"That...that was your Uncle Li's idea!" Liu Xiuqin cried out shrilly, as if she had finally found a way out. "What can a woman like me decide? He begged me, saying that Fuqiang couldn't be in trouble, saying that you're still young and can handle it—"

"So you agreed? You just pushed me into a pit of fire like that?" Du Jianshan's eyes were bloodshot, but his voice was very low. "Back then, I kept calling you 'Mom,' and you even gave me some sweet talk, saying you'd find me a wife and build me a house when I got out... Ha!"

"That's not what I meant!" Liu Xiuqin exclaimed anxiously, lunging forward to grab his arm. "Jianshan, let me explain! I had no choice! Your brother had just passed the forestry worker exam that year and got a permanent position. If something had happened to him, our whole family would have starved!"

"You've never thought about me?" Du Jianshan stared intently at her. "You only have eyes for Li Fuqiang, only for 'your brother,' but what about me? Aren't I your son too?"

“Yes, you are! Of course you are!” Liu Xiuqin nodded repeatedly. “You are my child, the one I carried for ten months. How could I not love you?”

"Feel sorry for him?" Du Jianshan scoffed. "You feel sorry for me? The person you feel sorry for is Li Fuqiang's physical appearance. You're afraid that if something happens to him, you'll suffer because of him! If I were as good at flattering and scheming as him, you'd probably be worshipping me by now, wouldn't you?"

"I...I didn't..." Liu Xiuqin's tears fell again, but she dared not be too agitated. "Whatever you say, but Jianshan, you've come out, haven't you? We've made it through, I beg you, please don't bring up these old grievances, okay? Let's be a family and live together peacefully..."

"I'm not going to live with you anymore," Du Jianshan said coldly. "From the day I went to jail, this 'family' died. I suffered in there, freezing, being beaten, starving, and sleeping poorly. How did you manage outside?"

"Are you living in a new house? Wearing a cotton-padded coat? Didn't Li Fuqiang still marry a city woman and have children? And me? I didn't even get a single person to send me winter clothes! Not even a letter! What do you take me for? A dog?"

Liu Xiuqin could no longer hold on and collapsed onto the doorstep, sobbing uncontrollably: "I was wrong, Mom was wrong... Please stop talking, or Mom can't bear it..."

"You have a heart?" Du Jianshan's face grew even colder. "You do have a heart. It's a pity that you've never given me even a fraction of your heart."

“Now, your son is back. Not Li Fuqiang, but me—Du Jianshan. But I'm not the same fool I used to be.”

He flung Liu Xiuqin's hand away, his voice firm and resolute: "From this day forward, I disown you! You are you, and I am me! Don't try to pressure me with that worthless 'kindness of raising' anymore—that's what you should do, what you owe me, not what I owe you!"

"I see mountains, I see mountains—"

Liu Xiuqin lunged forward to hug him, but Du Jianshan pushed her away with a hard slap.

She fell to the ground, her knee hitting the stone slab with a "thud".

At the doorway, Li Fuqiang broke out in a cold sweat and quietly tried to retreat, but Du Jianshan happened to look up and bump into him.

"Well done, Li Fuqiang." Du Jianshan sneered. "What, too scared to come out?"

Li Fuqiang chuckled awkwardly as he stepped out the door: "Jianshan... Brother, I had no choice back then. I... I told Mom not to make things difficult for you, but she insisted. I... I really didn't mean to..."

"Shut up." Du Jianshan raised his hand and pointed at his nose. "I don't want to hear you say a word. Li Fuqiang, you've ruined my life for ten years. You don't deserve to call me brother."

"Then what are you going to do?" Li Fuqiang's lips trembled. "You...you're not going to hit me, are you? Let me tell you, there are more than just one or two people in this village who know you have a criminal record—if you keep making trouble, let's see who believes you."

"Believe it or not, I don't care." Du Jianshan took a step forward. "I'll only tell you one thing: from now on, I'll go my own way, and you can go your own way. If you dare to scheme against me, extort me, or steal from me again, I'll make sure you can't even stand a blade of grass in this village!"