Chapter 8: Baoyu Is Beaten
One hot summer afternoon, terrible news reached the Jia mansion. A servant girl named Jinchuan had thrown herself into a well and drowned. The reason was a cruel rumor that Baoyu had spoken improper words to her. Whether the rumor was true or not, the result was the same: a young life was lost.
Baoyu's father, Jia Zheng, was furious when he heard the news. He had always been disappointed in his son, who refused to study for the exams and spent his days with the girls in the garden. Now he saw Baoyu as a source of shame for the entire family. "Bring him to me!" he shouted, his face red with anger.
When Baoyu was brought before his father, Jia Zheng ordered the servants to beat him. The heavy bamboo sticks fell upon Baoyu's back again and again. He cried out in pain, but his father showed no mercy. The other family members heard the sounds and rushed to the scene, begging Jia Zheng to stop.
Grandmother Jia arrived and stood between her son and her grandson. "If you want to kill him, you must kill me first!" she declared. Her words finally stopped the beating. Baoyu was carried to his room, his body covered with wounds. Daiyu came to see him and wept silently by his bed.
The incident left deep marks on Baoyu's body and his heart. He began to understand that the world outside the garden was a harsh place, where power and rules controlled everything. The gentle life he had known was protected only by his grandmother's love, and that protection would not last forever.