He had always kept up a decent appearance, gentle and well-mannered, greeting everyone with a smile. Clean and fresh, he looked every bit a man of letters.
Yet now, his hair was a bird's nest, his whole body covered in mud as if he had rolled around in a puddle, and his lips...
His lips were swollen, curled up and down, looking both comical and ridiculous.
Hu Jianjun frowned in mounting irritation. "What on earth is going on here, Guangjin? How did you end up looking like this?"
The moment Hu Guangjin saw his eldest uncle, it was as if he had grabbed onto a life-saving straw. His eyes turned red, and the tears burst forth.
He let out a wail and lunged forward, smearing mud all over Hu Jianjun. "Eldest Uncle, sob, sob... Mom is going to beat me to death! She's gone crazy, really, these bruises all over me are from her beating. Just now she even came at me with a hoe, and if I hadn't ducked fast, my life would have ended right here!"
The veins throbbed on Hu Jianjun's forehead. Looking at the muddy stains on his clothes, he felt a strong urge to slap this oblivious nephew across the face.
This was his only decent set of clothes, the ones he wore every time he went to the commune for a meeting!
He had to go to a meeting in a little while! What was he supposed to do now that he was filthy like this?
Taking a few deep breaths, he shoved Hu Guangjin off him and glared angrily at Feng Yun. "Feng Yun, tell me, is what he's saying true?"
He had never held much fondness for this sister-in-law.
Back when Feng Yun had first married into the Hu Family, she was as sharp-tongued and fierce as a firecracker, quarreling with people every other day and turning his younger brother's household upside down, leaving not a moment of peace for the entire Hu Family.
If she hadn't given birth to three daughters in a row and later been dragged off by him for public criticism and struggle, there was no telling what kind of chaos the Hu Family would have descended into.
"Team Leader," Feng Yun said, a forced smile on her face, "how is it that my own family's business has managed to disturb a person of your great stature?"
In her past life, this eldest brother-in-law was always poking his nose into her family's affairs. Whenever she fought with Hu Jianguo, he would lecture and scold her; whenever she disciplined the children, he would lecture and scold her, too.
When she once refused to go to town to take care of Hu Guangcai's children, Hu Jianjun had come straight to her house, chewing her out from head to toe for failing to value the males of the Hu Family. He had declared that Hu Guangcai was the pride of the Hu Family and deserved to be pampered and humored at every turn.
Time and time again, he forced his antiquated ideology upon her, step by step driving her to suffocation and rage.
There was a time when Chunhua and Chuntao had joined forces to beat up Guangjin. They were still young, and after she found out the truth—that Guangjin had made an unreasonable demand, had been refused by his two older sisters, and had thrown the first punch—she disciplined Guangjin right then and there. But Guangjin turned around and ran to complain to Hu Jianjun. Hu Jianjun listed every single thing she had done over the years that displeased him, and insisted on dragging her off for ideological re-education.
That day, she was tied to a stage, where anyone could spit on her, curse her, and beat her.
People came at her one after another. She was hungry, thirsty, and reeked of sweat. When she finally returned home, she fell severely ill, and after that, she lost all strength to keep fighting back.
When she could no longer win the fight, she began to compromise. Slowly, she began to fall in line with their thinking, showing blatant favoritism toward her sons—to the point that in her past life, all of her children ended up ruined.
Thinking of all those things from the past, Feng Yun's chest heaved violently.
"Feng Yun, what kind of attitude is that? I am your eldest brother! You turn the household upside down, and you still think you're in the right?"
Feng Yun cast a cold glance at him. "You're my eldest brother? Go ask all around the commune if there is any other eldest brother who would drag his own sister-in-law off for ideological re-education!"
The anger in Hu Jianjun's heart was ignited as well.
"You're still unrepentant? Just look at you—wasn't the ideological education back then a huge success? You've been quiet for so long, and now you want to taste what it was like before?"
"If you have the guts, go ahead and try again! Our family's domestic affairs are none of your business!"
Seeing the situation growing tense and hostile, the village party secretary hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over. "When all is said and done, this is Jianguo's family business. Let's not get hot-headed. Everyone disperse and let them close their doors and sort it out themselves."
With the village party secretary speaking up, and the team leader casting clearly malicious glances, the villagers had no choice but to disperse.
Yet even though the people left, the gossip did not.
Bearing their strange stares, Hu Guangjin felt as though he had been stripped naked and paraded through the streets while people pelted him with rotten leaves. He wished a hole would open up in the ground right then and there so he could bury himself.
"Get inside and talk," Hu Jianjun snorted coldly, taking the lead and walking into the courtyard.
A chilling gaze landed on him, and Hu Guangjin instinctively looked up, immediately locking eyes with Feng Yun.
He shuddered involuntarily, and as if chased by a pack of dogs, he scrambled in a flurry into the courtyard, hiding straight behind Hu Jianjun.
Feng Yun let out a cold laugh and walked in after them.