Chapter 9: She Was Publicly... By a Man

Zhang Juhua walked over, chatting and laughing with five or six village women.

They happened to arrive just as Hu Ergou was pinning Zhang Qingqing to the ground, preparing to have his way with her. Zhang Qingqing’s fair, pale skin was exposed, and Hu Ergou was reaching for his trousers.

The scene was incredibly provocative. Zhang Juhua stood frozen, completely stunned and unable to process what she was seeing. The village women showed no signs of modesty; instead, they gathered around Zhang Qingqing and Hu Ergou, offering their own crude commentary.

"Oh my, isn't that Zhang Qingqing from the Yan family? I’ve always said she wasn't a good sort. What kind of girl goes around the village seducing men all day long?"

"As the saying goes, like mother, like daughter. You all know that Zhang Qingqing’s biological father is unknown, and Zhang Juhua herself is always flirting with men. I heard she had a thing with Yan Zhuangshi long ago, which is why he was willing to marry her even with a child in tow."

Hu Ergou, far from being intimidated by the spectators, was actually quite excited. "Oh, you lot don't know, but Zhang Qingqing came to me herself, saying that Xu Lecheng couldn't satisfy her." He gestured toward her. "Look at how submissive she is to me."

Zhang Qingqing was paralyzed with shock. She never expected villagers to pass by here, let alone be led here by her own mother. Wasn't her mother supposed to be taking these gossiping women the other way to watch a show involving Yan Ziyue? Why had things turned out like this?

The village women looked at her with utter contempt. "Calling Zhang Qingqing a 'rotten shoe' is an insult to rotten shoes."

"Look at how brazen she is. We’re all standing right here, and she still has that look of enjoyment on her face."

Zhang Qingqing suddenly let out a shrill scream, thrashing wildly at Hu Ergou. "Get off me! Get away from me!"

This wasn't how it was supposed to be! It shouldn't be like this! The one who was supposed to suffer this fate was that wretch Yan Ziyue, not her!

Several of her blows landed on Hu Ergou’s face. Enraged by the pain, he lashed out and slapped her hard across the face several times. "You slut! It’s your honor that I’m willing to sleep with you, and you dare to hit me?"

Ignoring the crowd, he pulled down his trousers. "I’m going to finish what I started right now, and we’ll see if you ever dare to hit your man again!"

The sound of tearing fabric filled the air, followed by a dual-toned scream.

One scream erupted from Zhang Qingqing, and the other from Zhang Juhua. Zhang Juhua finally snapped out of her stupor and, in a panic-stricken rage, lunged at Hu Ergou. "You dog! Let go of my daughter!"

The village women, eager for the drama, stepped forward to hold her back. "Don't be a fool, Mrs. Yan. Hu Ergou is notorious in this village for being a madman. If you provoke him, he’ll be lurking around your house with a knife for the rest of his life."

"Don't drag us into this, Mrs. Yan. If you hadn't asked us to come up the mountain to forage, none of this would have happened."

Despite her fury, Zhang Juhua could not break through the circle of village women, who were all accustomed to hard farm labor. Furthermore, she was forced to watch clearly as her daughter was humiliated by Hu Ergou.

"Hu Ergou, let her go!" she shrieked helplessly. "You beast, let my daughter go!"

Hu Ergou, caught up in the heat of the moment, had no intention of stopping. He grew even more excited. "Hahaha! Zhang Juhua, the daughter you raised is truly a slut, and so soft and fair. This feels so good!"

Zhang Qingqing lay on the ground like a dead fish, her eyes hollow as she stared at the sky, letting Hu Ergou do as he pleased. It was over. She was finished. Without her purity, Lecheng would never want her, and she would never have a chance to become a city dweller. Tears slid from the corners of her eyes.

Hidden in the bushes, Yan Ziyue watched the scene with a sense of deep satisfaction, though her eyes remained cold as ice. *Zhang Qingqing, oh Zhang Qingqing, do you think this is the worst of it? I will make you understand that there is much worse to come.*

"Zhang Qingqing and Zhang Juhua deserve this!" Miao Lanlan whispered. "Those two beasts actually tried to use such a vicious scheme to harm you. If my husband hadn't been curious and gone to eavesdrop at the Yan house, we wouldn't have known how malicious that family really was."

After her husband told her, she had immediately gone to inform the daughter-in-law of the Xiao family. As for how the Xiao woman had managed it... in her opinion, the methods were too lenient; she should have let the entire village come to watch Zhang Qingqing get her comeuppance.

Yan Ziyue held her hand, deeply grateful. "Sister Miao, thank you so much! If it weren't for you, I would have been the one in that position, and I would have had no choice but to end my life." She had truly underestimated her deadbeat father's family and Xu Lecheng.

The four of them had been willing to resort to such depraved methods just to serve their own interests.

Miao Lanlan waved a hand. "No need to thank me; you should thank yourself. If you hadn't come to your senses, anything I said would have been useless. You might have even blamed me for trying to drive a wedge between you and your birth family." She had encountered people like that before, so she usually preferred watching the drama from afar rather than getting involved.

Just as Yan Ziyue was planning to send some meat to Miao Lanlan's house as a token of gratitude, she heard a roar of rage.

"Zhang Qingqing!"

Xu Lecheng had rushed over, hoping to play the hero and save Yan Ziyue so he could continue to reap benefits from her. Who could have known he would arrive to find his own wife being toyed with by Hu Ergou on the ground? In that moment, he felt the weight of betrayal crushing him.

Hearing his voice, Zhang Qingqing snapped back to reality. She shoved Hu Ergou away violently and scrambled to cover herself with her clothes. "Lecheng, listen to me, I was forced by Hu Ergou..."

Before she could finish, Hu Ergou cut her off. "Oh, you woman, are you trying to deny everything now that you’ve pulled up your pants?" He didn't care about the onlookers at all and brazenly pulled up his own trousers. "Zhang Qingqing, that’s not what you were saying when you were lying under me enjoying yourself earlier."

He patted Xu Lecheng on the shoulder, wearing a wicked grin. "Brother, don't look so sour. At least we’ve both played with the same woman. Besides, she’s just a woman—there are plenty more where she came from."

Xu Lecheng clenched his fists, his face turning ashen. He didn't dare make a move against Hu Ergou, knowing full well how ruthless and vicious the man was.

"Hu Ergou, why are you here?" Xu Lecheng asked. The woman here was supposed to be Yan Ziyue.

Hu Ergou, in an excellent mood, replied with a lewd tone, "Zhang Qingqing called me here. Xu Lecheng, you of all people know how restless she is. Since you couldn't satisfy her, she came to me."

"Lecheng, it’s not like that, he forced me!" Zhang Qingqing cried out. "I’m going to the Public Security Bureau to report him!"