"That damned old man only knows how to cause trouble!"

"Exactly, why would she be picking up cardboard for no reason? Is she starving or freezing?"

The others remained silent, frowning as they sat around the stove, occasionally glancing up at the pigsty. In the dark, damp pigsty, a thin, withered figure huddled, the sharp, stabbing pain in his lower back causing Old Wu to break out in a sweat despite the snow.

The voices outside were loud and clear, showing no intention of avoiding Wu Laotai's presence.

Old Mrs. Wu felt a sharp pain in her heart, biting her chapped lips and letting two hot tears stream down her face. Trouble? Who had she caused trouble for?

She worked tirelessly from dawn till dusk collecting plastic bottles and cardboard, earning two to three thousand yuan a month, all of which she gave to them. Did she ever spend a single penny of it?

Now they're saying they're just making trouble for them?

Grandma Wu opened her eyes, and two streams of hot tears flowed down her cheeks. Looking back on her life, Grandma Wu felt as if her whole heart was soaking in bitter water.

Her husband, Huang Mancang, indulged in all sorts of vices, including drinking, gambling, and whoring. He would beat her mercilessly whenever he was unhappy. In 1965, Huang Mancang drowned while drunk, and she became the pillar of the family, struggling to raise their children.

She thought that her four sons had a hard time working hard in the big city, so she wanted to save every penny she could. She took the initiative to do housework, pick up and drop off her grandson, and do laundry and cook.

She doesn't want her son and daughter-in-law to worry about her at all; she just wants to be able to spend her old age in a dignified and clean manner when she can no longer move.

The biting wind of the snowy night swirled into the pigsty, and Old Mrs. Wu instantly got goosebumps on the back of her neck. She hugged herself tightly and looked expectantly at the main house.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the pigsty. Old Mrs. Wu's eyes lit up. Despite the sharp pain in her back, she turned around and reached out her hand to the person entering.

"My son, my back is hurting terribly, you all..."

Old Mrs. Wu stopped mid-sentence, noticing the displeasure on her four sons' faces. A bitter taste rose in her mouth, and she looked down at her weak legs, speaking cautiously...

"Could you take Mom...to the hospital for a checkup?"

“Mom can still do it. As long as she gets better at the hospital, she can go to the street to collect cardboard to earn money and help you take care of the children and cook.”

After Old Lady Wu's voice faded, the pigsty fell silent.

Huang Xiaoguo, Huang Xiaofu, Huang Xiaomin, and Huang Xiaoqiang, the four brothers, stood in front of Old Lady Wu.

Under Old Lady Wu's hopeful gaze, the second son, Huang Xiaofu, spoke up.

"Mom, you've broken your back. Going to the hospital won't get it fixed. It'll be a waste of time and money."

The light in Old Mrs. Wu's eyes dimmed instantly. "What do you mean by wasting money?"

The eldest son, Huang Xiaoguo, curled his lip, looking impatient. "Mom! Isn't this a waste of money? What is it? I've never heard of a broken back being curable."

"Besides, at your age, you'd be better off just waiting to die peacefully!"

Having finished speaking smoothly, Huang Xiaoguo suddenly snapped back to reality when he saw Old Lady Wu look up and stare intently at him. He realized what he had just said and his expression became somewhat unnatural.

This is her good son, the good son who worked hard and served them as their maid all his life. Now that he can't move and is useless, he just wants her to die.

Old Mrs. Wu felt a tightness in her chest, as if a huge rock was pressing on her heart. She gasped for breath, her gaze sweeping over her sons, finally settling on the wealthiest of them all, the third son.

"Hyomin, what about you?"

Standing outside the pigsty, Li Jin'e's shrill voice rang out immediately upon hearing Huang Xiaomin's name, "Mom, what are you doing? You have so many sons, why are you singled out Xiaomin?"

Huang Xiaomin glanced at Li Jin'e, who rushed in, and said in a tone that was neither too loud nor too soft, "Shut up!"

When Old Mrs. Wu saw this, her heart sank, and she immediately realized that her third son was unreliable.

Li Jin'e scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Your eldest and second brothers are right. It’s a waste of money to treat this illness. Instead of wasting your energy on cursing, you should let your eldest brother take good care of you in your remaining days.”

"Why me?" Huang Xiaoguo retorted before Li Jin'e could finish speaking, dissatisfied.

"Why are you pulling me? It's not like I'm the one who caused her to break her back."

The fourth brother, Huang Xiaoqiang, who had been silent all along, let out a disdainful laugh.

"Why are you being pulled? Big brother, Mom loves you and the third brother the most. How much have you secretly given her over the years? You and the third brother also took the lion's share of the demolition compensation. If you don't take care of them, who will?"

The second son, Huang Xiaofu, nodded in agreement. In any case, he received the least benefit. Asking him to take care of Old Lady Wu? That was definitely out of the question!

Besides...

Old Mrs. Wu, a strand of white hair falling from her forehead, explained to her second and fourth sons...

"The eldest and third brothers didn't finish their studies, they're not as capable as you two brothers, I..."

Huang Xiaofu frowned in displeasure, interrupting Old Lady Wu, glancing at his third son's wife and her husband, a hint of sarcasm playing on his lips.

"Everyone says that mothers love their youngest sons more, but I don't know what's wrong with my mother, she loves you two more than the fourth son."

Li Jin'e glanced at Huang Xiaofu and pursed her lips. "Second brother, that's not how it works, is it? Back then, Mom gave you her job instead of any of the four brothers. When the demolition compensation came down, it was Mom who was unfair, which is why Xiaomin got the lion's share."

"What right do you have to complain?"

Huang Xiaofu gave Old Lady Wu a cold look. "Should I complain?"

"That's what she owes me! If she hadn't disagreed, Fengying wouldn't have been married off to someone else by her mother, causing us to break up! It's all your fault, Wu Mingxia!"

Old Mrs. Wu's lips trembled uncontrollably; the cold ground seeped into her heart through her thin clothes.

"I caused this? Xiaofu... How could you say such a thing? Miao Fengying is devoted to her family. How could things turn out well if you married her?"

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