Despite the old woman’s attempts to intercede, the old man seemed utterly determined to shock his son back to sobriety this time. Even with his wife pleading from the side, the old man was immovable. As for Tian-shi, seeing the situation devolve this way left her utterly unable to articulate what was churning inside her. Truthfully, she couldn't even decipher her own feelings toward Wang Youliang anymore. In the past, Wang Youliang was her anchor, her very sky; even when she knew he wasn't entirely dependable, it never diminished her reliance on him.

But then, that widow appeared in Wang Youliang's orbit, snatching his soul away entirely, leaving him preoccupied only with the widow day and night. Wang Youliang mostly resided in town then, rarely returning home, as if the widow’s place had become his true residence.

Tian-shi vividly recalled the intense anger and profound despair she felt when she first learned Wang Youliang was involved with a widow elsewhere. At that time, she was furious at the widow for being immodest and daring to seduce Wang Youliang; yet, she was equally incensed with Wang Youliang for neglecting his home, his wife, and even their three sons. When Wang Youliang declared his intention to take the widow as a secondary wife, Tian-shi truly wished she could just slay the woman. Fortunately, her in-laws had sided with her then, preventing it from happening.

Wang Youliang’s wish remained unfulfilled, and shortly after, the widow left Qingshan Town. Wang Youliang went nearly mad trying to find her, and for various reasons, he never succeeded. Following that failure, Wang Youliang embarked on a life of perpetual drunkenness. Tian-shi wondered if she should hate him? After all, for the sake of a widow, he had reduced himself to this state, ignoring everything at home. But still... didn't she still hold onto some hope for Wang Youliang? Still hoping he could be her rock?

It was precisely this conflicted state of mind that made Tian-shi simultaneously anxious about how the old man would punish Wang Youliang and hopeful that this time, perhaps, the old man could beat the drunkenness out of him, freeing him from his daily stupor.

While Tian-shi was still lost in thought, the old man had already snatched up the door latch and was swinging it toward Wang Youliang.

Wang Youliang, already disoriented from being struck by the old man’s teacup and knocked off his chair onto the floor, was immediately met with the brutal sweep of the old man’s cudgel. The old man struck repeatedly, eliciting shrieks of pain from Wang Youliang, punctuated by the old man’s thunderous scolding: “I’ll teach you to be drunk all day long! Not knowing how to do a single decent thing! Only knowing how to drink! Look at you now, are you ever sober? I’m telling you, if you continue to be this plastered every day, I will lock you up, and you won’t taste a drop of liquor!”

“Ow, stop… stop hitting me, stop!” Wang Youliang wailed.

Hearing her son's cries, the old woman, who had been momentarily stunned by the old man’s actions, could bear it no longer. She rushed forward to restrain the old man’s arm. “Old man, stop hitting him! If you keep going, our son will be seriously hurt, and who will feel the pain then? You!”

“Move aside,” the old man shoved the old woman’s hand away. “Today, I must beat him awake. Look at what he’s become! If I don’t deal with him now, he’ll dissolve into a wine jar. I cannot stand by and watch my eldest son be utterly ruined! Move, I must sober him up today!” the old man roared in frustration.

The old woman, pushed aside, hesitated, unsure whether to press her intervention or tacitly accept her husband’s actions. Though she knew the old man was right, seeing her son cry out in such misery twisted her heart. After a moment’s thought, she stepped forward again. “Old man, the eldest is still drunk. No matter how much you punish him now, he won’t remember it when he sobers up. Won’t that be a useless beating? Why don't we wait until he’s clear-headed before discussing this?”

At first, the old man thought the old woman had a point, but moments later, he realized the flawed logic. With a grunt, he brought the cudgel down again. “Hmph, wait for him to sober up? When will he ever be sober? After all this time, have you ever seen him lucid? He’s permanently drunk! Since that’s the case, I’ll just beat him awake myself!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the old man resumed his savage beating of Wang Youliang. “Let’s see how long it takes for you to become sober. If you insist on being this drunk, I will beat you until you wake up!”

Initially, Wang Youliang was merely tipsy, but the relentless beating from his father shocked some sense into him. The slightly clearer Wang Youliang felt agony radiating through his body and pleaded, “Father… Father, please… please stop hitting me. Whatever you need to say, I will listen, I promise.”

Wang Youliang’s plea did not stop the old man. So, Wang Youliang considered trying to escape, but his current state made even standing difficult, and after the flogging, he likely couldn't even get up. Unable to flee, Wang Youliang could only continue begging his father for mercy, praying he would relent.

Hearing her son’s desperate appeals, the old woman quickly intervened again. “Old man, he’s coming around now, stop immediately! If you keep hitting him, you’ll break our son!” The old woman then seemed to realize someone else was present and barked at Tian-shi, “What are you standing there for like an idiot? Hurry up and try to stop your father!”

Tian-shi had been hesitant watching the scene unfold, but the old woman’s sharp reprimand left her no room to remain passive. She moved forward to join the pleading.

The old man, seeing his son appearing somewhat conscious and hearing both his wife and daughter-in-law interceding, and feeling physically tired from the exertion, seized the excuse to step down and ceased his beating of his eldest son.

Once the old man stopped, the old woman rushed to support her son, anxiously asking, “Oh, Eldest, are you alright? Does anything hurt badly?”

Wang Youliang, gasping for air now that the beating had stopped, took a moment to process his mother’s question before replying, “Mother, I’m fine! Just my back hurts a bit.”

It wasn't surprising that his back ached, as that was where the old man had focused most of his blows.

“Quick, let Mother see,” the old woman started to pull open Wang Youliang’s shirt to examine him, but the old man blocked her hand.

“Hmph, you don’t need to check. I know exactly how hard I struck him. If such a minor injury causes this much pain, just how precious is that body of yours? I say, you needed a good, sharp pain to teach you not to act like a fool again,” the old man pointed at Wang Youliang, lecturing him.

The old woman knew the old man was still enraged, so she dropped the matter of checking the injuries. After helping her son sit heavily back on the chair, she moved to sit beside the old man.

The old man looked at his son sinking onto the chair, gasping slightly, and said with grim intensity, “I wouldn’t have blamed you for being despondent at the beginning. But this has gone on for far too long; this is simply unacceptable behavior. If I ever see you drunk like this again, the next time I strike you will be much harder, do you understand?”

Wang Youliang nodded dazedly at his father’s words, remaining silent.

The old man paid no mind to his eldest son’s silence and continued, “Go back and think it over carefully. Don’t stand here obstructing the view!”

It took Wang Youliang a while to realize his father was dismissing him. He struggled to stand up, but before he could rise, Tian-shi quickly moved to support him. Together, the couple leaned on each other as they retreated to their own room.

After Wang Youliang and Tian-shi had left, the old woman addressed the still-furious old man. “Alright, alright. You’ve beaten him, you’ve scolded him, what more do you want?”

“Hmph, what good is just beating and scolding? I want him to remember this deep in his mind. He needs to use his brain to seriously contemplate whether what he’s been doing all this time was right, whether he made a mistake!” the old man raged.

Seeing that the old man’s anger hadn't subsided, the old woman soothed him. “You are right; the eldest needs to reflect deeply. He cannot continue like this.”

The old man responded only by taking another pull from his dry pipe, ignoring his wife.

Seeing this, the old woman shifted the topic. “Now that you’ve sent them both back, how much should the betrothal gift be, and who should we consult about it?”

“Hmph, what use are they here? The eldest is still drunk and not quite clear-headed. And even his wife, didn't you see her attitude just now? It was clear she looks down on the Meng family. If Qing-tong’s wife moves in later, who knows how much grief she’ll suffer from the eldest’s wife! It’s a good thing we let Qing-tong build his own house and move out separately. Otherwise, if they all lived under one roof, Qing-tong would surely be tormented by both sides.” the old man remarked.

The old woman nodded upon hearing this. “You have a point. I will draft the specifications for the betrothal gift myself. Otherwise, if we let the eldest’s wife handle the arrangements, who knows what mess she’ll make? We mustn't let her ruin the engagement Qing-tong has finally secured.”