Witty Wife, Better Life

Chapter 264: Chapter 254: Persistent Harrassment

"You little bastard, acting all tough! Who do you think you’re showing off to? Hitting your own brother? I’ll let you hit him, I’ll let you have it!" After the scuffle, Qiu Shuping’s hair was a mess, and her clothes wrinkled, looking completely worn out. But she couldn’t care less about that now and quickly moved to her second son’s side, raising her hand to slap Li Hongjun across the face.

Li Hongjun didn’t think there was anything wrong with hitting Li Hongqi. To him, that was still going easy. After all, this was his own little brother, and their parents were still around. If not, just let him try; he wouldn’t let him get away with it. So, of course, Li Hongjun wasn’t about to stand there and let Qiu Shuping hit him; he dodged to the side, avoiding the blow.

Qiu Shuping was a head shorter than Li Hongjun, so trying to slap him across the face was quite difficult for her. Luckily, she was in good shape and even jumped up to try and hit him. It was plain to see just how earnest she was in wanting to smack Li Hongjun.

"You’re dodging? You dare to dodge? Stand right there!" Qiu Shuping, who missed, had her eyes turn red with anger. Among her children, this second son was the most troublesome. He had always liked to defy her, and now, to think that at his age, he hadn’t changed at all—completely unimproved. She didn’t believe it; he was her flesh and blood. She wanted to hit him, yet he had the audacity to dodge her.

Li Hongjun was very impatient with Qiu Shuping’s harrying. His mother had always been like this; whenever the brothers had a quarrel, no matter what happened, he was always the one expected to take the beating. And now, she was even more unreasonable, attacking without even asking.

"Mom, do you even know what Li Hongqi has done that you’re always defending him?" Li Hongjun spoke with the same calm.

"I don’t care about any of that. He’s your brother. If there’s an issue with him, you tell me. It’s not your place to point fingers and make judgments in this family," Qiu Shuping said indignantly.

Li Hongjun knew what his mother was like. As long as it involved his little brother, she could be completely unreasonable. So he turned to look at his father.

"Hongjun, no matter what, your brother is quite grown up now, about to go to college. You should at least give him some respect. Besides, you come here and start hitting him without saying a word. You really need to work on your temper," Old Master Li said, rather diplomatically, but his words still expressed his concern for his younger son.

Li Hongjun pursed his lips and looked directly at Li Hongqi, who still lay on the ground, refusing to get up. His gaze was as sharp as a knife, "I’m giving you one more chance. If you don’t tell the truth, don’t blame me for being rude."

Li Hongqi was so frightened by his look that he shuddered and called out in a low voice, "Mom." Hoping his mother would protect him, he didn’t want to reveal in front of his parents the things he had done. He didn’t want to strip away his last shred of dignity in public. This was also his way of protecting himself.

"What now, you’ve already hit him, so what more do you want?" Qiu Shuping stood in front of her youngest son like a mother hen, fearful that her second son might hit him again.

"Not talking, huh?" Li Hongjun ignored his mother’s scolding and threatened Li Hongqi directly.

Li Hongqi, seeing the expression on his second brother’s face and knowing he was about to be hit again, recalled the unbearable past. He hurriedly yelled, "Second brother, it’s genuinely not my fault about Sister-in-law..."

"So you’re saying you didn’t write the complaint letter?" Li Hongjun said expressionlessly.

"I didn’t, I didn’t write it. It wasn’t me. I don’t know who told Sister-in-law. Second brother, you have to believe me. I didn’t do it. I can go back with you and explain to Sister-in-law," Li Hongqi desperately pleaded, hoping his brother would believe him.

"What’s that, Shen Yunfang wronged you? Ah, now I get it. No wonder, Li Hongjun, you come home and start beating up your little brother without asking any questions—it’s all because of that woman’s instigation! Alright, alright, wait and see. If I let you get away with this, I won’t call myself human," Qiu Shuping thought it was her daughter-in-law causing trouble behind the scenes, which drove her second son to hit her youngest without seeking the truth. She, as a mother, would not let go of the troublemaker.

"Li Hongqi, you say that the letter accusing your second sister-in-law wasn’t written by you?"

"Second brother, it really wasn’t me. Believe me." Li Hongqi pleaded earnestly.

"Hongjun, is there some kind of misunderstanding here? What are you all talking about? Was Yunfang reported by someone? Was it your brother who wrote the accusation letter?" Old Li caught a hint of the situation from their conversation.

"Impossible, my son couldn’t do such a thing," Qiu Shuping rebutted instinctively, but after glancing at the few people before her, she added, "Even if he did, it must be because that woman Shen Yunfang truly did something wrong. Hongjun, you can’t turn against your family, Hongqi is your own brother."

"Since you say so, let’s go to the Revolutionary Committee right now to clarify this. If I’ve wronged you, I’ll stand here and let you hit me back. But if it was indeed you who did this, hmph..." Li Hongjun’s last hmph came from his nose, its meaning unmistakable.

"Second brother, the Rev... Revolutionary Committee, that’s not a place... it’s not run by our family..." Li Hongqi couldn’t possibly go with him.

"You don’t need to worry about that, I’ll handle it. Just follow me." Li Hongjun coldly interrupted him.

Li Hongqi shrank back, clutching his mother’s clothes, not letting go. He couldn’t go; if he did, he’d be exposed. Although the letter had no signature, if the family saw the handwriting, they could definitely tell it was his. It was a mistake; he should have found someone else to write it for him in the first place.

Old Li looked at his second son and then at his youngest son, hesitating before saying, "Hongjun, maybe we don’t need to go to the Revolutionary Committee."

"Dad, we must go. I don’t want to wrong Li Hongqi." After speaking, Li Hongjun disregarded his mother before him, pushed past someone with a big hand, then slightly bent down to grab Li Hongqi by the collar and drag him towards the door, determined that go he must, willingly or not.

"Dad, Mom, save me, please, I won’t go, I won’t go. I was wrong; I won’t dare again. Save me, please, second brother has gone mad, wuwu..." Li Hongqi, terrified, finally broke down and started crying loudly.

Hearing his confession, Li Hongjun threw him to the ground, dodged his mother’s attempt to grab him, stepped back, and watched Li Hongqi cry bitterly with cold eyes.

"Second brother, I’m sorry, I was just befuddled by lard, someone incited me to do it, and afterwards, I regretted it. I wanted to take back the letter, but it was already too late. I really didn’t mean it, believe me," Li Hongqi crawled on his knees, hugged Li Hongjun’s legs, and began to cry and plead.

He knew it was no use to make excuses now. Li Hongjun surely wouldn’t believe him, so the only option was to admit his mistakes, to truly confess, and ideally, to make his parents feel sorry for him so that the matter could be resolved within the family.

Seeing their youngest son kneeling to their second son, both Old Li and Qiu Shuping were shocked. They hurried forward to pull him up, "Hongqi, what are you doing?"

"Oh, Li Hongjun, do you want to drive your brother to death? Drive your father and me to death too?" Qiu Shuping also sat on the ground and began crying.

"Speak," Li Hongjun said, not caring about the others; all he wanted now was to know why Li Hongqi had done it.