Chapter 1178 - 374 Attracted Big Trouble
The textile mill was divided into the front courtyard and the back courtyard; the front courtyard was the main place for spinning, weaving, dyeing, and drying fabric, whereas the two rows of houses in the back were where the workers ate and slept.
As a manager, Manager Gou had a big room to himself, while ordinary workers had to sleep in large communal bunks, squeezing twenty or so people into a small room barely three zhang in length and width. The conditions for the children brought in to do odd jobs were even worse—not only were they mixed-gender accommodations, but the number of people crammed into those rooms was twice that of the ordinary workers.
Fourth Master Shi was just an ordinary worker, but he was lucky enough to have a brother-in-law who was a manager, so he also had a small room to himself. Though it wasn’t as spacious and bright as Manager Gou’s, it wasn’t bad at all.
Whenever evil desires took over, Fourth Master Shi would sneak into the neighboring room where the children slept, grabbing whoever he could and dragging them to his room to abuse as he pleased. Over the years, the number of children he had harmed might not have reached a hundred, but it surely was fifty, and some who couldn’t stand the humiliation and resisted him ended up being tortured to death by him. It was sheer luck that Si Nier managed to survive and escape.
The atrocities committed by Fourth Master Shi were known to everyone in the textile mill, and it wasn’t like nobody had tried to "meddle in others’ affairs," but every meddler ended up meeting a grim fate. As time passed, no one else dared to intervene, and amidst everyone’s silence, Fourth Master Shi’s bestial nature became even more unrestrained.
The workers cursed the malicious Fourth Master Shi countless times in their hearts, wishing God would take him away earlier, so he would no longer harm those innocent children. But it seemed as though God truly did not see, for not only did God not take Fourth Master Shi away, he didn’t even come down with a sneeze or an illness all year round.
As time wore on, people came to believe the old adage: "Good folks don’t live long, disasters linger for a thousand years!" But now, what did they see? They saw Fourth Master Shi lying stiffly on the bed, stark naked. What was terrifying was that his entire body was pitch-black, showing not a hint of his original skin color, except for his eyes which were wide open, showing boundless terror in his unblinking gaze.