Mr. Xie and Mrs. Xie are busy outside all day discussing business, negotiating collaborations with major bosses, and it’s impossible for Fengmian to spend all the money and forget about it.
The only possibility is that the house has been robbed.
And this thief is likely an insider!
There are only a few people in the Xie Family: no children and no other elderly relatives. The only one who stays home all day with nothing to do is Ye Xiaotong.
Fengmian sneered, almost instinctively guessing that she must be the one who stole the money.
So he opened the door and rushed straight to the kitchen.
Ye Xiaotong was reluctantly stir-frying, and the vegetables were crackling just as they went into the pan.
Suddenly, a person burst in at the kitchen door. Ye Xiaotong reflexively turned her head, only to be greeted by a loud slap in the face.
"You bitch! How dare you steal my money? Damn it, tell me, what did you do with the money?"
Without even asking, as soon as the two met, Fengmian dealt a heavy slap that directly stunned Ye Xiaotong.
She clutched her face for a while before she could react, then felt a burning pain all over her face, and stars appeared in her eyes.
The vegetables in the pan were still crackling, but no one had time to care.
Mr. Xie and Mrs. Xie came over upon hearing the noise, seeing the pan still burning, Mrs. Xie hurriedly extinguished the fire.
"What’s going on here?"
They didn’t know yet, but judging by Fengmian’s demeanor, they could tell he was very angry.
They didn’t know what Ye Xiaotong had done again, as Fengmian had not hit her for a long time since he promised last time not to hit her anymore.
"This bitch stole my money. Damn it, I scrimped and saved over a hundred bucks just to find out it’s all gone. She must have stolen it when we weren’t home!"
At this point, Fengmian’s expression suddenly hardened.
"Right, Dad, Mom, you should check too, maybe this bitch didn’t just steal my money!"
At his words, Mr. and Mrs. Xie’s expressions changed and they quickly went to check.
Before long, they returned with gloomy faces, looking at Ye Xiaotong with even more disgust.
"She stole quite a bit. All fifty bucks in my drawer are gone, even the ones tucked in between the books were found. Luckily, the big money was in the bank; otherwise, our home would be emptied by her."
After Mrs. Xie finished, Fengmian’s expression grew uglier.
"I told you from the start not to marry this country woman, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look? These poor people can’t see you doing well. She married into our family, eats well and dresses well, yet still steals money."
"It’s stealing money now; who knows what else she might steal in the future!"
Mr. and Mrs. Xie had unpleasant expressions, all blaming Ye Xiaotong, and their words resonated with Fengmian.
Unable to bear it any longer, he directly grabbed a belt, viciously whipping Ye Xiaotong and cursing loudly.
"Damn it, I’ll beat you to death, you ungrateful woman. All the money I work so hard to earn vanished because of you, one time after another."
"I lent you over a hundred and gave you tickets, then you messed up again costing me another hundred. And now? You even dared to steal!"
"Even if I don’t care about this child today, I’ll beat you to death! Damn it!"
Fengmian lost his mind a bit, every lash of the belt on Ye Xiaotong’s body was with full force, causing her to scream in pain and run around the room in chaos.
She wanted to use the child as leverage to make him stop, but Fengmian’s eyes were red with rage and he no longer cared about the child.
Now, Ye Xiaotong herself was scared. She feared without the child, she would be left with nothing, only able to dodge while protecting the child.
It wasn’t long until Ye Xiaotong was beaten with scars, clothes torn, and stuffing flying everywhere.
Mr. and Mrs. Xie were afraid their son would really get into trouble, so they pulled him back.
"Alright, alright, stop it, if you keep going she’ll be dead, and you’ll end up in jail, that kind of foolishness can’t be done, you hear? At worst, make her repay the money, or divorce, don’t drag yourself into trouble."
The Xie Family could not afford a big scandal, Mr. and Mrs. Xie could not allow their only son to be imprisoned because of a country woman.
Fortunately, Fengmian had vented enough.
He tossed the belt aside, walked up to Ye Xiaotong who was huddled and trembling in tears in the corner, grabbed her hair, and forced her to lift her head.
"Speak! What did you do with the stolen money? Where is it?"
There was still a red mark from the belt on Ye Xiaotong’s face, mixed with those disgusting acne and all the tears and snot from crying, creating more disgust in Fengmian’s eyes.
He even suspected that a child born from such a woman might grow up unattractive, possibly beyond redemption even with his looks.
Suddenly, he didn’t want to keep this child even more.
Ye Xiaotong was in so much pain she couldn’t discern anything else, her heart filled with countless regrets: regretting stealing the money, regretting not asking her own mother for money, regretting taking it all instead of leaving some behind, yet unaware she should regret for causing harm.
"The money... I already paid Cheng Yuan..."
She gasped from the pain, and under Fengmian’s pressing questions, Ye Xiaotong had to spill the whole story in broken words.
This time, the Xie Family’s faces grew even worse.
If she had stolen money for vanity, to buy expensive things, it would be another story; at least things could be returned or some money recovered.
But she had committed a wrong, and the money was paid to someone else, meaning not a penny would be recovered.
And for Fengmian, if he had willingly spent over a hundred bucks on Cheng Yuan, he wouldn’t mind, since there might be some return, like gaining Cheng Yuan’s favor.
But this money was paid for a wrong, vanished, and might make Cheng Yuan despise him more.
Thinking of this made Fengmian even angrier.
"Damn it, useless woman ruining everything!"
"Divorce! I really can’t live with you for another day. Go get rid of that child, you stupid thing aren’t worthy of having Fengmian’s child!"
As soon as he mentioned divorce, Ye Xiaotong’s eyes widened, and before Mr. and Mrs. Xie could say anything, she wrapped herself around Fengmian’s leg and fell to her knees.
"No, no, no! Can’t divorce! I don’t want a divorce, Fengmian! I can’t divorce! Please! I won’t ever dare again!"
"Waaah! I truly won’t dare anymore, I’ll obey from now on, I’ll do anything you want, please forgive me, I really know I was wrong!"
Ye Xiaotong was utterly frightened, she had no cards left to play, even Fengmian didn’t want the child anymore.
But she couldn’t get a divorce, because once she went back to the village, there was no doubt about how people would gossip and ridicule her, their spit alone could drown her.
Ye Xiaotong pleaded desperately, kneeling on the ground without any dignity, promising Mr. and Mrs. Xie and Fengmian many things, saying she was hardworking and could do anything, laundry, cooking, cleaning, just not to divorce.
Mr. and Mrs. Xie did indeed want a grandson, but they were in a bad mood now, so they didn’t say anything.
Instead, seeing her on the ground begging him for forgiveness, Fengmian suddenly had an odd feeling.
He stared at the crying Ye Xiaotong on the ground with an eerie smile.
"As long as we don’t divorce, anything goes, right?"
Ye Xiaotong thought there might be room for negotiation, nodding desperately.
"Yes, yes, yes, I’ll do whatever you say!"
Fengmian’s smile grew broader.
"Alright then, give us a kowtow first?"