NOVPUBChapter 158: Chapter 158: Tidying Up
Chapter 158 -158: Tidying Up
Bai Mei sat on the tractor, brooding angrily, surrounded by her aunts and girls from her village who had come along. They were part of her wedding procession, thinking she was just shy, feeling somewhat guilty as they watched her groom being dressed down by her family.
One aunt whispered in her ear, “Having your family sort out your groom is good, so you won’t be bullied in the future, and you’ll have more confidence.”
“Exactly, you have your family’s support.”
Several people immediately started chattering all at once.
Bai Mei felt disgusted.
Bai Xiao was supporting her?
It’s more like he was slapping her in the face.
Seeing her own man being scolded and ordered around in front of everyone, acting like a submissive lapdog, made her feel a fire of fury building in her belly.
She had thought that once she got married, her life would finally improve.
But no, she married such a person. Normally, he was extremely bossy towards her and her family, but around that little brat, he couldn’t wait to act like a tail-wagging, fawning dog.
Bai Mei arrived at Fang Xiaoshan’s house in a huff.
As soon as she entered the village, firecrackers burst loudly.
She was taken directly to the groom’s house and after meeting relatives and performing the formalities, Bai Mei pocketed a few red envelopes and entered the bridal room only then.
The bedroom was quite nice; one look and you could tell it was a large, tiled house, the two newlyweds’ rooms were well put together.
The walls were freshly whitewashed, adorned with numerous celebrity posters, and everything was spotlessly clean, clearly just tidied up.
By the window was a large heated brick bed.
Although the furniture wasn’t brand new, by the looks of it, they had quite a few pieces—recent marriages didn’t adhere to the ‘thirty-six furniture pieces’ tradition anymore, but it seemed that this room had everything from cabinets to tables to chairs.
New bedding was laid out on the brick bed, and Bai Mei sat on it, clad in her red cotton pants and jacket. It was still customary to wear such attire for weddings, even if it was too warm for a cotton jacket at that time of the year—it was tradition.
The people who had come with her wedding procession had already placed all her dowry bundles, washbasins, and warm kettles into the couple’s room. After making a racket for a while, everyone left to attend the banquet.
Only Bai Mei was left alone, sitting there.
After a little while, Fang Xiaoshan came in and lay down on the bed.
“My goodness, I’m exhausted!” Fang Xiaoshan, always lazy and idle, had never been as busy as these last few days, especially today with the ordeal at the Bai Family’s home.
Bai Mei, feeling resentful, pushed Fang Xiaoshan. “Look at you, acting so cowardly just now. That damn girl showed you no respect, and you didn’t even slap her? And you call yourself a man.” She had thought Fang Xiaoshan, having been slighted, would definitely join her in condemning Bai Xiao. Perhaps he would even think his new bride was taking his side.
To her complete shock, Fang Xiaoshan suddenly leaped up and slapped her across the face.
“You’re the coward! Keep nagging and I’ll kill you. Don’t you see what a piece of trash you are? Marrying you has been a disgrace to me. You must be the only woman in the world to get married without a dowry. There’s never been a bride in our village who didn’t bring a dowry. I’m telling you, don’t even think about going back to your family’s house—I bought a wife, that’s what I did.” Fang Xiaoshan ranted furiously as the most embarrassing moments of his life were associated with Bai Mei, making him begin to suspect that she was his jinx.
Bai Mei had never suffered such humiliation.
She thought that as the new bride entering the Fang Family, she needed to get a hold of Xiaoshan, or else she’d never have a say in this household in the future. Who would have thought Xiaoshan was such a brute, daring to hit her on the very first day she entered the home? How was she to endure the days to come?
Instinctively, Bai Mei lunged at him. She might not have learned much else, but she had inherited Hao Fang’s talents for being a shrew. Her hands found Xiaoshan’s face and before he knew it, he felt a sharp pain on his face and neck, followed by a kick that sent him tumbling off the kang.
Xiaoshan was enraged too. He rolled up his sleeves and, gripping Bai Mei tightly, punched her hard twice.
If it wasn’t for Xiaoshan’s biological father Fang Jiansheng calling him out to offer toasts to the villagers, Bai Mei might have been beaten to death by Xiaoshan—those two punches had nearly knocked the wind out of her.
How could a woman’s strength compare to a man’s?
Xiaoshan hissed in Bai Mei’s ear, “Just you wait and see, wait till I get back and deal with you!” And with that, he got down from the kang to go offer toasts.
Bai Mei lay sprawled on the kang, slowly getting up. Her body ached all over, but what hurt more was the fact Xiaoshan had beaten her like this on her first day as part of the family. How was she to get through the coming days?
It was all Bai Xiao’s fault. Bai Mei could still find a way to blame everything on Bai Xiao. She felt that if it wasn’t for Bai Xiao’s tricks, she wouldn’t be the one married to Xiaoshan and getting beaten—it should be Bai Xiao who was shamed and disgraced, not her.
But now that she was married into the family, comparing Xiaoshan to her own father, it seemed that Xiaoshan had lashed out only because her family had pushed him too hard. She figured that if she was a bit more tactful with Xiaoshan, as his wife, how bad could he be to her?
Her own father was the one who wanted to kill her, after all. Now that she had married into the family, she didn’t believe she couldn’t live a good life.
Bai Mei got up. Despite being in severe pain, she managed to tidy herself up.
Xiaoshan went out to offer toasts while cursing under his breath; the villagers laughed out loud upon seeing him. Fang Jiansheng rolled his eyes at his son’s lack of discipline. Just look at him.
“Xiaoshan, in such a hurry—did the new wife kick you out of bed?” His buddies joked; nobody was blind to the scratch marks evident on his neck and face.
Xiaoshan glared, “As if she dares, I’ll beat her to death!”
“Oh, still putting on a tough face. Look at yourself, though your new wife is quite good-looking.”
“Good-looking my ass, her temper’s nothing to boast about, she needs to be tamed!” Talking about his wife, Xiaoshan was actually pleased; Bai Mei was, after all, his initial choice.
“Yeah, you’ve got to keep a woman in line, or she’ll become a real handful. I’m telling you, don’t take her too seriously; otherwise, they’ll walk all over you. You, a big man, will lose control in the end.”
“Don’t worry!” Xiaoshan boasted. He might not be good at much, but handling Bai Mei— he could manage that. 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝙗.𝒄𝒐𝒎
“Call the new bride out to offer a toast with us! What fun is it just for you?”
The crowd egged him on, and Xiaoshan shouted into the house, “Wife, come out and offer toasts!”
After a while, Bai Mei came out coyly, following Xiaoshan with a blushing face, and together they went around offering toasts to everyone.
Everyone praised Xiaoshan for marrying a beautiful wife.
Xiaoshan, feeling proud, treated Bai Mei much better.
That night, in their wedding chamber adorned with festal red candles, Xiaoshan and Bai Mei shared a moment of tender affection.
