Chapter 31: Fight

Jia Wei was a ruthless man. That very afternoon, he took Ming Yuehe to the county town, forced her to marry his son, and locked the door of his son’s room that very night. Throughout the night, screams, shouts, and heavy breathing intertwined, yet the Jia family slept soundly as if nothing had happened, completely unaffected. Even Ming Hu acted as if he hadn’t seen a thing. The Jia family was known in the Yinghe Brigade as someone nobody dared to mess with.

The Jia patriarch had once been a bandit. After having his eldest son, he planned to quit his old ways, but in such chaotic times, quitting wasn’t just a personal decision. So the eldest son was raised to be especially calculating. When the second son, Jia Wu, was born, the patriarch’s activities were exposed, forcing him into hiding during the chaos. When the third son, Jia Wei, was born, both the patriarch and matriarch died on the same day. The eldest son spent all the family fortune just to save the lives of his two younger brothers. Because of his life being like a rat on the street, Jia Wu developed a weak character, but with his older brother’s backing, he survived to this day. Though he suffered a lot, at least he lived.

Though the Jia family had shed their bandit reputation, that fierce spirit remained—especially in Jia Wei, who was personally raised by the eldest brother. Naturally, he developed a rough, unreasonable personality. Although Jia Wei was harsh, he was extremely gentle and caring toward his wife, who was personally chosen and taken by him. Rumor had it they were close relatives, and finally they had a mentally challenged son. The couple once held onto a faint hope of having another child but gave up after this. They cherished their only mentally challenged son, Jia Hongxing.

Now that their son had grown to marriageable age, the couple was worried. Ming Hu happened to mention something, and Ming Yuehe happened to run into them—it was a perfect match. Although there were some twists and turns, the outcome was what mattered.

There were no elders left in the Jia family. Though it was time to split the family, the three brothers still got along well, living in the same courtyard but eating separately. Every morning, Ming Hu got up and cooked breakfast in a makeshift kitchen by the house. Jia Wu and his children ate, then all went to the fields to earn work points.

Jia Wei and Jia Zheng discussed whether to hold a wedding banquet for Jia Hongxing.
“Big brother, I only have this one son. His mother and I didn’t give him a healthy body, but I want him to have what others have.”
“Third brother, I understand your feelings. Hongxing is my nephew too. Of course we will hold the banquet, but given the current situation, it probably won’t be a big one.”
“I understand, big brother. Let’s do the most we can—five tables. How about that?”
“That works. Also about the guest list… should we invite the Ming family?”
“Hah, those losers from the Ming family? They’re not worth inviting to our home.”
Jia Wei spoke without considering Ming Hu or Ming Yuehe at all.
“Alright, I’ll leave it to you.” It wasn’t a big deal, so Jia Zheng didn’t mind.

The two brothers finalized the guest list, then went to work. In the evening, they called everyone to Jia Zheng’s house for dinner to discuss the wedding banquet. Ming Hu then saw her niece, whose eyes looked empty and lifeless… she felt a pang of guilt, but it soon vanished. She wasn’t to blame for this—it was Ming Yuehe who had messed everything up herself. What did it have to do with her?

“Third brother’s wife, Hongxing’s wedding banquet will be in three days.”
“Alright, big brother. There’s enough time.”
Jia Wei’s wife, Qu Yanan, was straightforward and, loved by her husband, bore the grace of maturity.
“If there’s anything, come find your sister-in-law.”
“Thank you, big brother, big sister-in-law.” Qu Yanan replied crisply while eating the food her husband served.

Jia Zheng glanced at Ming Hu but ignored her altogether. Ming Hu felt awkward, looking around at everyone, then turned to her silent husband, burning with anger.
“Big brother, I can help too.”
“No need. Your temper might ruin Hongxing’s banquet. You’d better be patient and persuade your niece to behave at the banquet.”
“…” Ming Hu didn’t expect Jia Zheng to embarrass her publicly like this. She wanted to argue but dared not, so she quietly ate her food.

After dinner, the three women cleaned up. When Ming Hu was about to return to her room, anger bubbled up again. Having no status in the Jia family was one thing, but did she not even get any sense of accomplishment in front of her own family? Furious, she stormed into Ming Yuehe’s room and slapped her hard across the face.
“Ming Yuehe, who do you think you’re showing attitude to? I’m your aunt, is this how you treat your elders?”
“Elder? You’re not qualified.”
“You worthless loser, how dare you talk back to me? Watch as I teach you a lesson, on behalf of big brother and big sister-in-law.”

The two— aunt and niece—fought fiercely, neither giving way. Jia Hongxing, having finished washing up, came in. Seeing someone hitting his wife, his simple mind just knew he had to protect her, just like his father protected his mother. Like a raging bull, he charged in and knocked Ming Hu down. Ming Hu was furious to the extreme and didn’t care whose child Jia Hongxing was. She fought back fiercely.

After all these years, although Ming Hu had a good life in the Jia family, she worked hard, and was physically much stronger than these two who were lazy and incompetent. Facing two against one, she was undaunted and even had an oppressive stance.

Jia Wei didn’t want to meddle in the quarrel between Ming Hu and Ming Yuehe, but when his son was involved, he couldn’t stand it. He grabbed Qu Yanan and rushed to his son’s room, only to see Ming Hu slap his son hard across the face. Who could tolerate that? Even the usually straightforward Qu Yanan couldn’t stand it. She shouted, tore Ming Hu off her son, and gave Ming Hu symmetrical slaps across the face. Meanwhile, Ming Hu cursed, grabbed her hair, and kicked her with her feet. Jia Wei stood by, protecting his son, showing no intention to stop it. Only when Qu Yanan was satisfied did she stop.

“Ming Hu, I don’t care if you hit Ming Yuehe, but if you dare to lay a hand on me, Jia Wei’s wife, believe me, I’ll chop off your hand.”
“Qu Yanan, you shameless slut, who do you think you are? Huh? You gave birth to a mentally challenged fool, don’t you feel ashamed? Yet you still dare to act all high and mighty here? If I were you, I’d have died a hundred times over.”

When Ming Hu married Jia Wu, she had used some means. Jia Zheng and Jia Wei looked down on her behavior and treated her like a stranger. Over time, though she appeared prosperous and well-off in the Jia family, she was full of resentment inside. Now provoked, she let all her pent-up frustrations explode, caring nothing else.