"Mom, do you even believe what you're saying?" Du Jianshan's eyes were like frost, making Liu Xiuqin's scalp tingle.

She wiped away her tears and said in a trembling voice, "I... I had no choice. You know what's going on at your family, eldest son... Jianshan, you've always been stubborn, and Mom can't do anything with you..."

"You can't do anything to me?" Du Jianshan sneered, turning his head to look at the old stove in the main room. "I boiled water when I was six, herded pigs when I was seven, and went up the mountain to cut firewood when I was eight. When have you ever said a good word for me?"

"When I got into a fight and got beaten up, you just dismissed me with a 'Who told you to cause trouble?' But that scoundrel from my eldest son stole the money I made from selling medicine and gambled it away. What did you say? 'Don't hold it against me, we're all family.' Mom, tell me, which faction do I belong to in this 'family'?"

Liu Xiuqin was speechless for a moment, her hands trembling as she twisted her apron. After a long pause, she finally managed to utter, "Your...your father passed away early, and it wasn't easy for me, a widow, to raise you all..."

"So you're just using me as a servant?" Du Jianshan slammed his fist on the table, his eyes bloodshot. "I was only three years old when Father died! You started favoring the eldest son, always giving him the best things, and tilting the grain and cloth coupons in his favor! I wore his leftover shoes and ate his leftover vegetables, and you said, 'You're the younger brother, so you have to give way to your older brother!' But when did he ever treat me like a younger brother?"

“Your older brother is also impatient and can’t keep his mouth shut, but he still cares about you…” Liu Xiuqin’s voice grew softer and softer until it was almost buried in her chest.

"Thinking about me?" Du Jianshan threw his hunting knife on the table. "If he really cared about me, he wouldn't have taken my dog ​​skin last winter and secretly exchanged it for ten pounds of flour without saying a word! Do you know that hunting dog of mine was raised by me for three years? I wouldn't sell it even if the Hu family offered me eight yuan, but he took it and gave it to them, saying, 'It's your brother's anyway.' Where were you then? You were hiding in the kitchen, not even a trace of you!"

“That…that’s because Mom couldn’t stand firm…” Liu Xiuqin burst into tears, her face covered in tears. “But you are the flesh of my flesh, how could Mom not feel sorry for you?”

Du Jianshan's lips twitched, and his tone became even more gloomy: "Mom, do you really not know how I've survived these past few years on the mountain? I got frostbite every other day, I was so hungry that I ate tree bark, and my hands were cracked and frozen solid. I wanted to go back to the village and tell you: 'It's too windy outside, don't come back, don't cause trouble for the family.' In your eyes, wouldn't it be better if I had died long ago?"

Liu Xiuqin knelt on the threshold, tears streaming down her face, saying, "That was because Mom was confused, Mom was too cruel... You can hit me or scold me, just don't say such harsh things, it hurts Mom too..."

"I don't want to hit you, and I don't want to yell at you." Du Jianshan turned his back, his voice so low it was almost inaudible. "I just want to know, what am I in this family? An unwanted burden? A dog to be ordered around as I please?"

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the courtyard, and Du Jianshui's voice rang out: "Hey, brother, you're back? What a coincidence, we just stewed some chicken at home, come in and have some hot food!"

Du Jianshan didn't even lift his eyelids, only saying lightly, "The chicken was brought back by your wife, wasn't it? I ran into her in the mountains yesterday, carrying a net bag, coming back from the supply and marketing cooperative."

"You have a really good nose!" Du Jianshui laughed, not caring at all. "They're having a promotion over there, so I pulled some strings to get some cheap stuff—your sister-in-law is very skillful, that's why she specially saved you a bowl of chicken soup."

"Leave it for me? I'd rather it be something to nourish your child." Du Jianshan turned to look at him. "Jianshui, tell me the truth, all these years you've lived a life of luxury, haven't you taken quite a bit from me too?"

"Oh, brother, you're being too polite." Du Jianshui smiled ingratiatingly, glanced at his mother sideways, and lowered his voice, "We're all family. Who doesn't help each other out sometimes? I have to work hard to sell your dog skins and wild game, and your mother manages all the money from them. She hasn't shortchanged you."

"Whether I was wronged or not, you know perfectly well." Du Jianshan suddenly sneered. "Did you also use that wolf pelt to exchange for satin to sew new clothes for your daughter?"