Chapter 79 Aren't you angry?

"What does it have to do with me?"

Song Chunxue looked at him calmly, "You're a man, we separated a long time ago."

“If you truly cared about me as your mother, I wouldn’t feel so heartbroken.”

She sneered, "Although you didn't enter their house today, you still went there. It's just that you didn't dare to show your face because you knew they were still angry."

"I'm your mother, not your maid. You eat and drink from me when you need me, and kick me aside when you don't. You keep things perfectly separate. Do you think I don't understand you?"

She stared at Jiang Yeming's increasingly dark face and said calmly, "You were never a very filial son to begin with. A couple of days ago you were at least somewhat decent, after all, you're my own son, so it's understandable that you were a little soft-hearted. But what you said this morning reminded me of something."

"I just can't bear to part with the child; the baby in Chen Feng's belly is my flesh and blood..."

“Do you know that I also can’t bear to part with my own child?” Song Chunxue said, emphasizing each word. “But now I can bear to part with him. You have no conscience at all.”

After saying that, Song Chunxue lowered her head and continued eating her cold noodles.

Jiang Hongying, standing to the side, didn't dare to breathe loudly. Before, she had thought her mother was heartless.

But hearing her mother say "I can bear to part with it" so calmly, as a mother herself, she thought about what her eldest son had done after getting married, and her anger surged to the back of her head.

She didn't speak up for the eldest brother, but focused on feeding Xiujuan.

If her children treat her like this in the future, she will probably be very sad and helpless as well.

Of all virtues, filial piety is the most important. If the eldest son were even slightly smarter, even if he only pretended to be filial, his mother wouldn't be so heartbroken.

Just a couple of days ago, she thought the boss had a change of heart, but it turned out he was only after all the good food.

The same is true today.

Would he have come into this yard if no one was cooking?

The old man was right: flowers dyed in one direction won't turn out well.

Jiang Yeming left at some point, and the mother and son returned to their previous estrangement.

When entering or leaving the courtyard, they avoided each other, not wanting to meet.

Jiang Yeming, seething with anger, worked tirelessly for five days straight, making mud bricks that were more than enough to build a house.

When he was almost at the Chen family's house that day, he was stopped by the people from their village, who said that Chen Xiang was recently making plans to take revenge.

Knowing how ruthless the Chen family was, the man advised him to lay low for now to avoid being beaten to death.

He was scolded by his mother and knew he was in the wrong.

But he couldn't bring himself to admit his mistake, so he simply focused on building the house.

He still had some money, and there were young people of his age in the village. He had helped others before, so he could call one or two people to help him.

It's not that he can't cook; when he was studying in the countryside, he was forced to cook for two years because the school didn't have a cook.

He can make noodles and stir-fry vegetables, but he just finds it too troublesome.

Eight days after Chen Feng left.

Jiang Yeming and the two young men on the estate had already built three earthen walls. They would need to build a higher wall with earthen bricks to go up from there, otherwise the rammed earth walls would easily collapse.

Day 12.

Jiang Yeming went to the geomancer's house to choose an auspicious date, and it was July 19th, the perfect day for raising the roof beam.

Many people in the village went to compete for the prize.

When raising the roof beam, firecrackers are set off, and sugar and copper coins are scattered.

Jiang Hongying still remembers when she was a child, when they were building a house, on the day of the roof-raising ceremony, her family bought candy and was going to scatter it on the roof. Everyone in the village would grab it for their own children.

But her parents didn't leave her one.

She could have snatched one too, but the man on the estate took the one she was about to pick up.

He held Xiujuan in his arms and sat on a bench in the yard, picking chives with his mother.

She had chive boxes for lunch today, something she hadn't had in years and was really craving.

But hearing the firecrackers coming from afar, Jiang Hongying still felt resentful about not getting to eat the candy back then.

"What are you thinking about?" Song Chunxue asked, noticing her thoughtful expression. "Do you want some candy too?"

“No, not really,” Jiang Hongying forced a smile. “I just think that the eldest brother has a lot of backbone. He said he wouldn’t associate with anyone, and he didn’t invite any of his own family members. He asked us to go too.”

Song Chunxue sneered. She would find it unbelievable if Jiang Yeming came in.

She knows her own son best.

She got up and went into the north room. In order not to wake Xiujuan, she carefully opened the box and took out a handful of paper-wrapped candies.

Judging from Hongying's expression, she definitely wants some candy.

In the past, when she had good things, even though she was reluctant to eat them herself, she didn't share them with Sanwa and Hongying.

They are the most sensible couple in the family; they never argue or quarrel, and they won't ask for food if they can't have it.

She never considered that they would feel wronged if they couldn't eat it.

"Here you go, I have some too." Song Chunxue handed five candies to her. "Eat if you want, we have plenty at home."

"Hey," Jiang Hongying's eyes lit up immediately, and she looked up at Song Chunxue excitedly, "Mom, where did you come from?"

"The ones I bought in the county last time, could they have grown there?" Song Chunxue peeled one and put it in her mouth.

Even if she was really craving something, she would never touch the children's things.

She wouldn't do such a stupid thing now.

Even if you openly treat your child well, people may not necessarily appreciate it, let alone if you do it quietly.

In her past life, she was foolish and wronged herself, her child, and ultimately, her child.

"Bang."

The fourth brother stormed in from outside.

"My older brother is so infuriating! It's one thing for him to have a falling out with Mom, but how come he doesn't even acknowledge me, his own brother?"

He plopped down on the steps. "I went to join the fun just now, and he actually told me to get lost! Mother, look at the good son you raised. He's not only unfilial but also so awful to his brothers. It's a good thing he's not an official. If he were, he'd be crying if someone reported him."

He sat on the steps, getting angrier and angrier as he thought about it.

"When you were good to him, you were willing to give him your whole heart. But he's like this: as soon as you got married and separated from your family, it's like you've severed all blood ties. He turns his back on you in an instant. What a scoundrel!"

Song Chunxue listened quietly; it would be strange if the eldest son were filial.

Of all virtues, filial piety is the most important; it is the intention that matters, not the actions. There are no filial sons in poor families.

This phrase was taught to Song Chunxue by someone when she was in her sixties.

It is indeed rare for poor families to produce filial sons; otherwise, the old people in this village would not hesitate to open their boxes and distribute their treasures until they are on their deathbeds.

The stories of those who had four or five sons, only to find themselves with no one willing to care for them in their old age, being passed around like a ball between their sons, and who would eventually resort to trickery, clinging to a pillow filled with tiles and not daring to let go even when going to the outhouse, so that their sons would fight over who would care for them, would not be passed down through the ages.

Having been given a second chance at life, Song Chunxue no longer insists on these things.

If she still can't understand, then she's lived in vain.

Why isn't Mother saying anything?

Seeing that Song Chunxue was very composed, the fourth brother asked her curiously, "Aren't you sad? Mother used to spoil the eldest son so much. Now it's like throwing good money after bad. Aren't you so angry that you can't sleep?"

Song Chunxue gave him two candies, saying, "Getting angry is bad for your health. I want to live a few more years."

"When I get old, I don't know who will treat me well. You might not even be as good to me as the eldest brother."

"If you could buy me two candies and stay by my side while I'm lying on the kang waiting to die, I'd be so happy, you believe me?"