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Chapter 124: Chapter 118 Whose Fault
Smack!
Shen Yeqing slapped his own face viciously.
"Old man, old man, what are you doing?" Mother Shen hurried over to stop him.
"What am I doing? I’m losing face, that’s what! I’m too ashamed to meet anyone. I, Shen Yeqing, may not have claimed to be a good man all my life, but I’ve always been diligent and conscientious, and nobody could find fault in me. Now, in my old age, this scourge besmirches me, slinging filth and excrement on me. How can I still have the face to meet people?" Shen Yeqing, grinding his teeth, glared at Shen Yunxiu, who was lying on the kang weeping and wailing without getting up, and slapped himself again.
"My goodness, stop talking about face for now, and let’s think about what to do about Yunxiu?" Mother Shen held back one hand while trying to control the other, looking utterly flustered.
"What can we do? If she plays the harlot, she goes to jail. If she brought it on herself, she can take the punishment." Grandfather Shen said bitterly, "How did the Shen Family come to have such a scourge like you? Right now, I wish I could just slap her to death."
Shen Yunxiu just kept lying on the kang, sobbing loudly. She was scared too, but had no idea what to do. Now, she could only rely on her father to save her, so she didn’t dare talk back and just kept crying.
Mother Shen got annoyed by her daughter’s crying and gave her a couple of pats, "Stop crying, what’s the use of crying? Think about how to deal with this mess quickly."
Grandfather Shen didn’t say anything at this point; everything was out in the open, what else could be done?
"You have to say something," Mother Shen urged, seeing the old man just puffing away at his pipe and not uttering a word for a long time.
"Say? What more is there to say? Your daughter has done the deed, all the talking in the world won’t do a damn thing now," Grandfather Shen fumed internally. Recalling how the Director from the commune had looked at him today, he once again wished he could smack his daughter dead.
You’d think he was a wise man all his life, yet in his old age, he became the butt of people’s jokes. How could he have the face to meet others now, with officials likely mocking him behind his back?
"Ah, cool it, will you? I know the child is wrong, but Yunxiu is our own flesh and blood. Even if you don’t care, I do. Seeing how frightened she was when she came back today, my heart just can’t take it. Besides, when a child does wrong, can you blame only the child? If you, as a father, had taught her well, she wouldn’t have strayed," Mother Shen said, her words swerving off track again. Now, it was also apparent just who Yunxiu got her irresponsibility from.
When Yunxiu heard her mother defending her, the crying that had just lessened surged again.
"Is that even human to say? Did I tell her to shamelessly go fool around in the cornfields, huh? With you like this, unaware of right and wrong, how could you possibly raise a good child?" Grandfather Shen was close to passing out from anger.
"Alright, alright, I spoke out of turn, okay? I’m just worried about our girl, too. If this really gets out, and she gets labeled as loose, her entire life would be ruined," Mother Shen thought of that possibility and tears fell down her cheeks. She had only this one daughter, how could she bear to see her come to such an end?
Uncle Shen fell silent again. He indeed cared about his daughter; if he didn’t, he wouldn’t have swallowed his pride and brought her back home today.
"If I had known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have stopped them back then. Letting them get married would have been better than this mess." Auntie Shen began to regret her previous decision.
"Nonsense, with someone like that, if you brought him into our family, do you believe he wouldn’t have turned everything upside down?" This incident only deepened his disdain for the educated youth, Fang Chengjian. He was like a wolf, unscrupulous in achieving his goals. How could Uncle Shen ever feel comfortable giving his daughter away to such a man?
That was why he hesitated. In fact, the simplest and best way to smooth things over would have been to let the two get married. Then, what they did in the cornfield wouldn’t be regarded as immoral; at most, it would be a couple caught in a scandal, a matter for a few days’ gossip. But Shen Yeqing just couldn’t bring himself to marry his daughter off to Fang Chengjian.
"Then, what should we do?" Auntie Shen had no ideas.
"Tomorrow, you take Yunxiu to her elder aunt’s place, let her lay low there, and see if her aunt could find a suitable match for her. We can’t be picky about wealth anymore, as long as the person is decent," Uncle Shen said after careful consideration.
Auntie Shen nodded. It was a solution; their daughter’s elder aunt lived far away, so the news here wouldn’t reach there, and their child could make a fresh start.
Seeing her mother nod in agreement, Shen Yunxiu burst into tears with a loud wail.
"Oh my goodness, child, you nearly scared me to death," Auntie Shen was startled by her sudden cry and, flustered, smacked her back.
"Wuuwuu, just kill me then, I always knew I was picked up. None of you want the best for me. What’s the point of me living then?" Shen Yunfang knew herself that the best solution after what happened was to marry Fang Chengjian. She had always been hoping for it because if they got married, this matter could be resolved, and her wish fulfilled. She would then be able to follow Fang Chengjian back to the Capital and become an urbanite, what a fine thing that would be. And yet, her parents wanted to send her away and marry her off to just anyone. Her heart felt cold and desolate.
"Oh, you silly girl, shut your mouth. Can’t you see how much trouble you’ve brought upon this family? If you’d listened to your father and me, would we be facing this drama now? Have you no shame left?" Auntie Shen was also furious, thus she pinched Shen Yunxiu’s arm.
"Ah, you’re hitting me again, all of you beat me! Just kill me; I don’t want to live anymore. You’re embarrassed to face others, but have you considered my feelings? Those people labeled me with such a disgrace; how do you think I feel? If you hadn’t forbidden me from marrying Fang Chengjian, would this have happened?" Filled with bitterness, Shen Yunxiu contemplated the fate that might await her.
"What’s this? It’s my fault you lost your shame and went into the cornfield with a man? Did I tell you to go?" Auntie Shen’s temper flared up, provoked by Shen Yunxiu’s accusation, and she threw back at her the question Uncle Shen had earlier asked her.
"Why shouldn’t I blame you? When I said I wanted to date Fang Chengjian, you both fiercely disagreed. I wanted to get married, and you didn’t allow it. If you hadn’t stood in the way, we would have been married by now. Would any of this have happened?" Now Shen Yunxiu was recklessly defiant, shaken by the thought of being sent to an even poorer and more remote village. Desperate, she was willing to create a scene to get her parents to agree to the marriage with Fang Chengjian. 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
"Oh dear Lord, you little wretch, I’ve never seen anyone as unreasonable as you. You’re beyond redemption! If I don’t sort you out properly today, neither of us will remember who’s the parent and who’s the child here." Auntie Shen had had enough. Finally spotting the broom on the kang bed, she picked it up and started beating her without hesitation.
