As the sun began to set, the Su family’s banquet was winding down, and some of the serving bowls on the tables were already empty.

The children were stuffed, so the village women began using the empty bowls in front of them to scramble for the newly served dishes.

This was a local custom in Shuanghe Village: leftover food from banquets could be packed up and taken home.

It was amidst this frenzied scramble for food that Hu San arrived in a hurry, her husband and a few of his men in tow.

Why so late? It was, of course, because Hu San had insisted her ’old man’ get all dressed up before they left.

She hoped that once her husband was meticulously dressed, he could measure up to the image in her mind: that handsome, god-like, and refined young man she could never quite let go of...

Although Hu Meili’s husband was over forty, he was still quite handsome. Compared to the young men of Shuanghe Village, he was leagues ahead.

And having dressed up specifically for this trip to the countryside, he made the rough village men feel ashamed of their own appearances.

In the dead of winter, he had even put on a white shirt underneath everything, which made his aging face seem much fairer than those of the coarse-skinned locals.

Over that, he wore a V-neck sweater, and on top of it all, a long woolen overcoat.

He had a bit of a beer belly, but he wasn’t some greasy, potbellied slob. His slacks were ironed to a sharp crease.

His hair was meticulously combed and styled with mousse, giving him a sharp, energetic appearance.

Shuanghe Village didn’t have a proper main road yet, so everyone, including the town mayor, had to walk in.

Normally, the moment he arrived at the village entrance on his visits, he would be greeted by lines of welcoming villagers, with children trailing behind him from a distance.

Today, however, no one was there to greet them. Worse still, he’d walked halfway through the village without seeing a soul.

He hadn’t been given such a cold shoulder in years, but he suppressed his annoyance, his face showing no trace of it.

Even Hu San couldn’t tell he was displeased. Hu Meili, meanwhile, knew the way and headed straight for the Su family’s home.

From a great distance, their party could see dozens of tables set up outside the Su family home.

She deliberately raised her voice, but no one paid them any mind. The village chief was sitting inside the main hall and couldn’t see them.

The villagers were usually incredibly enthusiastic whenever they saw her husband, but today, the men were preoccupied with eating meat.

The women, meanwhile, were busy packing up leftovers. Not a single person paid the couple any mind.

The bowls and chopsticks had all been borrowed from various households in the village, so the women were busy finding their own bowls to claim the leftovers, planning to take them home for their children’s meal the next day.

’Could the town mayor possibly be more enticing than the smell of pork?’

And so, the villagers left the town mayor out in the cold.

Hu Meili was so furious she nearly ground her teeth to dust. Still a good distance away, she teetered on her high heels and yelled...

"Dad! Mom! Hu Erge! Are you all okay? Did my sister-in-law’s older brother bully you?"

Yet, no one answered her.

The Hu family had chosen a table relatively close to the main hall to make it seem like they were on more intimate terms with the Su family.

At the start of the banquet, everyone had been sitting and eating politely. But by the halfway point, it was more convenient to stand up to grab for the food.

Thus, the standing villagers blocked the Hu family’s view. Or perhaps the Hu family members themselves were too busy gobbling down food to notice anyone else.

When her parents didn’t respond, Hu San stormed over, threw her arms around them, and demanded tearfully, "Mom, Dad, why didn’t you answer me?"

"Meili, you’re back. Stop crying now. Your husband is right here watching. What will he think, seeing you with such a long face?"

Mr. Hu shot his daughter a disgusted look. ’So clueless,’ he thought. ’Can’t she see I’m trying to grab some meat?!’

As soon as he finished speaking, he hurriedly stuffed a fragrant piece of meat into his mouth.

He wolfed it down in a few bites before turning to his son-in-law with a fawning look. "Xiao Zhang, please don’t mind her. Our third daughter has been spoiled since she was little, but she’s actually very sensible."

Mr. Hu said this against his better judgment. Inwardly, he was cursing his daughter for being so thoughtless as to interrupt him while he was eating.

’What a shame!’ he lamented internally. ’Because she interrupted me, I missed out on a few more bites of meat!’

His sons, daughters-in-law, and grandsons wouldn’t yield a single piece to him, so he had no choice but to fight for it himself.

"Dad! Who are you calling spoiled? I am not spoiled!" Hu Meili immediately retorted upon hearing her father’s words.

Mr. Hu’s eyes widened in a glare that seemed to say, ’You dare talk back to me? I’ll whip you to death, see if I don’t!’

But in front of his son-in-law, he didn’t dare say a word, making it seem as if his daughter had intimidated him. In reality, he had just lowered his head to vigorously chew the meat in his mouth.

Intimidated by her father’s ferocity, Hu Meili immediately clamped her mouth shut and looked pitifully toward her husband.

She hoped he would say something in her defense, and her ’old man’ did not disappoint.

He stroked his pampered young wife’s head reassuringly. "There, there. I can afford to keep you spoiled, so it doesn’t matter. Don’t bicker with your elders."

The Second Wife of Hu had eaten her fill. She knew her sister-in-law had brought her husband here to cause trouble for their eldest sister-in-law.

She loved watching a good show, but she wouldn’t say a word. Instead, she pretended to move to another table to pack up more food—an activity her mother-in-law was especially fond of.

Whether her sister-in-law won or that bitch Su Ermei won, she’d be delighted either way. The thought filled her with glee.

She wasn’t stupid, just unlucky. Without a powerful family of her own to back her, her life had been a miserable one.

Hu Erge immediately said to his brother-in-law, "The village chief and the others are in the main hall. I’ll take you to them."

"I’m not going in. You go tell them to come out," the older man said, clearly displeased.

He was already on the Su family’s doorstep, and still the village chief was putting on airs, refusing to come out and greet him.

Hu Erge used to be terrified of Su Shuochi, but now, with his brother-in-law here to back him up, he was full of confidence. He stood at the entrance to the main hall and bellowed.

"Listen up, everyone! The town mayor is here! Get out here and welcome him!"

Su Shuochi’s hearing was exceptional; he’d known the moment Hu Meili and her husband entered the village.

But he feigned ignorance, calmly continuing to encourage the village chief and the others to drink.

The village chief was completely drunk by now and naturally had no idea his direct superior had arrived. He didn’t even react to Hu Erge’s shouting at the doorway.

Several of the village elders were also drunk, so the task of greeting the town mayor fell to Su Shuochi.

Su Shuochi couldn’t be bothered to go out and face Hu Meili, so he called over to the next table, "Han Jinghong, Song Zijie, you two go out and handle this. I’ll stay here and have a few more drinks with them."

He knew the Han family’s standing in Yunhe County and had no doubt Han Jinghong could handle it—especially with Song Zijie there to help.

"Don’t worry, Su," Song Zijie said, patting his chest in assurance. "We’ll resolve this perfectly. You just stay and have a few more drinks with Uncle Su and the others."

Han Jinghong could hold his liquor and wasn’t drunk. Song Zijie, on the other hand, had been in poor health since childhood and didn’t drink, so both of them were perfectly sober.

"Who’s making all that noise outside?" Han Jinghong asked, his voice full of authority. His imposing presence seemed to fill the air.

The older man never expected to run into a member of the Han family here. He immediately dropped his arrogant posture. "C-Comrade... Han... what are you doing here?"