Chapter 26: The Ultimate Humiliation, The Shrew’s Spirit Completely Shattered

Jia Zhang had been locked in solitary confinement for three days. To her, these three days were a hellish ordeal.

The cramped space, the endless darkness, and the daily ration of only two icy-cold steamed buns and a bowl of cold water. The stench emanating from her body, mingled with sweat, had fermented into something even more horrific, to the point where even she could barely stand it. She had pounded on the iron door countless times, crying and begging for mercy, but the only response was a deathly silence. Under this isolation and torture, her sanity was inching toward the brink of collapse.

On the morning of the fourth day, the door to the confinement room finally opened.

"Get out," the guard said, looking at her with an expressionless face.

Jia Zhang was blinded by the harsh sunlight; she was like a mole that had spent too long in the dark, unable to even stand steadily.

"Can... can I go back now?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

"Go on," the guard waved a hand, as if shooing away a fly.

Thinking her suffering was over, Jia Zhang dragged her frail body step by step back to her original cell. When she pushed the door open, the atmosphere inside made her feel that something was wrong. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at her in unison. Those gazes were no longer the scrutinizing or mocking looks from before, but a cold, indifferent apathy devoid of any emotion. It was as if they were looking at a dead person.

Sister Dao, the head of the cell, was sitting on the communal bed, using a makeshift "blade" she had fashioned from a toothbrush handle—no one knew where she had gotten it—to scrape her nails one by one. She did not look at Jia Zhang, yet Jia Zhang could feel a bone-chilling coldness emanating from her, enveloping the entire room.

"So, you're back?" Sister Dao finally spoke. Her voice was light and soft, but to Jia Zhang, it sounded more terrifying than any curse.

"Sister... Sister Dao... I... I was wrong..." Jia Zhang dropped to her knees with a thud and began kowtowing to beg for mercy. "I’m not a human, I’m a beast! You are a person of great stature, please spare me this time! I will be your servant, I will never dare to do it again!"

She slammed her head against the floor until it made a loud thumping sound, and blood soon appeared on her forehead.

Sister Dao lifted her eyelids to glance at her, a cruel smile curling at the corners of her mouth. "Spare you? Sure."

She stood up, walked over to Jia Zhang, and tapped her face gently with the sharp "blade." "However, while a death sentence may be avoided, the living punishment is inescapable."

Sister Dao signaled to two burly women standing nearby.

The two women immediately understood. They stepped forward and dragged Jia Zhang up from the floor, hauling her toward the corner of the room like a dead dog.

"What... what are you doing?" Jia Zhang screamed in terror.

"What am I doing?" Sister Dao walked over slowly and crouched in front of her. "Didn't you like to play 'extreme' games? Today, big sister is going to let you 'taste' something yourself."

As soon as she finished speaking, a woman brought out a bowl of yellowish, steaming "stuff" from the latrine. The odor emanating from it made everyone in the cell frown in disgust.

Looking at the bowl, Jia Zhang instantly understood what Sister Dao meant. Her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and a sense of unprecedented terror caused the blood in her body to freeze.

"No... no! I don't want to! Just kill me! Kill me!" She shook her head frantically, letting out a wail of despair.

"Kill you? That would be letting you off too easy." Sister Dao sneered, grabbed Jia Zhang’s chin, and forced her mouth open. "I want you to live, so you remember this taste for the rest of your life! So that every time you eat or drink from now on, you'll remember today!"

Another woman walked over, holding the bowl.

"Wuu-wuu-wuu!"

Jia Zhang struggled with all her might, but her strength was insignificant under the grip of the two strong women. She could only watch helplessly as the foul-smelling bowl drew closer and closer to her mouth. Despair washed over her like a tidal wave, completely engulfing her.

No one in the cell dared to watch what happened next. Everyone turned their heads away, yet the muffled, beast-like whimpering Jia Zhang emitted was clearly heard by everyone in the room.

It was unclear how much time had passed before things returned to calm. When everyone looked back, they saw Jia Zhang slumped in the corner, her eyes vacant, her face ashen, and a trace of filth hanging from the corner of her mouth. She remained motionless, like a soulless husk.

Her spirit had been completely shattered by this extreme humiliation and torture.

From that day on, Jia Zhang became a true "living corpse." She no longer spoke, cried, or tried to curry favor with anyone. She would sit or lie there blankly every day, unresponsive to everything around her. If someone hit her, she wouldn't dodge. If someone stole her food, she wouldn't fight back. She was like a puppet whose emotions and will had been drained away, leaving behind nothing but a breathing vessel of skin and bone.

Seeing her in this state, the others in the cell gradually lost interest in bullying her. A toy that couldn't even put up a fight was no fun at all. Time passed day by day in this dead silence.

...

Meanwhile, back at the courtyard, Chen Mo’s life was becoming increasingly comfortable.

After Jia Zhang was taken away, the entire courtyard felt much quieter. Qin Huairu seemed to have been dealt a heavy blow; she hid in her house all day, rarely stepping out, and certainly didn't dare to show her face to annoy Chen Mo again. Shazhu, without the instigation of Jia Zhang and Qin Huairu, had become much more docile. He spent his days going to work and coming home, occasionally glancing at Chen Mo’s back with a complex look in his eyes.

As for Chen Mo, he had received public recognition from the rolling mill for "assisting public security organs in capturing saboteurs." Factory Director Yang personally singled out Comrade Chen Mo at an all-factory meeting, praising his high level of consciousness and firm stance, holding him up as a role model for all workers in the factory.

Because of this, Chen Mo’s status in the factory rose even higher. In the past, people looked at him with awe for his medical skills; now, there was an added layer of political "awe." Even Section Chief Qian from the infirmary would bow and scrape whenever he saw Chen Mo, calling him "Doctor Chen" at every turn, terrified that one wrong word might offend this favorite of the factory director.

One day, just as Chen Mo returned to the courtyard after work, the Third Uncle, Yan Bugui, came up to him with a face full of smiles.

"Doctor Chen, off work already? Oh my, you work so hard every day. Shall I help you park your bike?"

"No need, Third Uncle," Chen Mo said coolly.

Just then, a commotion broke out at the courtyard entrance. A figure stumbled in from outside.

The person’s hair was withered and yellow, their face haggard, and they were wearing dirty, tattered clothes. The person had lost a significant amount of weight, and their eyes were dull, as if they had lost their soul.

The people in the courtyard stared for a long time before someone hesitantly called out, "Is... is that Jia Zhang?"

The fifteen-day detention period had finally ended.

Jia Zhang was back.