Hunting 81: Gathering Goods in the Mountains, I Spoil My Ex-Wife to the Extreme

"Dear...mother-in-law...why did you come all this way?"

Seeing the group of people crowding into the main room, and noticing Li Yunlan's bruised and swollen face with bandages wrapped around her head, Feng Cuilan greeted her knowingly, but her voice was weak: "Yunlan, are you alright? I... I was just yesterday..."

Don't be fooled by Feng Cuilan's usual domineering attitude in this alley, where she might curse anyone she doesn't like, yet her neighbors can't do anything to her. That's because her interactions with her neighbors are mostly just verbal battles. If Feng Cuilan dared to actually fight back, one of her neighbors would inevitably be forced to retaliate.

But now, Feng Cuilan is bullying Li Yunlan to death, not only stealing things and money from her family, but also daring to hit her, leaving Li Yunlan with a bloody head that required several stitches.

Moreover, after injuring Li Yunlan, he showed no remorse or reflection, and did not take care of her like the commune health center did, not even visiting her. Instead, he was content to drink malted milk powder given to him by Li Yunlan's family at home, and wore a scarf that Li Yunmei had knitted for Li Yunlan.

Huang Zhifang's gaze fell on the unsealed jar of malted milk powder on the table. It was bought by her third brother, Li Yunshan, as a gift to nourish her body; she herself couldn't even bear to drink it.

When Li Yunlan went back to her parents' home, she saw that Li Yunlan was thin, so she made her malted milk powder to drink every day to help her recover. When Li Yunlan went back to her husband's home, she also gave her another can of it to take back with her.

Huang Zhifang stared intently at Feng Cuilan, feeling as if a fire was burning in her eyes.

Li Yunmei also stared intently at the scarf around Feng Cuilan's neck.

It's freezing cold now, and everyone in the village is staying home to hibernate. She took advantage of the off-season to spend three or four days knitting this scarf for her fourth sister to wear around her neck to keep her warm. But now it's on this old hag, Feng Cuilan.

Li Yunmei clenched her fists tightly.

"In-laws? Who are you calling in-laws? I married my daughter into your Wang family not so you could treat her like a servant or bully her at will."

"You dare to steal the things I gave to my daughter, steal the money my third son gave to his sister, and beat my Li family's daughter like this. I'm no longer related to you, you old hag, we're enemies."

After Huang Zhifang finished speaking, he pounced on Feng Cuilan, grabbed her hair, and pulled her forcefully towards himself.

Caught off guard, Feng Cuilan had no time to react. When Huang Zhifang grabbed her hair, she felt a sharp pain in her scalp and screamed in agony.

Huang Zhifang's eyes were bloodshot, and she glared angrily: "You old bitch, how dare you touch my daughter! Don't you even know what the Li family does in Guapigou Village? My daughter is a virtuous and thrifty woman. When she was a girl in her own family, I wouldn't lay a finger on her. But in the years she's been married into your Wang family, she's served you tea and water, done your laundry and cooked for you, and taken care of you and your son for years. And in the end, you beat her until she's bleeding from the head."

"Feng Cuilan, if I don't tear your mouth apart today, I'll take your surname."

Huang Zhifang grabbed Feng Cuilan's hair, cursing loudly, and swung his hand across Feng Cuilan's face, making a crisp "smack" sound.

Feng Cuilan's chubby face was slapped to one side, her cheek burning with pain, her head buzzing. Before she could recover, Huang Zhifang slapped her on the other side of her face again.

With a "slap," Feng Cuilan's face, which had been turned to one side, immediately straightened up again.

Huang Zhifang slapped Feng Cuilan's face with both hands, the blows fast and hard, each one filled with overwhelming resentment and hatred. It was as if he was demanding retribution for the humiliation and suffering Li Yunlan had endured in the Wang family over the years.

"You old hag, I'll teach you to bully my daughter, I'll teach you to steal her things, I'll teach you to steal the money my third son gave to his sister! You bastard, you think my daughter is easy to bully just because she married far away? Now try bullying my daughter yourself!"

"Pah! You rotten bastard with pus dripping from your head and sores on your feet, how dare you bully my Li family? Don't you even look at yourself in the mirror?"

As Huang Zhifang slapped her repeatedly, Feng Cuilan's cheeks quickly became red and swollen. The handprints on her cheeks were clearly visible on her hateful face, and even the corners of her mouth were scalded by Huang Zhifang's slaps, causing a trace of blood to seep out.

"I'll fight you to the death."

Feng Cuilan was so dizzy from the slap that she suddenly pushed Huang Zhifang away and started scratching Huang Zhifang's face with her claws.

Li Yunmei reacted quickly, slapping Feng Cuilan's hand away and then grabbing her hair, swinging her hand around to slap her again.

Seeing that the old hag Feng Cuilan still dared to resist, Huang Zhifang also pounced on her, and together with Li Yunmei, they attacked from both sides, beating the old hag Feng Cuilan until she almost lost her bearings.

"Stop hitting her...stop hitting her...in-laws...in-laws, please forgive me! I promise I'll never bully your daughter again. I know I was wrong...I really know I was wrong. Please, please stop hitting her...my face..."

Feng Cuilan immediately cried out and begged for mercy.

"Pah, you still want a future? My daughter wants Wang Yuanchao to get a divorce. Whether your Wang family agrees or not, this divorce is a done deal."

Huang Zhifang grabbed Feng Cuilan's hair and spat a glob of phlegm in her face.

She remembered what Li Yunlan had said at the Xinghuo Commune Health Center. She had thought about divorce and even suicide.

Divorce is alright. Although divorce is not something to be proud of these days, it's still better than taking your own life.

Moreover, Huang Zhifang was worried about Li Yunlan, who had married far away and was not getting a divorce, and was still making do with Wang Yuanchao.

As for what rumors might circulate in the village after Li Yunlan's divorce, Huang Zhifang wasn't afraid. At worst, she would act like a shrew; it was her own daughter, and she would protect her herself.

……

"What happened? Why are they arguing again?"

"Judging from the sound, it seems to be coming from Wang Yuanchao's house."

"Are Wang Yuanchao and his mother lecturing Li Yunlan again? Sigh, it's really pitiful to marry so far away."

"No, the voice doesn't sound like Li Yunlan's; it sounds more like that old hag Feng Cuilan's."

"Oh, really! There's the sound of that old hag Feng Cuilan crying, slapping, and cursing. What's going on? Has Li Yunlan gotten tough? Or did she take advantage of Wang Yuanchao's absence to teach that old hag Feng Cuilan a lesson herself?"

Why guess so much? Let's go and see for ourselves.

"What are you looking at? Aren't you afraid that old hag will come after you later and settle scores with you?"

"I'm scared, but I'm more interested in seeing how badly that old hag was beaten."

"That's right. That old hag is always yelling and cursing in this alley. Let's go see who's taking care of her."

"..."

The commotion coming from the Wang family's courtyard was quickly heard by the neighbors in the alley, who all came out of their homes and gathered together to discuss it.

Before long, a large group of dozens of people headed towards Wang Yuanchao's house.

"This...this is..."

When the neighbors arrived at the gate of Wang Yuanchao's yard, they saw that the gate was open.

Although the gates of the Wang family compound were usually open, almost no one in the alley was willing to visit Wang Yuanchao's house because of Feng Cuilan.

But why are there so many people today?

The neighbors stood outside the gate and looked inside. They saw that there were quite a few people in the yard, a total of seven or eight young men, including Li Yunlan.

"Hiss, Li Yunlan's head is still wrapped in gauze. Wang Yuanchao and Feng Cuilan really went all out yesterday, beating even their own family members like this."

"I never expected Wang Yuanchao, who seemed like a very honest person, to be so ruthless."

"Like mother, like son. Feng Cuilan is sharp-tongued and vicious. How good can Wang Yuanchao be? His honesty is just an act for us outsiders. He might be rotten to the core. Just look at Li Yunlan."

"But are all of these Li Yunlan's family members?"

"It seems so."

"Li Yunlan's family seems to be from Xiangyang Commune in Qinghe County, which is over a hundred miles away from here. I've heard that before."

"Didn't you see that tractor at the alley entrance? They came in a tractor; they must have traveled all night."

"This is over a hundred miles away, and it's freezing cold. Are you going to travel this far at night? If you encounter wild animals or highwaymen on the way, you'll be in big trouble."

"Highway robbers wouldn't be robbing people in the dead of night in freezing weather. Even if they encountered wild animals, didn't you see they were carrying hunting rifles?"

"..."

The neighbors, crowded around the entrance to Wang Yuanchao's courtyard, discussed the matter while peering inside.

This was quite a sight. To everyone's surprise, Feng Cuilan was being grabbed by the hair by a woman of similar age, who swung her arm and slapped her across the face.

Feng Cuilan was slapped from both sides by the woman, her face red and swollen.

There was also a young woman who looked seven or eight parts like Li Yunlan, who helped out and made Feng Cuilan cry out for mercy.

"Yunlan, these people... are they all your family members?"

A neighbor approached Li Yunlan, glanced at Cai Er and the others, and asked with some surprise.

"Yes, these are all my family members. They traveled all night to get here."

For some reason, Li Yunlan suddenly felt a sense of triumph as she said these words.

It feels so good to have my family backing me up.

However, she realized too late that her family was her support and would stand up for her, causing her to suffer so much injustice and hardship in the Wang family.

The neighbor was surprised to hear Li Yunlan's affirmative answer.

Indeed, Li Yunlan's family members had traveled over a hundred miles through the night to come.

Judging from her appearance, Li Yunlan is not the kind of daughter who is lost once married and returned to her family.

If she really suffers injustice or hardship in her husband's family, her own family will truly stand up for her.

"This is really going to be a big mess. These people really are Li Yunlan's family. This is going to be a disaster." The neighbor stepped back and whispered to the person next to him.