RYEY – Chapter 56 Wedding Night Trouble and Molestation

“Mother, it sounds like a fight. What’s going on?”

“Hurry, go find a stick.”

“Okay, I’ll go now. Mother, be careful.”

Li Le dashed out, running toward the kitchen, while Mother Li hurried to the bridal chamber. The room was packed with people inside and out. She anxiously shouted Li Huan’s name.

When the crowd saw it was Mother Li, they quickly made way. She rushed inside and saw Cheng Qiao holding and comforting Zhang Yuefang, while Qian Longkun and Zhao Xiaobao were kicking and punching a man.

“Li Huan, what happened?”

Li Huan didn’t answer. Cheng Qiao, seeing her mother-in-law arrive, quickly helped her sit on the kang, though she still held Zhang Yuefang tightly in her arms.

“Cheng Qiao, what’s going on? Why are they fighting?”

“Mother, that Chen Dalang is awful. He… he tried to harass Sister Yuefang.”

“Chen Dalang dared to harass a woman? How could he be so brazen?”

Mother Li was shocked. No wonder her daughter-in-law was clinging tightly to the educated youth. Poor Zhang Yuefang, to suffer like this at a wedding celebration.

“Shouldn’t we call the Public Security Bureau? Keeping someone like this in the village is too dangerous.”

Zhao Xiaobao spoke up, but Han Xuemei and the others hesitated. If this incident was reported, Zhang Yuefang’s life would be ruined.

“Report it! What Chen Dalang did counts as attempted molestation. I intervened in time, Sister Yuefang wasn’t touched by that beast.”

Xiaoping stepped forward and shouted. She had been standing on a stool, holding a string with a shiny red apple tied to one end—an essential prop for wedding-night games.

When she saw Cheng Qiao and Li Huan bite toward the apple at the same time, she yanked the string upward, causing the newlyweds’ lips to meet. Everyone laughed loudly.

At that motherent, Chen Dalang barged in, his eyes fixed on Xiaoping. His lecherous look disgusted her. As Cheng Qiao and Li Huan leaned in for another bite, she hurriedly ended the game.

Dalang shoved his way through, but not toward Xiaoping and Xiaoqin as she had feared. His target was Zhang Yuefang. His dirty hands reached straight for her waist.

At the crucial motherent, Zhao Xiaobao was jostled forward and happened to block the way. Chen Dalang’s attempt failed. When he tried to retreat, Zhao Xiaobao punched him hard.

Seeing Zhao Xiaobao act, Qian Longkun joined in without asking questions. Chen Dalang was a coward by nature. Facing two educated youths beating him, he fell to the ground screaming for help.

“Then let’s call the police. I’ll go.”

Jiang Guangrong turned to leave. As the leader of the educated youth, he had to take the initiative. But just as he reached the door, Chen Dalang’s parents rushed over and blocked him.

“Comrade Jiang, please don’t call the police! Someone told our Dalang to come. She said Educated Youth Zhang has money. If Dalang acted like a rogue and hugged her, she’d marry over with her fortune.”

“Who?”

“It was Xu Laidi.”

Hearing the name, Zhang Yuefang’s eyes flared with fury. That woman had nearly harmed Cheng Qiao before, and now she was targeting her. Xu Laidi had gone too far.

“Dalang’s mother, what did Xu Laidi give you to ruin my wedding?”

Cheng Qiao stepped out and sternly demanded.

“No benefits, none at all. Oh right, she said Educated Youth Zhang had more money than you. Not just a bicycle, but she could even afford a sewing machine. So we thought…”

“Someone fetch the village head! We female educated youths demand to report this to the Public Security Bureau. If we can’t leave Xiangyang Village, we’ll all be devoured alive by you villagers!”

Zhang Yuefang almost fainted from anger. How much money could she possibly have? Just having enough to eat and stay clothed was a blessing. Sewing machine? Bicycle? What nonsense.

But this couldn’t go on. She suddenly remembered the way Cheng Qiao once threatened the village head and thought maybe she could use the same trick.

Village Head Chen Weidang soon arrived, his clothes buttoned wrong, face dark with anger. Clearly, he was truly furious this time.

Sure enough, upon seeing Chen Shuigen, he immediately punched him hard. “A grown man—can’t control your wife, can’t control your son—what’s the point of you living and wasting food?”

“Village Head, why are you hitting me? I wasn’t the one at fault!”

Chen Shuigen’s legs turned weak at the sight of the head. Knocked to the ground, he cried in grievance. His pathetic state only made Dalang feel even more ashamed.

“Chen Shuigen, is what your wife said true?”

“It’s true, true! I heard it all with my own ears.”

He nodded frantically.

“Damn it, you stood there listening and didn’t stop it? Useless coward! The sons you raised aren’t even as good as dogs. Get up! Take me to Xu Laidi!”

The head gave him two more savage kicks. Chen Shuigen gritted his teeth in pain but didn’t dare make a sound.

He shot his wife a vicious glare. He had said the idea was bad, but she wouldn’t listen. Now they were in trouble. If Xu Laidi refused to admit it, Dalang would be finished.

No—he had to make Xu Laidi confess, even if he had to drag her back home tied up.

Trembling, Chen Shuigen got up and hunched his back, running toward the educated youths’ quarters. The gate wasn’t locked, so everyone pushed inside, only to find both dorm rooms dark.

“Xu Laidi, come out!”

Dalang’s mother shouted in the courtyard, but after several calls, no one came out. Instead, she roused Chai Jianmin from next door.

He held a stub of a candle, its flame flickering dangerously close to his fingers. Cheng Qiao worried he’d burn himself, but in the villagers’ eyes, he looked like a ghost—sallow face, sunken eyes, eerie in the dim light.

Even Qian Longkun was startled by his haggard appearance. After receiving his share of grain and money, Chai Jianmin had repaid Cheng Qiao but then ran himself ragged searching for cotton.

It was just cotton—how could he reduce himself to such a state? Qian Longkun despised his incompetence but stayed silent.

“Chai Jianmin, have you seen Xu Laidi?”

Even Village Head Chen Weidang was unsettled by his ghastly appearance, but as head, he had to speak.

“Xu Laidi.”

At those words, Chai Jianmin’s face twisted into a sinister smile. It seemed tonight he could finally take his revenge.