Chapter 13: Internal Conflict in the Zeng Family

On Mao’er Mountain, the Zeng family, who were being punished, were also discussing Zeng Yanne. Hu Sifeng stood in the shade of a tree, propped up on her hoe. Since no one was around, she didn’t bother to lower her voice. “Jiazhi, when we finish work and go home, boil her a bowl of white noodles. Don’t forget to put the medicine in it. Once the brat passes out, Fugui, you immediately tie her up tight and throw her in the cellar.”

Hu Sifeng had come to a realization in the past two days. She used to think her second daughter-in-law loved her daughter, but she was also the first one to suggest marrying her off. She couldn’t see through Sun Jiazhi, and her dislike for her grew even more.

Sun Jiazhi was too weak to respond. Her body swayed, and she looked like she was about to faint. Zeng Fugui quickly wrapped his arms around her, giving her water and fanning her. The weather was hot, and the hole Zeng Yanne had poked in his hand was infected, making it ache terribly. His temper was even worse, and he yelled at his mother, “When has Jiazhi ever cooked? Get Jianguo’s wife to do it.”

Zeng Jianguo’s wife, Sun Xiaoman, was unwilling. She tugged on her husband’s sleeve and complained softly, “I’m not doing something that will harm someone. I won’t do it.”

Zeng Jianguo was a big, foolish man who was blindly devoted to his father and listened to him the most. He glared at his wife. “Just do it when I tell you to. Don’t talk so much nonsense.”

Everyone had a different reaction. The head of the family, Old Zeng Nian, had already stopped working. He leaned against the base of a tree, his pipe in his mouth, eyes closed as he rested. He didn’t make a sound.

The lazy Zeng Fuzhen sat next to her father, pounding the ground with her hands, cheering on her mother’s idea. “Mom, don’t stop me. I’m going to beat her to death tonight.”

Zeng Fugui’s older brother and sister-in-law, the couple Zeng Fusheng, were filled with resentment. They hated Zeng Yanne for causing such a big fuss over a small matter, which led to their entire family being punished. They also hated how the old woman spoiled her youngest son, Yuejin, making him even more intolerable. They, as parents, couldn’t even correct him. The old woman’s desire to teach Zeng Yanne a lesson was something they welcomed.

Among the grandchildren, only Zeng Yanling, Zeng Yanne’s cousin, showed a flicker of compassion and wanted to speak up for her. But her mother glared at her. She was timid and didn’t dare to directly contradict her parents and elders. She secretly planned to find an excuse to use the restroom and sneak down the mountain to warn her cousin.

Hu Sifeng’s small eyes darted around, her face full of calculation. Even her second son, as a father, had suffered a loss because of that brat. If she married her off nearby, she would have to worry about the brat seeking revenge later on. She changed her mind; she wouldn’t marry the brat off to Crazy Liu.

Hu’s family had a distant relative who lived in the mountains in the southwest. It was a dirt-poor, remote, and unsupervised place. If they sent someone there, no one would check without a letter of introduction. Her nephew from her family’s side worked for the county’s transport team and went south to pick up goods every week, passing by that area. She would first have him send a message. Once they agreed, he could take the girl with the transport team’s truck.

Even if that girl had three heads and six arms, she wouldn’t be able to escape from those mountains. With all the bachelors in that village, she’d be lucky to survive the abuse, let alone have the energy to come back and get revenge on the Zeng family.

Hu Sifeng didn’t even tell her second son about this plan. If others asked, she would say the girl ran away on her own. Without a body or proof, the people in the brigade would have nowhere to look. With the breeze blowing and her brilliant plan taking shape, the old woman felt ecstatic.

The eldest daughter-in-law, Wu Jingui, couldn’t stand seeing four able-bodied people being lazy and not working. She threw her hoe down, put her hands on her hips, and cursed. “The old hag is acting entitled, the shameless one is just pretending to faint, and the lazy worm who eats everything has the nerve to talk. I’m not working either. It’s so much more comfortable sitting in the shade.”

Hu Sifeng’s small eyes widened, and she jumped up, cursing back. “My own son and grandson didn’t say anything, so who do you think you are? My precious daughter is too good for this. Try cursing her again!”

The old woman was a strange person. She didn’t care much for her two sons but doted on her youngest daughter, Zeng Fuzhen, and her youngest grandson, whom she believed to be the reincarnation of her deceased son. You could curse her, but you couldn’t curse her precious daughter.

“The name Wu Jingui isn’t worth a damn, you’re nothing but a pile of dog poop,” Zeng Fuzhen chimed in, adding fuel to the fire.

Wu Jingui was already seething and looking for an outlet. She had long been fed up with her lazy, good-for-nothing sister-in-law. She lunged forward and kicked her down. “You fat pig, you ungrateful wretch! Without your brother and me feeding you, how could you have gotten so big and strong?” She didn’t fear the old matriarch one bit and turned the threat on her. “You old hag, if you don’t marry this moocher off this year, we won’t pay a single cent for your old age. Just try us.”

“You’ve gone mad! what are you standing around for? Get over here and teach this spendthrift a lesson,” Hu Sifeng bellowed, furious that her precious little darling was being insulted.

Zeng Fusheng was on his wife’s side and pretended not to hear.

Unable to order her eldest son, the old woman turned to her second son to beat his sister-in-law. Zeng Fugui, ever the dutiful son, actually stepped forward to hit his own sister-in-law.

How could Zeng Fusheng let his wife get beaten by his younger brother? He quickly intervened, and in the heat of the moment, the two brothers started fighting. Zeng Jianguo, the foolishly filial son, couldn’t pull them apart. Without a word, he grabbed a hoe and went to help his father beat his uncle.

Taking advantage of Zeng Fusheng’s eldest son being away for work, his younger son being only ten, and his daughter lacking strength, the father-and-son duo from the second family gave the eldest couple a thorough beating.

The young wife, Sun Xiaoman, and Zeng Yanling couldn’t break up the fight and were on the verge of tears. Zeng Fugui’s other two sons, Yuanchao and Kangmei, didn’t help anyone. They used the excuse of carrying broken rocks down the mountain to slip away.

Interestingly, Zeng Laonian, who was never without his pipe, and Sun Jiazhi, who was faking heatstroke to get out of work, each leaned against a tree, their eyes still closed, as if the whole commotion had nothing to do with them.

Down the mountain, Zeng Yanne had no idea that her oddball family was already tearing itself apart without her lifting a finger.

She sat in a shady corner, chewing on some ejiao and contemplating how to turn the situation around. Of course, the most satisfying thing would be to tear this family to pieces, but she was living in the collective of the Xiangyang Village. There were things she could do and things she couldn’t. Times were tough for everyone, and wasting resources would not be supported morally, no matter how justified she was.

To change the situation, she first needed to consider the era’s factors, just like how she dealt with Hu Sifeng at the hospital. Timing, location, and people all had to be taken into account. Zeng Yanne slowly sketched out a plan that, if executed well, would be a win-win.

First, she had to settle down, then get to work. It was time to act!

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The sun was setting in the west, and the villagers of Xiangyang who had been toiling in the fields all day were shouldering their hoes, coming down the mountain path behind the village office in small groups.

In the small square in front of the office was a century-old ginkgo tree with a massive canopy. Villagers usually loved to seek refuge from the heat under its shade.

But it was still too early for that. A person was lying under the tree, their head wrapped in white gauze. The small body was as thin as a sole fish, lying motionless with their eyes closed, as if dead.

“Isn’t that Little Yanne from the Zeng family? Why is she lying here?” Wang Chunhong, the loud-voiced women’s leader of the second team, asked, her voice full of confusion.