Chapter 431: Seven Siheyds

Chapter 431: Seven Siheyds

  Afternoon.

  In the courtyard after the guests had left, Dang Shirong seized the opportunity to chat with his father-in-law room about the future of his children and daughter-in-law. However, he found that now wasn't the best time to discuss this, and decided to wait until the next day to talk with his father.

  Earlier, he had thought it was better to discuss this now, but as the head of the Department of Officials, he was quite busy. Dang Shirong sighed, "Dad, I'll talk to you about this later."

  Dang Shirong nodded, "Okay, I'll go talk to you about this now."

  Chapter 431: Seven Siheyuan, Children and Relatives Stunned

  Afternoon.

  The guests had left, and Dang Shirong had the opportunity to chat with his father about the future of his children and daughter-in-law. However, he found that now wasn't the best time to discuss this, and decided to wait until the next day to chat with his father.

Deng Shirong smiled and said, "This siheyuan wasn't bought just now. It was purchased when Yunheng got accepted into Peking University. Back then, a siheyuan only cost a few ten thousand yuan. I bought it with the intention of leaving something for you seven siblings. No matter how you fare in society, having such a large siheyuan in the capital city will ensure a decent life, even if you just rent it out for income."

  "But now, with our family's development, we no longer need this as a backup. So, while you're all here, let's divide these siheyuans. Even if you don't live in them, keeping them for appreciation will be worthwhile. I dare not say more, but they should be worth tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions."

  Upon hearing this, all the children and their spouses were stunned.

  On one hand, they were shocked by the valuation of tens of millions to hundreds of millions. On the other hand, they were deeply impressed by their father's foresight.

  Over a decade ago, he had bought a three-courtyard siheyuan for each of the seven siblings in the capital city. How many rural families could have done that?

  Especially the seven siblings, including the eldest sister-in-law, Zhang Xiuping, knew the family's situation back then. The family was just starting to develop, and their father had taken out several loans from the credit union. Despite that, he managed to buy seven siheyuans in the capital city, which are now worth over ten times their original value. This was truly a god-like move.

  After the initial shock, the seven children were deeply moved by their father's efforts.

  Seeing his children stunned, Deng Shirong waved his hand and said, "Alright, since it's still early, I'll take you to see the nearest siheyuan. We'll visit the others tomorrow. After you've seen them all, you can start picking them from the eldest to the youngest."

  With that said, the seven children agreed, and they took their grandchildren, including Xiaodong'er, Dongzi, Zhu Shiba, and Amao, to say goodbye to their relatives and friends. Then, led by Deng Shirong, they set off in a convoy to the nearest siheyuan.

  Half an hour later, the family arrived at another siheyuan.

  Upon entering, Yunzhu asked in surprise, "Dad, is this siheyuan just newly renovated?"

  Deng Shirong nodded and said, "Yes, it was just renovated. Since we had to renovate, we did all seven siheyuans at once to save time and effort."

  Yunzhen, while touring the siheyuan, said, "Dad, it's such a waste to have a renovated house unoccupied!"

  Deng Shirong replied, "It's only temporary. Who knows what the future holds!"

  Soon, they finished touring the siheyuan. The renovation style was consistent with Yunsong's siheyuan, and the size and layout were similar, so the tour was relatively quick.

  There was still time to visit another siheyuan, but today was the third son and daughter-in-law's wedding day, and their relatives and friends were still at their siheyuan. The family needed to return to entertain them.

  Therefore, after finishing the tour, the family headed back.

  There was still plenty of leftover food from the lunch banquet, so they heated it up for dinner.

  The spring night was more enchanting than usual, and Yunsong and Pei Qinghua finally experienced the irresistible act of procreation.

  ...

  The next morning, after breakfast, the relatives and friends went out to sightsee, while Deng Shirong took his children to tour the other five siheyuans.

  After touring all of them, he let the children start choosing.

  All the siheyuans were three-courtyard, with the same renovation style. The only difference was their locations. Among the seven children, only Yunheng and Yunsong were somewhat familiar with the capital city, while the others were visiting for the first time and had no idea which locations were better.

  Moreover, the seven siblings had always been very close. Even if they knew the locations, they would likely be humble and let the younger ones have the better ones.

  Since they didn't know which locations were better, they chose based on personal preference.

  Thus, the six siblings quickly divided the six siheyuans.

  On the third day after Yunsong's wedding, those with work, like Yunheng, County Magistrate Song, Zhu Junjie, and Zhou Haidong, left first. The rest, who rarely visited the capital city, decided to stay a few more days to visit more attractions before returning.

  They ended up staying for a week.

  After visiting all the famous sights in the capital, the relatives and friends returned home, satisfied.

Afternoon, 2 PM

Baise County, Longtan Town, Potou Village

Deng Changyuan was squatting in her family's courtyard, washing her hair. Just as she was about to rinse it, her husband, Li Guofeng, called out, "Quick, give me some money."

Hearing the tone in his voice, Deng Changyuan knew he had lost money again. She ignored him and continued washing her hair, acting as if he wasn't there.

"I'm saying it again, give me some money!"

Deng Changyuan still acted as if she hadn't heard him and continued rinsing her hair.

Already in a terrible mood from losing money, Li Guofeng's anger flared up when he saw this. He kicked the bucket over and shouted fiercely, "I'm saying it one last time, give me the money."

Deng Changyuan, furious, yelled, "Li Guofeng, you scoundrel! I told you not to gamble, but you insisted on doing it. If you're so capable and think gambling can support your family, then don't come back to me for money! Don't make me go back to my parents for a loan! You lose money outside and then come back to take it out on me. What kind of man are you?"

"Slap!"

Li Guofeng slapped her hard, his face livid as he roared, "I said, give me the money."

"Die, you scoundrel, I'll fight you to the death!"

Deng Changyuan used her womanly tricks, scratching and clawing at Li Guofeng.

Unfortunately, women are just women. If a man had any regard for her and let her have her way, her tactics might work, and she might leave some marks on his face or body. But Li Guofeng, in his gambling frenzy, was like a drug addict in a high.

Seeing Deng Changyuan lunge at him, Li Guofeng kicked her without mercy, sending her sprawling on the ground, curled up in pain.

After kicking her, Li Guofeng went straight to the room and started rummaging through the drawers.

In less than three minutes, he found the money he wanted and took it all, not leaving a single cent. He ignored Deng Changyuan, who was still on the ground, and rushed off to the casino, determined to win back his losses and even more.

A minute later, Deng Changyuan slowly sat up, tears streaming down her face.

She had been married to Li Guofeng for about ten years and had given birth to three children. Initially, their life was decent; Li Guofeng was a hardworking man and treated her well, and the family of five lived happily.

But everything changed three years ago when Li Guofeng developed a gambling habit.

He left all the household chores to her and spent his days at the village casino.

In the past three years, the number of arguments between them had at least doubled, and Deng Changyuan had been beaten several times.

Because of Li Guofeng's gambling, there were times when the family had nothing left, not even a single yuan. To support her three children, Deng Changyuan had to swallow her pride and borrow money from her parents and brothers.

But today's slap and the merciless kick finally woke her up. Continuing to live with this gambler would lead to a dead end, either being killed by him or dying of poverty.

During her previous visits to her parents for help, her brother had wanted to support her, but she had always stopped him, not out of concern for her husband, but because she had only one brother and feared that Li Guofeng might retaliate and hurt her brother.

In Baise, there was an unspoken rule: if a man beat his wife, and her family came to seek revenge, unless it resulted in serious injury or even death, no one in the village would help the man, not even his own brothers. They would only try to mediate.

However, if the wife's family brought others to attack the man, the situation would be different, and the man's brothers or even other villagers might intervene.

Therefore, in Baise, married women with many brothers were rarely bullied unless they were naturally weak.

Deng Changyuan had only one brother, which was why Li Guofeng had dared to beat her so many times.

However, although she had only one brother, she had many cousins. She had not wanted to trouble them before, as there was a difference between blood brothers and cousins, especially those not from the same grandfather.

But Li Guofeng's merciless kick today had chilled her heart.

If she didn't teach him a profound lesson, she would never have a peaceful life again.

With this in mind, Deng Changyuan got up from the ground, her abdomen aching with each movement, reinforcing her resolve.

She rinsed her hair again, dried it, and changed into clean clothes. Then, she went to a friendly sister-in-law in the village, asking her to take care of her three children so they would have something to eat when they came home from school.

After that, she went to catch a bus back to her parents' house.

...

Deng Shirong, after finishing his third son's wedding, waited for the relatives and friends to finish their sightseeing in the capital before returning with them.

Deng Shirong, after his third son's wedding in the capital, returned to his hometown to pay respects to his ancestors and inform them of the good news.

Upon returning to his hometown, Deng Shirong immediately took out his water pipe, tobacco, and lighter, and comfortably lit up a smoke.

After smoking a few pipes, Deng Shirong had just put down his pipe when he saw a woman with disheveled hair walking past his house. He called out, "Aiyuan."

Deng Changyuan was heading to her parents' house with a heavy heart. Hearing the call, she looked over and, recognizing it was Ninth Uncle, quickly greeted him, "Ninth Uncle."

Deng Shirong immediately noticed the slap mark on her face and frowned, "Aiyuan, what happened to your face? Who hit you?"

Deng Changyuan, who had come to her parents' house to seek help, did not hide the truth and replied through gritted teeth, "Ninth Uncle, it was Li Guofeng, that scoundrel."

Deng Shirong asked, "What happened? Why did he hit you so hard?"

"He's been addicted to gambling for the past few years and has changed a lot. This isn't the first time he's hit me, but the previous times weren't as severe."

Deng Changyuan, her eyes red, recounted the events of the day to Ninth Uncle and concluded, "He only dares to hit me because my family only has one brother. I can't take this anymore!"

Deng Shirong was furious and coldly laughed, "He must have lost his mind to dare hit a member of the Deng family. Go back to your parents' house and tell them. I will gather some people and personally lead them to help you. No one can bully a member of the Deng family."

Deng Changyuan felt relieved. With Ninth Uncle's help, Li Guofeng's retribution was imminent. "Thank you, Ninth Uncle. I'll go tell my parents and brothers and then bring them to meet you here."

"Go ahead, and think about how you want to handle Li Guofeng."

"Alright."

...

Half an hour later.

At Deng Shirong's house, the entire village had gathered. Upon hearing that Deng Changyuan had been repeatedly beaten by her husband, everyone was filled with righteous anger. In recent years, as the Deng family's reputation spread throughout the county, clan members could gain respect simply by mentioning their surname.

It had been years since a member of the Deng family had been beaten like this.

Deng Shirong asked, "Aiyuan, have you decided how to handle Li Guofeng?"

With Ninth Uncle's support, Deng Changyuan knew that a single word from her could determine Li Guofeng's future. If not for her three children, she would have unhesitatingly asked Ninth Uncle to have him beaten half to death. However, Li Guofeng was the father of her children, and if they were too harsh, the children might resent her.

So, she bit her lip and said, "Ninth Uncle, my goal is to give him a severe beating, to scare him and make him beg for mercy, but not to cripple him. He is the father of my three children, and I don't want to go too far and make them hate me. Just a severe beating to ensure he never dares to hit me again will suffice."

Deng Shirong nodded, "Understood. Let's go then!"

Deng Changyuan responded and gathered her younger brother and over a dozen cousins to get into the car.

"Ninth Uncle, let us come too. Potou Village is known as one of the most aggressive in Longtan. More people would be safer."

"That's right, Ninth Uncle. If Li Guofeng's brothers help him, fewer people won't be enough."

"Besides, we don't know Potou Village well. Who knows if the villagers will be reasonable?"

"..."

Deng Shirong confidently waved his hand, "No need. This many people are enough. I guarantee Li Guofeng's brothers won't dare to interfere, nor will the villagers. If they dare, our over 3,000 clan members will pay them a visit."

In this era, Potou Village was indeed notorious, not just in Longtan Town but also in the surrounding areas. Most people dared not provoke the villagers of Potou.

However, Potou Village's reputation was nothing compared to the Deng family. Hearing their leader's words, the clan members were reassured.

With the leader personally leading the group, as long as the villagers of Potou had any sense, they wouldn't dare to obstruct Deng Changyuan's brothers from supporting her.

Unfortunately, they couldn't witness this scene, which left them somewhat disappointed.

...

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(End of Chapter)

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