Ch 3: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

But in the village, a man hitting his wife was nothing out of the ordinary. Having her work harder? That was even less of an issue. As long as it wasn’t too extreme, the wife’s family usually had no right to interfere—especially in Miao Shi’s case, since she had no son of her own. Without a male heir, even her brothers had little leverage when standing up for her. If Shen Zhigao hadn’t gone so far this time, they wouldn’t have had a legitimate reason to come and cause trouble.

But if there was another way out, then why should their sister continue to endure this life? Even if it was normal for village men to beat their wives, even if most women simply accepted their fate, did that mean their own sister had to suffer too?

Qing Ge’er was hardworking and filial. He was even more capable than most of the boys his age. If he and his mother struck out on their own, they could at least rent a couple of acres of land as tenant farmers—it would be enough to get by. Their family could pitch in with some help, and during the off-season, they could bring the younger boys to assist Qing Ge’er in clearing more land. It wouldn’t be impossible to carve out a life for themselves. And if, in the future, Miao Shi could find a husband to marry into her household, she might end up living a far better life than she ever did in the Shen family.

The more the Miao brothers thought about it, the more excited they became. They were no longer focused on trying to reconcile things—in fact, they saw no reason to hold back against Shen Zhigao anymore.

Their sister had been with this bastard for half a lifetime, and now he wanted to cast her aside just to marry some widow he had been fooling around with? And the worst part—he had even gotten her pregnant? That was nothing short of disgraceful!

Miao Xing and Miao Wang were the first to throw punches. The other men from Shiqu Village, who had been itching for a fight, could no longer restrain themselves and quickly joined in. The only one who didn’t fight was Tongsheng Miao, who instead clung to Village Chief Zhao, muttering under his breath, “Such a disgrace! Truly shameful! A little roughing up is fine, but don’t actually kill anyone!”

The Shen family couldn’t just stand by and watch Shen Zhigao get beaten up. But the men from Shiqu Village were all strong and in their prime. Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen were too old to get involved, and Village Chief Zhao was stuck listening to Tongsheng Miao’s chatter. The only option was to push Shen Zhigao’s younger brother, Shen Zhiwei, forward. But even he couldn’t fight against so many people. Within moments, both Shen brothers were wailing as they were beaten to the ground.

Seeing her two sons being beaten so brutally, Old Lady Shen immediately started howling, crying and cursing as she clutched at Village Chief Zhao. “Murder! They’re going to kill my sons! Village Chief, you have to stand up for our family! Shiqu Village has come here to bully us! That hen who can’t lay eggs, even making her a concubine was already a kindness—who else would want her if she left us? And now she wants to take my grandson away too? Where’s the justice in that?!”

But Miao Shi had had enough. Something inside her had snapped.

She wailed even louder than Old Lady Shen, sobbing hysterically. “Pah! If your son wants to wallow in filth with a cheap widow, that’s his business, but don’t drag me into it! If you don’t let Qing Ge’er leave with me, I have no way to live! I’ll just hang myself right here at the front gate! I’ll hang myself and watch from the rafters to see how your family goes on living!”

For years, she had been docile, submissive, and easy to trample on. But now, she spat right in Old Lady Shen’s face, leaving the old woman momentarily speechless.

Then, as the image of Miao Shi hanging from a beam and staring at her flashed through her mind, Old Lady Shen’s face paled.

Shen Qing stood behind his mother, his gaze fixed on Old Lady Shen and Old Man Shen. His voice was calm, but every word carried a sharp edge. “If anything happens to my mother, I will have nothing left to worry about. People say you can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can’t guard against a thief for a thousand days. Let’s see if Widow Li and the child in her belly have the ability to stay guarded forever—or maybe it’d be better if we all just ended things together. Either way, I won’t allow the person who harms my mother to live.”

“W-who’s harming your mother?!” Old Lady Shen was so shaken by his words that she stammered. “She’s the one threatening to die, who’s harming her? And you—you would dare lay a hand on your own father and grandparents?!”

“Do you think I wouldn’t?” Shen Qing yanked his hatchet out of the kang table, testing its weight in his hand. He glanced at Old Lady Shen, watching as she fell completely silent in terror. Only then did he calmly tuck the blade back at his waist.

Village Chief Zhao, watching the gleaming, razor-sharp hatchet and the grim set of Shen Qing’s jaw, suddenly felt deeply relieved that he had chosen to speak to him kindly earlier.

He had heard rumors about Shen Qing’s ferocity before, but he had never thought much of them. As the village chief and an elder, he didn’t concern himself with the affairs of the younger generation.

He had always thought, How fierce can a ger really be? At worst, he might be a little aggressive when fighting with the village boys, unwilling to back down.

But now, as he looked at the young man standing before him, hatchet in hand, he suddenly realized—he had gravely underestimated him.

Today was the first time seeing it with his own eyes—Shen Qing truly was as fierce as the rumors said.

Even Village Chief Zhao Youdang felt a chill run down his spine, let alone the Shen family.

As the saying goes, the bold fear the reckless, and the reckless fear the ones who have nothing to lose. If Shen Qing no longer cared about his life, then those who did have something to lose had to be cautious. More importantly, they could all tell—Shen Qing wasn’t just bluffing. If he said it, he would do it.

At this point, Shen Qing had nothing to lose, while Shen Zhigao treated the unborn child in Widow Li’s belly like it was his lifeline. Seeing his two sons beaten to a pulp and wailing on the ground, Old Man Shen and Old Lady Shen had no choice but to concede.

“If you stay, at least you’ll have a meal to eat. If you leave and starve to death, don’t come begging at our doorstep! If you’re leaving, then hurry up and go!”

But aside from the Shen family, even Village Chief Zhao felt that this was a good outcome.

Taking a child away from their father had never happened before in the surrounding villages. But Shen Qing wasn’t the family’s heir—he was just a ger, and an eighteen-year-old ger at that, nearly at the age of marriage.

According to tradition, once a woman or a ger was married, they no longer belonged to their birth family but to their husband’s family. Since Shen Qing would eventually belong to another household, what difference did it make whether he left sooner or later? At most, it was just a matter of reputation—but after what Shen Zhigao had done, did the Shen family even have any reputation left to uphold?

This arrangement gave Widow Li and her child a legitimate place in the household while satisfying both Miao Shi and Shen Qing. It was the best possible solution—so what was the Shen family still making such a fuss about?

What Zhao Youdang didn’t know was that Old Lady Shen had been planning to work Shen Qing to the bone before selling him off to some remote mountain village.

Finally hearing their agreement, Shen Qing felt a weight lift off his chest. He glanced around the room—his father and uncle, their faces bruised and swollen yet still cursing under their breath, Old Lady Shen glaring at him with venom in her eyes as if she wanted to tear a piece of flesh from him.

There was not a single thread of attachment left in his heart for the home he had lived in for nearly nineteen years.

He helped Miao Shi to her feet and turned to the village chief and his uncles. “We’re leaving now.”

After causing such a scene, it was only logical to settle everything while the people from Shiqu Village were still around. Miao Xing understood and turned to the village chief. “Village Chief Zhao, let’s write up the divorce papers now.”

As the village chief, Zhao Youdang still had to say a few words to smooth things over. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking.

“Zhigao is set on this, and if his wife stays, life will only get harder for her. Your ger is filial and will surely have a good future. Maybe it’s for the best. Even if the two families won’t be in-laws anymore, there’s no need to hold grudges and ruin the relationship between our villages.”

That last sentence was directed at the Miao brothers.

Miao Xing let out a cold snort—clearly, he wasn’t buying it. In his mind, as long as he ever ran into Shen Zhigao again, he would beat him up on sight.

Village Chief Zhao pretended not to notice and glanced at the bruised and battered Shen brothers. “What Shen Zhigao did was dishonorable, but still, consider his situation—he’s getting old, and without an heir, who will take care of him in his final years? If Xiao Zhang were still here, things wouldn’t have come to this. How about this—I’ll decide, and the Shen family will give some compensation to Qing Ge’er’s mother.”

Hearing this, Shen Zhiwei’s fulang, Zhao Shi, immediately panicked.

A divorce and a wife being cast out were two very different things. If a wife was cast out, it meant she was at fault and could only leave with her original dowry. But if it was a divorce, and the husband was at fault, then the wife was entitled to a portion of the family’s assets. And now, the village chief was even saying they had to provide additional compensation?

“They beat up our men and took Qing Ge’er away, and now we have to compensate her too?! She’s already leaving with our family’s child—shouldn’t that be enough? Village Chief, you can’t be favoring outsiders over your own people!”

Village Chief Zhao’s expression darkened. “Since when does a fulang interrupt when I’m speaking? Who is an outsider here? Miao Shi and Qing Ge’er will still be living in this village—they are part of Lantang Village!”

Zhao Shi didn’t dare argue any further, but he muttered under his breath, “Why does Qing Ge’er get to speak?”

The village chief shot him a sharp glare, and he immediately shrank behind Shen Zhiwei, not daring to say another word. But he wasn’t satisfied and pinched Shen Zhiwei’s arm, signaling him to speak up.

Shen Zhiwei, however, either wasn’t paying attention or had been beaten too senseless to argue. He simply hung his head in silence.

Old Lady Shen wasn’t happy about giving compensation either. She opened her mouth to protest but was immediately shut down by Village Chief Zhao.

“Then maybe you don’t want that grandson of yours after all? Tongsheng Miao can go report this to the county office, and they’ll drown both the widow and your son in the pond—that should settle everything!”

Before Old Lady Shen could say anything, Shen Zhigao panicked. “Mother, just listen to the village chief! Jiaofeng’s child can’t be harmed!”

Zhao Shi was furious, his resentment toward Shen Zhigao growing. Their family was already struggling financially, and now his brother-in-law was dragging in more trouble, spending their shared resources on a new wife.

Even Old Lady Shen shot her son a glare. But in the end, he was still her favored child, and she was thinking of her unborn grandson. So with a cold snort, she said nothing more.

Old Man Shen picked up his fallen pipe from the floor, knocked it against the kang bed, and sighed. “Do as the village chief says.”

He had already seen the situation clearly. The Miao brothers had come with a whole group from Shiqu Village—there was no getting out of this today. If they refused, his two sons would get beaten even worse.

As for Qing Ge’er? He was an ungrateful little wretch, ruthless enough to pull a knife in front of his own father. But in the end, it was indeed Shen Zhigao who had handled things poorly. Compensation was inevitable.

With the family head making the decision, no one else dared to object.

Village Chief Zhao let out a quiet sigh of relief. After an entire morning of chaos, this disgraceful matter was finally coming to an end. Now, they just needed to sort out the final details.

He fetched a brush and ink. With Tongsheng Miao present, Zhao dictated the divorce papers while Tongsheng Miao wrote them out in more refined language, also serving as a witness. The documents covered not only the terms of the separation but also the division of property and the status of their child.

The reasons for the divorce were slightly adjusted to be more respectable. Shen Zhigao’s infertility concerns were mentioned, but Widow Li’s affair was not. As for Shen Qing, the official reason was written according to his own words—he had already fulfilled his duty to his father and would now fulfill his duty to his mother.

When it came to dividing property, however, arguments broke out again.

In the end, after much back-and-forth, Miao Shi was given one liang of silver—half as compensation for her lost dowry, half as an additional settlement. The Shen family would also provide one year’s worth of grain, let her take her own clothing and bedding, and even give her a couple of sets of dishes.

Miao Shi and Shen Qing would stay in Lantang Village, with Miao Shi officially registered as a head of household. They would temporarily live in an old vacant house at the foot of the mountain, which the Shen family would rent for them for a year.

From now on, they would have no further ties to the Shen family.

All these details were written into the divorce and severance documents. Once everything was agreed upon, Miao Shi and Shen Zhigao pressed their fingerprints onto the divorce papers, while Zhao Youdang and Tongsheng Miao signed and stamped their seals as witnesses.

The divorce papers were made in four copies—one kept by Zhao Youdang, one by Tongsheng Miao, and the remaining two were given to Miao Shi and Shen Zhigao. With the documents secured, there was nothing more to be said. After nearly twenty years as husband and wife, their marriage had come to an end in such an undignified manner.

Once they had signed, it was time for Shen Qing and Shen Zhigao to formalize their severance of ties. Village Chief Zhao turned to Shen Qing and said, “He is still your biological father. Bow to him to fulfill your final act of filial duty.”

Shen Qing raised his eyes and looked at Shen Zhigao, whose face was swollen and bruised. The rigid, severe expression he had worn all this time softened ever so slightly.

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