Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 199: Zheng Sanniang is about to be sold to the gambling house

Zheng Sanniang thought that Li Changgen had changed his personality, so she happily cooked some food, and the family had lunch together.

But unexpectedly, after dinner, Li Changgen told Zheng Sanniang to pack her clothes and take her out.

Zheng Sanniang didn't understand what Li Changgen meant, so she asked him where he was taking her? Was he going back to her parents' home?

Li Changgen hesitated and was pressed to answer. Finally, he stamped his feet and told the truth. He had lost Zheng Sanniang to the owner of the gambling house for twenty taels of silver.

Zheng Sanniang felt as if struck by lightning when she heard this. When she came to her senses, she knelt down and begged.

At first, the parents-in-law were so angry that they scolded Li Changgen, but then they heard Li Changgen say that if Zheng Sanniang did not go, the owner of the gambling house would come to take back the house within three days, and the whole family would have to sleep on the streets.

The parents-in-law wavered in their attitude and stopped talking.

Seeing that her pleading was futile, Zheng Sanniang said she would rather die than go, and stood up and tried to bang her head against the wall.

Unexpectedly, Li Changgen became furious and grabbed her, then started beating Zheng Sanniang with his fists.

Amidst the cursing, everyone realized that Sun Dalang had been fired by his employer a long time ago because he was distracted by gambling and took less money during work.

Now I am only thinking about making up for my losses in the gambling house.

Li Changgen said that if Zheng Sanniang had to die, she had to die in the gambling house, otherwise he would not be able to pay back the twenty taels of silver and the family would have no place to live.

He picked up his crying little son and went out.

Before leaving, he left a vicious sentence: "If you want your son to live, don't try to commit suicide."

"You'd better get dressed and wash up. It's important for you to follow me tomorrow. Maybe the owner of the gambling house will let me gamble a few more times."

Zheng Sanniang, who was determined to commit suicide, did not dare to die, but she also did not want to be sold like this. In a panic, she thought of her cousin who lived across the street. Thinking that her cousin should be closing her stall and going home, she ran over to cry and complain.

Li finished her speech in one breath and said angrily, "Li Changgen is really a piece of shit. He even sold his own wife just for gambling money."

"Even a tiger won't eat its own cubs, but he actually used his own son to control Zheng Sanniang and force her to submit."

"You didn't see it. Zheng Sanniang's face looked fine, but the invisible parts of her body were bruised and blue from being beaten. She looked like a mess."

Thinking about the scene at that time, Li couldn't help but worry: "Zheng Sanniang is so miserable. After today, will she really be sold to the gambling house tomorrow?"

After listening to this, Shen Yu felt deeply powerless.

If this happened in modern times, one could call the police, get a divorce, or at worst, have a fight with the husband's family.

But now, he could only sit aside and sympathize with Zheng Sanniang for her bad marriage, watching the usually taciturn young woman with a kind smile being sold to a gambling house by her husband.

So what will be Zheng Sanniang's fate? Will she be sold to someone else or to a brothel?

Thinking of this, she felt a chill in her heart and couldn't help shivering.

Shen Yu was silent for a while, then asked Li: "Mother, where are Zheng Sanniang's family members? Isn't Sister Liu her cousin? Can't they help her?"

Li shook her head helplessly: "Zheng Sanniang's family is not doing well either, so they can't afford this amount of money."

"Mrs. Liu wanted to help, but her parents-in-law tried their best to stop her."

"It is said that we have been neighbors with Li Changgen's parents-in-law for many years. If we show up, we will definitely have a falling out with Li Changgen's family. How can we go out and meet them in the future?"

After saying this, Mrs. Li said angrily, "Sister Liu is a good person, but her mother-in-law is too powerful. She refused to do this and kept urging Sister Liu to send Zheng Sanniang back as soon as possible."

Shen Yu, a modern person, could not understand Liu's mother-in-law's thoughts, so he could only guess: "Then is it because her mother-in-law doesn't want Liu to pay the money that she is unwilling to do so?"

Li shook her head and said, "You are a girl, you don't understand the twists and turns here."

"If it's just twenty taels of silver for Zheng Sanniang, even if Liu Sao and her mother-in-law object, Liu Sao will find a way to get the money for my cousin herself."

"But if you want Zheng Sanniang to get out of this hell, you have to divorce Li Changgen."

"When Mrs. Liu tried to persuade Zheng Sanniang to divorce, she just cried and refused to agree."

"If they refuse to divorce, Zheng Sanniang will still be in their house."

"I got twenty taels of silver this time. If he loses again next time and sets his sights on Zheng Sanniang, what should I do? Should I lend him money again or just stand by and watch?"

After hearing this, Shen Yu realized that what Liu Sao's mother-in-law was worried about was not about the twenty taels of silver at all.

Once a person gets addicted to gambling, it is like a bottomless pit. Friends and relatives are too busy trying to avoid it, so who would want to get involved? "

Shen Yu asked again: "What does Zheng Sanniang think? Why doesn't she want to divorce? Li Changgen is going to sell her off, so why does she still follow him wholeheartedly?"

Li said bitterly, "Zheng Sanniang is a weak-willed person. She doesn't have her own ideas. She just listens to what Li Changgen says and never refutes him."

"If she had her own opinion, her husband wouldn't be like this now. He always tolerates Li Changgen and only cries to his child at night when he knows that Li Changgen is gambling. What's the point of crying?"

"We also advised her that Li Changgen was addicted to gambling and would do anything. She should stay away from such people."

"Zheng Sanniang felt that if they divorced, the child would be left in the Li family and she would never see her son Xiao Zhuzi again. She said that if she couldn't see the child, there would be no point in living."

Shen Yu sighed and also felt a headache. With Zheng Sanniang in this state, there was really nothing he could do.

If a person cannot stand up on her own, others cannot help her even if they want to. This is really not a problem that can be solved by money.

Li said, "That's what makes people angry. Mrs. Liu is also in a dilemma. Lending money to her is like filling a bottomless pit. Not lending money is like watching her jump into the fire pit."

The three of them were confused for a moment, but they heard several knocks on the gate.

Li and Jiang quickly got up and went out to see.

Dun Dun, Yu Tao and the others also heard the knock on the door and came out of their rooms to see what was going on.

Li waved her hand at them: "This is none of your business, kids. Go back to the house."

Seeing the three people go back, Li stood at the back door of the courtyard and listened, but there was no movement.

Shen Yu also stood at the door and looked around. Jiang and Li looked at each other, thinking they had heard wrongly.

Just as the two were about to go back, there were knocks on the gate again.