Chapter 6: Beating

Zhou Xiaorou next door beat the child again.

Pu Xiang stood up suddenly, put her bowl on the stove, and ran to the next room.

Shi Dafu's house was right next to Zhou Xiaorou's house. The stoves of the two houses were located on the east and west sides, facing each other. In the middle, a row of tall hibiscus trees served as a fence, separating the two houses.

There were also neighboring families like theirs who would build a wall to separate their homes, but the grandfather of Mo Yang's family next door and the father of Pu Xiang Mo's sister were cousins. By the time of Mo Yang and Shi Dafu's generation, the blood relationship between the two families was even more distant.

But because of this relationship, even if the two families have no personal connections, they are still closer than other families, so the wall has not been built.

Now that there is no wall, it is convenient for Pu Xiang.

She took a long step and walked around the row of hibiscus trees in a few steps. It was getting dark now and the lights were not on, so she couldn't see clearly, but she could still see the thin and small figure in her memory being beaten with a bamboo pole by a slender woman.

Almost every family in their area grows some bamboo behind their house. They eat bamboo shoots in the spring, use the bamboo poles as clotheslines, or make broomsticks to build racks for fruits and vegetables.

Those who are more skillful can use it to weave baskets, baskets, and fish baskets. Those who can weave bamboo mats are craftsmen and can support a whole family with this.

As rural people, many of them would pick up a bamboo pole and beat their children. The long and thin pole would leave a red mark on the skin if it hits the child hard, and it could even break the skin and cause bleeding.

The thinner the rod, the more painful it is.

The slender woman was Zhou Xiaorou. Pu Xiang saw the strength of her beatings, which had nothing to do with slenderness and gentleness.

The person who was beaten was Mo Yang's daughter, Mo Jingjing.

The stepmother beats the stepdaughter.

This has been Pu Xiang's nightmare for many years. She is afraid that if she divorces him cruelly and leaves her son to Shi Dafu, he will eventually fall into the hands of such a stepmother.

She rushed forward a few steps, and Zhou Xiaorou felt that a figure suddenly appeared in front of her. Before she could see the person's face clearly, the bamboo pole in her hand was snatched away.

"Who, who!"

But before she could finish her words, she was hit several times on her arms and thighs.

"Ahhh! Who is that? Are you crazy?"

After Pu Xiang finished smoking, he threw the bamboo pole hard to the ground.

She felt relieved, because it turned out that she had wanted to do this for many years.

Mo Jingjing was only four years old. How young was she? It was so cruel for an adult to beat her like that.

Now that you have been hit by the bamboo pole, you know how painful it is!

Pu Xiang stretched out his hand and pulled Mo Jingjing to his side.

This is so thin!

When he pulled it, Pu Xiang felt that the wrist was so thin that only a bone was left, without any flesh at all.

There are few fat children in rural areas these days, but few are this thin either.

Nowadays, most families have only one child, and Mo Yang is the only daughter. His family is not well-off, but Mo Yang is a hard-working person. In recent years, farmland has been contracted to households, and with the reform and opening up, everyone can do some small business. Although there are not many people in their place who dare to go out and make trouble, Mo Yang is one of them.

He followed a furniture owner from another place to go out on the ship and help sell furniture.

I don’t know how much he earned, but I guess life wasn’t that hard. After all, there were only three of us in the family, and the child was still young and didn’t need much to eat.

Just two years ago, when Mo Yang's wife was still alive, although the girl Mo Jingjing was not fat, she at least looked a bit fleshy.

How long has Zhou Xiaorou been in?

Pu Xiang was feeling sorry for the child, and Zhou Xiaorou had already seen her face clearly by now.

"Pu Sanmei! What the hell are you doing? You hit me! Where's your man? Let him come out. I want to talk to him. Why did you hit me?"

It is not pleasant to tell others about a stepmother beating a child. Zhou Xiaorou usually avoids people, but she didn't expect that on this day, when it was already dark and she had closed the door, she was still in front of the stove in the back room, and Pu Xiang actually came over from behind.

And as soon as he came over, he snatched her bamboo stick and beat her.

As for Zhou Xiaorou's personality, it's not that she doesn't want to fight back, but the heights of the two of them are there.

Pu Xiang is 1.68 meters tall, and she is only 1.55 meters tall, and she is slim and slender. With the two bodies placed there, Zhou Xiaorou would have to be stupid or not to rush forward if she didn't want to get hit a few more times.

When Pu Xiang heard that he was still going to complain, he just sneered.

"Okay, go ahead. It's just right for Mo Yang to come back. I'll also tell him about you beating the child."

When it comes to filing a complaint, who is afraid of who?

Pu Xiang lived to the age of 65. If she had to say what she regretted most in her life, it would be that she raised Shi Jiajie, an ungrateful person; that she did not divorce Shi Dafu; and that she did not stop the beating of children in the neighboring house.

In fact, strictly speaking, Pu Xiang did try to stop it.

She had seen Zhou Xiaorou beating her children several times. In rural areas, children must be beaten. If it was just a few slaps on the buttocks, she wouldn't say anything.

Being a stepmother is not easy, and teaching children is not easy either. She doesn't want to bring bad reputation to others or cause trouble for them.

However, she found that Zhou Xiaorou beat the child really cruelly, and it had nothing to do with teaching the child. She just beat the child when she was in a bad mood, or when she was annoyed, and she treated the child as a punching bag.

She was even abusing the child.

Pu Xiang tried to stop him several times in person, thinking that if Zhou Xiaorou could change, she would not tell Mo Yang. It is not easy for a remarried couple.

But Zhou Xiaorou refused to change, and Pu Xiang couldn't help but tell Mo Yang about it.

That night, Mo Yang and Zhou Xiaorou had a quarrel. Zhou Xiaorou cried and howled, and they could hear it clearly as they lived next door.

The commotion got so bad that her parents-in-law went over to try to persuade her. Zhou Xiaorou was not stupid either. Pu Xiang had seen her beating the child and she had tried to stop her. Mo Yang had not caught her in the act, so it seemed that he had heard about it. She was always right in her guesses, and as soon as she mentioned Pu Xiang's name, Mo Yang's reaction confirmed it.

Zhou Xiaorou caught Shi Hai and Mo Amei making trouble, pointing at them and scolding Pu Xiang for wanting to break up her family. She also scolded Pu Xiang for having a crush on Mo Yang and wanting to be his stepmother.

Even though Shi Hai was usually calm, he was still so angry that his face turned black as he went home.

Mo Amei, the mother-in-law, chased Pu Xiang and scolded her as soon as she got home. When Shi Dafu saw this, he also joined the fight.

That night, Pu Xiang was like experiencing a struggle session.

When I visited Mo Yang's house the next day, although the couple still had stern faces, Mo Yang had to go out to work and Zhou Xiaorou had to take care of the child, so the situation had not changed at all.

Mo Jingjing's situation was even worse. Zhou Xiaorou was more covert in beating and abusing her. Pu Xiang was helpless as she watched the child getting thinner, more gloomy and cowardly day by day.

I could only give him some food and drink secretly.

As for Mo Yang, Pu Xiang later talked to him about this matter again. Mo Yang said that he was going to divorce Zhou Xiaorou and wanted to entrust the child to her, and he would give her money every month.

The two houses are next to each other, so it is convenient to take care of them.

Pu Xiang agreed to this matter immediately, but unfortunately, Mo Yang went out vertically and came back horizontally.

It is said that when he was selling furniture outside, he saw someone's cute pet puppy and actually stole the puppy by putting it in his clothes.

That night, the dog's owner chased after the man with a dozen strong men and beat him up. The man probably suffered internal injuries and died of vomiting blood on the way back.

This was Mo Yang's own fault. He was the one who stole the dog first, so he deserved to be beaten. None of the people who were traveling with him were willing to stand up for him.

The boss who asked Mo Yang to go out gave him about a hundred yuan, and the matter was left unresolved.

At that time, Pu Xiang even speculated that Mo Yang might have stolen the dog because he thought the dog was cute and stole it back for his daughter to play with. Otherwise, why would a grown man like him steal a puppy?

She could understand the idea of ​​stealing a big dog to eat its meat, as people didn't have much fat in their stomachs in those days, and dog meat was still meat.

It was not until many years later that someone told the truth: the person who stole the dog was not Mo Yang, but another person on the same boat with them.

The man who stole the dog was caught up with by someone. When he saw those ferocious-looking people, he got scared. He threw the dog into the river and refused to admit it even if he was beaten to death.

On their ship, Mo Yang was the first one to work with the boss, and he brought the others out later. When something like this happened, the boss was almost scared to death. The people at that time were very tough, so he pushed Mo Yang out to negotiate.

Mo Yang first asked several people on the same boat, but no one admitted it, so he straightened his back and went to negotiate with them.

Who would have thought that the puppy was born able to swim? It didn't drown when thrown into the water, but swam ashore by itself and went straight to its owner. Now that the evidence was conclusive, the people who had been comforted started fighting right away.

You're playing them for fools! You stole a dog and you still acted so righteous!

Beat him, beat him to death!

Mo Yang was beaten like that, and his death was unjust.

On the way back, the people who were traveling with them discussed it and decided that they were afraid that the family members would ask them to pay compensation. The boss thought that this would save him trouble, so he nodded and agreed, and directly put the entire blame on Mo Yang.

From then on, Pu Xiang had no more control over Mo Jingjing's affairs.

Zhou Xiaorou took the money given by her boss and arranged Mo Yang's funeral. As long as she did not remarry, the Mo family's house and Mo Jingjing would be under her name.

Mo Yang was a rather miserable person. His family was poor, and he was only two or three years old when his parents died. He had an older brother and an older sister, who were also children at the time, and he had no relatives on his parents' side, so he managed to survive with great difficulty.

The eldest brother went out to be a son-in-law, and the second sister married far away and almost never came back. Moreover, the family conditions were not good, and the sons-in-law and daughters-in-law had no say. It was even more impossible to bring Mo Jingjing, the niece, to raise.

In my memory, Mo Jingjing became a gourd with a sawed mouth. She didn't speak, didn't interact with anyone, started washing clothes and cooking at a very young age, and the expression on her face became more and more wooden day by day.

When Pu Xiang thought of this and looked at Zhou Xiaorou again, she felt even more that she was not a human being.

She also has a biological son, whom she brought with her and who lives with the Mo family. How come she has never been seen beating or scolding him?

When Zhou Xiaorou heard Pu Xiang say that she was going to tell Mo Yang, she suddenly panicked. Then she looked at Pu Xiang with hatred. What did Pu Xiang have to do with her beating the child?

It's like a dog chasing a mouse.

"Okay, okay, go and tell me. Why should I be afraid of you? I have reasons to beat my child! She is disobedient, so I discipline her. You just see me as a stepmother. If I were her biological mother, would you say a word? Pu Sanmei, you are bullying me, a woman who remarried after her husband died. You just beat me up. Oh my God, I can't live like this anymore. You are bullying me. This is too much!"

Zhou Xiaorou started howling there.

This is her best skill.

Pu Xiang was not prepared to argue with her. This kind of person was not a reasonable person at all. Talking to her about reason would be like playing the lute to a cow.

She felt Mo Jingjing, who was being held by her, shudder. She bent down, reached out and picked up the child, then turned around and walked back.