister-in-law's, your mother's, and your eldest sister's fault. Don't be afraid."
"You are right to resist."
"It is right for young people to be filial, but they should not be blindly obedient."
"Blindly obeying one's parents is not filial piety, it's stupidity."
“You’re right, your brother and sister-in-law should move out of here.”
“This house was bought with your husband’s life. It’s a shelter for you and your future children. How can you just give it away like that?”
"Yes, move out, move out!" The women shouted angrily at Xie Hongchao and his wife, their emotions running high.
Wen Jinzhou released Xie Hongchao, who was being pinned down, at just the right moment.
Once Xie Hongchao was free, he immediately glared at Xie Zhizhi, who was standing there, and said, "Xie Zhizhi, do you want to die?"
"Bang!" This time, it was Minister Shen who slammed his hand down on Xie Hongchao's head. "Have you no shame?"
"A grown man like you, eating his sister's food and drinking his brother-in-law's drinks, are you even a man?"
"I'm telling you, move out right now, or don't blame me for taking this to the government."
“With you two parasites here, this place is a filthy place.”
"That's right, move out right now! What kind of people are they!"
"I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone this shameless." The older women immediately voiced their support for Minister Shen.
Just then, Xie Zhizhi pulled out remittance slips from her pocket, showing all the money she had sent to Xie Hongchao and his wife over the years. "And my money," she said, tugging at her clothes to expose the patches to everyone. "I've been eating and dressing poorly these past two years. It's my own fault, I deserve it."
"But my man did nothing wrong!"
“These allowances were earned through his hard work, and I foolishly gave them all to others. How unfair that is to him!”
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