Anger
“Ow, ow, ow! That hurts! Be gentler…”
When Gu Maowen and his wife returned from work, they had barely reached the front door when they heard their youngest son howling in pain from inside the house.
The couple were puzzled. They assumed their youngest son had gotten into another fight with one of the boys in the compound and wondered what kind of trouble he had caused this time. They hurried inside and saw Gu Yuanhui lying on the sofa in the living room. Gu Yuanxiang was pressing a towel wrapped around an ice lolly against his face, while Gu Yuanzheng sat beside them with a gloomy expression, rubbing his stomach.
“What happened to all of you?” Jiang Huijun asked worriedly. “Yuanhui, did you get into another fight?”
“I didn’t!”
Gu Yuanhui sprang up in agitation, revealing a swollen face mottled red and blue. It had puffed up so badly that it resembled a large steamed bun.
When Gu Maowen and his wife saw his face, they could not help sucking in a sharp breath.
How hard had he been hit?
No wonder he kept complaining about the pain. One glance was enough to tell that the person who had struck him had used all their strength.
Gu Maowen was furious. Although his youngest son was mischievous, constantly causing trouble and scuffling with the other boys in the compound, he was still his son. Of course it pained him to see the boy beaten like this.
Jiang Huijun was equally distressed.
“How did you get beaten so badly? Who did this?”
Now that his parents were home, Gu Yuanhui immediately complained to them with an aggrieved expression.
“Dad, Mum, it was that wretched girl Gu Xi who hit me…”
Gu Yuanzheng continued rubbing his aching stomach. He had checked earlier and discovered a large bruise had already formed.
They knew Gu Xi had grown up doing farm work in the countryside and had supposedly developed considerable strength, but they had never truly understood how strong she was.
They had assumed that no matter how strong a girl might be, there would still be a limit. It was only after being hit by her that the two brothers realised just how painful her punches were.
After listening to their youngest son’s complaint, Gu Maowen and Jiang Huijun found it difficult to believe him.
They turned towards their more steady and reliable second son, Gu Yuanzheng, and asked whether it was true. When he nodded, they were both astonished.
“Why would Xixi hit someone?” Jiang Huijun refused to believe it. “Did Yuanhui do something to her again?”
Although she favoured the children she had raised by her side, she did care for her biological daughter.
She knew what sort of personality Gu Xi had. Gu Xi was quiet, obedient, and introverted. She did not know how to refuse people and never deliberately caused trouble. No matter what she was asked to do, she silently did it, rarely resisting or dragging her feet.
Even when her brothers bullied her, she endured it in silence.
Gu Yuanhui, on the other hand, had a troublesome personality. As the youngest son in the family, he had been spoiled until he became completely unruly. He believed Gu Xi embarrassed the Gu family and had constantly played tricks on and bullied her ever since she returned.
Sometimes, even Jiang Huijun, her biological mother, could not bear to watch.
Gu Maowen also found it difficult to believe that Gu Xi would hit anyone.
Seeing that neither of his parents believed him, Gu Yuanhui nearly fell over from fury. He was filled with resentment and wished he could drag Gu Xi back immediately so that they could confront her face-to-face.
That wretched girl really had hit him!
More than half his face had swollen up, and it hurt so much that even speaking was difficult!
It was only after all three siblings testified together that the couple finally believed Gu Xi had genuinely attacked them.
She had not only hit their youngest son but also their second son.
A large area of their second son’s stomach had turned blue with bruising. It looked extremely painful.
The couple looked at Gu Yuanhui’s face, swollen like a steamed bun, and the dark bruising around his eye. They were furious.
“How could she use so much force?” Jiang Huijun held her youngest son’s face in distress and examined it closely. “Where is Xixi?”
With a dark expression, Gu Maowen said, “Yuanxiang, go and call Gu Xi over.”
Since he had not seen her, he assumed Gu Xi had become frightened after hitting them and had hidden herself away.
Gu Yuanxiang said angrily, “She ran out after hitting us and still hasn’t come back.”
Then she became aggrieved as well.
“Dad, you don’t know what she did. She pushed me too and made me hit the sofa. My arm is completely bruised, and it hurts terribly.”
As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeve, revealing a large purple bruise around her elbow.
Even touching it now caused a deep, aching pain.
She had never suffered such a grievance in her entire life.
After worrying over her son, Jiang Huijun began worrying over her adopted daughter. She took Gu Yuanxiang’s hand and examined it before fetching the family’s medicinal wine for bruises and sprains and massaging it into her injury.
Gu Yuanhui launched into another vigorous round of complaints.
Finally, he said, “Dad, Mum, you have no idea how outrageous that wretched girl Gu Xi was! You have to teach her a harsh lesson this time. Otherwise, she’ll completely turn the household upside down! She even dared to attack her own family, and she didn’t hold back at all!”
Then he added, “She must have run to the Shen family. She thinks that with the Shen family protecting her, you won’t dare punish her.”
Neither of his parents liked hearing this.
Gu Maowen’s expression darkened, and Jiang Huijun’s face also became unpleasant.
Although the Gu family was a family of government cadres, there were different ranks even among cadres. Compared to the Shen family, the Gu family was nothing.
Old Master Shen was a respected former commander in the military compound. He had earned countless military merits and was deeply respected.
Furthermore, none of the Shen family’s descendants were incompetent. They were courageous and hardworking, and most members of the Shen family served in the military. Their upright family values were widely admired.
Originally, the Gu family and the Shen family had no connection whatsoever.
That changed when Gu Xi became engaged to Shen Mingzheng, the eldest son of the Shen family’s second branch.
The engagement had been arranged by Shen Chongshan and Feng Min. It had received the approval of the Shen family and had been strongly promoted by Shen Mingzheng’s mother, Feng Min.
Five years ago, Feng Min had encountered danger while visiting her hometown, and Gu Xi had saved her.
At the time, Gu Xi had carried the injured Feng Min for twenty kilometres and taken her to the hospital in town.
By the time they reached the hospital, Gu Xi had collapsed from exhaustion and had nearly lost half her life.
Because Feng Min received medical treatment in time, she also escaped danger.
Feng Min’s maternal family happened to live in the same commune as Gu Xi’s adoptive parents.
Because Gu Xi had saved her, Feng Min was extremely grateful. After learning that Gu Xi’s adoptive parents favoured sons over daughters and that Gu Xi, as the eldest daughter, lived an extremely difficult life, Feng Min decided to adopt her and bring her to the capital.
Unexpectedly, shortly after they arrived in the capital, they encountered members of Jiang Huijun’s maternal family.
Gu Xi looked so much like the Jiang family’s elderly matriarch that the Jiang family immediately recognised the resemblance. They then discovered that the children had been switched at birth.
After a period of chaos, Gu Xi was acknowledged and brought back to the Gu family.
Since Gu Xi had her biological parents, Feng Min could no longer adopt her. However, she continued to care deeply about her.
When she realised that the Gu family favoured the adopted daughter who had been switched at birth, she worried that Gu Xi would suffer grievances in the Gu household. She therefore proposed an engagement between Gu Xi and her eldest son, Shen Mingzheng, who was serving in the military.
Feng Min had planned everything with Gu Xi’s welfare in mind. She hoped that with this engagement in place, the Gu family would cherish Gu Xi more and prevent her from suffering again before she reached adulthood.
Naturally, the Gu family had been extremely pleased about the engagement.
Establishing a connection with the Shen family would undoubtedly benefit them.
However, over the past few years, Feng Min had frequently embarrassed the Gu family while defending Gu Xi.
Both Gu Maowen and his wife cared greatly about appearances. Back then, they had already considered Gu Xi embarrassing because she looked like a rustic country girl.
After repeatedly being targeted by Feng Min, they inevitably felt uncomfortable. Over time, they also began to have complaints about the engagement.
Sometimes they even thought it would have been better if Gu Yuanxiang had been the one engaged to the Shen family.
Gu Yuanxiang was considerate and always sided with her parents and the Gu family. She certainly would not allow her future mother-in-law to embarrass her parents like this.
Gu Maowen suppressed his displeasure and said, “When Gu Xi returns, we’ll make her apologise to all of you.”
Jiang Huijun sighed.
Although she did not know why her daughter had hit Gu Yuanzheng and the others, hitting people was still wrong.
How could a young woman resort to violence?
If word spread, what would outsiders think of her? What would they think of the Gu family?
“All right. When Xixi returns, we’ll speak to her,” she told her youngest son. “But you must stop constantly playing tricks on her. She’s your older sister.”
She knew her youngest son disliked Gu Xi, but despite being repeatedly reprimanded, he refused to change. She did not know how else to persuade him.
Once the children grew older and became more sensible, he would probably change.
What lasting grudges could there possibly be between siblings?
Gu Yuanhui said angrily, “I didn’t play any tricks on her this time! She suddenly went mad and started hitting people.”
He did not care about Gu Xi’s apology.
Since she had dared to hit him, he would beat her back viciously and show her what he was capable of. He would make her kneel and apologise in tears, and he would force her to kowtow to him a hundred times.
Junzi and the others had said that women needed to be beaten harshly. Once they were beaten into obedience, they would no longer dare resist.
After calming the three children, Jiang Huijun said, “All right, let’s eat first.”
Everyone had worked all day and was tired and hungry. Whatever else needed to be discussed could wait until after dinner.
However, as soon as she finished speaking, Gu Yuanzheng and the other two exchanged glances.
Then they told their parents that no one had cooked.
“What time do you think it is? Why hasn’t anyone made dinner?” Gu Maowen asked unhappily.
It was currently the summer holiday, so the three children did not need to attend school. Gu Yuanxiang and Gu Yuanhui had both been home, and Gu Yuanzheng was also there.
How had not a single one of them thought to cook?
Usually, there would be a hot meal waiting for them as soon as they returned home.
Now that they were suddenly being forced to go hungry, none of them could possibly be in a good mood.
Gu Yuanhui said self-righteously, “Gu Xi usually cooks. She hit us and ran away. We were all in so much pain, so how could we possibly have time to cook?”
Gu Yuanxiang smiled awkwardly.
Gu Yuanzheng looked exhausted.
“I’ve only just returned from Shanghai.”
Gu Maowen and his wife were both rendered speechless.
Whenever Gu Xi was home, she was the one who cooked. They had all become accustomed to it.
Especially during the school holidays, Gu Xi always prepared the food so that there would be a meal waiting when they returned.
Although Jiang Huijun was exhausted, they still needed to eat. The men in the family were all grown men who had no idea how to enter a kitchen. They only knew how to wait for their meals.
In the end, she could only take her adopted daughter with her to prepare dinner.
Inwardly, she blamed Gu Xi for making a mountain out of a molehill and running to the Shen family.
She had not even married into the family yet, so why did she keep running to her future in-laws’ home?
Would this not make Feng Min believe they had mistreated her again?
Merely imagining Feng Min arriving at their door and speaking in that sarcastic, insinuating manner gave Jiang Huijun a headache.
When Gu Yuanxiang noticed her adoptive mother’s displeased expression, she said considerately, “Mum, Xixi was wrong to hit people, but she only needs to apologise to us. We won’t hold it against her. If Aunt Feng comes, we’ll tell her exactly what happened. Xixi really was the one in the wrong this time. No matter how much Aunt Feng loves her, she can’t completely disregard right and wrong, can she?”
Her words spoke directly to Jiang Huijun’s heart, and a smile finally appeared on her face.
“You’re right.”
Then she sighed.
“It would be wonderful if Xixi were as considerate as you.”
In truth, she did feel guilty towards her biological daughter. She knew Gu Xi had suffered greatly during her fifteen years in the countryside.
However, no matter how guilty she felt, there were many children in the family, and she inevitably loved the ones she had personally raised more.
Gu Xi was quiet and never fought or competed for anything. She required so little attention that they sometimes inevitably overlooked her.
Moreover, Feng Min constantly protected Gu Xi and never showed them any respect.
Gradually, resentment had begun to take root in Jiang Huijun’s heart.
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