Feng Yun showed not a hint of guilt on her face; she refused to admit that she was filled with resentment, wanting nothing more than to beat this ingrate to death.
"Does it hurt?"
"Of course it hurts!"
Hu Guangjin lowered his hand from his face, revealing a bright red handprint. Feng Yun breathed a sigh of relief. It hurt, which meant her rebirth was real. It was wonderful—she had returned to a time before Chunhua was married off to Li Tiezhu. Everything could still be set right.
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, but before it could fully form, a slap landed on the back of her head, sending her stumbling and nearly falling from her stool.
Hu Jianguo glared at Feng Yun. "Old woman, are you sick in the head? Why are you hitting our fourth son?"
Feng Yun cast a sharp, irritated look at Hu Jianguo, her anger mounting. Hu Jianguo had spent his whole life being a bully at home, knowing only how to hit her and the children, yet he never dared to make a peep when someone pointed a finger in his face outside. He was also a man who valued sons over daughters. In her previous life, she had disagreed with the plan to marry off Chunhua, leading to several arguments. Back then, having been brainwashed by the Hu Family into believing that a husband was everything, that had been her first act of defiance in years. But she hadn't been able to hold her ground, and in the end, she let Chunhua marry Li Tiezhu, ruining her daughter’s life until she was beaten to death while pregnant.
And what about her? She had drifted through life, pushed around by her sons, treating them as her future security and sacrificing everything for them. In the end, they expected her to pull her sisters into their schemes to share the burden, and the ingrates wanted to strip her to the bone just to feather their own nests. What good were sons? They said they would provide for her old age, but while she could still move, she was their maid; when she could no longer move, she was their burden.
If one were to be fair, all children, whether sons or daughters, were pieces of one's own flesh and should be treated equally. And this old man—he thought she was useless, and that was bad enough, but he was prone to violence whenever he was unhappy. She had enabled this bad behavior for too long!
She raised her hand and slapped Hu Jianguo across the face. "We can talk without using our hands! I’m his mother; what’s it to you if I hit him?"
The slap left everyone in the room stunned. Hu Jianguo and Hu Guangjin both clutched their faces, eyes wide, looking utterly ridiculous. Hu Chunhua, standing to the side with red-rimmed eyes, was also frozen in shock.
"Old woman, have you lost your mind? Why are you hitting me?" Hu Jianguo rolled up his sleeves, making a show of preparing to strike back.
Feng Yun sneered, snatched the teapot off the table, and hurled it at him.
"I’m hitting you because you deserve it! What? You can hit me whenever you please, but I can’t hit back? I’ve coddled you too much! I’m telling you now, if you dare lay a finger on me again, I’ll kill you!"
The reborn Feng Yun would no longer subscribe to the idea that a husband was a master or that she couldn't hit a man. The man was a spineless coward; if she didn't beat him, what was she saving him for?
"You... you..." Hu Jianguo jumped back to dodge, looking at the shattered teapot on the floor with lingering fear, his heart aching. "Old woman, are you crazy? Why are you biting everyone you see?"
Before he could finish, *smack*—Hu Jianguo felt another slap land on the other side of his face, leaving five distinct red marks.
"If you can't speak properly, shut your mouth," Feng Yun said, shaking her hand coldly.
Hu Jianguo clutched his face, his eyes round. Had this woman taken the wrong medicine today? She had never dared treat him like this before; she clearly needed a lesson! Thinking this, he rolled up his sleeves and pointed at her, about to get serious. "Feng Yun, have I been giving you too much leeway—ah!"
Before he could finish, Hu Jianguo let out a blood-curdling scream, rolling on the ground while clutching his finger. "Ah, ah! My hand is broken! Feng Yun, you’re insane! You dared to snap my finger!"
Feng Yun rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. "Broken, my foot! Do you think I don't know my own strength? If you keep howling, do you want to see me actually break it?"
Hu Jianguo shivered, looked up at her, and saw her patting the chair beside her. "Sit there."
He shrank his neck, hesitating, but seeing her expression shift, he obeyed instantly. He scurried over and sat on the edge of the stool like a timid bride, shoulders hunched, keeping as much distance from her as possible.
Feng Yun snorted, a cold laugh in her heart. She had been a doormat for so many years, did he really think she was made of mud? Back in the day, she had been the village beauty—not only skilled in medicine but an expert hunter. So many men had lined up to marry her. And yet, she had been blind, choosing a coward like Hu Jianguo and letting her life turn into this.
Since Hu Jianguo only knew how to bully his own family, she would be even crueler than him, and let’s see if he dared to act tough in front of her again!
Seeing his father defeated, Hu Guangjin felt uneasy and carefully approached. "Mom?"
"Hm?" Feng Yun slowly smoothed her sleeves and glanced at him sideways. "What do you want to say?"
Hu Guangjin shivered at her gaze. His mother had always listened to him in the past, but something was very strange today. Not only had she hit his father and him, but there was a hint of hatred in her eyes when she looked at him. Could it be that his father had angered her and he was just collateral damage? He never looked at his own faults, so he easily convinced himself, and his courage returned.
He sat on the chair and pointed at Hu Chunhua, ready to complain. "Mom, you really should talk to Big Sister. That Li family is wealthy; marrying into it means a life of comfort for her, and we can get two hundred yuan in bride price—where else can you find a deal like that? What is she being so difficult for? Besides, I’m the eldest son; won't the family rely on me in the future? When I get into university, it’ll be a credit to this family. Why shouldn't Big Sister agree?"
As he spoke, he worked himself into a rage, rolling up his sleeves as if to strike Hu Chunhua.
Seeing this, Feng Yun raised her leg and kicked him. With a thud, Hu Guangjin’s head hit the floor, and a bump immediately formed. He clutched his head, looking up at her with teary eyes. "Mom!"
Feng Yun stared at him, her mind filled with the scene of her death. This fourth son was her first-born, and she had always valued him highly. In her previous life, he had insisted on selling his sister for the bride price, claiming it was to pay for an advanced placement class so he would have a better chance at university. She hadn't wanted to, but he had made a scene at home for days until she finally gave in.
Of the two hundred yuan they received, twenty went to a dowry for Chunhua, and the rest went straight into his pockets. Later, when he got into university, he claimed he didn't have enough for living expenses, so she had worked herself to the bone, taking extra jobs, doing house calls, taking tips, and borrowing money from the second and third sons.
And the result? The so-called advanced placement class only required a few cartons of cigarettes, some candy, and a few pounds of fruit to get into. University had subsidies; he didn't need that much money at all. He had spent every cent on Xu Lijuan. If Xu Lijuan had been a decent person, that would be one thing, but she clearly wasn't—she was nothing but a troublemaker.