Chapter 618 The Grand Finale

"Need not."

Li Banxia said, "It's not a holiday, there's no need to come here specifically to repay the money. What happened back then is in the past. I don't need her apology. Just let her live her own life well."

The three brothers exchanged glances and said nothing more.

After leaving Li Banxia's study, Su Laoda asked Su Laosan to call Su Hongmei back.

After hearing Su Laosan's account, Su Hongmei gave a disappointed "hmm".

Just as he was about to hang up, he suddenly realized something and asked Su Laosan, "Third Brother, Mom said we don't need to go unless it's a holiday, so... can I visit Mom during holidays?"

Su Laosan raised an eyebrow in surprise and glanced down at the microphone.

She smiled and said, "Whatever you say, Mom... It's my birthday next month, you remember? Your eldest sister will be back then too."

"I remember."

A smile spread across Su Hongmei's eyes, "Big sister's back too? Then we can take a family photo together..."

Before she could utter the word "piece," Su Hongmei pursed her lips, thinking of Su Xiaosi who was in prison.

Su Laosan nodded, "Okay, I'll have Zhao Tan buy a camera. We'll take lots of pictures then. It's been years since we've all gathered like this. It's getting late, hurry back. Oh, by the way, Second Brother said those two men living across the street don't seem like good people. Block the door when you sleep, be careful. Find another place this weekend, that courtyard is too noisy..."

"Did Second Brother ask Third Brother to remind me?" Su Hongmei was taken aback.

Su Laosan said yes, "Back then, I was so busy complaining about the mold on the walls in your room that I didn't notice who lived in the other houses."

"Okay, I'll look for a house on Sunday."

Su Hongmei's eyes narrowed with joy, and her voice was filled with delight.

After hanging up the phone, Su Laosan looked at her strangely, then looked up and met Su Laoer's gaze. He clicked his tongue and said, "This girl's face is just like the weather in June. She was so gloomy just now, but now she's all smiles."

"Alright, I'm leaving."

Su Lao Er turned to leave, and Su Lao San said, "Hey, Second Brother, let me see you off."

"It's just a few steps, do I really need you to take me?"

Su Lao Er turned his head and rolled his eyes at him, while Su Lao San stood there with a grin, leaning against the door and waving at him, "Go on, go on, I know you miss your wife and kids."

Su Lao Er wanted him to get married and have children, but he was afraid of hurting him, so he held back and turned to leave.

Li Banxia's birthday is coming soon.

Su Laosan invited the hotel's chef to his home to cook in advance, and the whole family gathered together in the evening to celebrate Li Banxia's birthday.

Su Hongmei took an afternoon off and had prepared well in advance, but she didn't dare to go early.

He didn't dare to knock on the door until his family members got off work and called Su Laosan to confirm.

Upon seeing Li Banxia, ​​her eyes immediately welled up with tears. "Mom..."

“You’re here too. Your older sister and her boyfriend just arrived. Go visit her.” Li Banxia didn’t say anything else, just gestured in Su Hongying’s direction.

Su Hongmei was flattered and gave a soft "Ah," then handed the gift she had brought to Arno, who was standing nearby, and went to find Su Hongying.

Upon seeing her arrive, Su Hongying paused for a moment, then breathed a sigh of relief and greeted her with a smile.

She had been here once before, and she seemed more natural than Su Hongmei.

Yao Jianshu and Xu Ying brought their child and chatted with the sisters for a while before inviting everyone to sit down.

Su Laosan specially hired a professional photographer to take pictures of them.

Li Banxia was happy and drank a couple more glasses of wine, watching her children laugh and talk, and her grandchildren play.

After the meal, Su Laosan also arranged for fireworks.

They were lined up in a row in the empty training ground, and a few of the younger ones, all smiles, went to pick one by one.

Fireworks crackled and exploded in the air, illuminating the sky with dazzling colors.

The evening breeze in July and August made Li Banxia feel a little dizzy. Song Yuanzhi took a thin gauze shawl, draped it over her shoulders, and carefully supported her as they stood side by side under the pavilion, gazing up at the dazzling fireworks in the sky.

"Yuanzhi, look, these fireworks are much prettier than the firecrackers we used to set off during Chinese New Year when we were kids..."

Song Yuanzhi glanced at her, his eyes filled with loving smiles. "Yes, you're really beautiful."

Su Laosan stood at a distance with his arms crossed.

Seeing their interaction, Su Lao Er sighed, "My uncle is so devoted, why has Mom always refused to accept him?"

Why?

Su Lao Er recalled the dream he had.

My mother was given a critical condition notice by the hospital and didn't have many days left to live. But the things her unfilial children said made her die prematurely.

Upon receiving the news, the uncle, a military commander, abandoned his duties and rushed back from the army to see his mother off.

That was his uncle, whom he had never met before.

He knelt on one knee beside his mother's body, trembling all over, his face pale, looking utterly despondent.

Overwhelmed with grief, his black hair turned white overnight.

After learning about the nonsense those siblings had said, he didn't spare any of them except for his eldest brother and sister-in-law.

He got kicked.

That kick broke two of his ribs.

The third brother was kicked away and crashed headfirst into the pillar supporting the wisteria trellis in the yard, bleeding profusely from his head.

Su Xiaosi tried to run away, but his uncle grabbed the teapot and smashed it hard on his back, splashing hot water all over his back. He screamed and howled in agony.

Su Hongying and Su Hongmei were each whipped several times by him, and they circled around his mother's corpse, crying and calling for their mother.

But their mother couldn't hear them.

So many old neighbors from the auto parts factory watched as the siblings were beaten, and not a single one of them spoke up to stop it.

The siblings were beaten and kicked out by their uncle.

The younger uncle left only his elder brother and sister-in-law, their family of three, and pointed at them, yelling, "You have no right to see your mother off in her final days, get the hell out of here!"

Later, my uncle risked his entire future to send Lin Jiefang, who had become the top official in the city, to prison.

He Taohua was also imprisoned on charges of murder.

They crippled Su Youfu's other two legs and trapped him to death in the small courtyard of the auto parts factory.

He himself died in front of his mother's grave the year after he had done all this.

Su Lao Er was in a daze. He didn't know why his uncle hadn't stayed in the army, and why his hand had been injured during his transfer to civilian work.

But he was certain that even if his mother never agreed, his uncle would stay by her side for the rest of his life.

Who said that companionship is the most enduring expression of love?

His uncle is silently loving his mother in his own way.

"Second brother, what are you thinking about?"

Su Laosan nudged him, "You've been staring blankly at your uncle, and he's even looking over here..."

"nothing."

Su Lao Er smiled at Song Yuanzhi and replied to Su Lao San, "What's the rush? Uncle has already moved in. What does it matter if Mom gives in or not? You should think about it: if they get together, will we call him Uncle, or..."

"Call him 'Little Uncle'!"

Su Laosan urgently called for a halt, "Your uncle is so much closer to you. The word 'stepfather' always reminds people of Su Youfu, it's disgusting..."

The family was lively until 11 o'clock, when Li Banxia urged them to go to sleep.

Mo Ge and Song Yuanzhi went to Su Laosan's courtyard to rest, while Su Hongying and Su Hongmei were arranged to go to Li Banxia's courtyard.

The two sisters made a pact while watching the fireworks to go and apologize to Li Banxia together.

Li Banxia met them in the study.

As they knelt down, saying they had made mistakes, knew they were wrong, and sincerely apologized, her eyes remained unmoved, and she calmly told them to get up.

"I understand. Is there anything else?"

The two girls exchanged a glance and asked timidly, "Mom, can you forgive us?"

Does it really matter whether or not you forgive?

Li Banxia countered, "You've all grown up, you're independent and responsible now, you don't need a mother to dictate your lives anymore, isn't that good?"

Anxiety appeared in both of their eyes at the same time.

He said, "Mom, we really know we were wrong..."

Li Banxia nodded and hummed in agreement. "So, you need me to say that I forgive you, right?"

Their eyes were red-rimmed, and they looked even more uneasy. They looked up at her almost pleadingly, stammering, "Mom..."

Li Banxia looked from one thing to another and let out a long sigh.

He said, "Okay, I forgive you all. Get up now."

Both of them were almost in tears, calling out "Mom" over and over again.

Li Banxia looked at them silently for a long while before saying, "You want to seek comfort from me and get me to forgive the mistakes you've made. Have you considered my feelings and emotions?"

The sisters stopped crying.

“Hongying, when I heard that you were being abused by your in-laws and were lying on the operating table, hanging by a thread, the first thing that came to my mind was how well-behaved and adorable you were when you were little. Even though you grew up and clung to me, sucking my blood and eating my flesh, at that moment I still wanted to risk my life to save you. I thought, this is my daughter. I carried her for ten months and fed her with milk and rice cereal. I'm not dead yet, how can she die before me? I'll go save you. I want to fight the Zhang family who harmed you to the death…”

Li Banxia looked down at Su Hongying, "When you came here begging for my forgiveness, what was the first thing that came to your mind?"

Su Hongying trembled, as if she had been frozen in place.

"...When I pulled you back from the brink of death, didn't I tell you that hurt is like pulling a nail out of a tree—the hole the nail left is always there? And you, Hongmei..."

Su Hongmei pouted, on the verge of tears but not daring to cry, "Mom."

"You're the same. Are you young? At your age, can't you understand what I'm saying? Can't you distinguish right from wrong? You listen to the bad things people say, you're easily instigated, you treat me like a free babysitter without any respect or affection, and you have no respect for your older brother and sister-in-law at all. You've repeatedly caused trouble at your third brother's grocery store and made a scene at my health center, spewing out hurtful words one after another. The damage is indelible, so why do you think I should forgive you?!"

The two sisters looked as if they had been slapped hard twice; their faces turned pale and their bodies stiffened.

Su Hongying opened her mouth, "But... but... Mom, you saved my life and helped me escape the misery of the Zhang family, which means you still love me, right?"

“Yes, Mom, even though I was making such a fuss, you still secretly gave the factory money to support my studies. You love me…” Su Hongmei said, crying.

Li Banxia shook her head and said, "That's because I know how difficult it is to handle the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, how agonizing it is when husband and wife are at odds, and I know that if you go out to work before finishing junior high school, your life will be ruined. The premise for me to lend a hand is that you are my own children, and that's all."

"mom……"

The two girls, overwhelmed with grief and tears streaming down their faces, clung to Li Banxia's legs, crying, "We were wrong, Mom, we know we were wrong, we'll never do it again..."

"I know."

Li Banxia's voice was calm, "But the hurt you caused me will always remain, and so will the mother-daughter relationship between us. It can never go back to what it was before. If you want, you can come during holidays if you wish, or you don't have to come if you don't want to. We, mother and daughter..."

She looked out at the pitch-black night and sighed deeply, "...That's it."

[The main story is complete]