Li Guihua was so accustomed to throwing her weight around in this house, and so used to verbally abusing and beating the four children, that foul language simply spilled out of her as a matter of habit.
Nan Yu, however, was no longer indulging her. When his hands grew sore from striking her, he switched to kicking, sending Li Guihua rolling across the floor just as her son had done earlier. Her shrieks, sounding like a slaughtered pig, drew nearly half the village out to watch.
Nan Yu had no intention of letting her off, landing his kicks with even greater force—he was all but intent on kicking the life out of her.
Li Hai, who had temporarily escaped the beating, saw his mother being pummeled yet felt no desire to intervene. Instead, he secretly rejoiced that Nan Yu had stopped kicking him.
Nan Dashu finally regained his senses at that moment. With a guttural roar, he scrambled up from the floor and lunged at Nan Yu.
Seeing Nan Dashu charging toward him, Nan Yu still had no intention of actually fighting his father. He simply sidestepped, and Nan Dashu went barreling past him. As luck would have it, Nan Dashu couldn’t stop his momentum and stomped squarely onto Li Guihua. The pain knocked the wind out of her, and she nearly fainted on the spot.
Nan Dashu didn’t fare any better. His lead leg slid forward, forcing him into a full split—a painful accident commonly known as "tearing the balls." The villagers had no training in dance; once Nan Dashu’s leg had extended that far, he couldn’t pull it back. He landed hard on top of Li Guihua and found himself unable to move. The agony was so sharp he couldn't even scream, his face, previously flushed with anger, turning deathly pale.
Nan Yu stood to the side with his arms crossed, watching, with no intention of helping his father up. His hatred had yet to be vented; why would he care about Nan Dashu’s state?
Nan Yu’s eldest sister, Nan Zhi, was a gentle and kind-hearted soul. Unable to bear the sight of her father in such pain, she trotted over to help him, only for Nan Yu to yank her back behind him.
Knowing his sister's nature, Nan Yu looked at her, his voice cold. "Sister, he doesn’t want you. He has never once looked at you as his own child—why are you still pitying him? All these years Li Guihua has been in this house, haven't you just been enduring it for the sake of this old man? But after all these years of suffering, have you ever heard a single kind word from him?"
With that, Nan Yu pointed at his younger brother and sister, who were shivering in fear. "Look at them yourself! Look at Nan Xing and Xiaozhan! And look at that pig over there!" He gestured toward Li Hai. "Nan Xing and that pig are the same age. Look at the state of Nan Xing, then look at that pig!"
Nan Yu’s barrage of questions pierced Nan Zhi’s heart. She looked at her younger siblings with tear-filled eyes, overwhelmed by immense guilt. It was her fault. It was her weakness. She hadn't protected them; she had failed their mother’s dying wish to take care of them.
"Sister, Nan Dashu was listening to Li Guihua, planning to trade you off for a dowry to buy a job. Why are you still feeling bad for him?"
At the mention of this, Nan Yu’s rage flared again. Ignoring the fact that Nan Dashu was still stuck in his split, he strode over to the wailing Li Guihua, shoved Nan Dashu off her, and resumed his assault.
"Li Guihua, you’re not even human!" he shouted between blows. "You told us that if my sister married, the dowry would buy me a job! Tell me, you damn woman, was the job you intended to buy for me? Was it?!"
The more Nan Yu spoke, the angrier he became, and the force behind his strikes grew. Even though he was thin, he was a man who had worked the fields for years; he was strong, and his fury fueled every blow. At first, Li Guihua had the strength to scream, but as the beating continued, her energy waned, and her cries grew weaker.
In his fury, Nan Yu didn't care where he landed his blows—he just struck wherever it felt most cathartic. He still felt as though he were living in a dream, so he hit with everything he had, not caring if he killed her.
Nan Dashu, shoved to the ground, could no longer worry about Li Guihua; he couldn't even pull his legs together, let alone move.
The villagers who had come to watch realized that if this continued, someone would surely die. They exchanged glances and stepped in to pull Nan Yu away, urging him to calm down.
"Xiao Yu, that's enough," said a woman who was on good terms with Li Guihua. "At the very least, she is your mother; you shouldn't be beating her."
Nan Yu didn't give her an ounce of respect. "Get lost! Whose mother is she? My mother died long ago! She’s just a woman living with my father. They don't even have a marriage certificate—what kind of mother is she? Who acknowledges her? My mother is dead; if she wants to be my mother, she can go down and join her!"
With that, he lunged toward Li Guihua again. His manic appearance frightened the woman into stepping back, and she dared not speak again.
Nan Yu stared at the motionless Li Guihua, his eyes burning with fire. He remembered how Li Guihua had once conspired with his sister, claiming the dowry from her marriage would buy a job for Nan Yu in the county. But after Nan Zhi married, the dowry money had indeed bought a job—not for Nan Yu, but for Li Guihua’s own younger brother. Nan Zhi’s entire life had been bartered away for a job for Li Guihua’s brother. And now, Li Guihua was rushing to force Nan Zhi to marry again, having already arranged a job, waiting only for the dowry money.
"Xiao Yu! You can't keep hitting her! If you beat her to death at your age, you'll have to pay with your own life!"
"That's right, Xiao Yu, it’s not worth it!"
"Don't be impulsive, Xiao Yu. If something happens to you, who will look after your younger brother and sister?"
The collective pleading of the villagers finally began to cool Nan Yu’s rage. He still wasn't sure if he had truly been reborn or if this was just a dream. If it were a dream, he might as well beat Li Guihua to death. But if it weren't? If he really had been reborn? Then throwing his life away for hers would not be worth it. If he really had been reborn, he had to make up for the ways he had failed his sister and siblings in his past life—he had to lead them to a better future.
He couldn't kill Li Guihua yet. He needed to be certain whether this was a second chance at life or merely a dream before he decided her fate.