Hearing this, Er Mao thought for a moment, and his face gradually turned red again.

He lowered his head, bent down and began picking up ears of wheat, muttering, "Stop talking nonsense and get to work."

"So, have we made up?"

Wen'er's hands were clasped haphazardly behind her back, her head was also down, and she spoke softly.

"snort."

Er Mao snorted in response, and Wen'er glanced at him before silently bending down to pick up the wheat ears.

He worked like this until after ten o'clock. Er Mao was drenched in sweat. The fluffy wheat stalks sticking to his body made him itchy. He struggled to straighten up, twisted his stiff waist, and kept scratching himself.

"Honey, I'm going back to cook now."

"Oh, cook some rice and bring some pickled vegetables over."

Just then, Er Mao heard his parents' voices coming from the other end of the wheat field. Upon hearing this, Er Mao perked up and hurriedly ran over.

"Mom, I'll go help you start the fire!" he called out as he ran.

The woman had just reached the edge of the field and picked up an empty water bottle when she saw Er Mao trampling around in the wheat field. She immediately flew into a rage and began to curse loudly:

"You brat, you're just making trouble! You've trampled all the wheat, get back up here now!"

Er Mao then remembered that he had angered his mother that morning, so he quickly slowed down, carefully avoiding the stacks of wheat, and leisurely walked up the ridge of the field.

"Mom, I'll go help you start the fire." Er Mao said softly, looking at his mother's unfriendly face.

"You're supposed to start the fire? Stay here quietly." The woman put the kettle into the cradle and waved her fist with her other hand.

Er Mao, with a pained expression, dared not mention going back again. He could only cautiously walk to his mother's side, peek over his shoulder, and ask, "Is there any water left, Mother? I'm dying of thirst."

"It's not over there." The woman pouted, then turned around and called out to Wen'er, who was picking up wheat on the ground, "Wen'er, come back with your mother and help me add fuel to the fire."

Er Mao pursed his lips, picked up another water bottle from the ground, and drank it down in one gulp.

Hearing the shouts, Wen'er raised her head, wiped the sweat from her brow, stepped onto the ridge, and walked towards them.

"Mom, you're cutting so fast, my brother and I can't keep up," Wen'er said with a smile, adjusting her large straw hat.

The woman stepped forward, reached out and brushed the grass clippings off Wen'er's clothes, and said with a smile, "Are you tired, little girl?"

"Not tired." Wen'er tilted her head back and licked her dry lips.

The woman turned her face away and scolded Er Mao, who was still drinking heartily:

"Are you a water buffalo? Bring the pot over here."

Upon hearing this, Er Mao, who had been feeling incredibly aggrieved, became even more determined. Not only did he refuse to put down the kettle, he even opened his mouth wide and began to forcefully gulp down water.

Er Mao only stopped after choking on a mouthful of water.

The woman stepped forward and took the water jug, which only had a little water left. Looking at Er Mao's swollen belly, she scolded him:

"You brat, don't you know how to..."

Before he could finish speaking, Er Mao, who was seething with anger, interrupted, "Wen'er, aren't you going back? There's plenty of water at home. Can't I drink if I'm thirsty? You won't let me go back anyway."

The woman became angry upon hearing this and was about to reprimand her when Wen'er stepped forward, grabbed her sleeve, and whispered:

"Mother, I'm not thirsty. There's still a lot of wheat in the field that hasn't been harvested, so I won't go back to help you with the fire..."

"How about... you let my brother go back..." Wen'er said, glancing at Er Mao.

The woman handed the kettle to Wen'er, but turned to glare at Er Mao and said, "Look at you, you don't know any better than Xiao Wen."

"you do not know....."

The woman kept rambling on, and Er Mao's pent-up anger grew stronger and stronger. Finally, he shouted out in a fit of rage:

"All you ever do is criticize me; nothing I do is ever right!"

"She's good at everything, but I'm still your son! Humph!" Er Mao said angrily, hands on his hips.

Hearing this, the woman became angry, grabbed the cradle, and pulled Er Mao by the ear. Wen'er tried to stop her, but the woman had already started cursing:

"You little brat, you've gotten so cocky, haven't you? You think you can..."

Er Mao, whose ear was being pulled, grimaced in pain, but stubbornly stuck his neck out and kept talking back:

"Stop talking nonsense, you always side with her!"

The woman was furious. She put down the cradle and slapped Er Mao on the thigh, then scolded, "I treat everyone the same. I think you're asking for a beating!"

Wen'er grabbed the woman's hand and cried out in a panic, "Alright, Mother, don't be angry with Brother."

Then she called out to Er Mao, "Brother...don't..."

Before he could finish speaking, Er Mao glared at Wen'er and yelled, "Stop pretending! You brat, are you happy to see me get beaten up?"

Wen'er looked anxious and said urgently, "I didn't."

The woman, enraged, slapped Er Mao several times in succession. Seeing she couldn't pull him away, Wen'er could only step forward to shield Er Mao, saying, "Mother, don't do this..."

"Xiaowen, get out of the way! This brat needs to be disciplined; he's gone too far!"

At this moment, Er Mao shoved Wen'er, who was blocking his way, aside and said, "Get out of the way!"

"Stop pretending! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have gotten beaten up!"

He then looked at his mother, gritting his teeth, and said, "You want to hit me, huh! Come on, hit me! Hit me if you dare!"

"If I dodge, I'm a coward and a complete bastard!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a rough shout came from the wheat field.

"What are you doing? What's all the noise about!" It was the old man who walked over with a stern face.

The woman was now completely enraged by Er Mao. She slapped him repeatedly while yelling at her approaching husband:

"Look at your good son!"

"That little bastard has gone too far! We never seem to keep him in line!"

"If you talk back to me now, you'll be climbing on the roof and tearing the tiles off tomorrow!"

The slap on the body certainly hurt, but the grievance in his heart made Er Mao feel even worse. His eyes immediately reddened, and he cried out loudly:

"Go ahead and fight!"

"You're all biased!"

"You're all on her side, I'm not your son!"

"I was adopted!"