Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

"Manager Niu, I...I...he provoked me first, he provoked me first...if he hadn't provoked me, I wouldn't have..."

Looking at the enraged manager of the grocery store, Wang Yuanchao opened his mouth, then pointed at the young man he had beaten, trying to shift the blame onto the other party and justify his actions.

If all the responsibility fell on his own shoulders, Wang Yuanchao couldn't imagine what kind of punishment his company would give him.

Fines and public apologies are the least of the problems; more serious cases could involve suspension without pay or even dismissal.

"You still dare to argue? Do you even look like a salesperson serving the people?"

Seeing that Wang Yuanchao still dared to argue, Manager Niu was furious.

When he got home from get off work yesterday, he heard some gossip: a salesman named Wang Yuanchao at a grocery store had conspired with his own mother to beat up his wife.

As a result, the wife called her parents' home, summoned her family, and they beat Wang Yuanchao and his mother, even throwing his mother into the latrine.

The incident stemmed from Wang Yuanchao's mother's attempt to seize her daughter-in-law's belongings, including her attempt to steal her daughter-in-law's savings.

This matter has gradually spread throughout Xinghuo Commune and has become a topic of conversation for many people.

Even when he went to work at the grocery store early this morning, he could hear many people who came to buy things talking about it in their conversations.

Having such a "famous" employee in the grocery store he managed was not a good thing for the store's image. Manager Niu originally planned to talk to Wang Yuanchao after get off work and persuade him to take care of his family matters as soon as possible.

But before he could even talk to Wang Yuanchao, Wang Yuanchao got into trouble.

They assaulted customers who came into the store to buy things.

Even if the customer deliberately provoked you, Wang Yuanchao, that is not a reason for you to hit someone. After all, you are now an employee of a state-owned enterprise and represent the state-owned enterprise. You must be careful with your words and actions.

If you assault a customer, aren't you just smearing the reputation of state-owned enterprises?

Faced with Manager Niu's questioning, Wang Yuanchao seemed like a deflated balloon, all his strength drained away.

"Manager Niu is right. Look at yourself. Do you look like a salesperson from a state-owned enterprise who is supposed to serve the people?"

The young man who had been beaten by Wang Yuanchao saw his dazed and confused appearance and laughed mockingly, as if he were an idiot.

Wang Yuanchao glared at the young man resentfully.

"Wang Yuanchao, hurry up and apologize to this young man."

Manager Niu glanced at Wang Yuanchao and said, "You hit someone and you still dare to glare at them? Are you afraid that the reputation of this state-owned grocery store isn't bad enough?" He then slapped Wang Yuanchao on the back of the head and glared at him with disappointment.

"Yuan Chao, apologize now."

In the grocery store, those who were on good terms with Wang Yuanchao also quickly offered their advice.

If you apologize and admit your mistake now, there's still room for reconciliation. But if you stubbornly refuse to admit it and wait for the customer to call the police, things won't be so easy to resolve once the police arrive.

The grocery store was a state-owned enterprise, and the sales clerk there was one of the eight key employees, a secure job with guaranteed income regardless of circumstances.

If we wait until customers call the police and the police get involved, and then I get suspended without pay or even fired, the losses could be huge.

Both Manager Niu and the employee from the grocery store who reminded Wang Yuanchao were trying to minimize the impact of the incident and cool it down.

"Apologize already! What are you standing there for?"

Seeing that Wang Yuanchao was having some difficulty speaking, Manager Niu slapped him again.

"I'm...I'm sorry, it was my fault, I shouldn't have hit him..."

After being slapped, Wang Yuanchao's mind finally cleared up a bit.

Although unwilling and reluctant, he still offered a rather "sincere" apology in the end.

At this moment, Manager Niu, seeing this, invited the young man to the grocery store's office. It's unclear how they discussed it, but the young man eventually received the benefits and left the grocery store.

As soon as the young man left, Manager Niu breathed a sigh of relief, then slammed his hand on the table: "Wang Yuanchao, look at you! What am I supposed to say to you...?"

Just as Manager Niu was about to give Wang Yuanchao a good scolding, there was a sudden knock on the office door.

Who is it?

"Manager, it's me, Zhao Fen."

"Come in."

The office door opened, and Zhao Fen, a saleswoman from the grocery store, walked in.

"Sister Zhao, what's the matter?"

Upon seeing that it was Zhao Fen, a long-time employee of the store, Manager Niu's expression softened slightly.

Although he was the head of the grocery store and Zhao Fen was just an ordinary saleswoman, Manager Niu knew that Zhao Fen had connections. Her father-in-law was a leader in the county's supply and marketing cooperative, and her husband was a deputy in Xinghuo Commune. He might not give Zhao Fen face, but he had to give face to the two people behind her, so his tone softened considerably when he spoke.

Zhao Fen glanced at Wang Yuanchao, who was standing dejectedly, and then said, "Manager Niu, someone outside is looking for Wang Yuanchao."

"Who else is looking for Wang Yuanchao?"

"Manager Niu asked."

"They said they were Wang Yuanchao's wife's family members who came here to find Wang Yuanchao and ask him to go to the civil affairs department to get a divorce from his wife."

Zhao Fen said.

As she spoke, Zhao Fen glanced at Wang Yuanchao and thought to herself that Wang Yuanchao was a ruthless man who had beaten his wife to the point of wanting a divorce.

Just now, while she was working in the store, a young man came to ask her about Wang Yuanchao. She noticed that among the young men, there was a woman with a bandage wrapped around her head, and there were bloodstains on the bandage.

She immediately recognized her as Wang Yuanchao's wife, Li Yunlan, because Li Yunlan often went to the grocery store to buy things.

Looking at the bandage wrapped around Wang Yuanchao's wife's head and the bruises on her face that hadn't faded, Zhao Fen couldn't help but curse Wang Yuanchao in her heart. She thought he was a real scoundrel. She never expected that someone who seemed so honest at the grocery store would beat his wife at home and beat her like this.

If it weren't for his wife's family coming all the way from her hometown to support their daughter who had married far away, he might have beaten his wife to death.

Seeing Li Yunlan, Zhao Fen couldn't empathize with her, but she felt sorry for her, so she went up to her and offered her comfort.

Later, a young man who came with Li Yunlan, claiming to be her third brother, asked where Wang Yuanchao was, saying they needed to see him.

Zhao Fen was worried that they had come to the grocery store to beat up Wang Yuanchao. Although she also thought Wang Yuanchao deserved to be beaten, she was afraid that if things got out of hand, it would have a bad impact on the grocery store.

Therefore, after learning that Li Yunlan and her family had come to find Wang Yuanchao to go to the civil affairs department to complete divorce procedures, she went to the grocery store's office to find Manager Niu.

Unexpectedly, when she arrived at the office and found Wang Yuanchao, saying that Li Yunlan wanted him to go to the civil affairs department to process the divorce, Wang Yuanchao was completely dumbfounded.

Although Wang Yuanchao knew that Li Yunlan was genuinely considering divorcing him, he never expected her to press him so relentlessly.

He had just left the commune health center that morning, and not long after, Li Yunlan came to his workplace.

But based on his understanding of Li Yunlan, although Li Yunlan had considered divorcing him, she would never be so decisive and resolute. All of this was driven by her family, especially Li Yunshan, his brother-in-law.

"Wang Yuanchao, your wife is here to get a divorce. Go out and deal with it for a bit. Be careful not to make things look bad and affect the image and business of our grocery store."

After hearing Zhao Fen's words, Manager Niu recalled the scene of Wang Yuanchao fighting with someone in the grocery store earlier.

Wang Yuanchao had previously hit his wife and was then reprimanded by her brothers. Now, they've come directly to his workplace demanding that he get a divorce. Manager Niu was worried that Wang Yuanchao would lose his temper again and cause a conflict with his wife's family at the store, so he reminded him of this when he asked him to handle the situation.

Actually, what was called a reminder was more like a warning, a warning to Wang Yuanchao not to misbehave in the grocery store.

Wang Yuanchao was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and he understood what Manager Niu meant.

But he didn't dare say anything, and instead lowered his head and walked out.

"Let's go out and take a look."

After Wang Yuanchao left, Manager Niu was still a little uneasy, so he spoke to Zhao Fen.

……

Li Yunlan, Li Yunshan, Li Yunshi, Li Yunmei, Huang Zhifang, and Cai Er were all in the grocery store.

Customers who came to the grocery store to buy things began to look at the several tall, burly men following closely behind a woman with a bandage wrapped around her head with curiosity.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"I do know some things. The woman with the bandage on her head is called Li Yunlan. Her husband is a sales clerk in this grocery store called Wang Yuanchao. He's the one who got into a fight with a young man not long ago and beat him up."

I heard that Li Yunlan was being terribly bullied by her husband's family, but her family was incredibly supportive. They not only came all the way from Qinghe County next door, but also beat up Feng Cuilan, who was bullying Li Yunlan—yes, Feng Cuilan is Li Yunlan's mother-in-law—and threw her into the latrine.

"So she's Li Yunlan. What a wonderful girl. How could she have married such a wife-beating man? It's so pitiful."

"Fortunately, her family was able to support her. If it were any other woman who was bullied by her husband's family, her family would most likely not stand up for her after she was married. After all, a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup."

"If only my family had stood up for me back then, I wouldn't have had to be bullied by my husband for half my life."