Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1121 - 6 Domestic Violence and Rescue

Chapter 1121: Chapter 6 Domestic Violence and Rescue

Tao Ran’s stepmother, Jiang Ting, pushed the door open and immediately launched into a tirade, her sharp, judgmental eyes first scanning Black Long Straight before turning to the shelves to check how many goods had sold.

"Is that a Porsche outside? I saw one at the car show this morning; it must be over a million, huh," Jiang Ting sneered. "When will your useless dad ever buy me a car? Taking taxis every day is killing me." After casting another envious glance at the Cayenne, she sauntered to the cash register, swaying her hips, grabbed Black Long Straight’s arm, and pulled her aside. Then, opening the drawer and seeing the neatly stacked bills and coins, a smile instantly spread across her lips, "How much did we make today?"

The stepmother would come by every evening to supervise and take the day’s earnings, leaving only the smallest change for Tao Ran’s turnover. Her greed was matched only by her fear that Black Long Straight might run off with the money, not considering that the daily sales barely covered half a month’s living expenses.

"505.20!" Tao Ran reported a number and, after standing firm, took a few steps back to keep as much distance from her stepmother as possible—to avoid a beating.

"Why so little?" Jiang Ting frowned and complained, shooting Tao Ran a fierce glance before grabbing the bills, spitting on her fingers, and starting to count. She didn’t trust her daughter.

Tao Ran remained silent. Her stepmother was too stingy, setting high prices for items and forbidding any discounts. After being cheated once, only a fool would return as a customer.

"Why is there only so much? That doesn’t seem right," Jiang Ting counted twice, brooding over the slim stack of bills. Suddenly, she turned around, rushed at Tao Ran, and swung her hand towards her cheek.

Slap—a crisp sound rang out as the stepmother’s slap bloated Black Long Straight’s mouth, but that wasn’t the end of it. Jiang Ting, gritting her teeth, twisted viciously into her body.

Tao Ran had grown accustomed to this abuse; she merely shrank her shoulders slightly, daring not even to raise her hands defensively, knowing that would only incite her stepmother to even greater rage and longer beatings.

"Are you driving away customers with your poor service, keeping them from returning?" Jiang Ting didn’t stop her assault; feeling Tao Ran’s clothes were too thick to cause pain, she grabbed her ear and yanked it hard, "Or are you just busy strumming your crappy guitar, reading your useless books, neglecting work? If you don’t make a thousand tomorrow, I’m cutting your living expenses for next month."

Tao Ran, like a ginkgo tree whipped by a storm, bit her lip and said nothing!

As Jiang Ting walked into the Supermarket, berating Tao Ran, Tang Zheng was awakened by the noise but didn’t rashly intervene. After all, it was Black Long Straight’s family matter, and interfering could just bring her unnecessary trouble, giving her stepmother an excuse to lash out.

Seeing the coat draped over the girl’s body, Tang Zheng suddenly felt warm and didn’t want to get up, so he leaned against the shelf and watched the conflict at the cash register. He had hoped to see Tao Ran fight back, even argue a bit, rather than submit passively.

Everyone who has survived in the Trojan Horse Game understands that only by fighting back, constantly struggling, can one carve out a chance for survival.

"Change, do you want to live like this forever?" Tang Zheng muttered, but to no avail—Tao Ran still didn’t speak up, though Jiang Ting, due to her position, noticed him.

"Ugh, who are you?" Jiang Ting stopped her actions, instinctively sizing up Tang Zheng by his clothes, trying to gauge his status. Seeing her daughter’s coat on him, she flew into a rage, suddenly grabbed Tao Ran by the ear, flinging her about.

"Have you no shame? At your age, you’re already seducing men? Did you sleep with him, too?" Jiang Ting bellowed loudly, her spit flying everywhere, splattering Tang Zheng’s face. She wasn’t concerned about Black Long Straight, but was thinking of fetching a good price for her. Tao Ran might have been partially blind, but her looks were undeniable.

"If she’s been deflowered, she’ll be worth nothing!" Jiang Ting glowered at Tang Zheng, furious at the thought that he might have taken advantage of her cash cow, "You little bastard, seducing a good girl, come. Let’s go to your place. If you can’t come up with two thousand, I’ll accuse you of breaking in and r----."

"Mom, what are you talking about? He’s a good person!" Tao Ran, hearing her stepmother slander Tang Zheng and trying to extort money, panicked, grabbed her, and urged Tang Zheng to leave quickly, "You need to go now!"

"Shameless b---h, get lost!" Jiang Ting pushed Tao Ran away and swayed her hips toward Tang Zheng, "Where’s your house? Your phone number, give it to me!"

Tang Zheng frowned, he had never encountered such a shrewish woman before.

"Didn’t you hear me speak?" Jiang Ting mistook Tang Zheng’s silence for fear and wondered if she should raise the sum to five thousand. Then, intending to intimidate him, she smacked at his cheek.

Although this was Tao Ran’s stepmother, Tang Zheng, holding back his anger, grabbed Jiang Ting’s wrist, refraining from counterattacking.

"Let me go, you hooligan! I’ll accuse you of r----! Help, someone help! There’s a thug here!" Jiang Ting, outraged by Tang Zheng’s action, hurled insults and spat a glob of phlegm at his cheek.

Tang Zheng dodged, shaking his head, and rewarded her with a slap on her left cheek.

"You hit me?" Jiang Ting staggered back, trembling with rage, then lunged at Tang Zheng like a fishwife, clawing at his face to disfigure him.

"Unreasonable!" This time, Tang Zheng put more strength into his response, his backhand hitting Jiang Ting’s right cheek and pushing her back.

"What are you doing? Don’t make things worse. Go already." Tao Ran rushed over to intercept her stepmother, urging Tang Zheng to leave.

"You ungrateful brat, aren’t even married off yet, and you’re already turning against your family." Seeing her usual antics ineffective and unable to overpower Tang Zheng, Jiang Ting redirected her anger onto Black Long Straight, grabbing her hair and pulling hard, then aimed a kick at her lower abdomen.

Tang Zheng grabbed Jiang Ting’s arm and pulled her away, but the woman showed no signs of stopping as she kicked Tao Ran in the abdomen. Black Long Straight crashed into the shelf, contorted in pain, and knelt on the ground.

"Enough!" Tang Zheng was annoyed. He lifted his leg and kicked Jiang Ting in the thigh, knocking her over.

"Ouch, she’s killing me!" Jiang Ting shook her head, her red hair flying wildly, her hands slapping the floor loudly. As an Ordinary Citizen, she didn’t want to bother the police, operating on the principle that it was better to avoid trouble if possible; otherwise, she would have called them long ago.

"Do you think it’s easy for me to extort some money?" Jiang Ting cried out, glaring viciously at Tang Zheng. She had sharp eyes and noticing that the kid was full of concern and anger watching Tao Ran get hit, she knew he liked her daughter, "Hmph, this time I must clean out your wife’s savings."

"What’s all this noise about? Who’s killing whom?" A traffic policeman pushed the door open and walked in. Originally somewhat worried, but seeing the scene inside the Supermarket, he relaxed, clearly a domestic conflict.

"No one’s been killed, just some family quarrel." Tao Ran, worried about causing trouble for Tang Zheng, hurriedly explained.

"Kid, are you going to pay or not?" Jiang Ting roared in a low voice, seizing the opportunity to threaten Tang Zheng. In fact, she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it either, and she became a little scared upon seeing the traffic policeman.

"Get me six cans of beer, a bag of beef, a bag of roast duck, two cans of luncheon meat." The policeman looked over the items on the shelf and casually picked a few. After saying this, he pointed outside, "Whose Cayenne is that? Illegal parking, there’s a fine to pay."

"That’s not our car..." Jiang Ting, who was most afraid of paying fines, quickly denied it, but the next moment she was staring dumbfounded at Tang Zheng.

"Mine, how much is the fine?" Tang Zheng took out his wallet, a thick stack of Chairman Mao notes, at least five thousand yuan, which dazzled Jiang Ting.

"Miser!" Jiang Ting cursed, her eyes fixated on the wallet, wishing she could claim it right then and there.

"Officer, your order is ready!" Tao Ran was quick to act. Without going through the cash register, she directly handed the bag of food to the officer without mentioning the price.

"Fifty, forget it, just be more careful next time!" The officer wasn’t foolish; taking a fine wasn’t the same as keeping it for himself, and he preferred a free dinner instead. He took the bag and left the Supermarket.

Jiang Ting stopped causing a scene. Owning a Porsche worth over a million, Tang Zheng clearly wasn’t short on money, which made her ponder how to get some advantage from him.

"You dead girl, forgot to take the money?" Jiang Ting was about to curse, but considering Tang Zheng’s presence, she quickly changed her tone; she did it on purpose for him to hear.

"That’s enough, you can go. Tao Ran and I have things to discuss." Tang Zheng pulled out a stack of cash, didn’t bother to count, and stuffed it into Jiang Ting’s hand.

"Our Ranran is not too bad, you mustn’t let her down." Jiang Ting almost snatched the money, clutching it in her hand, smiling obsequiously, chatting about family matters with Tang Zheng. Her face changed so fast it was astonishing. She didn’t even care about the beating she had just taken.

"I know." Tang Zheng gave Jiang Ting the money, hoping it would make her treat Tao Ran a little better.

"I’ll be off then, you young people get along." Jiang Ting couldn’t wait to leave. Once out of the Supermarket, she started counting the money and couldn’t help but snicker to herself, "Struck it rich, I can go splurging again tomorrow."

"How much money? I’ll pay you back." Tao Ran didn’t want to accept Tang Zheng’s kindness for no reason.

"Forgot, ask your mother!" Tang Zheng handed the coat back to Tao Ran.

"You can go, you’re not welcome here!" Tao Ran looked outside the Supermarket and caught sight of her stepmother pressed up against the Cayenne’s glass window, peering inside, making her feel incredibly embarrassed.

"It’s not safe for a single person to watch the store at night; you should close up early." Tang Zheng wasn’t the type to persist annoyingly, "I believe your mother won’t blame you for the next few days."

Seeing Tang Zheng leave, Tao Ran slumped to the ground, suddenly wanting to cry. How long had it been since anyone cared about her? Black Long Straight had even forgotten what that warm feeling was like.

Tang Zheng got into the Cayenne and drove less than ten meters when Jiang Ting popped out from behind a tree, gesturing to stop the car.

"It’s too late to catch a ride, give me a lift." Jiang Ting didn’t wait for Tang Zheng to refuse and got into the car, "Why aren’t you staying with Tao Ran? Did she make you angry? I’ll scold her for you."

"Be nicer to her in the future." If it weren’t for wanting to say this, Tang Zheng would have already kicked Jiang Ting out. Back at the Hotel, after showering and getting ready to sleep, he received a call from an unknown number.

.......

PS: No updates tonight, I need to adjust my state as my current efficiency is too low. Sorry! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to cast your recommendation and monthly votes at qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation.)