Ch29 Oh Really? You Actually Dared to Hit Me
After collecting their food, Meng Ci and Shen Que headed upstairs. This time, they didn't run into Li Shanyang and the others.
Meng Ci had assumed that after yesterday's lesson, Li Xiaoya and the others would come down promptly to get their food today.
But when he entered the room and checked the surveillance feed, he saw several people still asleep.
Hmph. These people really are like dogs that can't change their ways.
But for Meng Ci, it was a blessing in disguise.
Once hunger drove them mad, the infighting would surely begin.
Meng Ci preferred eating alone, leaning on the coffee table as he adjusted the surveillance feed.
He saw that last night, Li Shanyang and Zhang Lu had been too hungry to sleep for the first half of the night, drinking copious amounts of water.
In the latter half of the night, they got up to urinate roughly every half hour, finally falling asleep around five in the morning. No wonder they hadn't woken up yet.
Meanwhile, Liu Jie and Li Xiaoya had taken advantage of their sleeping time to secretly boil water and soak instant noodles in their room.
They'd eaten heartily, slurping up every drop of broth. That's why Li Xiaoya was now lying contentedly asleep in Liu Jie's arms.
"Has anyone noticed the tap water is yellow today? Is it even safe to drink?"
"Can someone get through to the water plant? Is anyone going to do something about this?"
"Damn it, I didn't notice when cooking rice this morning. One ladle of water ruined the whole pot. If I hadn't been starving for days, I probably would've thrown it out."
"Hey upstairs, I feel you. I cooked my porridge this morning only to find a bug in it."...
Several group chats were filled with complaints about murky water flowing from the taps, some even reporting dead insects floating in it.
After dinner, while washing dishes, Meng Ci considered saving the water to flush the toilet later.
But then he realized rainwater outside could be used for flushing anyway. Besides, the drains would likely clog in a couple of days, rendering the toilet useless-saving water would be pointless then.
"Who told you to sleep! Who told you to sleep!"
Li Shanyang's furious voice suddenly blared from the surveillance feed. When Meng Ci emerged with his hands still drying, he saw Li Shanyang
yanking Zhang Lu's hair, slamming her head against the floor.
"What good are you? What good are you?!"
"Li Shanyang, you... you dare hit me?!"
With her hair gripped, Zhang Lu couldn't fight back. She could only cling desperately to Li Shanyang's hand, trying to ease the pain.
"So what if I hit you? Damn it, I hit you, so what?!"
"You didn't get up this morning to get food, making me go hungry again. Who else should I hit?"
Li Shanyang was like a rabid dog now, veins bulging on his face, clearly intent on beating Zhang Lu to death.
Li Xiaoya and Jiu Jiu, who had been sleeping in the room, heard the commotion and rushed out barefoot.
"Dad, what are you doing? You've made Mom bleed!"
"Dad, stop it!"
"Brother Jie, help me!"
When Li Xiaoya tried to pull Li Shanyang away, not only did she fail to separate them, but she was shoved to the ground by him. Her already sprained ankle hurt even worse now.
But she couldn't just watch her mother get beaten to death, so she could only turn her pleading gaze toward Liu Jie.
Liu Jie was quite happy to see Zhang Lu getting beaten. After all, he hadn't forgotten the taunts she'd hurled at him these past few days.
Yet since Li Xiaoya was pleading with him, Liu Jie naturally wouldn't refuse.
Besides, after this fight, perhaps Li Xiaoya would agree to send Li Shanyang to the Fat Man.
The thought of the food soon to be his made Liu Jie's mouth water involuntarily.
He grabbed Li Shanyang's hands and called out for Li Xiaoya to fetch some rope to tie him to the chair.
Li Xiaoya saw her father's bloodshot eyes-clearly, he'd lost control in his rage.
Even as Liu Jie held him, his leg still kicked wildly toward Zhang Lu. Li Xiaoya could only limp back and forth to fetch the rope.
Meng Ci, observing this, understood why Li Shanyang acted this way.
Li Shanyang was a self-made man who had spent years hiding his fangs, groveling before Meng Wan, terrified that any display of anger would cause her to cast him out and undo all his hard work.
So when he returned to Zhang Lu's home, his macho tendencies surfaced, and he would boss her around, telling her what to do.
Back then, though, Li Shanyang had money, and since it was just petty micromanagement, Zhang Lu didn't mind.
Now that life was tough, Li Shanyang harbored resentment. Unable to vent it outward, he turned inward.
His wife and daughter, the weaker ones, naturally became his targets.
Meng Ci sneered at Li Shanyang, a man who was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Zhang Lu and Li Xiaoya, mother and daughter, were injured and sprained. The burden of caring for them fell on Liu Jie. He boiled water to make a hot compress for Li Xiaoya's feet while she gently wiped Zhang Lu's wounds.
Despite being bound, Li Shanyang continued to hurl insults at the three of them.
Liu Jie had no choice but to stuff a cloth into his mouth, finally granting his ears a moment of peace.
"Xiaoya, do you think what happened last night was okay?"
Startled by Liu Jie's question, Li Xiaoya paused wiping Zhang Lu's forehead. She glanced at the struggling Li Shanyang, hesitation flickering in her eyes.
"What happened last night?" Zhang Lu asked warily.
Could it be these two found food and didn't want to share?
Seeing Li Xiaoya hesitate, Liu Jie recounted the events.
"Auntie, that fat man had a whole room full of food."
"We're just asking Uncle to make a small sacrifice in exchange for everyone's chance to survive. It's a fair deal."
"And I promise, once the storm passes, if anything happens to Uncle, I'll do everything in my power to treat him."
"If you don't believe me, I can write a guarantee!"
Seeing the two still hesitating, Liu Jie continued.
"Auntie, Uncle's mental state is deteriorating. He lashes out violently now and then."
"This time, Yaya and I intervened just in time. Next time, if we're a moment too late..."
Liu Jie trailed off, but his meaning was clear.
Zhang Lu touched the wound on her head, which showed signs of loosening.
Li Shanyang had already hit her twice. Zhang Lu had no desire to be beaten a third time for no reason.
If sending Li Shanyang away secured food in return, she could consider it compensation for her injuries.
Moreover, seeing how Liu Jie tirelessly cared for her daughter, Zhang Lu felt he was far more reliable than Li Shanyang.
"Fatso eats a lot too. Uncle definitely won't go hungry."
"It's a win-win situation, Auntie, Yaya. Think it over carefully."
Hearing Liu Jie's tirade, Li Shanyang itched to jump up and beat him senseless.
How dare he suggest handing him over to a damn homosexual? The guy was asking for trouble.
The chair scraped across the floor with a loud thud-thud-thud as Li Shanyang struggled in fury.
Waaah!
If either of you dare agree, I'll beat you to a pulp.
Seeing Li Shanyang's furious expression, Zhang Lu and Li Xiaoya felt a wave of dread wash over them.
"You... are you sure he'll be okay?" Zhang Lu still hesitated.
Even though he'd hit her, they'd shared a bed for years. Zhang Lu couldn't bring herself to be completely heartless.
"Of course." Liu Jie was certain.
"Auntie, look at me now-I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?"
To secure food, Liu Jie didn't mind reopening old wounds.
Zhang Lu recalled how Liu Jie had spent the past two days lying in bed after returning home, and beyond that, he seemed genuinely unharmed.
"Growl!"
Rubbing her stomach, Zhang Lu felt an intense hunger gnawing at her insides. She had no choice but to agree.
"Alright, I agree."