Rowan's mother immediately let go of Sienna and pushed her into Rowan's arms. She then turned to the woman and said, "You must be Aran. Your looks are average, and your body too. Nothing special at all."
Aran's face turned sour after hearing that. "Ma'am, we don't even know each other. I haven't offended you. Isn't it too much for you to speak to me like that?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I'm Rowan's mother."
"So what? It's not like you're my mother."
"Good thing I'm not. If I were, I'd be angry to death. Tell me, you're a proper young woman, right? Don't you have anything better to do than run up and introduce yourself to a married man? What's wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with introducing myself? We're all comrades. What's wrong with getting to know each other? Maybe we have things in common."
After hearing that, Rowan's mother couldn't hold back anymore. She slapped Aran hard and scolded her while hitting her. "You're shameless, fine, but don't drag my son into it. Just holding hands in public counts as flirting. My daughter-in-law is right here, and you dared to block the road and introduce yourself to him? You even leaned into his arms. What would've happened if Sienna wasn't here?"
Aran wanted to fight back, but unfortunately, she wasn't as strong as Rowan's mother, who had years of labor experience. She was held down and kept getting slapped.
Some people nearby wanted to step in, but they didn't know what to say, so they just stood there. Sienna's eyes lit up when she saw Rowan's mother taking action. She wanted to help too but was stopped by Rowan.
"Don't go. Didn't my mother say to let you learn from her? Be good."
"Honey, I already know how to do this."
"Listen to what my mom says. These things are worth learning. No need to suffer silently."
Sienna looked confused. She already knew how to handle things like this. She had shut people down with words before. No need to learn more.
A male educated youth nearby saw how Sienna and Rowan were acting and quickly spoke up. "Comrades, you should stop your mom now. If she keeps hitting, there'll be trouble. And Rowan, you're a soldier. Your mom is the brigade leader's wife. This doesn't look good."
"Oh, but it's fine for her to fall into my arms?"
After Rowan's mother finished beating Aran, she let go of her. "If you dare throw yourself at my son again, I'll keep hitting you."
Aran gave her a look, then ran off toward the field, yelling, "The brigade leader's wife is beating people! She's beating people!"
It was almost time to finish work anyway. Hearing the noise, the villagers hurried over to watch. Several educated youths followed behind Aran. Rowan's family also followed.
Rowan's father finally showed up. Seeing what was happening, he quietly stepped to the side.
The village secretary and accountant came forward and asked, "What happened?"
Aran immediately spoke up, "Secretary, Accountant, the brigade leader's wife brought her son and daughter-in-law to the youth center and beat me up. Look at my face—it's all from her. Her son and daughter-in-law just watched and didn't stop her. Rowan is a soldier! How can this be allowed?"
"Cuilan, is what she said true?"
"Yes."
Before the secretary could say more, Rowan's mother continued, "Let me explain the reason to everyone. You all better watch your own men too."
Everyone turned to look at Aran with different eyes. Some stared at the brigade leader. But he showed no reaction at all.
"This Aran blocked my son and daughter-in-law's way just to introduce herself. But she didn't introduce herself to my daughter-in-law—she went straight to my son and even leaned into him."
Aran immediately shouted, "Don't lie! I just twisted my ankle!"
Rowan's mother ignored her and continued, "Right now, the government is cracking down on bad behavior. My son is a soldier, and he's married. Just holding hands in public is considered flirting. What do you think she's trying to do?"
After hearing this, the crowd looked at Aran with disgust. The secretary and accountant even took two steps back.
The secretary turned to Rowan's father and said, "Brigade leader, how should we handle this?"
Rowan's father waved his hand. "My wife did the beating. You handle it. If I do it, she might say I'm being biased. I need to avoid that."
The secretary turned to Aran. "Aran, what do you want to do about this?"
"I want her to apologize."
When she heard that, Rowan's mother immediately said, "Impossible."
In the end, the village secretary thought for a moment and said, "She'll pay you with one day's work points. Let's end it like this, okay?"
Then he turned to Rowan's mother and said, "Do you have any objections?"
Rowan's mother shook her head and said, "No."
She had many sons and daughters-in-law, so losing one day of work points didn't matter to her. And she only earned five points a day anyway, the lowest among the women.
Aran looked at the village secretary and agreed. She knew very well that getting one day's work points was already lucky. No one in the village would support an outsider like her.
After the matter was settled, everyone went home. Rowan's mother held Sienna's hand and said, "Sienna, did you see that? Next time, if anyone dares to fall into Rowan's arms, bump into him, or wink at him, you just hit them hard. If that person is too strong, let Rowan do the hitting. You just watch."
"Oh, okay."
"But Mother, we lost one day of work points. That's such a waste."
"It's fine, just five points."
"Huh? Isn't it ten?"
"I was the one who hit her, so I'll pay. I only earn five points a day. Take it or leave it."
"It's fine to hit someone and pay for it, just make Rowan pay. You just need to make sure no one sticks to him. If Rowan is the one approaching another girl, then wait until he's asleep and break his leg. Then make that girl take care of him. Once he recovers, hit him again. After a few times, he'll learn."
When Rowan heard his mother's words, his legs felt cold. He already couldn't beat his wife, and now his own mother was teaching his wife how to ambush him. Why was his life so hard?
"Oh, okay, Mother, I understand. I'll protect my husband well and won't let anyone get near him."
"That's right. Good girl, Sienna. Sit down, I'll go make dinner."
Rowan quickly said, "Mother, you and Sienna sit down. Dad and I will cook."
After the father and son went to cook, Sienna asked, "Mother, is there anything else I need to know about protecting my husband? I promised to protect him well."
"There is. If he ever thinks some woman looks pitiful and wants to help her or take care of her, just beat him up. That's also protecting him."
"Mother, we can't hit our husbands. Protecting him means not letting him get hurt."
"Exactly. Sweet Sienna, just listen to me. If he ever pities some woman and wants to help or comfort her, just give Rowan a beating. That's the best protection."
"I already told you, men sometimes get blind and foolish. That's how you protect them."
"Okay, I understand. Don't worry, Mother. I'll protect him well."
Mini-theater:
"Honey, Mother said if you flirt with girls, I should break your legs."
"Sweetheart, it's a misunderstanding. I didn't talk to any girls, really."
"I saw it."
"No, no, Sweetheart, it's not what you think."
"I don't care, I don't care, I don't care. I'm unhappy now. Mother said beating you is protecting you."
Crack
"Aaaah!"