Wang Hao was jolted awake by a splash of cold water.
He wiped the water from his eyes, struggling to see.
"Who threw that water on me?"
Li Suhua stood there holding a basin.
"So what if I did?
"Wang Hao, this is my doorstep. Can't I toss out some dirty water if I want to?"
Wang Hao was boiling with anger but didn’t dare to vent it. He just lowered his head.
"Fine, Mom. Toss whatever you want. I’m not mad."
"Not mad, huh?"
Lin Jiajun hurled a second and third basinful of water over him.
"Wang Hao, if you’ve got the guts, stand there and don’t dodge. Let’s see how long you can take it."
Wang Hao didn’t last long. After the third basin, he couldn’t stand it anymore.
"Lin Jiajun, don’t push it. I’m still your brother-in-law.
"If it weren’t for your sister’s sake, do you think I’d just stand here and let you bully me?"
Lin Jiajun laughed at Wang Hao, who looked like a drenched chicken.
"What do you think you can do? Wang Hao, you’ve bullied my sister for eight years.
"Your whole family has bullied her for eight years. We gave you three basins of water, and you can’t even handle that?"
A gust of wind blew, and Wang Hao shivered.
Holding his soaking wet self, he threw a harsh parting shot at Lin Jiajun.
"I’ll be back. Just you wait. I’ll be back."
After Wang Hao left, Lin Wan’er rode her electric scooter to take Wang Keke to school.
The boy hadn’t had a fever or any other symptoms all day and night yesterday, so he should be fine.
After dropping off Wang Keke, she met up with Chen Hui to buy a gift for Liu Siyue.
Chen Hui was troubled. "Sister, what can we give her? Siyue is so rich. She doesn’t need anything.
"I’m afraid she’ll look down on whatever we pick."
Lin Wan’er smiled. "No, she won’t. Siyue isn’t that kind of person. As long as it comes from the heart, she won’t mind."
Even so, after wandering around the mall for half a day, they still had no clue.
Chen Hui grew more frustrated. "Why don’t you ask Brother Liu what Siyue likes, Sister?
"I really don’t know what to buy."
Lin Wan’er didn’t want to bother Liu Renzhi over such a small matter. He was so busy with work every day; she couldn’t distract him with trivialities.
She thought it over and then dragged Chen Hui out of the mall.
Chen Hui was confused. "Sister, we haven’t bought anything yet. We need to give it tonight. Where are we going?"
Lin Wan’er pulled her onto a bus.
"Money can buy anything Siyue doesn’t lack.
"She’s in poor health and has suffered so much.
"Let’s go to the temple and pray for a safety charm for her."
Chen Hui’s eyes lit up. "Sister, you’re a genius.
"That’s a great idea. A really great one."
They took an hour-long bus ride, then climbed a mountain for another hour.
Finally, they arrived at the temple.
Lin Wan’er stood at the entrance and suddenly stopped. She stared at the brick-red gate, and her thoughts drifted back eight years.
When she had made up her mind to leave her parents and marry far away into the Wang Family Village,
her father had brought her here.
At the time, her father knelt devoutly before the Buddha.
"Please bless my daughter, Bodhisattva.
"She has always been kind-hearted, or perhaps too soft.
"Please watch over her, Bodhisattva. Let me know if she’s being bullied. Please, I beg you."
Back then, Lin Wan’er didn’t believe in such things. She said,
"Dad, life is what you make of it. Good or bad, it’s all about how you live it.
"Don’t rely on this."
Her father smiled lovingly and continued kowtowing to the Buddha.
"Wan’er, you’re still too young to understand."
Now, Lin Wanyi knelt before the statue of the Bodhisattva as well. She followed her father’s example, lighting incense, then kneeling piously to make a wish:
“Please, Bodhisattva, bless Siyue to recover quickly.
“She is a good girl. She doesn’t deserve to suffer like this.
“Bodhisattva, can’t you open your eyes?”
She knelt for a long, long time.
So long that Chen Hui came to remind her: “Sis, it’s time to go. It’s almost dark.”
Lin Wanyi finally rose.
As she left the temple, she asked for a blessing amulet.
The master monk asked her, “Is it for a family member?”
Lin Wanyi nodded. The monk looked at her with a somewhat solemn expression but did not say much.
On the way down the mountain, Lin Wanyi’s heart kept pounding.
She asked Chen Hui,
“Huizi, didn’t you feel like the master monk was holding something back just now?”
Chen Hui didn’t overthink it. She tucked the blessing amulet Lin Wanyi had given her into her breast pocket:
“Sis, thank you.”
Lin Wanyi first went to pick up Wang Keke, planning to go home to change clothes before heading out.
But Wang Hao was blocking her doorstep again.
Li Suhua was back with a basin of water:
“Wang Hao, if you don’t get lost, I’ll douse you again.”
Wang Hao actually pulled a raincoat out of his bag, looking like a man with nothing to lose:
“Mom, go ahead, pour all you want.
“I’m not leaving. I have to be with my wife and child.”
Lin Wanyi was absolutely furious. She slapped Wang Hao across the face:
“Wang Hao, is this obsessive clinging even meaningful anymore?
“Where were you for the first eight years? Where were you when my father passed away?
“When I gave everything to you, when I devoted myself to this family, where were you then?
“My heart is cold now. I don’t care about you at all. Does this pathetic pestering still make sense?
“Wang Hao, go back. Wait for the court to notify you about the divorce.”
Wang Hao wasn’t going anywhere. He turned the other cheek toward Lin Wanyi:
“Here, Wanyi, hit this side too. Keep going.
“If it makes you feel better, hit me as much as you want.”
Without hesitation, Lin Wanyi slapped him again on that side.
Furious beyond control, she raised her arms and slapped him left and right.
She lost count of how many slaps she delivered. She had thrown all dignity aside, shouting like a madwoman as she hit:
“Go to hell! Wang Hao, just go to hell!
“Stop ruining other people’s lives. You should have died long ago!”
Wang Hao hadn’t expected Lin Wanyi to lose control like this.
He regretted it. He covered his face and stumbled backward.
But every step he retreated, Lin Wanyi advanced one step.
When he stepped back again, she stepped forward again—
Until Wang Hao was backed against the wall, with nowhere else to go.
Just as Lin Wanyi’s hand was about to fall once more, he yelled:
“Stop! Lin Wanyi, stop right now!
“When did you become so barbaric?”
Lin Wanyi delivered one last slap:
“You told me to hit you, Wang Hao. Don’t blame me.”
“You—!”
Wang Hao, humiliated and furious, instinctively raised his hand at Lin Wanyi.
Before she could say anything, Lin Yuantang, who had heard the commotion next door, rushed over.
He pulled Lin Wanyi aside, then pointed at Wang Hao:
“What do you think you’re doing? Wang Hao, this isn’t your Wang village.
“This is Wanyi’s parental home. Are you trying to bully her here, in her own family’s house?”
Wang Hao quickly lowered his hand and pointed at his swollen face, defending himself:
“Uncle, look for yourself—it’s not me who hit her, it’s her who hit me!
“Just look at my face. She beat me to a pulp.
“You can’t be so unfair.”
Lin Yuantang snorted:
“As if your Wang family has ever been fair.”
"Don't think I don't know—last year, when her father passed away, it was your Wang family who barred her from coming back, leaving my brother to die with his eyes wide open in regret.
"Wang Hao, Wanyi may have lost her father, but she still has me—her uncle.
"If you dare to bully her in her own family home, don't even think about it!"
