Chapter Ninety-Three: Don’t Be So Rough

Mrs. Li watched the villagers who had once been willing to speak up for her, and her eyes flickered as she took a step back.

Once you got entangled in a matter like this, it was likely to stick to you like filth from a latrine—one brush of it and you reeked all over.

“How can you speak so foully? We only think what you’re doing is unbearable.”

Some of them were unhappy at his words too, and shot Gu Dachai a resentful glare with rolled eyes.

“Bollocks. Do you think I don’t know men like you? If she weren’t pretty, would you have come all the way here to play the righteous hero?”

Gu Dachai did not care whether these people truly had any interest in them or not. He only wanted to keep being unreasonable, so that they would not dare meddle again later.

Fourth Brother, who had enjoyed the spectacle from the side, finally came over to dissuade him. After all, the more a woman was beaten, the worse she became, and if she needed to be brought back to health afterward, it would take effort.

“Brother Dachai, you’d better not hit her anymore. If you really hurt her, you’ll have to take her to a physician. Am I right?”

“And besides, we still have business to attend to. We can’t stay here too long. What if the people who live here come back?”

He had to remind him that this house belonged to someone. They were merely here because the owner was away, and once the owner returned, they would not be able to leave so easily.

The thought of beating her had been stirred up in Gu Dachai by this point, but the reminder sobered him. Right—he still had to drag this woman down the mountain and sell her.

“Fine, I won’t beat you today. You’re lucky. Get up and come down the mountain with me.”

Mrs. Li had been beaten until she lay flat on the ground, and for a long while she could not gather herself. Slowly, she shook her head. She did not want to go back.

These past two days here had been the most peaceful days she had known since marrying. Her children were by her side, and she had not gone hungry or thirsty.

If she returned home, she would only be beaten and cursed again. She might as well die here; that way, she would not drag Little Yao and Little Shu down with her.

“I-I’m not going back. I won’t go back.”

Seeing that she was dead set on refusing to leave on her own, Gu Dachai kicked her in anger, then ran to a corner of the courtyard, grabbed a hemp rope, and tied her up.

“Brother Fourth, lend me a hand. This damned woman won’t go down the mountain, so I’ll have to drag her.”

When Fourth Brother helped bind Mrs. Li, he spoke to her in a soft and pleasant tone, mainly trying to make her give up and stop struggling.

“Sister-in-law, you’d better stop overthinking things and hurry down the mountain to live your life with Brother Dachai.”

“Brother Dachai came this time because he truly wants to live well with you. If he didn’t, would he have climbed such a high mountain to come all the way into this remote hollow?”

Winning people over with sentiment was Fourth Brother’s specialty. After all, his trade was selling people, and he was quite skilled with words.

But for all these years, Mrs. Li had kept forgiving Gu Dachai because she had been softened by his sweet talk after every beating. So hearing these words only cut deeper.

“Spare me. You and he are in this together. Don’t stand there and say such nice-sounding things. Do you think I’d believe you?”

Mrs. Li’s eyes burned as though they were lit with fire. She glared fixedly at Fourth Brother, the blood at the corner of her mouth still uncleared, and she looked like a vengeful ghost come to claim a life.

Seeing that she was impervious to both persuasion and pressure, Fourth Brother shrugged and said no more. In any case, however much he spoke, she was still going to be sold.

He had only wanted to leave on good terms. Perhaps one day, someone would catch the master’s eye; even if he might not get a share of the reward, it was always better to have one more friend and one more road to walk.

“Brother Fourth, stop wasting words with her. Bind her tight, and let’s hurry down the mountain.”

Gu Dachai was also afraid of complications if they delayed too long, so he quickly hauled Mrs. Li to her feet.