Siheyuan: Starting from the driver

Chapter 652 You deserve to be bullied if you don't have a man!
With the start of the night school semester, it's also time for primary and secondary schools to reopen.

The next day.

"Little White, it's time to go to school!"

"Coming!"

Bai Chi went out with her schoolbag on her back and saw the Liu brothers, Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu, waiting for her.

"elder brother!"

"Let's go."

The three of them passed through the central courtyard. Qin Huairu looked at the three of them, and then at Bang Geng.

Without Jia Dongxu around, if he gets bullied by other kids, there's no man in the family to stand up for him.

He wanted to ask the two brothers for help, but then he remembered their past conflicts and hesitated to speak.

"Grandma, Mom, I'm leaving now." Banggeng, carrying his schoolbag, also prepared to go to school.

"Grandma will see you off," said Jia Zhangshi.

"No need, I can go by myself." Bang Geng casually refused, then turned and left.

Seeing how brave Banggeng was, Qin Huairu gave up on offering to help.

In the afternoon, students in twos and threes went to school to pick up their books.

"long time no see!"

You've gained weight!

"How did you get so tall?"

Why is your face swollen?

A group of elementary school students were chattering noisily, sharing their recent news with each other.

For elementary school students, more than a month is a long time. They have all changed a bit and are somewhat unfamiliar with each other.

A group of elementary school students chattered away for a while before their homeroom teacher, Ms. Zhao, finally arrived.

"Alright, students!"

Logically, the classroom should have quieted down after these words were spoken.

Unfortunately, no one paid any attention to her, and she continued to chatter away.

"Shut up! Quiet down!" Teacher Zhao shouted immediately, instantly silencing the entire room.

In an instant, everyone was reminded of the time when they were controlled.

One by one, they hurriedly returned to their seats, straightened their backs, placed their hands on the table, and looked like well-behaved students.

Teacher Zhao nodded in satisfaction, but her face remained serious.

"What? Haven't seen you for over a month, and you've gotten wild? Have you forgotten the rules? Are you forcing me to reiterate them again?"

"It's like this before school even started; what will it be like after school starts? Do you want to cause a huge uproar?"

No one in the audience dared to speak.

Before he could finish his lecture, some older students came over carrying their textbooks.

I asked them to distribute the books, and then I explained the rules one last time. That would conclude the start of the school year.

"Alright, take the books and go home quickly. Don't wander around outside. If you have time tomorrow, go and read the books."

"Alright, school's out!"

Upon hearing this, the elementary school students went crazy and ran off with their schoolbags on their backs.

Banggeng suggested, "It's still so early, how about we find somewhere to play?"

"Okay, going back so early, you might get scolded by your parents."

The groups of children immediately moved on to another location.

When a group of children are together, it's only natural that a Japanese devil king will appear.

"How about we play pinball?"

As he spoke, he took out a few glass beads from his schoolbag.

"Wow!" A few people looked at the marbles in his hand.

"But we don't have any marbles."

"It's okay, I'll lend them to you to play with, but you have to return them to me when you're done. I only have a few."

Bang Geng's eyes widened; he still thought he could.
Then a wicked idea popped into his head: "Playing it by hand isn't fun either, how about we make a bet? Whoever flicks someone else's marble wins."

"How about this, I won't borrow it from you, and I'll pay you back after I win?"

"No!" he refused without even thinking.

"Don't do that. If you don't participate, you won't lose, and everyone will have to pay you back. Then you'll have a lot of stones, won't you?"

After much coaxing and persuasion from Bang Geng, it finally agreed to lend it to everyone to play with.

Bang-Genius was very confident in his abilities, thinking he might be able to win all the marbles, since he didn't have the toy.

Others wanted it too, and they all responded.

"Okay! Let's find a place to have some fun!"

"grandmother!"

"mom!"

Banggeng ran home with red and swollen eyes. His cotton-padded jacket had a large tear in the sleeve, revealing the cotton inside.

His face was covered in mud and red marks, as if he had been in a battle.

"Mom! Grandma!" Banggeng cried out, his voice trembling with tears.

Seeing Banggeng's disheveled appearance, Jia Zhangshi felt extremely distressed: "Oh dear, my good grandson, who did this to you!"

Qin Huairu's heart clenched, and she quickly checked Banggeng's injuries: "Are you hurt anywhere? Tell Mom, where did they hit you?"

"My dear grandson, who hit you? Tell Grandma, and Grandma will avenge you!"

"Grandma, it's Erpang! Erpang snatched my marbles and pushed me."

He...he even called me a fatherless bastard! He said...he said our family line had ended!"

Jia Zhangshi's cloudy eyes widened instantly, like dry tinder being ignited. The phrase "childless head" was like a poisoned needle, piercing her already sensitive nerves.

She jumped to her feet, her withered fingers trembling as she pointed towards the door: "This is outrageous! Outrageous! Which damned brat dares to bully my grandson like this!"

Banggeng continued, sobbing, "Grandma, I went to see Erpang's dad, but he... he didn't even lift his eyelids. He just said it was just kids playing around and told me not to make a big deal out of it."

"Ah~" At this point, Banggeng burst into tears: "He also said that when I was upset, I asked my dad to talk to him, and he said he forgot that the man in my family died!"

"boom!!!"

Even though Bang Geng hadn't explained it clearly, Jia Zhangshi and Qin Huairu could instantly imagine the scene of Bang Geng being bullied.

"Hahaha~" Jia Zhangshi let out a strange laugh, a laugh that was sharp and desolate.

"We've lost our man! You're a widow, and I'm just an old woman. Who can we reason with? Do you really treat us, a widow and her children, like human beings?!"

Jia Zhangshi became more and more agitated as she spoke, her chest heaving violently: "Fine, fine! They don't treat me like a human being, I'll show them what a crazy old woman looks like when she's desperate!"

"You think my family is easy to bully? Get out of here! Grandma will stand up for you!"

Without hesitation, Jia Zhangshi grabbed a broom and stormed out of the house like an angry lioness.

"Mom!" Qin Huairu couldn't stop her, and even with her big belly, she couldn't keep up.

at this time.

Erpang was proudly showing off the marbles he had just stolen to his father.

"Erpang!"

Jia Zhangshi's figure appeared like a ghost, startling the two of them.

Seeing that Jia Zhangshi was actually holding a broom, Erpang's father's face instantly darkened.

She didn't even glance at Erpang's father's dark face; her target was Erpang himself.

"Listen up, Grandma will stand up for you!" "You little bastard! How dare you bully my grandson!"

Jia Zhangshi roared hoarsely, slamming her broom wildly at the ground beneath Erpang's feet, splattering mud everywhere. Erpang was terrified and burst into tears.

"You old hag! What are you doing! You've gone too far!" Erpang's father was both shocked and furious, and hurriedly protected his son.

"What am I doing?" Madam Jia Zhang asked, her hair disheveled and her eyes filled with venom. "I'm teaching that beast who bullied my son a lesson on behalf of my long-dead son!"

"You little beast! You think you're so great just because you have a dad backing you up? Fine, let your dad beat this old woman to death if he dares!"

After saying that, Jia Zhangshi even hit Erpang's father.

"Hey hey~" Erpang's father protected his son while defending himself.

"Stop! Stop!"

But the madwoman Jia Zhangshi didn't stop at all; she just kept sweeping.

Erpang's father grew angrier with each beating, and seizing the opportunity, he grabbed the broom and forcefully snatched it away.

"Snap!" The broom split in two.

"Come on! Keep hitting!" Erpang's father roared.

Jia Zhangshi was not intimidated at all, and even dared to step forward and stick her head out and turn her face.

"Come on! Beat this old woman to death! Beat me to death! If you don't, I'll come and cause trouble every day. Let's see who wins!"

Madam Jia Zhang simply plopped down on the ground, slapping her thighs and wailing, "Heavens above! Open your eyes!"

“My son Dongxu just left, leaving us, a widow and her child, alone. And in just a few days, we’ve been bullied! They’re bullying our child because he has no father! They’re bullying our Jia family because there are no men in the family!”

"God, you're blind!"

Jia Zhangshi's cries were extremely piercing, instantly attracting everyone in the courtyard.

Immediately, accusations and discussions arose.

"I never expected that Erpang's father would be this kind of person. He usually seemed like a nice guy, but he started bullying her as soon as her husband left. I must have misjudged him."

"That's right, kid, don't hang out with Erpang anymore. Like father, like son."

The crowd chattered and the scolding came like a tidal wave, leaving Erpang's father at a loss.

"No, I didn't, I never said that, don't listen to his nonsense."

"Don't you all know what kind of person I am? We've been neighbors for over ten years, how could you not know what kind of person I am?"

Erpang's father's explanation was weak and unconvincing. Everyone already had a bad impression of him, and now this incident only strengthened their belief that he had character flaws.

At this moment, Yi Zhonghai, whom Qin Huairu had sought help from, also arrived at the scene.

Seeing Jia Zhangshi throwing such a tantrum, he frowned and stepped forward to pull her away, but Jia Zhangshi shoved him away, saying, "Don't touch me! You be the judge, sir."

“My precious grandson was beaten and even called ‘childless.’ Is he taking advantage of the fact that we don’t have a man in our family? Does he think we women are easy to bully? I’ll die right here today!”

Jia Zhangshi's tantrums, shamelessness, and even her "I'll die for you" attitude only reinforced everyone's belief that it was Erpang's father's fault.

Erpang's father's face turned extremely ugly. It wasn't that he was really afraid of Jia Zhangshi, but that this crazy woman was risking her life to make trouble and exaggerating the matter infinitely.

The rumors of her being "childless" and "having no one to back her up" are too offensive and will damage her reputation. He's also worried that she might do something really out of control.

This is my precious son, I absolutely cannot let anything happen to him.

Erpang's dad finally lost his temper and sternly scolded Erpang, who was still crying, "What are you crying for! Who told you to bully Banggeng? Apologize to him right now! Give the marbles back!"

He then turned to Jia Zhangshi, his tone stiff yet yielding: "Aunt Jia, the child is just being unreasonable. Please calm down. I'll discipline him properly when we get back."

Seeing his son still standing there dumbfounded, Erpeng's father was furious and kicked him in the butt: "What are you still standing there for! Go apologize!"

Erpang was unwilling, but he couldn't go against his father's wishes, so he went to Banggeng and said "I'm sorry".

After saying that, she burst into tears and ran home.

Erpang's father was still apologizing: "I'm really sorry, this brat has been spoiled and I haven't disciplined him much. I'll definitely discipline him properly in the future."

The matter should have ended there, but Jia Zhangshi was not someone who could be easily fooled.

"Hmph, you think you can just let this go with a few words? Look at my Bang Geng, your son tore his new clothes to shreds, he has to pay for it!"

"Pay up, pay up, how much do you want?" Erpang's father just wanted to end this farce as soon as possible.

Jia Zhangshi raised one index finger.

"Ten yuan, right? I'll pay you."

"What? 10 yuan? 100 yuan! My precious grandson is so badly injured, are you trying to give him 10 yuan to a beggar?!"

With a large sum of money in the family, Jia Zhangshi naturally looked down on ten or eight yuan, and wouldn't even look at anything less than 100 yuan.

Hearing everyone turn around and blame Jia Zhangshi, Erpang's father immediately felt emboldened: "Jia Zhangshi, you're insatiable, aren't you?"

"Even making a new dress wouldn't cost 10 yuan, you're trying to scam me!"

"I'm extorting you!"

"Do you really think I'm a sucker? If you don't like it, call the police!" Erpang's father said, giving up in despair.

Seeing him like this, Madam Jia became worried.

"It's only 10 yuan, take it or leave it!"

"Consider yourself lucky, it's 10 yuan it is."

Erpang's father immediately went home to get money for Jia Zhangshi.

This farce has finally come to an end.

Originally, Jia Zhangshi could have had a perfect ending, but after her demand for money, everyone lost their positive perception of her.

Jia Zhangshi was still the same Jia Zhangshi, even more greedy than before.

As Jia Zhangshi pulled the stick back, the neighbors' complicated gazes pierced her back like needles, a mixture of disdain, disgust, and a barely perceptible fear.

Back home.

Jia Zhangshi slumped onto the kang, completely exhausted. The frenzied energy that had sustained her earlier had vanished, leaving only a chilling weariness and a deep-seated humiliation.

Watching Banggeng carefully hide the marbles he had won back, I felt a deep sense of desolation.

Qin Huairu looked at the two of them, feeling very down.

The whole house was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.

They thought that Jia Dongxu's death, leaving behind 800 yuan and a grain ration, meant that things would finally get better for the family.

Now it seems like a huge mistake!
Without a man, the Jia family's future may not be easy.

"Huai Ru~"

"Mom~"

The two widows exchanged a glance, their hearts filled with boundless sorrow.

"Dongxu is gone, and there's no man in our family anymore. We can't have any more arguments, or people will talk badly about us."

"Ah."

"Our family..." Madam Jia opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.

Banggeng's pride, this pride, was barely obtained at the cost of her face and dignity as an old woman, at the price of throwing a tantrum and being ridiculed as a madwoman.

There's no man in the family who can speak up. Even when the children are bullied, it's only by this old woman risking her dignity and "going crazy" that she can get a little bit of so-called "fairness."

Without Jia Dongxu, it would be so difficult for them to even protect a child or maintain a little bit of dignity.

This isn't about reducing the burden; it's about removing the last bit of backbone that allowed this family to stand tall!
"Old Jia, Dongxu."

As Jia Zhangshi watched the sunset outside the window, she clearly felt for the first time the consequences of having no man in the house.

It's not just sadness, but also the despair of this family being forever inferior and at the mercy of others in this world.

I didn't feel this way when Lao Jia died, but now that both of them are dead, it's really hard to live without a man.

I thought that men weren't valued as much in the city as they are in the countryside, but it turns out they are even more so.

"Mom," Qin Huairu called softly.

The two looked at each other, neither knowing what to say.

(End of this chapter)