Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 743 Severing ties just like your dead father
Since Xu Ning heard that Li Feng and the Chang brothers had started arguing, he certainly couldn't just sit idly by. Only after hearing the explanations from Xu Feng, Aunt Bai, and others did he understand the whole story.

Li Feng's dissatisfaction with his two brothers-in-law had been brewing for a long time, ever since he married Chang Lihong. After going through so much together, Li Feng felt it was unfair. If Li San and Li Shan were still alive, he might not have said anything, since he wasn't the head of the family.

Moreover, even when Li San and Li Shan were around, the Chang brothers wouldn't dare to bully his family like this. Li Feng was unwilling to be a pushover, a pushover to be played with. So when the Chang brothers came to freeload lunch today, Li Feng exploded.

The incident started when Gao Yanhong and Zhang Yan took their children back to their parents' home. The Chang brothers then came to Li Feng's house for meals almost every day. At first, Chang Lihong did her best to entertain them, but as time went on, the younger sister started to complain because she had to take care of the children while cooking for the two brothers.

When the Chang brothers arrived at Li Feng's house, they lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) like lords, not helping at all.

The two of them came again at noon today. Chang Lihong, holding her breath, stewed some cabbage and vermicelli for them. Seeing her two older brothers lying on the kang like lords, not even helping to get the bowls and chopsticks, she became more and more angry.

The Chang brothers, however, showed no discernible difference in their demeanor. They secretly rummaged through the cabinet, took out two bottles of Yuchun wine, and sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed) to drink them. Chang Lihong didn't say anything, but simply sat at the end of the kang with her child in her arms, staring blankly out the window.

Chang Beifeng had been drinking and was swearing at Chang Xifeng. Chang Lihong ignored him, but Chang Beifeng's voice grew louder and louder, waking up the sleeping child in Chang Lihong's arms.

The child started crying loudly after waking up. Chang Lihong tried to soothe him a couple of times, but it didn't work. Chang Beifeng became more and more annoyed and turned around to curse, "This stupid child, all he does is cry and cry, just like his dead father."

Chang Xifeng was taken aback by what he heard, but he did not refute Chang Beifeng's words, because the two brothers also looked down on Li Feng.

Chang Lihong was furious. Holding her child, she yelled, "Chang Beifeng, don't think you're someone special just because you've had a little bit of fun! Is this my home? I feed you and provide for you, and you turn around and insult my child and my husband! Is this how an uncle should act? Do you even have a human being?"

"How am I not human? Weren't we born of our own parents? If I'm not human, do you think you are?"

After Chang Beifeng finished cursing with a flushed face, he saw Chang Xifeng's slap coming towards him. Chang Xifeng pointed at him and said, "Don't let yourself blurt out whatever comes to mind after a few drinks!"

Then he turned to Chang Lihong and said, "Lihong, your sister-in-law isn't home, so please be more understanding. Look at me and your second brother, we only drank two bottles of your wine, and you've been acting all high and mighty ever since you sat down. At the very least, I'm still your older brother."

Upon hearing this, Chang Lihong was instantly enraged. Amidst the child's cries, she abruptly stood up, jumped to the ground, and shuffled in her slippers, yelling, "Get out! Both of you get out of here!"

"You think you can treat me like this? I'm at home taking care of the kids, and you two come over and I have to cook and light the fire, and you just lie on the kang like you're royalty, not even bothering to pick up the dishes? Get the hell out of here! I'm not putting up with you two anymore. Are you getting out or not? If you don't, I'll chop you both up!"

Chang Lihong put the child on the kang (a heated brick bed), and then rushed to the outer room with a furious look in her eyes. When Chang Xifeng saw Chang Lihong go to the outer room and pick up a kitchen knife, he was immediately sobered up and quickly pulled Chang Beifeng outside.

Chang Beifeng, still putting on airs, said, "Lihong, am I not your real brother? Is this how you treat me? You even tried to cut me with a kitchen knife. Go ahead and try cutting me..."

I'll fucking kill you!

Chang Lihong's face turned red with anger, and she gritted her teeth, swinging a kitchen knife at Chang Beifeng.

"Holy crap..."

Chang Xifeng swiftly grabbed Chang Beifeng and the two of them rushed out the door. Once in the courtyard, Chang Beifeng turned and yelled, "Just live! Chang Lihong, just live! You'll never live a decent life following Li Feng. You even dared to try and cut me with a kitchen knife! I'm your own brother! You'd even try to cut your own brother? Are you even human?"

"Fuck you, I'll kill you!"

Chang Lihong was so provoked by Chang Beifeng that she couldn't even walk properly. She took a step forward, but her foot tripped on the threshold. The kitchen knife flew out and landed at Chang Xifeng's feet. Chang Lihong's head hit the hard ground, and she immediately fell and her face was covered in blood.

Just then, Li Feng returned on his backward-riding donkey, with two roe deer on the cart.

He saw Chang Lihong leaning against the doorway, while Chang Xifeng and Chang Beifeng hurriedly walked out, and he froze for two seconds.

Li Feng immediately flew into a rage, jumped out of the car, grabbed a large broom standing beside him, and charged towards the Chang brothers.

"You son of a bitch! You dare hit my wife? I'll kill you!"

The large broom is woven from sorghum stalks. It's heavy, but it doesn't hurt at all when you hit someone with it.

Chang Xifeng was hit by a broom, then grabbed the broom and shouted, "I didn't hit her! She's my little sister, how could I hit her?"

"You're going to let go? You won't? Fine, neither of you are leaving here. I'm going to kill you both today."

Li Feng spotted a kitchen knife on the ground, picked it up, and chopped it down at Chang Beifeng. Chang Beifeng, who was wearing a cotton-padded jacket, was so frightened that he jumped back to dodge it.

Just as Li Feng was about to make a second cut, Chang Lihong covered her head and shouted through gritted teeth, "Husband, don't kill anyone! Otherwise, what will happen to me and the child?"

Upon hearing this, Li Feng stopped what he was doing, turned around and closed the door. He stared coldly at the Chang brothers, noticing that Chang Lihong had already gotten up and had a small cut on her forehead. He walked over, glanced at her, and asked, "What happened? Why are they here again?"

A large crowd had already gathered outside the courtyard, and many more were rushing over after hearing the news.

Chang Lihong finished recounting the whole story in front of everyone. Li Feng, with a sullen face, said, "You two are shameless! We feed and clothe you, and you end up cursing us, and you even curse the child? How old is that kid? What could he possibly know? Huh, how can you two be like this!"

Upon hearing this, and seeing the growing crowd outside the courtyard, the Chang brothers pulled Chang Beifeng around to open the gate.

But would Li Feng let him leave? As soon as he opened the door, Li Feng shouted, "You two dare to leave? If you don't make things clear today, neither of you are leaving."

Chang Xifeng, his face flushed and reeking of alcohol, said, "How do you plan to explain this? It's just two bottles of your wine. I'll bring them to you tomorrow."

"How could you possibly say such a thing? Huh! Chang Xifeng! Have you no conscience? You two abandoned my Li Feng on the mountain before, and he was almost eaten by a tiger. I originally thought I would cut off all ties with you two, but I was soft-hearted and didn't have the heart to do it. This is my fault."

“Now that my two sisters-in-law have taken their children back to their parents’ home, I feel sorry for you two having nowhere to eat or drink, so I cook for you. How is it my fault? I’m holding the child by myself, cooking and comforting the child at the same time, while you two sit on the kang without even setting up a table or bringing any bowls or chopsticks. Do you really think you’re the bosses?”

Chang Beifeng glared at him and said, "Chang Lihong, you don't need to keep repeating yourself. It's pointless. What exactly do you want?"

"What? I don't want to acknowledge you two as brothers anymore! I'm cutting ties with you two, I'll pretend I don't have you two brothers, and you don't have me as your little sister!"

Li Feng advised, "Wife, don't say such hurtful things. You'll soften your heart again when your sister-in-law comes back."

"If it weren't for my sister-in-law, I would have fucking killed them both long ago! You called my kid an idiot, but you two are the idiots! You two should go to your graves now, so your parents can give you a good talking-to."

Chang Xifeng said with a dark face, "Lihong, isn't that going too far?"

"Fuck you..."

Chang Lihong covered her head and cursed loudly, but she had shouted so loudly that she was already a little short of breath.

Li Feng, supporting his wife, looked up at them and said, "Don't come here again. My family can't afford to entertain you. Go wherever you want."

Chang Xifeng frowned and looked at Chang Lihong, saying, "Lihong, your head is still bleeding. Go find Old Zhang to take a look at it quickly, so that it doesn't leave any scars."

"roll!"

Hearing the child crying inside, Li Feng felt extremely irritated and glared at him, cursing under his breath.

Chang Beifeng got angry and shouted, "Who are you telling to get lost? This is my little sister's house, what right do you have..."

Chang Lihong retorted rudely, "I'm not your little sister! Chang Beifeng, you can live, but when you die, even your son won't be able to burn paper money for you!"

"Hey, damn it, no, Lihong, we're siblings! No matter how much we argue, it doesn't have to come to the point of breaking off our relationship!"

"Get the hell out of my house right now!" Chang Lihong shouted, pointing to the door.

Among the crowd watching the commotion outside the courtyard, Tang Er took two steps forward, extended his delicate fingers, and said, "You've even offended your own little sister. What's the point of you two living? You might as well just die already. My family does free work anyway, so I'll give you a discount."

"What's it to you?" Chang Beifeng turned and said through the fence.

"Look at your head, all you do is spout nonsense. We were hunting bears on the mountain the other day, and you stole the bear gallbladder and crushed it, didn't you? What does that have to do with me? What the hell have you done to me? Just you wait, tomorrow I'll throw poop pegs at your window, and I'll make sure you're never left in this village!"

"you dare!"

Tang Hao tried to stop him, but failed. Tang Er pointed at him and said, "You'll see if I dare!"

Voices came from the crowd nearby.

"Why bother with them? Let's just pretend they don't exist."

"Only Gao Yanhong and Zhang Yan know how to handle things; otherwise, who in our village would bother with them?"

"Aren't you afraid of being laughed at? You've even offended your own little sister. Let's see how those two will stay in the village after this."

"My goodness, those two are so shameless! Where else could they go if not to stay in the village?"

"Chang Danian never got a good outcome from taking them in..."

At this moment, Xu Ning, Xu Feng, Wang Hu, Li Fuqiang, and others squeezed through the crowd and came closer.

Xu Ning glanced into the yard and frowned, "Brother Feng, did they fight? What happened to Sister-in-law Li Hong's head?"

When Chang Lihong saw that it was Xu Ning, she raised her hand and forced a smile, saying, "I was so angry that I grabbed a kitchen knife and tried to chop them up. I tripped and fell on my own when I was leaving."

"Ah, the child is still crying inside. Hurry up and go in to check on him, Brother Feng, open the door."

Li Feng lowered his head and said, "Go inside and check on the child. Er Ning should be alright now that she's here."

Chang Lihong nodded and went back inside, while Li Feng jumped over the Chang brothers and opened the door wide.

Xu Ning led Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu into the courtyard, glanced at the Chang brothers, and Chang Beifeng took two steps back after looking at Xu Ning, saying, "What are you going to do?"

He ignored Chang Beifeng and looked at Li Feng, saying, "Brother Feng, what do you want to do?"

"What else can we do? Murderers have to pay with their lives. Just tell them to get lost and not come to our house to freeload anymore. My wife and I can't afford to serve them."

Chang Lihong, holding her child, stood at the door and shouted, "I'm severing ties! Fellow villagers, be my witnesses! Today, I, Chang Lihong, am severing ties with Chang Xifeng and Chang Beifeng. If they ever have any problems with me, don't bother me anymore, because I have nothing to do with them."

"Alright! Sister-in-law Lihong..."

Tang Hao pulled Tang Er back a couple of times, and Tang Er turned his head and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Stop talking nonsense, okay?"

Tang Er pouted: "I just can't stand the sight of those two."

Xu Ning turned around and waved to Chang Xifeng, saying, "Did you hear that? Get out of here now and don't come back again."

Chang Xifeng remained silent with a sullen face, while Chang Beifeng, who dared not meet Xu Ning's gaze, walked out of the courtyard gate.

But as soon as he left the hospital, Chang Beifeng spat on the ground.

"Pooh!"

Tang Er stared wide-eyed and exclaimed, "Hey, what the hell are you doing? Spitting on us, the onlookers? You think I'm being nice to you?!"

Immediately, Tang Er pounced forward, stretched out his tiger claws, and scratched Chang Beifeng's face twice.

"Damn it..." Chang Beifeng felt a scratch on his face and took two steps back.

At this moment, Tang Hao also rushed over and kicked Chang Xifeng aside. The people around him were not idle either. They all stepped forward. Some covered Chang Xifeng's head with a sack, some kicked Chang Xifeng's crotch twice, and some hit Chang Xifeng's head twice.

Chang Beifeng was also beaten and lay on the ground. It can be said that the actions of the Chang brothers have aroused public anger.

Xu Ning watched the commotion from the courtyard, while Chang Lihong, holding her child, pouted and said, "It would be better if they were both killed, then we'd have an easier time."

Li Fuqiang laughed and said, "Serves them right, they should have been beaten up a long time ago."

Just then, Du Shoucai ran over from the street outside the courtyard, shouting, "Alright, that's enough! What's going on? Why are so many people beating them up? Disperse, disperse, everyone go home and get back to work..."

After Du Shoucai finished speaking, everyone stopped what they were doing and quickly left the spot.

After the Chang brothers got up, their cotton-padded jackets and trousers were covered in footprints, and their faces, which had just recovered, were covered in bruises.

Chang Xifeng angrily said, "Uncle Du! Aren't you going to do anything about this?"

Du Shoucai squinted and smiled, "How am I supposed to manage? You two are useless and have angered everyone. How am I supposed to manage you?"

"Okay!" Chang Xifeng nodded, turned around and left.

Chang Beifeng jogged behind him, afraid that if he couldn't keep up with his older brother, he would get another beating.

"Grandpa, come in and sit down for a while. I'd like to hear what's going on."

Du Shoucai nodded when he heard it was Xu Ning speaking: "Okay, hey, what's wrong with Li Hong's head? Did those two brothers attack you?"

"No, I bumped myself. You guys come inside quickly, it's just a small injury, nothing serious."

As soon as Xu Ning entered the room, he saw the dining table on the kang (a heated brick bed), along with the dishes and wine bottles on it.

Li Feng frowned and said, "These two bastards even drank the wine I had saved as a New Year's gift. They have no manners whatsoever."

Xu Ning laughed and said, "Hurry up and pack up. You've vented your anger now, so there shouldn't be any more problems."

"Yes, Uncle Du, please have a seat. I'll get you some tea."

"Stop your fuss, we just finished drinking at the village office. Tell me what happened."

(End of this chapter)