I Am A Husband Curser, And You Are A Wife Curser. - Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Psychopaths

At the Yang residence…

Father Yang wandered around outside until dark before returning for dinner.

“I told you back then—your sister must have been kicked in the head by a donkey when she was little, but you wouldn’t believe me.” The first time Father Yang had visited his in-laws, he felt his sister-in-law was bizarre and abnormal.

“Zip your mouth. Your daughter-in-law is sitting right here,” Mother Yang scolded, though her heart was heavy. They were biological sisters born from the same mother; how did their lives end up so differently?

“Sigh.” Father Yang finished his meal and retreated to his room. He truly wanted nothing to do with this mess.

Mother Yang didn’t make her daughters-in-law stay to keep her company either, sending them back to their rooms to rest.

Xiangxi and Ming Le had left some food in the kitchen for the brothers.

“Sister-in-law, is Aunt’s mind really… not right?” Xiangxi asked, taking his father-in-law’s words to heart.

“Her mind is perfectly fine; it’s her heart that’s rotten,” Ming Le replied. She still remembered the time the aunt had visited and, when no one was around, insulted her for “occupying the latrine without passing stool”—calling her a hen that ate feed but laid no eggs.

When Ming Le shot back that she wasn’t eating the aunt’s food, the crazy woman tried to strike her, claiming she was “disciplining an eye-less daughter-in-law” on behalf of her sister. Luckily, Yanzi arrived in time to block her. Ming Le couldn’t tell anyone about such things; she just had to swallow the grievance, which felt incredibly suffocating.

Ming Le and Xiangxi waited until nearly 9:15 PM before the brothers, Yang Tongshan and Yang Tongchuan, finally returned. Their appearances were quite disheveled.

“Were you in a fight?” Ming Le asked, checking Tongshan’s face.

“No, no fighting. It was just a total mess.” Fearing neighbors might be eavesdropping, Yang Tongshan told everyone to go back to their respective rooms before talking.

Xiangxi brought Yang Tongchuan’s portion of dinner back to their room.

“Your parents didn’t have much of an appetite tonight, so they ate light. You’ll have to make do,” Xiangxi said, setting the small table. It was millet porridge and greens, but fearing the men wouldn’t be full, Xiangxi had heated up two wheat cakes—one for each brother.

“Thank you for the hard work. Were you scared today?” Yang Tongchuan urged Xiangxi to sit on the bed where it was warm while he wolfed down his food.

“I’m fine. But why are you and Big Brother so bedraggled?” Xiangxi knew Yang Tongchuan wasn’t the type to be bullied, but he was still worried.

Yang Tongchuan recounted the events. After Dong Shanshan fainted, the aunt insisted the brothers carry her to the tea merchant’s front gate so the whole town could witness their “wickedness.” The Yang brothers naturally refused.

Enraged, the aunt lunged at Yang Tongshan, trying to claw at him to force him to help her cause a scene. Yang Tongchuan wouldn’t let his brother be bullied and stepped in to help. Dong Shenghu, seeing his mother at a disadvantage, jumped in to grapple with Yang Tongchuan. Fortunately, the house had been emptied out; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been enough space for that family’s performance.

Finally, the aunt’s husband shouted for them to stop. With Dong Shanshan still unconscious, Yang Tongchuan performed a “miracle” through sheer force: he pulled a hairpin from her hair, had her father remove her shoe, and poked the sole of her foot hard.

Shanshan woke up instantly, the color returning to her face.

“I read in books that you’re supposed to press the renzhong philtrum. Why did you poke her foot?” Xiangxi knew how strong Yang Tongchuan was; just hearing it made his own feet ache.

“I wouldn’t dare touch her face. If I broke the skin, that family would cling to me like leeches. The sole of the foot is safe—once she puts her socks back on, no one can see a thing.” In truth, Yang Tongchuan did it on purpose, but to maintain his image before Xiangxi, he wouldn’t admit it.

Once Shanshan was awake, the Dong family calmed down slightly.

“What do you want to do?” Yang Tongshan asked Shanshan directly.

“I knew he would go before me. He promised me back then that even if he left first, he would see me settled,” Shanshan said, her tears falling silently—unlike her mother’s hysteria.

“Did the old man leave you any written proof? Or were there servants around who heard him say it and can testify for you?” Yang Tongchuan asked, hoping for some leverage.

“He said it in the bedroom. No one else was there.”

Great. After all that, it was just “pillow talk” used to coax a young girl. Useless. A heavy silence filled the room.

“Tongchuan, you’re a constable. Can’t you arrest him? We want to sue that old man for rape! He raped my daughter!” The aunt had been pushed too far; her features were twisting with malice.

“Aunt, adultery and rape are two different things. You can’t just call it whatever you want,” Yang Tongchuan said, laughing in exasperation.

“Then what are we supposed to do? Are you forcing us to die here? This is our house! Ours!” The aunt was stubborn; if she decided something belonged to her, she had to have it.

“Uncle, I’m afraid we have to take a step back on this,” Yang Tongshan tried to reason with him. The Dong family used to have an old house in the west of town. Even if they gave this one back, they wouldn’t be homeless.

“Is there no other way? Shanshan served that old man for so many years, only to end up like this?” Master Cook Dong couldn’t accept the humiliation.

“According to the manager, the old man gave Shanshan plenty of allowance over the years. She should have saved a significant amount.” The manager had told Yang Tongshan that the money the old man spent on Shanshan was likely taller than she was.

One should be content. But at the mention of money, Shanshan burst into loud sobs. The expressions of the father and brother turned awkward. Yang Tongshan and Yang Tongchuan suddenly realized the money was likely no longer in Shanshan’s hands.

What a disaster.

“And then? How was it handled?” Xiangxi loved the gossip.

“It’s their family matter; they can handle it however they want. If they fight it head-on, they don’t have a legal leg to stand on. Big Brother and I agreed: leaving with some dignity and whatever wealth they have left is the best outcome. Otherwise, with Shanshan’s situation, even if I went easy on her with the ‘sixty strokes of the cane,’ the law mandates two years in prison for being an illegal mistress. She wouldn’t survive it.” Yang Tongchuan didn’t want to see his cousin behind bars.

“The consequences of being a mistress are so severe, yet wealthy men never seem to stop keeping them,” Xiangxi mused. Coming from a poor background, his neighbors could barely afford to eat, let alone keep mistresses or concubines.

“Well, as long as it doesn’t reach the yamen, people usually turn a blind eye. When rich people have more money than they know what to do with, don’t they look for something fresh?” Yang Tongchuan said casually.

“Heh, you seem to know a lot about it,” Xiangxi shot him a sideways glance.

“Look at you, starting again. I’m just discussing the case. Can’t we just have a normal talk?” Yang Tongchuan tried to crawl into the blankets.

“Go, go, go! You haven’t washed your feet. Don’t come up here,” Xiangxi said, looking at him with mock disgust.

“Fine, fine. I’ll go wash myself clean before coming back to serve my little husband.” Yang Tongchuan laughed and stepped out of the room to get hot water from the kitchen.

There, he saw his elder brother, Yang Tongshan, sitting alone in the courtyard.