The next day, Song Darong went to work with Fang Jie. When the group of village women saw Song Darong return, they all gathered around him with smiles.

"Da Rong is back."

Song Darong politely replied, "Yes."

“Your mother is sick, why aren’t you going to the hospital to take care of her? Instead, you and your wife are working here. Your wife is capable; she can handle two people at once. Your mother’s situation is more important.”

Song Darong's smile vanished.

"No matter how capable she is, I still feel sorry for her. I'll help her finish her work before we go to the hospital together."

The village women pursed their lips and dispersed.

They are tired too. They work in the fields all day long, just like the men, and are exhausted. But their men don't care about them at all. When they get home, they still have to do housework. If they don't do it to their liking, they will be complained about, and some will even be beaten.

Sigh, we're all human, so why are our fates so different?

After listening to Song Darong's words, Fang Jie worked with even more enthusiasm.

After working for a while, Fang Jie handed the water bottle to Song Darong, "Darong, have a sip of water."

Song Darong took it, gulped it down for a while, and then handed it back to Fang Jie.

After drinking the water, Song Darong felt much lighter and had boundless energy.

Working together, the two quickly completed their assigned tasks.

Back home, Fang Jie cooked dinner, and the family ate together.

Song Darong and Fang Jie then took Song Fanxing to the county town.

When they arrived at the hospital, the doctor happened to be looking for the family.

"Oh, finally some family members have arrived. Why are there two children left here? They've come several times already. The doctor said the patient can be discharged."

Song Darong grabbed the nurse's arm, "My mother isn't fully recovered yet, how can she be discharged already?"

The nurse said, "The patient has had a stroke. This is the only way we can do it. Keeping him in the hospital is a waste of money. We have no choice but to take him home and take good care of him. If we take good care of him, he might live a few more years and might even be able to stand up again."

If the patient isn't taken care of properly and their health deteriorates, then things could get very difficult.

After saying that, the nurse added, "Family members, come with me to complete the discharge procedures."

Fang Jie led Song Fanxing to complete the discharge procedures first.

Song Darong stayed in the ward to pack up Grandma Song's things. By the time Fang Jie and her daughter returned, he had almost finished packing. He carried Grandma Song out of the hospital, with Song Dani and Song Erni following behind carrying the things.

Throughout the journey, Old Lady Song kept wailing and yelling.

Song Darong turned his head and said, "Mom, stop shouting. Even if you don't like me as your son, let me carry you home first."

Song Darong was very frustrated. He was the most successful person in the family and he was the one who sent money home every month, but he had never been favored by his mother since he was a child.

Sometimes he doubted whether he was his biological son.

During her childhood, she asked her father about this, and he firmly said that she was born from her mother's ten months of pregnancy.

He didn't believe it and even asked the villagers, who said he was indeed Old Lady Song's biological son, and that they had even seen Old Lady Song heavily pregnant and about to give birth. As for why Old Lady Song didn't like him, they couldn't understand it either.

However, it is a common practice in rural areas to favor the younger son and neglect the older son, but there are few who are as biased as Old Mrs. Song.

Old Mrs. Song's behavior was simply exploiting her eldest son to the fullest extent. When he was a child, she would make Song Darong work in the fields in the dead of winter, without giving him shoes, and only giving him thin autumn clothes, which made the child's body covered in frostbite.

Sending him to the army was also to save on food rations, so that he could earn allowances to supplement the family income. Over the years, he has made a lot of money from his eldest son.

The group boarded a bus to town, and when they arrived, they caught the oxcart of the main force heading back.

Song Darong laid Old Lady Song down on the oxcart, then carried the three children onto the oxcart, with him and Fang Jie standing guard on either side.

We bumped our way back to the village.

When Song Dalong saw that Song Darong had brought his mother back, he rushed up to her and questioned, "Song Darong, how could you be so heartless? Are you not going to treat our mother?"

Influenced by Granny Song, Song Dalong never respected his older brother from a young age.

However, the money that Song Darong sent back was used by his mother to subsidize their small family quite a bit.

Song Darong was strong, so he carried Old Lady Song into the house and placed her on the kang (a heated brick bed).

Then he said to Song Dalong, "The doctor is urging Mom to be discharged. He said that there's no use in her staying in the hospital. This disease can't be cured now. We should bring her home and take good care of her."

Song Dalong didn't believe it. "It must be because you refused to treat Mom and brought her back without permission. I'm going to talk to the captain about this. No, I'm going to sue you! I'll go to your unit and sue you!"

Song Fanxing listened to his loud and boisterous chatter and picked at her ear.

"Second Uncle, if you don't believe me, go to the hospital and ask the doctor yourself. It's not too late to sue after you've found out the truth. All this running around trying to show off your abilities, is it?"

Song Fanxing couldn't hold back any longer and finished speaking. Everyone except Fang Jie looked at her strangely.

Song Darong, in particular, kept thinking, "Are all three-year-olds this smart these days?" He spoke eloquently, with clear logic and sharp words.

Song Dalong was scolded by a little kid, and his face turned extremely ugly.

Out of spite, he actually turned around and went to the hospital to ask a doctor.

Finally, Li Zhen stopped him.

For the first time ever, Li Zhen sided with Song Darong and said, "Brother is a soldier, and soldiers don't lie, so don't ask him. I think the doctor is right. It's a waste of money for Mom to stay in the hospital. It's better for her to come home. If she's in a better mood at home, she might get better."

After listening to Li Zhen's words, Song Dalong stopped making a fuss.

As Grandma Song lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), listening to Li Zhen's hypocritical words, she kept groaning and making noises.

Song Fanxing felt that she was cursing, but she just couldn't say it.

Fang Jie took a basin out and returned with a basin of water a short while later.

"Alright, you guys go out first, I'll wipe Mom's body."

Everyone smelled an unpleasant odor. Li Zhen ran the fastest, afraid that Fang Jie would ask her to help clean her mother-in-law.

Fang Jie moved closer, and the smell emanating from her mother-in-law became even stronger, making her feel nauseous.

Just now, Song Darong carried her out of the hospital and then carried her back into the house without even frowning. She admired Song Darong's patience.

What she didn't know was that Song Darong could hide in a cesspool for a whole day and night while on a mission and not move an inch.

This little bit of taste was nothing to him, and besides, it was his own mother; he couldn't dislike her.

Fang Jie took off her mother-in-law's clothes and carefully wiped her down.

Grandma Song yelled and glared fiercely at Fang Jie.

Fang Jie glanced at her and said, "There's nothing I can do if you don't want to, and I don't want to touch you either, but you can't stay smelly like this. Who will dare to come near you in the future? So, stop shouting. It's no use shouting. You might as well save your breath."

Old Mrs. Song's face was ashen; if she could speak, she would surely curse Fang Jie to death.

The person she hated most in her life was Fang Jie, who took away Song Darong's money; second was Song Darong, who wasn't her biological son and she couldn't like him; and the three little ones were also annoying, especially that brat Song Fanxing. If it weren't for her jinxing, would she have been so scared?