"You can't abandon your family just to live your own life; poverty can ruin nine generations of relatives."

As she spoke, she wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, glanced at Xiao Cui with a hidden look of disgust, and said, "Xiao Cui, I know you resent me, resent my favoritism, and I understand that you want to live your own life and abandon irrelevant people."

But one cannot be so selfish. Home is not a place for reasoning. Even if you win the argument, you lose the relationship.

Every family has debts; if you're really that calculating, you can't keep track. You're saving money every month now, but you haven't seen how much you've exploited your family.

You advanced your living expenses according to the meager standard, but is that really fair? You treat us like we're splitting every penny in half, even reducing the amount of cornbread we eat, but you're very generous to yourselves, going out for a treat every now and then when you can't stand it anymore.

Mom knows everything, but she doesn't say anything for the sake of the family's stability. As long as you're all doing well, that's enough. It's fine if I eat coarse food and wild vegetables; I can always make cardboard and shoe soles. Why can't I survive?

We haven't separated yet, and I've already given you the right to be in charge, but you're getting increasingly out of line and overstepping your bounds.

Upon hearing this, Qi Zhijun was so ashamed that he wanted to lower his head to the ground.

Qi's mother saw his shame and smiled sadly, saying, "I'm not saying this to blame you. People are greedy by nature, and I am greedy too. I want my family to live well and be harmonious, so that when I leave, I won't be like your father, surrounded by his children, with not a single one coming to see him off. Your father still had me by his side, but who will I have on my day..." As she spoke, she began to sob.

Qi Zhifang and Qi Zhijun also shed tears, which infuriated Xiao Cui. Damn it, this is forcing me to continue cultivating! The fox hasn't become a spirit yet because it's too young; it simply can't defeat this highly skilled fox spirit in front of it!

After things calmed down, Qi Zhijun and Qi Zhifang helped their mother back home. Once home, Qi Zhijun went to his room and started rummaging through drawers. Xiao Cui followed, shouting, "Qi Zhijun, what are you doing!" He tried to stop Qi Zhijun, but Qi Zhijun pushed him onto the bed. "Ah!" Qi Zhijun cried, his eyes red and filled with disappointment, "What are you trying to do? Don't you want to live like this anymore?"

Qi Zhijun took out the money notes tucked in her notebook and looked coldly at Xiao Cui, saying, "Don't you know what I'm going to do? Xiao Cui, just to save some money, are we going to drive Mom to her death? When we're eating wontons, meat pies, dumplings, and potstickers outside, have we ever thought about what Mom is eating? Now that I think about it, I'm such a bastard. How could I have eaten that back then?"

Xiao Cui's face flushed red with anger, and a tightness in his chest made him nod repeatedly. "Fine, you're so high-minded, so filial, so good. It's all my fault. Qi Zhijun, if you dare to take out the money and tickets today, I'll..."

Qi Zhijun just stared at Xiao Cui with a complicated look in his eyes. Xiao Cui couldn't say anything more, and the two of them remained in a stalemate. Xiao Cui stubbornly raised his head, his lips pressed into a straight line, his nostrils flared, and his eyes gradually became moist.

After a ten-minute standoff, Qi Zhijun laughed first. "Divorce? Do whatever you want! I can't just abandon my mother for you. Actually, sometimes I wonder if our marriage was a mistake?"

Do you know? My feelings for you right now are like that leaf on the top of a tree in winter, a little helpless. Deep down I know we can't hold on. It could be blown away by a snowstorm or a gust of wind at any time.

Of course, it has nothing to do with us personally; it's just that the timing was wrong. A marriage without a material foundation is like a house piled high with straw; a single spark will reduce it all to ashes. Love is expensive, and we, in our poverty, probably don't deserve it.

Xiao Cui cried angrily, "You're just taking advantage of the fact that I have nowhere to go, aren't you? You know I can't live without you, so no matter how you treat me, I have to stay here and swallow my anger, right? Qi Zhijun, don't talk so high and mighty, can't you be more realistic? Are we wrong? Is it a crime to want to live our own lives? Why do we have to compromise at every step?"

Qi Zhijun sighed, "That's just how this family is, there's nothing I can do about it."

Xiao Cui cried and laughed, "Qi Zhijun, you're such a bastard! It's over between us, it's all over!"

Qi Zhijun came to Qi's mother's room with a notebook containing tickets and money. He saw Qi's mother sitting by the bed, Qi Zhifang folding the clothes he had thrown on the floor.

Qi Zhijun handed the notebook to his mother, saying, "This is the money and tickets that Xiao Cui has saved over the past two months. I brought it all for you, Mom. I still want to say something: please be fair in the future, and don't let people gossip about you anymore." Turning to Qi Zhifang, he sighed and said, "Fangzi, you should buy fewer clothes in the future. What's the use of buying all this? Just so people will say you're pretty and look at you more? Let's be honest, at your age and with your status, if people say that, it's not a compliment. Besides, even if you're pretty, can you compare to a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl? Think about the children, your mother, and this family. I'm begging you."

Holding her notebook, Qi's mother said with her head down, "Fangzi, did you hear that? What your brother said is exactly what I wanted to say. Be realistic! For the sake of your child, for your family, and for your brother's family, settle down and live a good life. A person's reputation matters, just as a tree's bark matters. Think about it, your brother has already divorced once for you, his own son has taken someone else's surname, and he's separated from his wife and children. He's such a grown man and still doesn't have a child..."

Qi Zhijun suppressed his impatience and said, "Mom, why are you bringing this up again? Go get some rest! We still need to celebrate the New Year tomorrow."

Qi Zhijun left, and Qi's mother sighed. She regretted turning such a good life upside down...