When Bai Yiqiao heard Ning Shu familiarily call Fang Yong ‘Big Brother Fang’, she felt unhappy.

  “Li Gouzi must’ve had bad intentions. He came here to steal from my house, but ended up falling asleep,” Bai Yiqiao explained calmly.

  Ning Shu nodded. “This Li Gouzi is a piece of trash, Sister-in-law Fang. Trust me, don’t let him off lightly.”


  “You’re right, Ermei,” Bai Yiqiao said.

  The Chen family’s eldest son, Chen Li, said to Ning Shu, “Let’s go home now. Our parents will be worried.”


  Ning Shu smiled and said to Bai Yiqiao, “Well then, Sister-in-law Fang, I’ll be leaving first.”


  Once she turned around, the smile on Ning Shu’s face disappeared. Chen Li noticed her expression. As soon as they left the Fang family’s house, he asked Ning Shu, “Little Sister, are you feeling unwell?”


  “I’m okay,” Ning Shu said. Looking back at the Fang family’s house, Ning Shu thought that Bai Yiqiao was really vicious. She knew perfectly well how important reputation was to a woman, yet she ruined Chen Ermei in such a vile way.

  Chen Ermei and Li Gouzi were seen by many people doing indecent things. Li Gouzi then falsely accused Chen Ermei and said that she had seduced him. He turned her into an extremely obscene woman.

  No matter how much Chen Ermei refuted his claims, no one believed her. People’s gazes on her felt like knives.

  The reputation of the Chen family was ruined because of Chen Ermei. A woman who lost her chastity was extremely shameful. It was to the extent that people felt like the sight of her dirtied their eyes. She would be pointed and stared at wherever she went.

  Chen Ermei was either going to be drowned in a pigs’ cage or punished by infibulation.

  Infibulation was the punishment of castrating a woman to punish immoral relationships between men and women and erase a woman’s sexual desires. It was carried out by sewing a woman’s vagina closed.

  The world was simply this cruel towards women. At this point, Li Gouzi stepped forward and casually said he wanted to marry her. Considering the circumstances at the time, marrying Li Gouzi was the best option.

  Chen Ermei was foisted off to be Li Gouzi’s wife. Li Gouzi was a real ruffian who was admired by all the local hoodlums. He was brazen, shameless, and completely lacked a sense of honor.

  Li Gouzi was the type of person to take everything and give nothing back. He wasn’t willing to work for the livelihood of his household. When wild grass grew in his fields, he wouldn’t bother to weed. If there was no food at home, he would either just steal some food or shamelessly eat at another person’s house.

  In short, Li Gouzi was a hopeless and inhuman scumbag who was beyond saving.

  After Chen Ermei married him, she had to do everything in the house. Washing the clothes, starching them, and working at the farm were all Chen Ermei’s responsibilities.

  If there was any money at home, Li Gouzi would take it and use it for drinking and for pleasure. He would also abuse Chen Ermei, often claiming to be her savior. He would claim that if he hadn’t married her, she would have drowned in a pigs’ cage.

  Chen Ermei worked extremely hard while having to face the inhuman treatment from Li Gouzi, whose beatings were so severe, she once suffered a miscarriage. Even while she was recovering, she had to continue doing heavy labor in the fields such as cutting ragweed.

  Li Gouzi never helped her. He didn’t care if Chen Ermei was dead or alive. Sometimes when he returned home, he would press Chen Ermei down on the bed without considering how she felt.

  Chen Ermei died from exhaustion at the age of just thirty.

  Ning Shu sighed. No wonder Chen Ermei wanted to get revenge on Li Gouzi despite being in an era where husbands were treated like deities.

  Under Li Gouzi’s tyrannical abuse, Chen Ermei didn’t even have the spirit to resist. Even if she wanted revenge, she could only have Ning Shu get revenge in her stead.

  This was how women lived in ancient times. Reputation was a heavy shackle on their necks. Even though it was clear that Chen Ermei was the victim, no one cared how she had suffered. Instead, they wanted to drown her in a pigs’ cage.

  While Li Gouzi was only punished on a small scale.

  Chen Ermei was so devastated that she didn’t have any spirit left. If it were up to Ning Shu, even if the outcome was death, she would drag Li Gouzi down with her. There was no way she would let him off.