The Wang family had a lot of people, so they weren't afraid of a fight. Men fought men, women fought women. Originally, the three daughters-in-law of the Wang family hadn't planned on fighting, but their mother-in-law charged to the front lines. Left with no choice, they had to follow her into the fray.
With both the father-in-law and mother-in-law fighting, how could the daughters-in-law just stand by?
Instantly, the Wang family courtyard turned into utter chaos.
The commune members had only come to watch the drama, but the drama turned into a full-blown brawl—and it was quite a spectacle. Adult fights weren't like children's squabbles. If things got out of hand, someone could easily end up bleeding. Seeing Wang Fugui's face getting pummeled by a few of the Wang boys, some of the onlookers, worried someone might get killed, rushed in to break up the fight.
But with people rushing in and others pushing out, the fighters and peacemakers ended up jammed together in the small courtyard.
Once the crowd got too large and chaotic, some of the commune members with old grudges decided to take advantage and threw punches at people they didn't like.
Soon, the act of breaking up the fight turned into more fighting.
In the chaos, someone would "accidentally" step on another, or someone else would "accidentally" punch another. The people on the receiving end weren't about to just let it go. If they couldn't find the real culprit, they just took it out on someone they already had issues with—if you were going to hit someone, it might as well be an enemy. Before long, a simple scuffle turned into a massive group melee.
As the "battle" broke out, He Manshu quickly stayed on the fringes of the crowd.
She was thrilled. She hadn't expected the situation to blow up this big—but the bigger, the better. It would only help her carry out her plans more easily. As a schemer (a "green tea" woman), she knew exactly how to stay out of trouble in such situations.
Cheering from the sidelines was fine—but joining the fight? Absolutely not.
Two fists can't beat four hands, and in the chaos, who could tell friend from foe? All she needed to do was pretend to help and keep up appearances. Actually getting involved? She wasn't that dumb. No matter who's right or wrong, anyone who fights ends up losing.
Watching the chaos unfold, He Manshu was very pleased.
In her satisfaction, she spotted the disheveled Wang Xiu. It seemed Wang Xiu wasn't very well-liked—besides the slap mark from Wang Fugui's mother, she had several bloody scratch marks on her face. The long marks were clearly from a woman's fingernails.
Seeing Wang Xiu struggling to squeeze out of the crowd, He Manshu grew thoughtful.
Wang Xiu was plain-looking and not particularly attractive. For a woman like her to provoke such resentment from other women, she must've done something to deserve it. In the original novel, Wang Xiu wasn't a main or even significant supporting character. After the original protagonist's death, she left Wangjia Village without explanation. So He Manshu couldn't rely on the plot to figure out why Wang Xiu had her face scratched up.
There was definitely something fishy going on.
If her guess was right, today wasn't just about taking care of those two scumbags—Li Yufang and Wang Fugui—she could also get leverage over Wang Xiu. And with that leverage, she could control the fake daughter. Realizing this, He Manshu found Wang Xiu slightly more pleasing to the eye.
There was plenty of time. She could take it slow. A dull knife cuts the deepest.
She wasn't planning on dealing with Wang Xiu today, but that didn't stop her from taking a little cheap shot in the confusion. Just as Wang Xiu was about to break free from the crowd, He Manshu quickly stepped forward and kicked her back in.
No need to thank me~
With that one kick, Wang Xiu was swallowed back into the melee.
Her miserable cries went completely ignored—there was just too much noise, and her screams were quickly drowned out. Even if someone did hear her, in that chaos, no one could help even if they wanted to.
Once again, Wang Xiu was surrounded by several tall village women.
While Wang Xiu was calling to the heavens and earth for help with no response, the others in the melee weren't doing much better. People were really going at it now, and the fight grew even more chaotic. Everyone tried to land more punches and kicks.
"Hey! Wang Defu, you bastard, who the hell are you hitting?!"
A commune member who got hit by mistake glared at the man next to him. The man, seeing that he'd hit the wrong person, quickly apologized with a black eye, "Deshui, bro, total accident. My bad, I hit the wrong guy. Please forgive me!"
Whether it was really a mistake—only he knew.
Deshui forced a grin and sneered, "You better open your damn eyes next time and stop hitting the wrong people."
"Yes, yes, I'll be more careful next time."
After apologizing, Wang Defu tried to slip away, only to feel a sharp pain at the back of his head. Someone had slapped him, but when he turned around, it was so chaotic he had no clue who'd done it. Frustrated, he turned and punched the next person who looked at him wrong.
His eye was already black—he might as well get a few more punches in.
As for Wang Deshui, who had just hit him, he'd already slipped away.
Pah! Deshui thought. Don't think I don't know that Defu is jealous of me. His wife was once childhood sweethearts with me but married me in the end. He never got over it. That punch just now wasn't an accident—it was deliberate.
Everyone had their own grudges. Like the "misunderstanding" between Wang Defu and Wang Deshui, excuses of "hitting the wrong person" played out again and again.
Shouts, curses, yells, and the dull thuds of fists hitting flesh blended into a fierce symphony in the Wang courtyard. Fueled by pain and adrenaline, everyone forgot why they were fighting in the first place.
Let it be chaotic—more chaotic the better, He Manshu thought coldly as she observed the fight.
"Stop! All of you, stop right now!"
With a loud roar, the courtyard fell silent. The commune's party secretary, Wang Zhiguo, stood at the Wang family's gate, panting and glaring at the crowd. "You work every day and still have energy to spare for this? You're tired of peace, huh? Do you know what a mass brawl means?"
"What does it mean?" someone in the crowd timidly asked.
Looking at the bruised and bloodied commune members, Wang Zhiguo almost laughed in disbelief. To make sure they took it seriously, he raised the stakes, "Public criticism and labor reform!"
At the mention of being denounced and sent to labor reform, everyone froze.
They remembered the terrifying scenes from past political movements—everyone was terrified. "Secretary Wang, this wasn't a group brawl! We were just trying to break it up!"
Someone quick-witted enough recalled the original reason for the fight.
"Yes, yes, Secretary, you have to see the truth. We were really just trying to break it up—not fighting."
Once one person started, others chimed in. After all, there was a big difference between a brawl and breaking up a fight.
A brawl would get you punished. Breaking up a fight made you a good citizen.
"Really just breaking it up?"
Wang Zhiguo didn't want trouble either. If this got classified as a group brawl, he'd be in trouble too—he could even lose his job as secretary. If he could avoid that, he would.
"We really were just breaking it up!" everyone chorused.
Then, as if choreographed, the crowd stepped back in unison, revealing the battered Wang Fugui and his mother in the middle. The rest of the Wang family wasn't looking much better.
Their clothes were torn, their hair was a mess, and everyone's face was bruised.
Damn it, they thought. Who the hell took cheap shots in the chaos? They must be jealous of how well off we are. Otherwise, how could so many of us get beat up just fighting Wang Fugui and his mom?
Damn jealous bastards.
The Wang family was still in a daze. They had only meant to teach Wang Fugui and his mother a lesson—how had this turned into a group brawl? They couldn't shoulder that kind of blame.
Eyes rolling, the old Madam Wang suddenly plopped onto the ground and started wailing. "Heavens! Is there no justice left? Wang Fugui and his damn mother beat up my granddaughter just for telling the truth! They even flipped our dinner table! That's our whole day's food—what are we supposed to eat now?!"
"This is the people's era—you don't get to scream like that!" Wang Zhiguo's face turned pale with panic and even swore under his breath.
Scolded, the old woman immediately shut up like a strangled chicken.
"Secretary, don't blame my grandma for being emotional—just look at what they did to my mother! Those bullies beat her up because they were caught red-handed. They even flipped our dinner table like bandits from the old society. We live in a new era, why are we suffering like it's still the old days? Secretary, you have to deal with this seriously and return justice to the people!"
Now that the chaos was under control, He Manshu knew it was time for her to take center stage. She stepped forward, supporting Wang Xiu, and brought her to Wang Zhiguo.
As soon as Wang Zhiguo saw Wang Xiu, he was stunned.
Who the hell was this pig-faced woman?
Wang Xiu had been slapped so hard her face was already swollen. After being caught in the melee, who knows how many people took cheap shots at her—her face was now completely unrecognizable. Without He Manshu holding her, she probably couldn't even stand—her eyes were so swollen they were just slits.
Wang Xiu, who had taken the fall for He Manshu, was already full of rage and grief. Seeing the terrified look on Wang Zhiguo's face made her feel even worse. Overcome with emotion, she rolled her eyes and fainted.
She really couldn't face anyone now—might as well play the helpless victim.
Thanks to her deceased husband's good standing, she believed the party secretary wouldn't treat her unfairly.
Her fainting came as no surprise—she was known in the village for being frail. As everyone turned their eyes to He Manshu, they remembered that all this chaos had started because of her.