CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 54: TEACHING A LESSON TO THE BAD GUYS

Wei Shulian burst into tears. At that moment, her mother, Mrs. Wu, came running over, crying and begging for mercy, "Old Madam, Old Madam, Lian’er must have been confused for a moment! She’s always had a delicate constitution and can’t endure punishment! This is all, all my fault for not teaching her properly as her mother. Every mistake, every fault, it’s all mine! If you want to beat or punish someone, let me, her mother, take it for her, ah."

Looking at her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Wei found her exasperating. However, since her son was fond of her, she could only say coldly, "You can stop pleading. She will definitely receive her punishment today. As for you, it’s not my place to reprimand you. When Wei Lao’er returns, I will tell him about today’s events. You should think carefully about it yourself."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Wu collapsed to the ground and began to wail and sob.

To say the Wei family truly didn’t know Wei Shulian was bullying and isolating Wei Shulan would certainly be impossible. They didn’t intervene, firstly, because they felt it was just a matter of sisters vying for favor within the inner residence—nothing serious. Secondly, Mrs. Wu had always been skilled at maintaining a facade; in the eyes of Mrs. Wei and Country Gentry Wei, she had always treated Wei Shulan very well. As for Wei Shulan, she had no birth mother to protect her and wasn’t particularly distinguished within the Wei family. Being timid by nature, no one stood up for her when Wei Shulian bullied her. Now that Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen had caused such a commotion to defend Wei Shulan, the matter was widely known, and Wei Shulian was bound to be punished.

After dealing with Wei Shulian, Mrs. Wei looked at her eldest maternal grandson, feeling both distressed for him and angry. She then turned and ordered the servants to send the wailing Zhou Zhenxuan back to the Zhou Clan. He wasn’t a Wei family child, so any reward or punishment should be decided by the Zhou Clan themselves.

As for the two servants who had helped Wei Shulian and Zhou Zhenxuan and participated in the fight, she had them all punished with a caning.

Seeing the wrongdoers receive their punishment, Zhao Zhitong grinned at Wei Shulan, a victorious smile on her face.

Wei Shulan’s eyes instantly reddened. After Wei Shulian had said those things, she had started to worry that Zhao Zhitong, like her other former companions, would abandon her. But Zhao Zhitong hadn’t. Not only did she refuse to believe Wei Shulian’s words, but she had also avenged her and fought for her sake.

She was deeply moved and silently resolved in her heart that Zhao Zhitong would be her lifelong best friend. She would protect Zhao Zhitong just as Zhao Zhitong had protected her today!

Country Gentry Wei had servants send Qiao Muchen home first, while Zhao Zhitong went back with her grandfather.

Wei Shulan, along with the servants, saw Zhao Zhitong and Sun Kang to the gate. Reluctantly holding Zhao Zhitong’s hand, Wei Shulan repeatedly apologized and thanked her.

Zhao Zhitong kept earnestly advising her, "You mustn’t be afraid, okay? You need to be bolder. If someone scolds you or hits you, you hit them back even harder! That way, the bullies won’t dare to pick on you, understand?"

Wei Shulan nodded, indicating she would.

And so, they parted ways.

Sun Kang led the bedraggled Zhao Zhitong and Sun Daqing home. As they entered the village, many villagers were outside, chatting and enjoying the evening cool.

Seeing the two messy children covered in dirt, no one paid them much mind. After all, village children all grew up rolling around in the mud.

Just then, someone recognized the girl as the Zhao Family’s precious Tongtong, the one they sent to school. They couldn’t help teasing, "Well, well, isn’t this the Zhao Family’s Tongtong? Aren’t you supposed to be at school? How did you get so messy? Did you get into a fight? Don’t tell me the Teacher at school is teaching brawling?"

Zhao Zhitong heard his sarcastic tone but didn’t get angry. She proudly raised her little head. "Hmph, I went to uphold justice and teach some villains a lesson! It wasn’t brawling!"

The villager laughed again. "Oh, just you? And you’re fighting villains? Can you even beat them?"

Zhao Zhitong knew he was mocking her but didn’t argue. Grandpa Bai had told her to be a tolerant child and not to argue with fools.

With another hmph, she scampered home. She wanted to tell her mother about the great deed she had done today.

Zhao Yue, who was reading in the courtyard, heard the commotion outside. He peeked out the door and saw Zhao Zhitong’s messy form disappearing.

Looks like she really got beaten up, eh? Before he could even feel happy about it, he received a smack on the head. His father’s rough voice boomed, "You’re not taking your studies seriously at all!"

Then, seeing Zhao Zhitong outside, he glared at his son. "This wasn’t your doing, was it?"

Zhao Yue felt aggrieved. "Dad, I’ve been studying at home this whole time!"

Butcher Zhao glared at him. "Good that it wasn’t you. If it were, see if I wouldn’t give you a thrashing! Stop always disliking people. Spend more time with the Qiao Clan’s young master and the Zhao Family’s young lady, understand? Don’t always be thinking about running wild outside with those friends of yours."

With that said, he told Zhao Yue to study hard, and then Butcher Zhao went about his business.

Zhao Zhitong scampered home, running right into Zhao Dong and her two maternal uncles, who had just returned from the county town. She rushed towards them, shouting, "Dad! Second Uncle! Third Uncle!"

All three were startled to see the little young girl, messy as she was, sprinting towards them.

"Tongtong, how did you end up like this!"

Sun Youli immediately glared at his son. "Sun Daqing, did you bully your little cousin?"

The equally messy Sun Daqing protested loudly, "I would never bully my little cousin! In fact, I even helped her teach some villains a lesson!"

Just then, Sun Mei and the others, who were coming out of the courtyard, were also alarmed by the sight.

Then, Sun Mei noticed that Sun Kang had returned with Zhao Zhitong and asked, "Dad? How come you came back with Tongtong?"

Sun Kang replied, "Let’s go inside first, then we’ll talk."

After hearing Zhao Zhitong’s spirited account and Sun Kang’s additions, the family finally understood what had happened.

Seeing that Zhao Zhitong and Sun Daqing were both lively and unharmed, the family breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Sun Mei admonished her daughter, "Tongtong, no matter what, you shouldn’t resort to violence, understand? From now on, we mustn’t fight. We have to persuade people with reason. Sometimes, even if others are in the wrong, if you hurt them, you’ll go from being in the right to being in the wrong. Do you understand?"

Zhao Zhitong didn’t quite agree. When dealing with villains, a simple, rough beating is best, she thought.

Outwardly, however, she obediently replied, "Okay, Mother. Tongtong will listen to you. I’ll persuade people with reason."

Of course, whether her "reason" actually meant "reason" or "strength," only she herself knew.

Hearing this, Sun Mei finally smiled. "Such a good girl. Come, Mother will take you to wash up and change. Your father bought you a lot of paper, you know."

The mention of paper made Zhao Zhitong’s eyes light up, and she grew excited all over. She was eager to see it but was promptly caught by Sun Mei, who dragged her off to wash her face and change her clothes.

Meanwhile, Sun Daqing was having his ear twisted and his bottom smacked by his mother, Mrs. Liu. "You saw your little cousin fighting, and as her older cousin, instead of stopping her, you joined in! You little rascal! You’re tough and thick-skinned, so you wouldn’t get hurt easily, but your little cousin is a girl. What if she got injured?"

Actually, her smacks weren’t that painful, but Sun Daqing wailed dramatically, running around the courtyard and shouting, "They were hitting Little Cousin! Whoever hits Little Cousin, I’ll beat them up!"

Mrs. Liu fumed, "Hah! Still talking back? See if I don’t give you a good thrashing!"