"real?"

"How could this be fake?" Huang Lao Er curled his lip. "You're the only son in the Jiang family. If we treat you badly, Mother will beat us to death with the sole of her shoe."

"Huangshan is also the only son of the Huang family, so aren't they all the same?"

Jiang Chao didn't disbelieve his cousin's words; rather, he found them pleasing to the ear and wanted to hear them a few more times.

Upon hearing this, Huang Lao Er replied without hesitation, "Of course they're different, no doubt about it."

"What's the difference?" Jiang Chao raised an eyebrow, a hint of smugness hidden in his eyes, and deliberately spoke in a deep voice, "They're all separated by a layer of blood."

Because he deliberately lowered his voice, the sentence sounded particularly dejected.

It makes you want to comfort them.

That's how Huang Lao Er is.

Seeing Jiang Chao, who was usually so carefree, so dejected, he immediately spoke up without thinking, "Anyway, it's different. No matter what, we are brothers. Huang Shan is not one of us."

This was Huang Lao Er's true feeling, though he couldn't explain the specific reasons.

He only remembered that when his family was on the verge of starvation, it was his uncle and Jiang Chao who delivered food to them. Because of this kindness, Huang Shu regarded Jiang Chao as his own brother for the rest of his life.

Huangshan is nice too, but I haven't been there much in six years. In the end, there's a difference. Plus, there's the lingering awkwardness about the old house, so I don't feel as comfortable around it as I do with Jiang Chao.

Seeing this, Huang Xiaosan said helplessly, "Cousin, that's enough. Stop bullying Second Brother."

"Oh, you're already protecting her right after making up," Jiang Chao touched his nose. "I won't tell, okay?"

Upon hearing this, Huang Lao Er was stunned. "Xiao San, what's going on? Is Jiang Chao playing a trick on me?"

"No, don't wrong me," he quickly denied. "I was really sad just now."

As she spoke, she sniffled, trying to squeeze out a few tears to make herself appear more sincere.

Unfortunately, his skills were insufficient, and he ultimately failed.

Seeing this, Huang Lao Er understood everything.

"You damn liar!" she exclaimed angrily, shoving Da Ya into her brother's hands and raising her fist. "Jiang Chao, I'll beat you to death!"

After saying that, the two started punching and kicking each other.

"Go fight in the yard, it's spacious there," Old Huang waved his hand dismissively. "There are children here, don't scare them."

After Huang finished speaking, he glanced nervously at the two children, afraid they would be frightened and cry. But the two little ones stared intently at the two who were playing around.

Especially Daya, who actually giggled and even clapped her little hands to cheer when she saw her father being beaten.

Looking up at the sky, he glanced sympathetically at his younger brother, then silently adjusted his daughter's position to make it easier for her to watch the commotion.

Seeing this, Huang Xiaosan immediately followed suit, placing Daya on his lap and joining the crowd of onlookers.

Before long, he was watching even more enthusiastically than Daya.

Watching the two playfully fighting in the courtyard, Huang Xiaosan mused, "Jiang Chao and Brother Shan are indeed different."

“Yes,” Huang nodded in agreement, “The Huang family has already split up, but the Jiang family hasn’t.”

He understood perfectly that although his mother had long since married out of the family, she still held an absolute position in the Jiang family because of her maternal grandparents' doting affection.

No matter how good the Huang family is to Mother, they are still two separate families. Even if it's not obvious on a daily basis, everyone understands that their relationship is different from what it seems, and both families have many things they avoid.

In addition, their cousins ​​weren't that close to them, so no matter how close the cousins ​​were, there was always a line separating them.

However, in the Jiang family, these feelings will never be felt.

In this respect, Huangshan really can't compare to Jiang Chao.

“This isn’t about dividing the family,” Huang Xiaosan shook his head. “Grandpa and Uncle have never treated us as outsiders. Before the Huang family divided, Auntie only treated us as her nephews.”

Upon hearing this, Boss Huang fell silent.

He remembered that it wasn't like this a long time ago, and it had unknowingly become what it is now.

However, that's no longer important.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he smiled and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's continue watching the monkeys, no, the show."

"Um!"

Although the heart-to-heart talk ended rather abruptly, Boss Huang was quite satisfied.

Not only did the estrangement between the brothers disappear, but they also became closer to each other. Watching the two playfully bickering, I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The courtyard was peaceful and serene, and the hall was also very tranquil.

Jiang Nuan told her two daughters-in-law about it, and they agreed without hesitation.

Then the mother and her two children chatted while drinking tea.

"Mother, you said before that you would send my husband and the others to the prefectural city for training. Should we postpone that for a while?"

“Push it,” Jiang Nuan said regretfully, “It was Mother’s oversight before.”

"What about Huang Ye? Should he study with my husband?" Xie asked hesitantly. "Huang Ye is my apprentice; we can't just leave him behind."

“He’ll come too, it’s your cousin. If your uncle agrees, your mother won’t stop him.”

"Uncle certainly won't stop me from doing something this good."

"That's not necessarily true."

"What?" Madam Xie asked in surprise. "Mother, this is so beneficial to my cousin, why would Uncle object?"

Did a donkey kick your head?

“I think it’s very likely,” Wang said softly. “What my husband and the others learned is not very useful in the countryside.”

"That's not a bad thing either. You can never stop learning. It's always good to have more skills. There's no harm in it."

“It’s different,” Wang shook her head, “It will nurture people’s hearts.”

"Growing up people's hearts?" Xie was taken aback, then turned to Jiang Nuan, "Mother, what does my sister-in-law mean?"

"What your sister-in-law means is that once your brother has seen more of the world, he might not be willing to be an ordinary farm boy."

"Isn't this even better?" Xie muttered to herself. "People strive for better things, and there's nothing wrong with that."

“There’s nothing wrong with that, but the situation is different,” Jiang Nuan explained calmly. “Your uncle only has one son, your cousin, who is the eldest son.”

"Oh, I see," Xie clapped her hands in surprise, "Uncle is afraid that my cousin doesn't want to be tied up at Huangjiakou!"

“That’s right,” Jiang Nuan nodded. “I’m afraid your cousin won’t want to be tied down, I’m afraid your cousin won’t want to take on the responsibility of the clan leader, and I’m even more afraid that your cousin has lost his original intention.”

Upon hearing this, Madam Xie couldn't help but laugh.

“My cousin isn’t a child who’s still immature. Why should we be afraid of this and that? Even Mom isn’t worried, so it definitely won’t happen.”

Jiang Nuan felt helpless because of Xie's blind trust in her.

“It’s different,” she explained. “Your cousin and the eldest brother are not the same kind of people. His character is not as good as theirs.”

Suffering is a teacher in life; this is not just a saying.

What my son experienced is far beyond what my nephew could ever have; the difference in their character is enormous.

Even with his father-in-law and elder brother's best efforts in teaching him, the nephew's character still doesn't inspire confidence.