Chapter 590
“The team leader really didn’t expect you to manage this too,” Jiang Yexun sneered, his smile cold and insincere.
Kong Dongfeng felt a little awkward but still gritted his teeth and tried to persuade him: “There’s nothing I can do. Work’s about to begin. You have so many people in your family, and if the conflicts aren’t settled and you keep arguing every day, it’ll delay the work in the whole team.”
“Then you should try advising my father. From start to finish, he’s always been biased. Now he’s getting more outrageous, trying to take over our small family’s things. Since he couldn’t benefit, he’s tormenting my mother at home. If this keeps up, how can I pretend nothing’s happened? Let my mother go back—if she gave birth to me, it would have been better if she hadn’t,” Jiang Yexun said, his dark eyes filled with a stormy gloom, staring coldly at Kong Dongfeng.
Kong Dongfeng knew he wouldn’t be able to persuade him here and dared not look at Su Xiaoxiao. After all, considering what had happened in the team over the past six months, anyone with a little common sense could see that this educated youth, Su, was the one most likely to stir up trouble. Unless the final outcome was in her favor, she couldn’t tolerate even the slightest bit of injustice.
In the end, Kong Dongfeng could only look towards Aunt Guo.
“Hongxiang, look, people say that a couple’s bond grows after a hundred days. Back then, when your family was struggling, it was Jiang Guoli who helped. Now, your children are grown up, and you’re about to have grandchildren. Why not stop making things so difficult?” he said.
“I’m only forty-three this year. According to the village elders, most people live to be about sixty-five or sixty-six. I still have over twenty years to live. Why should I endure for another twenty years, serving that biased old man, letting him and his son, daughter-in-law, and grandson bully me, my son, my daughter-in-law, and even my daughter and son-in-law? Unless he’s about to be buried tomorrow, there’s no way I can forgive him!” Guo Hongxiang spat disdainfully.
She even considered it an understatement to say she could live to sixty-five or sixty-six. When she left home for a check-up, her son, Hongchen, had arranged for her to visit the military hospital for a full-body exam. The doctor said she was in perfect health, with no problems at all. If she kept this up, living to eighty or ninety years old wouldn’t be an issue. How could she possibly spend the next fifty years of her life in such a state of suffering?
“Stop, Hongxiang, you can’t speak like that. Back then…”
“Don’t talk to me about ’back then’! Even if I, Guo Hongxiang, didn’t climb up the social ladder, there were still plenty of men my age, unmarried and without children, who would have married me. It was only because Jiang Guoli was so domineering that he became my choice,” Guo Hongxiang’s tone grew colder.
Moreover, this Jiang Guoli made her suffer so much, and yet he was still thinking about the treasures secretly hidden in the Guo family. Why did he want to secretly covet them? It was because he wanted to give them to his useless son. Such a dog of a man! She was glad the national laws didn’t allow people to kill, or else she would’ve stabbed that bastard to death long ago.
“Look at you all, one more stubborn than the other. Fine, I’m an outsider, so I shouldn’t say much. But I just hope this doesn’t delay the work,” Kong Dongfeng said, clearly upset but holding back his anger. He couldn’t afford to make waves. This was his first year as team leader, and the food production for the year would determine if he could keep his position. He truly didn’t want any problems.
“This year, my mother and my wife won’t be working,” Jiang Yexun stated directly.
“What? That’s not acceptable!” Kong Dongfeng immediately panicked.
“Why not?” Jiang Yexun replied coldly. “There are other people in the team who don’t have their mother-in-law working after she becomes a grandmother. Some families have educated youth wives, and they still don’t make them work. I just happen to have two. I’ll just earn a bit fewer work points.”
The work points applied specifically to the educated youth. If they didn’t work, it would only mean that they wouldn’t have a chance to get a quota for returning to the city. They would have to find their own way to buy grain from the team, using their own money.
“You’re right, but staying at home without doing anything… isn’t that boring?” Kong Dongfeng still tried to persuade them.
“What’s so boring? I can chat with my daughter-in-law and take care of the chickens at home. Besides, you know my daughter-in-law’s health isn’t good. She needs to stay home and rest to prepare for having children. If she works too hard, her health will be ruined, and when will my son ever be able to hold his own children?” Guo Hongxiang asked irritably.
“If you don’t believe me, you can ask Doctor Cui. When my daughter-in-law fell into the water, he said Xiaoxiao has severe anemia and needs to be well taken care of. You know I only have one son, Yexun. Do you want to make it so that I can never have grandchildren?” she demanded.
Kong Dongfeng was left with no choice but to back off, raising his hands in surrender. “Fine, fine, it’s your family’s business, you handle it however you like. I know Comrade Su’s family has money, and your son can also earn something hunting in the mountains. So you’re not worried about food.”
“Things aren’t as good for hunting this year as before. Not only has one person left, but Xingshi also brought his sister back, so he has to spend time looking after her. That leaves only my son and Tie Wa,” Guo Hongxiang sighed helplessly.
But Kong Dongfeng didn’t seem to care about her complaints. As far as he was concerned, since Aunt Guo’s daughter-in-law received so much money every month from her family, they had no need to worry about food.
In fact, Aunt Guo’s reason for not working was entirely to put Jiang Guoli in a difficult position. Although he didn’t openly show it, Jiang Guoli had always treated Aunt Guo’s work points as his own property. With her no longer earning six or eight work points a day, it was almost worse than killing him.
Soon, Kong Dongfeng’s wife came back with her son and daughter-in-law, hurrying into the house.
“Hongxiang, we asked around. This child was born to the daughter-in-law of old Xu at the end of the village. You know, she’s forty this year and doesn’t have milk to feed the baby anymore. We heard from the educated youth that your daughter-in-law’s family sends milk powder tickets every month, or sometimes directly sends milk powder. So they thought to send the child to your house, thinking it wouldn’t starve,” Kong’s wife explained, looking a bit uncomfortable.
Aunt Guo didn’t have time for unnecessary anger. She immediately grabbed the child and headed out.
“Mother!” Jiang Yexun and Su Xiaoxiao quickly followed her.
Kong’s wife stood in the hall, looking conflicted, unsure whether she should follow.
Kong Dongfeng shot her a glare. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know about this.”
“I only heard them mention it, but I didn’t think they would actually do it,” Kong’s wife said, shrinking her neck.
“You… you… what kind of pigbrain do you have! Do you think Jiang Yexun and Su Xiaoxiao are easy to mess with?” Kong Dongfeng kicked her in anger, then hurriedly followed them.
Aunt Guo arrived at Xu’s house, but to her surprise, their door was already shut. Clearly, they had no intention of resolving the matter.
Aunt Guo was so angry that she started banging on the door, loudly.
“Old Xu, open the door! Open it quickly!”
But after more than a minute, there was no response from inside.
Aunt Guo was about to bang on the door again when Jiang Yexun stepped forward.
“Mother, stay with Xiaoxiao. I’ll handle this,” he said.
He made sure his mother was standing next to his wife before stepping forward and kicking the door open with one forceful motion.
“Ow!”
The two people who had been secretly eavesdropping behind the door were knocked back by the force of the door and fell heavily to the ground.
“Ow ow, my leg is broken!” The man, who was in his forties, rolled on the ground, clutching his leg.
“Stop playing tricks here, or I’ll really break your leg!” Jiang Yexun scolded coldly, and the two who had been groaning in pain immediately clamped their mouths shut.
When the other members of the Xu family heard the noise, they rushed out.
Seeing Aunt Guo holding their child, they exchanged glances before asking coldly, “What are you doing here at our house so late?”