Quick Transmigration: The Gossip Master Took the Black Lotus Script - Chapter 32

Humiliation washed over Zhang Dawu. He wanted to curse, but wary of Luo An’s strength, he could only swallow his anger and vent it through his eyes.

“Your wife can work the fields, cook, wash clothes, bear children—but you? Besides earning some work points in the fields, what else have you done? Don’t you just sit and wait for food after work, then curse if the meal’s late? And you dare say she lives off you? Are you brain-damaged or what?”

Zhang Dawu argued back, “But she earns fewer work points!”

“And she eats less than you, too! Just now you were complaining that breakfast was too watery, weren’t you? Let’s go see how watery it was to make you beat your wife so savagely. Don’t worry—if it really was nothing but water, I’ll help you teach your wife a lesson.”

Saying this, Luo An strode into the kitchen. He saw two bowls left on the stove and immediately called the woman over.

“Which one’s yours, and which one’s his?”

The woman pointed to the one filled mostly with solid rice. “That one’s his.”

Which meant the watery one with just a few grains floating in soup was her portion!

Luo An almost laughed out loud. How was that any different from eating plain rice?

He carried the two bowls out, and in front of everyone, handed Zhang Dawu the watery gruel.

“Since you look down on the portion your wife prepared, why don’t you eat hers instead?”

Then he turned to the woman. “Since you gave him all the rice and still got beaten for it, next time just eat it yourself. Never let yourself lose out again, right?”

“This…”

Raised in a household that taught her to obey her husband after marriage, the woman had endured the beatings in silence for years, never resisting. Now someone was telling her she could live differently. A glimmer of light flickered in her heart, though she still hesitated.

“What ‘this’? Look at him—does he dare say anything in front of me? With a temper this soft, even strangers will step on you, let alone your husband.

Think about it—if he hits your vital spots next time, what about your child? Will he be left to suffer under a stepmother, rejected even by his own father?”

“Protecting yourself is protecting your child! He’s just a man—every man can be dealt with.”

“Alright!”

Moved by these words, the woman’s first instinct was to grab the solid rice bowl and eat. She needed strength if she wanted to stand up to him.

Zhang Dawu’s gut twisted. Something was wrong—was she about to rebel?

“What are you doing?!”

“I’m eating! From now on I’ll put myself first. Why the hell should I care about you, you bastard?

You’ve been asking where all the grain went, haven’t you? Don’t you remember how many times your mother came crying this year, each time carrying off a sack of rice?

My mother always told me not to air family shame, so I kept it to myself. But you’ve beaten me over this again and again! Useless man!

Look at your elder brother’s kids—they’re strong as oxen. Now look at our Shitou—does he even have half a pound of flesh on him? How can you not feel sorry for him?”

The child, who had just finished crying, burst into tears again at his mother’s words—his sobs heartbreaking to hear, enough to move anyone to tears.

After she finished venting, Luo An spoke again.

“The saying ‘women hold up half the sky’ shouldn’t just be a slogan. Starting today, I’ll be teaching the young women and wives in the village some self-defense. Maybe you can’t knock a man flat with one punch, but at least you’ll have the power to protect yourselves. Anyone interested can learn.”

The women were thrilled! The men deflated.

What was this Luo educated youth up to! Teaching women martial arts—how would men still have authority at home?

But Luo An and the eager women paid no mind to the men’s thoughts.

As for Zhang Dawu, once his wife had poured out all the resentment in her heart, he just hung his head in silence.

Meanwhile, his mother, who had been watching with interest from the crowd, quietly slipped back home, cursing her daughter-in-law all the way.

Luo An didn’t miss it and “kindly” reminded him:

“See how you’ve turned your home into a circus? Your mom came to watch the show and left without a word. Is blind filial piety really filial at all?”

Zhang Dawu looked over just in time to see his mother’s figure vanish from view. He said nothing for a long while.

Before leaving, Luo An whispered to the woman for a while, then spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear:

“Do exactly as I said, and he won’t dare lay a hand on you again. And if he does, report it to the police, go to the Women’s Federation. Domestic violence isn’t a family matter—it’s a crime.”

Most people tried to mediate with both a stick and a sweet date. Luo An used a stick and then a bigger stick. After this, she left behind a reputation in the village as someone you didn’t want to mess with.

Everyone recalled how dismissive they’d been when Luo An became assistant to the Women’s Director, and now felt thoroughly slapped in the face.

Even Shao Jing, watching silently from the crowd, remembered the plan he and Gu Qiaoping had made. A sudden unease gnawed at him. Could this really work?

But as Luo An grew more dazzling, he forced himself to believe—it would work. It had to work!

Still, his sense of foreboding deepened: if Luo An couldn’t be destroyed, then he’d never get a chance to rise in his life.

As the commotion died down, the village chief’s wife, who had stood quietly by the whole time, clapped Luo An on the shoulder. “You’re a bold one, child!”

“Auntie, but wasn’t the result good? And really, why should women always be the ones to suffer? We’re human too! Who’s inherently superior?”

Fortunately, the chief’s wife wasn’t the type to favor sons over daughters. If she had been, she and Luo An might’ve gone at it right then and there.

“Auntie, I think not only should we women learn self-defense, but we should also spread the word about it. Don’t you think?”

The two huddled together, whispering. Mostly it was Luo An talking, the chief’s wife listening.

When she finished, the chief’s wife clapped her hands. “Yes! That’s it! Once this busy season passes, we’ll get started. We might even pitch it to the commune—maybe we could perform it too!”

Delighted, she ran to tell her husband the good news, all the while bragging about her own keen eye for talent. If she hadn’t spotted this bright seedling, what a waste it would’ve been.

Listening to her chatter, the chief felt sour. The last time she had praised someone this much, it was him. And now, just a few decades later, the old generation was already being replaced by the new.

A few days later, the postman knocked on the Luo family’s door. “Letter for you.”

Old man Luo, who hadn’t received a letter in decades, suddenly had a bad feeling.

Could it be that debt collector had actually written?

Sure enough, when he tore it open, his suspicions were confirmed. He fumed, beard bristling, but when he read the last line, all the anger drained out of him.

Back when he was young, of all the things he could’ve done, why had he gone and fathered a second son? That wasn’t giving birth to a child—it was summoning a walking curse.

Truly enough to make him die of rage.