Chapter 174
To live a good life, one must be untainted by any blemish. Besides, his profession cannot afford any tarnished reputation, and Wang Caixiang is not worth risking his future.
Marriage is not child's play. He and Wang Caixiang just got their marriage certificate two months ago. If they dare to divorce at this time, whether it's the authorities or the neighborhood, they would engage in lengthy persuasion and counseling.
An Zhiren didn't want to expose his own ugly deeds to others. It was precisely because Wang Caixiang knew this that she dared to make a move, isn't that right?
And he was indeed threatened by her.
Adding 500 yuan to the marriage, it was a profound lesson for An Zhiren.
A lesson that would last a lifetime.
If Wang Caixiang wants to drag him along, then let her do so temporarily.
An Zhiren is not afraid. She was able to scheme against him once, but that was only because he sympathized with her.
Without that bit of sympathy, what ability does she have?
After chatting with Zhi Xia for a while and seeing the weariness in her eyes, An Zhiren told her to go back and rest early.
Lying on the bed absentmindedly, An Zhiren couldn't help but recall that day two months ago.
Wang Caixiang's academic performance was relatively good, and outstanding students always receive favor from teachers. Moreover, during this period when most schools were disrupted by student protests, those who didn't cause trouble and were obedient stood out even more.
An Zhiren's class happened to be this year's graduating class. After graduation, these students only had two options: either they had job arrangements or they would go to rural areas for work.
Wang Caixiang's situation at school had never been good because her family was poor, and she had extremely poor living conditions. She was also timid and lacked self-confidence.
An Zhiren had encountered several instances of her being bullied by other classmates and had helped her a few times. It was impossible for Wang's family to let her go to rural areas and be far away from home since they had managed to let her graduate from high school.
So, before graduation, An Zhiren had already found a prospective husband for her—a middle-aged man whose wife had passed away and who had several children, which An Zhiren only found out later.
On that day, Wang Caixiang was pushed and fell down the stairs by a few male classmates. An Zhiren happened to see it and criticized those male classmates. He also took the opportunity to escort Wang Caixiang, who had sprained her foot, home.
Considering the fear of gossip, An Zhiren planned to leave after dropping her off at the doorstep. However, Wang Caixiang claimed she still had a math problem that she didn't understand and wanted him to help her with it.
Confirming that her parents and two older brothers were present, An Zhiren entered the house and explained the problem to her in front of her parents.
Everything seemed fine. Wang's mother warmly served him a cup of hot tea. The weather was very cold that day, and he didn't have any guards up, which resulted in his downfall.
When he woke up, both he and Wang Caixiang were lying naked in bed, and Wang's two older brothers burst in and tied him up with a rope.
He still remembers it vividly. He was wearing only his underwear, and he was tied up and dragged to the courtyard.
The wind was cold, chilling his body, and his heart turned cold as well.
An Zhiren was forced by his father to make a choice: either marry someone by paying 500 yuan or be pushed out so that everyone could see how he truly behaved as a teacher. The mere thought of it still filled An Zhiren with shame and anger to this day.
He had never experienced such humiliation in his life before.
If his feelings towards Gao Meiyun were merely disgust, his feelings towards Wang Caixiang had turned into deep resentment.
Ironically, Wang Caixiang believed that he could soften An Zhiren's heart and gain his forgiveness by trying to please him.
It was truly laughable.
He would never pity her, no matter what she went through now. It was all a consequence of her own actions and choices.
An Zhiren appeared gentle and refined, but in reality, he had a strong sense of pride. How could a person like him, who had endured so much humiliation and manipulation, simply let the other party off the hook with just a divorce?
Wang Caixiang had orchestrated this marriage herself, so she should bear the consequences.
His younger sister was still too kind-hearted, thinking of people as inherently good.
Little did she know that the situation between him and Wang Caixiang had escalated beyond a simple divorce.
It was no longer a matter of Wang Caixiang refusing to let him go, but rather him refusing to let go of Wang Caixiang and her family.
One day, he would return all the humiliation they had inflicted upon him. At home, Zhou Nan was annoyed when she saw Wang Caixiang standing in the yard, always hunched over as if unable to straighten up. She said irritably, "Are you trying to annoy everyone? This is not your house alone. Who are you scaring by standing in the yard like that?"
Wang Caixiang trembled for a moment and turned around, saying, "I'm going back now."
In the living room, An ZhiXian wore a disdainful smile.
Zhou Nan asked him, "What's wrong with your second brother? With a family like the Wangs, it would be easy to deal with them using some means. Why bother marrying her and keeping her around all the time?"
The family only knew that An Zhiren had been threatened but had no idea that he had been stripped naked and dragged into the yard.
The Wang family probably didn't care about Wang Caixiang either. If they hadn't gone too far in the first place, An Zhiren wouldn't have developed such a deep sense of hatred.
In fact, the Wang family's intentions were quite simple: to trample An Zhiren's dignity into the ground in order to completely control him, including using him for their own purposes in the future.
If An Zhiren had been even the slightest bit weak, they would have succeeded.
"I don't know the details about my second brother, but it won't be long before he can't stand it anymore. He has already applied for a house from the school and should be moving out after the Chinese New Year," An ZhiXian said with full knowledge. He never pitied Wang Caixiang and only saw her as deserving of her fate.
You reap what you sow, and the Wang family was a bunch of bad people.
An JingZhi and Zhou Nan were unaware that An Zhiren still cared about his face and felt ashamed of being stripped naked and threatened.
Since Zhou Nan had some minor health issues after her last hospitalization, she couldn't handle emotional fluctuations too well, as they could easily cause her to faint.
Knowing that her son had already fainted once due to being manipulated, she feared that learning about the full extent of the manipulation would make her collapse on the spot.
An Zhiren had indeed made plans, and An ZhiXian knew about them.
In this household, the eldest brother is righteous, the fourth brother is impulsive, while the two in the middle are completely different from them. They have always had a close-knit attitude, showing respect to the eldest brother and affection towards the fourth brother. And now, there is someone new, Zhi Xia, who is willing to be cherished by them. But when something truly happens, these two are undoubtedly each other's first confidants.
Zhou Nan was shocked when he heard that the second son was planning to move out.
However, upon reflection, he decided to let it be. It's better for him to move out. Out of sight, out of mind.
Wang Caixiang's position at home is awkward. The second brother doesn't allow anyone in the family to talk to her. She can't count on any help from her own family and instead has to be on guard at every turn. It's quite exhausting.
Zhi Xia called Pei Jing back and asked when they got home, "What's the matter with your sister-in-law?"
It was only during dinner that Pei Jing learned about this person and noticed that An Zhiren's state of mind was clearly off.
Zhi Xia then explained everything she knew to him, and Pei Jing listened with deep sympathy.