When Qiu Zhen and Qiu Hua chased out, Erhua had already walked a long way away in the moonlight, and they could vaguely see a figure swaying.

"Where are you going, kid? Come back! What are you doing?!"

Qiu Zhen screamed at the top of her lungs, and Qiu Hua could hear the fear in her mother's trembling voice.

The black shadow did not stop, but walked farther and farther away.

My mother suddenly became anxious and chased forward regardless of anything. She took one deep step and one shallow step on the uneven mud. She accidentally fell down and landed on her knees, which hurt a lot.

But she didn't cry out in pain, only "Second boy, second boy!" Her sobbing voice sounded both mournful and eerie in the night. The black shadow stopped but didn't turn back. He clenched his fists, his teeth trembling. Qiuhua was torn between anger and heartache, and couldn't help but shout:

"Brother! Come back!"

"I'm not going back, you guys go back!" After saying that, the figure seemed to turn around, and suddenly he knelt down, kowtowed three times in the direction of the two of them, and said, "Mom, just consider it a waste of raising a son like me. After all, we have Dahua and Qiuhua at home, both of whom are better off than me. If I become rich one day, I will definitely come back to repay you. If I don't come back, just treat me as if I'm dead!"

"Don't talk nonsense, kid. Come back first and talk it over!"

With Qiuhua's support, Mom struggled to stand up and tried to chase him again, but how could she catch up with him?

Erhua stood up and left without looking back.

The two chased all the way, but saw the black figure slowly disappear from their sight.

Mom stood in the dark. The wind was not cold at night, but her heart couldn't help trembling. There was not a single happy day in this family. She might as well jump into the river.

The kerosene lamp in the room remained lit. Liang Genfa sat at the table, silent, with Dahua silently accompanying him. Today was supposed to be a joyous occasion, but now it had ended in disharmony.

The door creaked, and Liang Genfa hurriedly looked outside, but subconsciously retracted his gaze and frowned. Dahua didn't care about that and hurried to open the door to welcome people, but only Mum and Qiuhua came in. Dahua leaned outside, but there was no one there.

"Where's Erhua? Why can't I see Erhua?"

Dahua was a little anxious. He looked at Qiuhua, hoping that she could give him an explanation, but she turned away with red eyes and went into the room.

"You disobedient son! Just leave! What are you waiting for? Go to bed!"

Liang Genfa still didn't say a single nice word, and his tone was as harsh as a knife. Qiu Zhen's dejected face suddenly lifted up, and she rushed forward like a fighting cock with its feathers standing on end, and punched the old man hard in the chest. The old man's body shook a few times, but he didn't sit down.

"You're so cruel! This is your son? You cut off one of his fingers and kicked him out of the house. If you had known this would happen, you should have suffocated him to death. Why let him follow you around without a full meal?"

Qiu Zhen cried and shouted, tears and snot streaming down her face. Before she could finish her words, she twisted her snot between two fingers and flicked it onto the muddy ground, saying, "Look at this family. There's not a single day of peace. If you don't want to live like this, I'll stand in front of you today!"

As he said that, he turned and ran towards the stove. Liang Genfa and Dahua reacted a little later and saw Qiu Zhen coming out with a kitchen knife pointing at him.

"My son is gone too, and I'm just lying here today!"

As he spoke, the knife went up to his neck. The two grown men got anxious and rushed forward regardless of anything. Qiu Zhen swung the kitchen knife, and blood immediately appeared on Dahua's arm. This scared Qiu Zhen so much that she dropped the knife.

"Mom! Brother!"

Qiuhua stood at the door with a pale face. Several people were busy treating Dahua's wound. Fortunately, the wound was not deep and the bleeding stopped after a while.

Qiu Zhen slumped to the ground, her vision went dark, and she heard Qiu Hua crying out for her. She blinked her eyes, and it took her a long time to see Qiu Hua's face clearly, and she immediately burst into tears.

At this moment, Liang Genfa also shed tears and said, "Old woman, what are you doing? The second boy is gone, not dead. Besides, did I ever say I would not care about him? Look at how he looks today!"

"Did I chop off his fingers because I wanted to? You know he was born with three hands. This is hurting both himself and others. If I don't chop off his fingers, this matter will not be settled."

"Aren't good days coming soon? When I go back to work as a blacksmith, my family will build houses and arrange marriages for our two sons, and bring the second boy back home!"

This old man who is not good at speaking must have racked his brains to come up with these words.

It was already late when the crying in the house finally died down, but Qiu Zhen went inside to sleep with Chunhua and locked the door, leaving Liang Genfa and Dahua huddled together all night. The night was very quiet, and the family tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Even the smallest sound was like a drum beating in their hearts, making them uneasy.

Where is this young man from Hetou Village going? What is he planning to do?

Erhua left home and walked for a long time in the darkness. Finally, his feet were sore and swollen that he stopped. The moon was already at its highest point. He looked around and found himself on a stone bridge. He looked down and saw the water rushing. There was no other sound around except the sound of the water. He felt tired and wanted to rest, so he walked from the bridge to the bridge hole below.

I thought there was no one there, but when I got closer I found that there was a person huddled in the dark cave. The person was not afraid of strangers and greeted Erhua when he saw him coming.

"Why don't you go home, young man, and stay in this shabby hole?"

Erhua knew from his voice that he was the silly Jianhua from the next village. He was mentally ill and always wandered around. At night, he would find a bridge hole or a corner to sleep.

"What home to go back to? I have no home!"

Erhua didn't want to pay attention to him and started to retort him as soon as he opened his mouth. But who knew that silly Jianhua didn't mind at all. Instead, he smiled and wanted to chat with him.

"You have a home but don't want to go back, but I want to go home but don't have one, haha, hahaha!"

Silly Jianhua is not that stupid, doesn't it sound too normal? Erhua leaned against the wall, staring at the water in a trance, muttering to himself: "I just want to build a house for my eldest son to marry him. Since I am not his biological son, I don't need to marry the mistress of the house..."

"Oh, young man, you're thinking about women. Your family won't find you a match?" Silly Jianhua said with a grin, "If they don't find you a match, then go find one yourself. Finding a woman on your own is the real skill."

"Look for it yourself? How can you look for it yourself? Little Lady Fish wants to see the beams in your house!"

Erhua is chatting with silly Jianhua. They are going to spend the night here anyway, and they will feel bored if they don’t chat for a while. It’s good to chat with a fool. I guess he won’t remember anything the next day after the chat. How great!

"What are you looking at? I know there's a place where the little fish won't look at that. Just buy them two chickens to eat, and they'll give the little fish to you as a mistress."

"You are a fool and a liar." Erhua laughed coldly.

"Why would I lie to you? If you don't believe me, go ask Wang Lao Hu from our village tomorrow. He just brought home a little fish the other day. He exchanged it for two chickens. I'm going to his house tomorrow to attend the wedding banquet."

What he said was so sincere that Erhua couldn't help but believe it a little, and the two of them chatted for a long time.