Chapter 18: The Art of Punishment

The sky gradually darkened, and the snow that had paused all afternoon began to fall again.

The north wind howled in spirals, biting and bone-chillingly cold.

Tang Jiancheng, carrying his third and fourth sisters, hunched over to shield themselves from the fierce wind, shouldering the badger with a cheerful heart as they made their way home.

Suddenly, their path was blocked by a towering mound of snow.

“Dad, look! Who’s so mean to pile such a huge snow mound right in the middle of the road?” the fourth sister pointed at the snowbank, scolding, “It’s already hard enough to walk when it’s snowing, and this person uses snow to block the way. They’re clearly trying to stop us from going home!”

“That must be Stinky Egg and his father causing trouble,” the third sister said.

Tang Jiancheng glanced at her in surprise. “How do you know it was them?”

“Who else but them would be so bored?” she replied.

She walked up to the snow mound and pointed at the deliberately disturbed footprints. Then, picking up a tuft of badger fur nearly buried by the snow, she said, “From these footprints—one big, one small—and this badger fur, it’s obvious it was father and son!”

“Besides, Stinky Egg’s father is selfish and jealous by nature. He can’t stand to see anyone better than him. We just dug up so many badgers, he must be really annoyed, which is why he did this mean thing!”

Tang Jiancheng gave her a thumbs-up. “Impressive! Your reasoning is thorough and the evidence convincing. But what shall we do now?”

The third sister looked up at the mound—twice her height—with slippery boulders flanking it on both sides, impossible to climb over. To get home, they’d have to dig through the snow.

“Well, I have to admit, they chose a good spot. We have no choice but to dig through the mound,” she said with a grimace.

“If we just dig through, we can get home easily. But how will the bad guys be punished?” Tang Jiancheng guided her step by step.

Since she was clever, he wanted to make her even wiser, so she could better protect her sisters and their home in the future.

The third sister tilted her head, thinking hard but coming up empty.

Tang Jiancheng smiled. “In cases like this, even though we found footprints, they’re messy and not enough to serve as solid evidence. As for the badger fur, that definitely can’t be used either—we have badgers ourselves.”

“So, without evidence or witnesses, how do we make sure the bad guys get punished?”

Both sisters pondered but couldn’t come up with a solution, shaking their heads at last.

Tang Jiancheng said, “In situations like this, we need to make ourselves look pitiful. When we get back to the village, whenever we meet someone, we complain about the wicked person who piled the snow mound—but never by name. Just hint at it, so the villagers start to connect the dots.”

“That way, while we can’t directly punish the bad guys, we can ruin their reputation among the villagers. Over time, their name will be tarnished, and when the crucial moment comes, they’ll get what’s coming to them.”

The fourth sister was confused, feeling the adult world was complicated.

The third sister’s eyes lit up.

She understood her father was teaching her the idea of “a gentleman’s revenge can wait ten years,” and how to use public opinion to crush an enemy—not fully grasping it yet, but she would learn in time.

Seeing the look in her daughter’s eyes, Tang Jiancheng knew she had absorbed his lesson. “So, tell me, how do we make ourselves look pitiful?”

The third sister was stumped again.

It was just a snow mound. Digging it out was no big deal—maybe a bit time-consuming and tiring, but for kids from the mountains, that was nothing.

Clearly, Stinky Egg and his father only wanted to annoy Tang Jiancheng’s family, not trap them forever; otherwise, they’d have used rocks instead of snow.

“It’s actually simple,” Tang Jiancheng smiled, suddenly grabbing a handful of snow and tossing it at the third sister’s head. The snow burst apart, covering her hair and face.

The third sister immediately understood. She grabbed a handful of snow, intending to throw it at her father, but then changed her mind and tossed it at the fourth sister instead. Seeing snow all over her, she giggled.

The fourth sister, fuming, grabbed some snow and threw it back.

The two sisters exchanged snowballs, and soon Tang Jiancheng joined in. They played until they were nearly snowmen before stopping.

Then Tang Jiancheng stepped up onto the mound and carved out a few steps, leading the third and fourth sisters away.

He didn’t dig through the snow completely; he wanted more villagers to see it, so the village chief’s reputation would be thoroughly ruined.

However, by the time they returned to the village, night had fully fallen.

The entire village was peaceful, with smoke curling from every rooftop—either from fires or cooking—painting a serene and beautiful rustic mountain scene.

“Dad, there’s no one on the road. How do we complain?” The third sister looked around. Everywhere was white, with no sign of a single person.

Tang Jiancheng smiled slightly but didn’t answer.

When they reached the village, he deliberately took a detour past the village chief’s house and suddenly shouted loudly, cursing, “Which despicable, wretched bastard piled a snow mound in the middle of the road, making me get stuck in the mountains until now?”

“What if wolves appeared out there? Wouldn’t me and my daughters have been eaten? They’re trying to kill us!”

“Who the hell is it? Don’t you have the guts to admit it?”

“Damn it! You think I don’t know who you are just because you deny it? This whole afternoon, only your family and mine were on the back mountain. Who else could it be?”

“You can deny it all you want, but everyone knows you’re just a selfish bastard!”

“But I’m warning you—if you bully us again, I’ll repay you tooth for tooth, blood for blood! You’ve got a few sons, but I’ve got nine daughters. Let’s see who wins!”

Hearing Tang Jiancheng shouting right outside their door, Stinky Egg grew nervous, glancing anxiously at his father.

The village chief’s wife wanted to go out and argue but was held back by her husband. “Don’t bother. Let him vent. He didn’t name anyone, just let him bark like a mad dog.”

She immediately realized it was their own family causing trouble.

Other villagers, hearing the shouting, came out to ask what was happening. Tang Jiancheng quickly told them about digging up so many badgers that afternoon, how someone got jealous and piled a snow mound to trap them. The villagers were outraged and cursed together.

When they asked who exactly was responsible, Tang Jiancheng was vague but left no doubt. The villagers understood perfectly.

“That bastard’s really shameless!”

“Damn him, that scoundrel’s rotten to the core!”

The villagers tactfully avoided naming anyone, joining Tang Jiancheng in cursing in front of the village chief’s house for a good half hour before dispersing.

They felt satisfied venting their anger.

Inwardly, they thought: Tang Jiancheng is crafty—he doesn’t name names, yet manages to make someone furious without a doubt.

Indeed, the village chief’s family was deeply frustrated and angry but dared not argue outside, forced to swallow their losses in silence.