When this news reached the villagers' ears, it was like a thunderclap.
"What? One hundred yuan? Is he marrying a gold nugget?"
Marriages were quite simple these days. Even in the city, if a family was well-off, providing the "three round items" was considered decent; finding someone who could scrape together the "three round items and one sounding item" was as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns. In the countryside, conditions were generally poor and everyone lived hand-to-mouth, so a bride price of twenty yuan was the norm. One hundred yuan was enough to marry five wives!
"It looks like Feng Yun is truly satisfied with Xu Lijuan! Who was it that said earlier that Feng Yun didn't like her and would act like a wicked mother-in-law trying to tear the lovebirds apart? Well, that slap in the face has arrived! She is shelling out one hundred yuan just to get a daughter-in-law—that is a massive fortune. What mother-in-law could be that generous?"
"Exactly! One hundred yuan! If I had known Feng Yun had that kind of money, I would have introduced my niece from my maiden home to them."
"Oh, stop dreaming! Hu Guangjin is the only high school student in the village. Do you really think he would look at your niece?"
"What's wrong with that? My niece is bright and lovely, the flower of the village! So what if she hasn't been to school? A wife should be virtuous; she has a good temper and is capable. She would be a great wife. Plus, she’s built to bear sons. Ensuring the Hu Family has offspring to carry on the line is what really matters!"
While the group nearby argued heatedly, Xu Lijuan felt a tightening in her chest under Feng Yun’s intense gaze.
Feng Yun sighed. "You’ve been silent for so long—is it because you don't agree? You don't actually want to be in a relationship with my fourth son, and you don't want to marry him. You’re just taking advantage of the fact that he treats you well, dotes on you, and gives you good things, aren't you?"
Hu Guangjin’s mood shifted from excitement to nervousness, then to disappointment. He stared intently at Xu Lijuan, his thick, sausage-like lips visibly trembling. "Lijuan, you don't want to be with me anymore?"
Stuck in an impossible situation, Xu Lijuan’s face turned bright red. Finally, she steeled herself, deciding to just let it all out.
"Guangjin, I told you before: I am definitely going back to the city. If you don't pass the university entrance exam, my parents will certainly never agree to let me marry you."
Hu Guangjin had heard this countless times, but hearing it again today hit differently. In the past, whenever she said this, his mind would fill with the determination to pass the exam. But this time, he detected a hint of dismissiveness in her tone.
He felt a crushing weight in his chest, and the more suffocated he felt, the harder he stared at Xu Lijuan, his hands clenching into fists of their own accord.
Feng Yun observed the complex emotions playing across Hu Guangjin’s face and quickly added fuel to the fire.
"What are you saying, child? Aren't you after the person my fourth son is? For your sake, he fought tooth and nail against this family. He made me sell everything we had to send him to the city for school, and he nearly cost his eldest sister her life just to get into the advanced class. If he ends up failing the exam and you refuse to marry him, wouldn't all his years of sacrifice be for nothing? If you truly liked him, how could you bear to pressure him like this and hurt us so deeply? He is still young. His future—university, marriage—doesn't all of that depend on us? If you break our hearts and we decide to stop caring about him entirely, will you be the one responsible for the rest of his life?"As soon as these words were out, the group of people she had deliberately called over began to chime in.
"Who’s to say otherwise? What kind of daughter-in-law causes a son to become estranged from his own family before she’s even crossed the threshold? Guangcai is a high school graduate whom the Hu Family poured all their resources into cultivating. For his sake, the other children didn't get to study much at all. How can you incite him to drain his siblings dry just so you can go to college? Are you going to be responsible for all their life milestones in the future?"
"I said it long ago: when choosing a wife, one must look for virtue. If you bring home a daughter-in-law who only looks out for herself, that family is bound to fall apart."
"Xu Lijuan, are you just playing with Hu Guangjin? If you really cared about him, how could you propose such harsh terms? You claim your parents don't agree, but your household registration is right here. You’re just a sent-down youth; how could your parents possibly control you?"
"That’s right! If your parents were truly that powerful, why haven't they found a way to get you back home?"
"Oh, you still believe her? Just a few days ago, I saw her in town pulling and shoving with some man. And it’s not just in town—even here in our village, there are several young men who spend all day scrounging up the best things from their homes just to deliver them to her. She has no intention of ever officially being with Hu Guangjin. She’s just happy to accept your favors, but to her, you’re nothing more than a 'good brother.'"
When Feng Yun heard this, a wave of sheer satisfaction rushed straight to her head.
What this woman said hit the nail right on the head, even sounding years ahead of this era.
In her past life, by the time she died, it was already the twenty-first century. Back then, there was a very trendy term for this: keeping a spare tire.Her fourth child was obviously just a reserve fish in Xu Lijuan's fishpond, one she could pick and choose from and discard at any moment.
Once she finished picking and was ready to leave with another man, she would cry and say she had always thought of him as a brother, saving her own face, ensuring no one could blame her, and even continuing to keep them acting good, using the identity of a sister to continue squeezing out their value.
How ruthless, how disgusting, bah, bah, bah!
Feng Yun spat three times in her heart, stepped forward, and pressed on, "If you really like our family's fourth child, let's get this marriage engaged first. I'm not even asking you to get married right away, just set an engagement first so our fourth child can have some peace of mind. Surely that's fine, isn't it?"
Xu Lijuan still said nothing.
Feng Yun's face immediately darkened.
"You won't even agree to an engagement? So you're just toying with our family's fourth child? You coax him with sweet words, but you're simply unwilling to give him any peace of mind?"
Xu Lijuan's heart skipped a beat. Seeing the unfriendly expressions on the faces of the surrounding villagers, she quickly waved her hands. "No, no, I..."
Glancing at Hu Guangjin's ugly expression and seeing that the timing was right, Feng Yun grabbed Xu Lijuan by the shoulder with one hand and slapped her hard across the face.
"You motherless, unbred white lotus! It turns out you've been deceiving our Guangjin all this time! He's been hoping with all his heart to marry you, yet you refuse to give a straight answer. So you were treating him like a sucker all along, only thinking of scraping money from him and sending it back to your own family! I'm going to beat you to death, you shameless wretch!"Two resounding slaps landed on Xu Lijuan's face, making her head spin and stars dance before her eyes.
Before Xu Lijuan could react, Feng Yun shoved and pulled her to the ground, immediately pinning her down by sitting heavily on her stomach. The impact knocked the wind out of her, leaving her gasping for air.
"You..." Xu Lijuan clawed at Feng Yun, her hands a blur of motion in the air, yet she couldn't manage to touch her assailant once.
Hu Guangjin looked on in shock. "Mom, what are you doing? You..."
*Smack!*
In the middle of dealing with Xu Lijuan, Feng Yun pivoted and slapped Hu Guangjin across the face.
"You dense fool! I am standing up for you, and yet you blame me? You haven’t even married her yet, and you’re already looking down on your own mother! Get out of my sight! I’m going to show everyone today that my son, Feng Yun’s son, is not to be bullied!"
These words stirred a rare spark of guilt in Hu Guangjin. Perhaps his mother did care about him after all.
Feng Yun turned back to Xu Lijuan, slapping her left and right.
*Smack!*
"Xu Lijuan, my Guangjin just likes you too much; he isn't stupid! Do you really think he can’t see through your clumsy tricks? He knows exactly what kind of person you are and still treats you with care, yet you trample all over his sincerity! You deserve to choke on ten thousand needles!"
*Smack!*
*Smack!*
Feng Yun became increasingly agitated, her strikes fueled by growing resentment.
In her previous life, whenever Xu Lijuan needed help, she had been forced to babysit and be at her beck and call. She would be interrogated over every penny spent on groceries. If she spent a single cent too much, Xu Lijuan would use veiled insults to imply she was embezzling money to support her own children, stabbing her right in the heart with every cruel word.
Whenever she managed a moment of rest, Xu Lijuan would make snide comments about how she was "living the high life," suggesting all she did was cook and watch the kids. She would berate her for being slow, for dragging her feet, for being pretentious. If she ever mentioned to Hu Guangjin that Xu Lijuan was being disrespectful, Xu Lijuan would throw a tantrum, crying and howling until the entire household was in chaos.
Hu Guangjin, that ingrate, might as well have been blind; he never saw her working like a spinning top, never allowed a second of peace. The couple were both ingrates, and they had raised ingrates in their children. She served them day in and day out, yet they always claimed she treated them poorly. They would curse her behind her back, calling her a useless old woman who was a burden to their parents, saying she deserved to be worked to the bone.
When she was no longer useful, Xu Lijuan would invent a reason, claiming they couldn't get along, and buy her a ticket to go back alone. Once, when she misplaced an item, Xu Lijuan pointed at her nose and cursed her for a thief, even shoving her against a wall. When the item was later found, there was not a hint of remorse or a single word of apology.
Such instances were countless.
As these memories flooded her mind, the fire in Feng Yun’s heart ignited completely, making her strikes even more vicious.
"I’ll beat you to death, you shameless hussy! Since you came to our village, you’ve been flirting with this man and that, keeping my Guangjin on a string! He’s a fine high school student, and you pushed him into betraying his own sister—what kind of heartless act is that? Does he owe you something that you have to ruin him like this?"
*Smack!*
"You black-hearted thing, all you think about is plotting to get your hands on other people’s money! You’re always bragging about your family’s wealth—if you like my Guangjin, why don't you spend a dime on him? You miserly penny-pincher, my son must have been blind to fall for someone like you! Do you even deserve the sincere love he has for you?"
Hu Guangjin, standing nearby, saw Xu Lijuan being beaten and reached out to intervene, but Feng Yun’s words made him recoil. His mother was fighting for his honor; what would the onlookers think if he stopped her?
Besides, she was right. Every time, he was the one spending money and effort to please her, while she only offered a few hollow words of comfort. The conflicts at home were always instigated by her, and every time they met, she found reasons to demand money. She really didn't care for him as much as he had thought.
After Feng Yun had swollen Xu Lijuan's face into the likeness of a pig's head, she finally stopped, pulled away by the onlookers.
Xu Lijuan was carried back by the youth sent to the labor camp like a dead pig. When the director of the Women's Federation heard about the incident, she came to Feng Yun’s home to "counsel" her.
Feng Yun was immovable, sticking to one point: Xu Lijuan was a swindler who had defrauded Hu Guangjin of both money and affection. A person of such poor character deserved to be executed.
The director also had a son, and imagining him being led on by someone like Xu Lijuan filled her with her own share of hatred. However, it was her job to mediate, so she said the things she had to say. Two minutes later, she left with her hands behind her back.
Once everyone had gone, Hu Guangjin slumped, looking deflated.
Feng Yun let out a cold laugh and asked him, "Do you see Xu Lijuan’s true nature clearly now?"
Hu Guangjin pursed his lips. He was unwilling to admit that she didn't like him, but he didn't want to listen to his mother either. Feng Yun knew he was hurting, but she was determined to strike where it would hurt most.
"You are here, heart and soul, trying your best for her, but she doesn't consider you anything more than a tool. Hu Guangjin, if you have even an ounce of brainpower, go find out the truth about that top-tier class—see if it's based on merit or money. Also, that Li Tiezhu definitely gave her five hundred; if she told you two hundred, it proves she thinks you're a fool and is just out to scam you."
"If you still believe her after this, you don't need to study anymore. A fool is a fool, even with a degree, and you are destined to be played by others."
Having said this, Feng Yun didn't care how Hu Guangjin was taking it; she huffed and walked into the house.