Jiang Sheng was delighted that she had earned a net profit of sixteen coins on her first business transaction, but she did not forget about the incident with the mushrooms.
She wanted to save Zhang Auntie from dire straits.
To accomplish this, she would need to seek help from Fang Heng, since he was the strongest one in the family.
"You want me to break someone's hands and feet?" Fang Heng was taken aback for a moment.
He felt like he needed to reassess little Jiang Sheng. This cute and adorable little girl actually had such a vicious heart, comparable to the ruthless officials in the imperial capital.
"Breaking hands and feet is not necessary," Jiang Sheng said seriously, "As long as he can't move, that's good enough."
Fang Heng, "..."
Severing hand and leg tendons? That seemed even more cruel. Broken hands and feet could still heal, but severed tendons would leave one permanently crippled.
Jiang Sheng could feel her third brother's gaze growing increasingly odd.
She scratched her head, puzzled, "The uncle from the Zhao family always beats Auntie Zhang. I just want him to stop beating Auntie Zhang."
What sinister motives could a little girl have?
Fang Heng breathed a sigh of relief, realizing he had overthought it and mistaken Jiang Sheng for one of those scheming noble girls in the capital.
At such a young age, she was innocent without any trace of sinister machinations.
"If that's the case, it won't be difficult," Fang Heng snapped back from his thoughts, "Let's go back first."
Carrying thirty-six coins in the town just wasn't safe.
Jiang Sheng also felt someone eying them from behind. Her heart tightened with worry that Bo Da Shan was seeking vengeance.
"Don't be afraid," Fang Heng walking last said, "I'm here."
Jiang Sheng's heart settled back in her chest. Her third brother was so very capable in her eyes that she wasn't afraid of that worthless Bo Da Shan with her third brother around.
And so, the three children swaggered their way out of town and back to the dilapidated temple.
On the road, they devised a plan to deal with Zhou Zhiqiang.
Zhou Zhiqiang was a drunkard who often wandered around in a drunken stupor. Jiang Sheng decided to dig a big pit not far from the dilapidated temple. She would cover it with a layer of dried branches and leaves, making it look flat to the naked eye. Anyone who stepped on it would fall right into the pit.
Less than half a man's height deep, it wouldn't kill anyone, but it would give them a good thrashing.
It'd be even better if a foot got twisted or a leg got broken.
No sooner said than done.
After returning to the dilapidated temple and hiding the thirty-six coins under the Buddha's feet, Jiang Sheng pulled her brothers to dig a pit.
Zheng Ruqian and Fang Heng did most of the labor, while Wen Zhiyun helped gather dried twigs and leaves. Xu Mo stood guard outside the dilapidated temple.
If anyone approached, the children would use their bodies to cover up the pit and pretend to be up to no good.
Fortunately, no one came by until the trap was completed.
But how to lure Zhou Zhiqiang to step on the trap was an issue.
Luckily, Jiang Sheng already had a solution. She thumped her chest and said, "That Uncle Zhou has disliked me for a long time. If it weren't for me being nimble and quick to get away, I would've been beaten long ago."
All she needed to do now was lure the enemy again, and Zhou Zhiqiang would surely take the bait and chase after her.
Jiang Sheng felt quite smug about her own cleverness, unaware that her brothers' expressions had all changed.
What kind of bitter days had their little sister gone through in the past?
"I think one pit is not enough," Xu Mo murmured. "How about adding some rocks inside?"
"And some sharpened branches," Fang Heng said coldly.
"And some dog poop," Zheng Ruqian said through gritted teeth.
Wen Zhiyun said nothing. He just silently held up a hibernating hedgehog and tossed it to the bottom of the pit.
Sure enough, Jiang Sheng succeeded in luring Zhou Zhiqiang over.
She didn't even get a chance to stick out her tongue and pull faces before Zhou Zhiqiang poked out his head while drunk and started cursing, "Isn't that the little bastard who's always stealing food from our house? A fatherless and motherless thing, spit out what you ate from my house! Spit it out..."
"You dare run, I'll beat you to death, break your legs and sell you off..."
His drunken eyes were blurred as he suddenly stepped into empty space and fell into the pit.
In that instant, the entire Shi Li Pu village heard a shriek.
"Ah..."
Rocks jabbed his feet, sharp branches pierced his skin, and the stinking dog poop smeared his body, but the worst was the curled up hedgehog that nearly poked Zhou Zhiqiang into a sieve.
"Who the hell dug this pit here, so dangerous, where did this hedgehog come from..." Zhou Zhiqiang cursed up a storm with vigorous spirit.
Hearing the commotion, Zhang Auntie came over, and upon seeing her husband in this state, collapsed weakly to the ground.
"You worthless bitch, pull me out, quickly pull me out," Zhou Zhiqiang yelled at Zhang Auntie after twisting his head around. "Useless thing, pull me out!"
Lazy and fat, he was a solid lump of flesh. Zhang Auntie was as frail as paper. As she reached to pull him out, she nearly tumbled headfirst into the pit herself.
"Useless, useless," Zhou Zhiqiang cursed as the other men in the village carried him out.
Zhang Auntie came over with tears in her eyes to help him, but he backhandedly struck her down. "Completely useless."
It was the other villagers who couldn't bear to watch any further and advised him to stop before carrying Zhou Zhiqiang back to the Zhou family home.
Zhang Auntie followed behind like an abused daughter-in-law, meekly listening.
Only after everyone had left did Jiang Sheng poke her head out from the dilapidated temple, with three tilted heads lined up behind her.
Sitting on the mattress, Xu Mo looked on at the group of siblings with a faint smile.
"Why does he still beat and scold Auntie Zhang even when he's like this?" Jiang Sheng wondered aloud. "Do we really need to break his hands and feet?"
Xu Mo stroked her head. "As the books say, to get to the root of a problem, you must trace it back to its origin. The fundamental reason Auntie Zhang gets beaten and scolded isn't Zhou Zhiqiang."
"Then who is it?" Jiang Sheng craned her head up, eyes full of incomprehension.
"It's Auntie Zhang herself," Xu Mo said matter-of-factly. "Even if Zhou Zhiqiang dies, there will still be Zhao Zhiqiang, Li Zhiqiang, countless Zhiqiangs if she cannot resist."
Jiang Sheng seemed to semi-understand.
Someone too cowardly would suffer mistreatment no matter who they married, because cowardice infinitely provoked and amplified the other's wickedness and unbridled behavior.
Only by strengthening herself to become intelligent, wise, and decisive could she handle any type of person with ease and adeptness.
Jiang Sheng didn't seem to fully comprehend, yet also seemed to have grasped it.
"Then doesn't Zhou beating Auntie Zhang like this warrant punishment?" She still felt somewhat unsatisfied.
Xu Mo faintly smiled and glanced at the Zhou family members walking towards the dilapidated temple. "Of course not..."
After returning home, Zhou Zhiqiang simply washed his wounds and the dog poop before discovering his right foot was abnormally swollen. The elders judged he had likely sprained his foot and needed to urgently see a physician.
The Zhou family hurriedly gathered their things to transport him into town by wheelbarrow.
It just so happened that Zhao Dazhu was there and regretfully told them, "Something happened at the clinic in town and the doctor couple both passed away."
"But there's a young physician in the dilapidated temple at the village entrance whose medical skills are extraordinary despite his youth. My dad's intestinal disease improved after taking his prescriptions for a few days."
"His consultation fee is also cheap, only two coins."
Upon hearing this, the Zhou family was overjoyed and hurried to invite the young physician from the dilapidated temple over.
Wen Zhiyun.
