Chapter Fourteen: Stunned with Fright

Gu Xiaoyao ignored his angry words. Hearing what Yang had said, she lifted her foot to enter the house.

"Did you hear what I said? Have you gone mad? Are you ignoring me now?"

Gu Dacai watched as Gu Xiaoyao walked away without turning her head, unwilling to speak to him. Inside, his anger surged unexpectedly. At the gambling house, no one respected him; everyone there saw him as a pauper. Now, even at home, he commanded no respect. His pride was deeply wounded.

"You wretched girl, I'm talking to you—did you hear me?"

Seeing him persist in pestering her, Gu Xiaoyao took the basket off her back and threw it to the ground.

"If you want to speak to me, go on."

Her tone was utterly calm, devoid of emotion.

But when Gu Dacai heard this, his fury exploded—what did this worthless girl mean by that?

"Is it because you're married now that you think your father can’t beat you anymore? Fine, fine, I see your wings have grown strong. You want to fly now, is that it?"

Gu Dacai had not hesitated to beat his children before, but his wife Li had always shielded their daughter and son.

Now, consumed by rage, he snatched the broom from Yang, his face twisted as he raised it to strike Gu Xiaoyao on the head.

"Dacai, what are you doing!!"

Yang’s voice turned sharp with fright as she rushed over, trying to stop her son from hitting anyone.

Gu Xiaoyao looked up slightly at the broom swinging down, reached out, and caught it. Watching Gu Dacai’s reddened face as he tried to wrest it away, she let out a soft laugh.

"You like to beat others so much—do you want to taste what it feels like yourself?"

As a man, Gu Dacai felt humiliated that Gu Xiaoyao could so easily block his broom. His face turned ashen as he pressed down harder.

"Well, well! So marriage has changed you, and you even speak with confidence now. Just look at you—coming home without your husband. Tell me, what good are you? Even if you’re married, you’ll still end up as a beast of burden."

"What, you’re not convinced? If you’re not, then go ahead—hit me if you dare!"

Gu Dacai taunted her, knowing his daughter's nature—soft as dough and easily cowed. At home before her marriage, anyone could bully her at will. Usually, a few harsh words from him were enough to send her scurrying into a corner. So he did not believe for a moment that this timid daughter would dare resist him.

Lying immobile in her room, Li struggled to open her eyes when she heard the commotion outside.

Hearing her daughter had returned, she forced herself off the heated brick bed, inching her way to the window.

"Xiaoyao, why have you come back? Dacai, don’t hit her—she’s married now, you can’t beat her anymore."

If her daughter returned home only to be beaten black and blue, what would people say? If something truly happened, how could Xiaoyao hold her head up in her husband’s house?

"What business is it of yours? So your body doesn’t hurt anymore—didn’t I beat you hard enough yesterday?"

Gu Dacai cast a sidelong glance at the woman inside, shaking his leg, his tone insolent.

"Worthless thing! See that? Defy me, and you’ll end up stuck in bed, unable to get up. But I’m in a good mood today—I won’t hit you. Kneel before me and kowtow a few times, and I’ll let you off."

A glint of satisfaction flickered in Gu Dacai’s eyes, as if he had regained his confidence by lording it over Li. Useless men always try to prove their worth by beating women, and Gu Dacai was one of them.