Chapter 519 - 176: The 80s Drama Queen, Forced to Operate as a Top Student (11)
Chapter 519: Chapter 176: The 80s Drama Queen, Forced to Operate as a Top Student (11)
Back then, people’s awe and fear of the police station was unimaginable. Regardless of whether the person taken in was innocent, their reputation would hit the ground with a THWACK and shatter into a million pieces.
No one would believe you were innocent. After all, why would the officers at the station come for you and not someone else?
Besides, the punishments varied. Some were just lectured, while others were locked up for a period. Since no one could see the official files, people were wary of anyone who had ever been taken to the station.
When it came to bad people, the general public subscribed to the principle of "better safe than sorry," lest a moment of soft-heartedness or carelessness get them dragged into the mess too.
Understanding the critical nature of the situation, Xiao Xuezhen clenched his fists. "Pang, Junzi, who on earth told you to say that?"
This tactic truly put him in a bind. He either had to beat the children severely, causing them physical harm and destroying his relationship with them, or their reputations would be utterly ruined!
If an adult wasn’t pulling the strings, how could elementary school-aged children possibly come up with such a plan?
Xiao Xuezhen felt that he must have provoked someone recently. ’Why is nothing going my way?’
The two little guys glanced at each other and quickly covered their mouths. "Anyway, just... just do what we said, Uncle Xiao. Otherwise, you can go to the station and bail them out!"
With that, they turned and ran for home.
Xiao Xuezhen’s expression was grim. He had been scheming against people for so many years and had never once failed. Yet, ever since he’d met Sheng Leyun, he was being constantly thwarted.
And now, was he being threatened through two children?
The problem was that he was exposed while his enemy was in the shadows. He didn’t even know who his enemy was, so how could he possibly devise a counter-plan?
Back at home, his face was cold as he called out for Xiao Hailan and Xiao Haiyang, who had already finished dinner and retreated into their own little worlds.
"Kneel!" Xiao Xuezhen snarled through clenched teeth.
Xiao Hailan and Xiao Haiyang had never seen their father so furious. They were only children, after all, and they trembled in fear. Before they could even figure out what was happening, their legs had gone soft and they were kneeling on the floor.
Without asking a single question, Xiao Xuezhen grabbed a feather duster and began viciously striking their thighs, buttocks, and arms. He didn’t hold back at all, and every blow left a red welt.
"Brother Xiao, what are you doing?" Ren Xingchen was stunned. Only after he had landed seven or eight blows did she think to intervene.
The two children, partly from pain and partly from sheer terror, finally started wailing at the top of their lungs.
"Mama, open your eyes and look at your poor daughter and precious son! Dad married a new wife and now he’s a stepfather who’s trying to beat us to death...!"
Xiao Hailan wailed and screamed, truly heartbroken.
Seeing her cry, Xiao Haiyang made an even bigger scene. When he let loose, his voice could be heard throughout the entire floor. "I want my mama! I don’t want a stepfather and I don’t want a stepmother!"
"They’re going to beat us to death..."
This instantly piqued the neighbors’ gossipy interest. Several families from next door threw on jackets over their pajamas and shuffled over in their slippers, rushing to break up the fight.
"Old Xiao, what are you doing? The children are still young! Is there anything that can’t be settled by talking? Why must you resort to beating them?"
"Exactly. Children are fragile. If something were to happen to them, how would you ever explain it to the Lan Family?"
"You can’t just beat children to educate them; you have to be patient and reason with them. Hailan and Haiyang are big kids now..."
"You never had the heart to lay a hand on them their whole lives. Why are you being so harsh this time...?"
Xiao Xuezhen laughed coldly. "They certainly are the fine grandchildren the Lan Family raised!"
"Not a single one of them has a good bone in their body. If I don’t straighten them out now, who knows what they’ll be capable of when they grow up."
The neighbors continued their attempts to placate him. "They’re just children, what terrible mistake could they have made? I can see they’re truly terrified. The three of you should just talk it out. No more violence..."
By now, most of Xiao Xuezhen’s anger had dissipated. Seeing the two children’s faces covered in tears and snot, he felt a pang in his own heart.
But when he remembered what Pang and Junzi had said, he knew he had to be ruthless for the sake of his children’s reputations.
Besides, wasn’t this huge commotion he was causing just part of an act?
Sheng Leyun sat in the inner room, gazing at the stars in the sky through the window.
’Silly girl, do you see?’ she thought. ’These people who made things so difficult for you... they really aren’t that hard to handle.’
’It was just that the body’s original owner was too desperate to be liked and cherished. She was held in check by Xiao Xuezhen and Ren Xingchen, who lorded the "debt of raising her" over her head. Under constant pressure from her supposed family, the original owner had developed a servile nature and lost her instinct to fight back.’
’Or rather, after countless disappointments, the original owner had simply lost all hope for her life.’
After the chaos continued for a long while, Xiao Xuezhen finally declared he wouldn’t hit them anymore.
But when Xiao Hailan saw Sheng Leyun amble out for a drink of water, she snarled through clenched teeth, "It was you, wasn’t it?"
"You’re the one who made Dad hit me!"
Sheng Leyun tilted her head in confusion. "I don’t know what you’re talking about..."
Before she could finish, Xiao Haiyang huffed, "Stop pretending! We told Pang and Junzi to ask you for money—"
Xiao Hailan’s expression changed, and she lunged forward to cover his mouth, but everyone present had heard it all.
Now this was some juicy gossip!
Every family had mischievous children; they might occasionally sneak some money from their parents to buy snacks and toys.
But parents all firmly believed their own children weren’t bad at heart. A harsh lesson would teach them to remember, and then the matter would be closed.
However, what Pang and Junzi did on the way home from school was utterly shocking. The neighbors never imagined something like this could happen so close to home!
With that one sentence, Xiao Haiyang made all the neighbors feel extreme dislike and disgust toward all four children.
The thought that their own children might have suffered the same thing made their hearts clench with pain.
If a child resisted, they’d surely get beaten up. And if the other kids didn’t know their own strength and something terrible happened, it would be the death of the parents!
But if the child submitted, it would happen a first time, then a second, and a third. It would make them cowardly, doomed to be bullied wherever they went...
The neighbors exchanged looks, all interest in mediating gone:
"Old Xiao, you really ought to discipline your children properly."
"It’s one thing for kids to be jealous. Who isn’t a little jealous sometimes?"
"But inciting other kids to corner someone and extort money? That’s going too far, isn’t it?"
"If a sapling grows crooked, it needs to be pruned."
Soon, the neighbors left, and only the five of them remained in the room.
Xiao Xuezhen’s face darkened as he turned to Sheng Leyun. "Was it you who sent Pang and Junzi with a message for me?"
Sheng Leyun looked bewildered. "What message?"
"I just told them I had no money on me. They let me go after that. Wait a minute..." She suddenly snapped her gaze toward Xiao Xuezhen, Xiao Hailan, and Xiao Haiyang.
"How did you know I was cornered and asked for money?"
"Ah, so it was you!"
Sheng Leyun stared at the others in the room, her face a mask of shock and disbelief.