Lu Jueyu went to the front yard and handed the bamboo basket to them while saying, "Elder brother, second brother, take this back. Thank you for helping us today."
Knowing that their third brother was the richest among them, they did not refuse and took the bamboo basket. Li Chenze saw the tonic wine and said, "Sister-in-law, it’s not easy for you to make this wine. Just keep it for yourself."
Li Chenmo wiped the sweat from his wife’s forehead with a towel and said, "Brother, the new batch is almost ready. Occasionally drinking tonic wine is good for your health."
Li Chenze was startled by his words. He didn’t expect that they could find more wild ginseng. But thinking about his second and third brothers who liked to go into the mountains, it’s possible for them to find more wild ginseng. So, he nodded and said, "Then I won’t be polite and accept it. Thank you."
After seeing them off, they continued to harvest vegetables for a while before having lunch with the Dong siblings. There were still a few hours before the sun set, so Dong Li and Dong Huang went to collect pigweed and firewood.
While they were busy living a peaceful life, in the abandoned factory outside the county, the sound of whips hitting human flesh and the hoarse screams of men could be clearly heard. Sunlight shone in through the small windows, vaguely illuminating the bloody scenes inside the factory.
At the end of the thick hemp rope, Yang Lichao’s feet were tied as she was hung upside down, with numerous old and new wounds covering his body. Blood oozed from his wounds and slowly dripped onto the dusty ground.
Mu Zigu, who was standing not far from him, raised his arm and swung hard. As he moved, the thick leather whip in his hand made a loud cracking noise and hit Yang Lichao’s chest, leaving a long bloody mark.
He looked at the half-dead man in front of him and said coldly, "I didn’t expect you to be able to endure it for so long. It’s been almost a month and you’re still alive. Impressive."
Yang Lichao felt only burning pain all over his body, as well as a feeling of suffocation as blood rushed to his head. He opened his swollen eyelids and asked hoarsely, "Who...are you? Why did you do this to me?"
Mu Zigu sneered at his words, "Yang Lichao, it doesn’t matter who I am. You just need to know that this is punishment for what you did to my wife and all of the women you harmed."
Yang Lichao’s eyes flickered as he recalled the women he had defiled, but he couldn’t think of anyone suitable to be this man’s wife. Since he didn’t know who this man was talking about, he said, "I don’t know...what you’re talking about."
Mu Zigu sneered and said, "You don’t have to worry about your mother. I have someone to take care of her in prison. Since you like raping women so much, I will give you a taste of your own medicine."
Looking at Mu Zigu’s cold eyes, Yang Lichao begged with horror, "No, please spare my life! I’ll do anything you ask me to, please spare my life!"
Mu Zigu handed over the whip to his subordinate and said nonchalantly, "Send him to Madame Cheng. Tell her, I want him alive as long as possible. Also, treat his wounds and let him serve at least three people every day."
When the men heard his words, they trembled all over as those words sent chills down their spines. No one knows that Mu Zigu is an underground boss disguised as an officer. He is known as a cold-blooded, vengeful underground overlord, and Madame Cheng is one of his right-hand assistants, responsible for gathering intelligence while opening secret brothels to accumulate wealth.
As for her brothel, it not only serves men and women, but also people with special fetishes. Many of her regular clients are powerful men who like men. However, due to the lack of people willing to serve, most of the people working there were people who had offended Mu Zigu, or prisoners on death row.
She treated those men very cruelly and was known as the smiling fox. Anyone sent to her brothel was equal to a dead person because they would never leave that place for the rest of their lives. At this point, Yang Lichao’s fate has basically been decided.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Male Lead's Canon Fodder Wife